TychoCelchuuu Posted September 1, 2019 In that case, there are lots of martial arts movies that aren't like that, like practically all the serious ones! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted June 8, 2020 I've started binging Agents of SHIELD. I skipped most of the first 10 episodes, then pretty much watched everything once it got to the Winter Soldier tie-in. The first few episodes were pretty ropey, but it definitely keeps improving. It's never really got beyond Buffy seasons 1&2 levels of quality for me, though. Season 3 was definitely the strongest so far. It's not mind-blowingly great, and I still wish I could have gone through every script with a red pen to clean up grammatical errors, clunky wording and terrible quips before filming, but it's consistently solid with lots of good moments sprinkled on top. I like what they did with Spoiler Ward (committing to him being unredeemable then flipping him to an alien big bad before he gets dull) that they brought in Powers Boothe (that's a really cool way of expanding a minor character from the movies and even explaining the quirk of him not showing up in Pierce's office in Winter Soldier, which I'm guessing in real life was a scheduling issue) and what they've done with Hydra being an ancient cult (so clever how they show that rams head design both disguised as a NASA badge and evolving into the Hydra logo, and all the Maveth stuff is dope). The action is a lot better, the effects work is impressive, and the narrative is more propulsive. It still needs a lot more character work (FitzSimmons have never ceased to be annoying as fuck, there are a lot of two-dimensional/cipher background cast, and even the leads don't have that much to them - compare the Firefly crew characterisation after 6 episodes to this lot after 2.5 seasons) and more narrative experimentation (the occasional flashforward bookend does not cut it! Episodes like "4,722 Hours" are a good start, but they really need to play with the format like, say, Buffy or Person Of Interest would). I was looking forward to S4 because I'd heard here and elsewhere that that's where it gets really strong, but I'm 8 episodes in and I'm a little frustrated because so far it's at best on the same level as S3 but if anything it's worse. I was also told that they did a (ugh) 'soft reboot' here, but so far all they've done is shuffled some pieces around so there's more frustrating bureaucracy to deal with, and replaced the strong 3-seasons-build-up villains with some boring Spoiler ghost scientists. They've even managed to make Spoiler Ghost Rider dull. Brannigan mentioned that here they moved from season-long arcs to three or four mini-arcs, but I'm 8 episodes in and it all feels like wheel-spinning for future stuff so far. I'm going to keep watching it, because there's still good stuff in there, it got a proper ending apparently, and, well, it's the COVID quarantine what else am I going to do. But I really hope this season picks up in the second half and lives up to the hype! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted June 9, 2020 16 hours ago, Ben X said: I really hope this season picks up in the second half and lives up to the hype! I have been told that this is in fact the case, and actually now I'm on the second mini-arc it has immediately picked up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brannigan Posted June 9, 2020 s4 is the highlight! from what i've seen! I stopped on season 5, just haven't mustered myself to watch s6 and on Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted June 9, 2020 Just finished S4. So, from episode 9 onwards, it gets AMAZING. They perhaps weren't playing with the most original ideas - Spoiler evil doppelgangers, evil robots, a dark timeline where the Nazis won - but they made them their own and made them sing. Consistently clever, exciting, funny and touching. Wow. If S5+ can at least stay in a place between S3 and this, I'll be happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brannigan Posted June 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Ben X said: Just finished S4. So, from episode 9 onwards, it gets AMAZING. They perhaps weren't playing with the most original ideas - Hide contents evil doppelgangers, evil robots, a dark timeline where the Nazis won - but they made them their own and made them sing. Consistently clever, exciting, funny and touching. Wow. If S5+ can at least stay in a place between S3 and this, I'll be happy. I'd say it does? I feel like it goes too big and loses sight a little of what made s4 good. Certainly better than the first 3 seasons though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erkki Posted February 7, 2021 I just had a crazy Marvel week: As you can see from my ratings, I don't think any of them are great, but I still enjoyed it, at least most of the actors are good. I have seen some of the ones missing from this list, this was mainly for filling in gaps in my movie watching because almost everyone has seen these and they also featured in several lists I was following. I'm glad it's over with, I don't know what my future approach is to future Marvel movies... obviously I'm not a fan, but will I keep watching them more regularly now just to avoid having to do a similar marathon in 10 years? I don't know. But now I'm also starting to doubt myself a little bit. Would I maybe have thought more highly of some of these movies (e.g. Thor: Ragnarök), if I hadn't watched them as part of a crazy marathon, but for example as a single Marvel movie that I've seen all year? It's possible, because I remember I enjoyed Dr. Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy way more than any of these ones, when I saw them out of the blue because friends invited me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted February 7, 2021 You should definitely doubt yourself with regards to that Ragnarok rating. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sammy00 Posted November 8, 2021 I love Marvel movies. I'm always waiting for new movies about superheroes. They are always dynamic, exciting and with very cool special effects. Recently I watched the movie Avengers: Endgame. After watching Infinity War, I was looking forward to the release of the Endgame. The film is filled with funny moments, irony in relation to oneself. And I just love it. In general, the creators of the Final do not let us relax, they prepare us for the denouement. So inevitable, so logical and at the same moment so terrible! Two and a half hours in front of us is just an unrealistically cool and positive picture, and then thirty minutes of pain and fear. A film with a logical but unpleasant ending. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigJKO Posted January 3 Aside from the above forum member who is definitely a real person, is anyone else still excited about Marvel movies? I'm starting to get a little excited about the next batch. Thunderbirds kind of looks like a real movie with nice cinematography, but we'll see. I think Pugh is really fun as Yelena. Captain America: New World Order Brave New World trailer kind of slaps, editing-wise but the visuals are sort of all over the place. Will be interesting to see how chopped-up it'll feel considering the amount of time it's been in development and the re-writes and re-shoots. Apparently Giancarlo Esposito is a late addition? I'm mega-excited about a 50s retro-futurist Fantastic Four: First Steps. And totally forgot that it's coming out this year?! As for future stuff: I think the Doctor Doom announcement was simultaneously super desperate and kind of brilliant. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigJKO Posted February 7 Rewatched Captain America: The Winter Soldier, preparing for the new Captain America and man.. that is a *very* tight film compared to MCU films later on. From the very first running scene with Steve and Sam, the first 50 minutes or so fly by so quickly, with the big boat setpiece, Fury's escape and the elevator fight. It's just really tight action film-making and Cap feels so chunky and powerful in this one. Absolute love it. Sort of slowly falls apart by the end, when it's a gigantic three helicarrier setpiece, but the first half is so good it carries you over the later half. Redford and Sam Jackson are great. After that I started Captain America: Civil War, which just immediately feels like such a downgrade. Lots of fun elements, but you can feel the bloat. Too many threads, too nebulous a threat from Zemo. The opening setpiece is no Lemurian Star. Has to do a lot of introductions and setting up before it can get anywhere. The big fight between them all at the airport is a lot of fun, but it's just there to be fun. I do like the central conflict between Tony and Steve and their final fight over Bucky is where the real stuff is, but the way there is just too sweaty. So.. I'm still excited to see the fourth one. I really like the trailers they've been putting out for it. Maybe Ford can bring some good Redford energy to this one. Speaking of trailers! The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer looks awesome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigJKO Posted February 14 Damn.. Captain America: Brave New World was really middling to bad. Very messy, sometimes good, never even close to great. Often just flat out boring. Spoiler Just.. I don’t know what secret sauce they’re missing from when they made Wonter Soldier. They have all the setup, but none of it builds up properly and just sort of fizzles out into nothing. Giancarlo feels like he’s airdropped into the movie from a different movie. Ford brings some gravitas but the movie isn’t directed well enough to capitalize on his gravitas, so it also falls flat. The closest thing to working is Lumbly’s Isaiah Bradley storyline. But even that feels chopped up. I also quite liked the main villain’s whole deal until that sort of unraveled by the end and the movie lost interest in him.. It was also a bummer when you realize the whole movie is just building towards the big fight that’s already been shown in the trailer. I would be very interested to know what the shape of the film was before they started redoing so much of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lechimp Posted February 21 Wasn't Giancarlo's character added in during reshoots? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigJKO Posted March 28 Yeah, he was and it’s dreadfully obvious. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
