#comic book movie | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 18 days

Text

Is It Really That Bad?

“The hierarchy of power in the DC universe is about to change.”

So said Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson many, many times in the lead up to the debut of his superhero vehicle Black Adam. And, at the time, it sounded like he may have been telling the truth. Johnson was at a point in his career where he’d gained a bit of respect as an actor after his early career was plagued by boring garbage like Doom and campy cheese like The Scorpion King; he now had showcased some comedic acting prowess in films like Moana and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and in the former film he also got to show a bit of emotion when needed. Also in the case of the former, he was clearly very passionate about playing Maui, and it seemed like he was passionate about portraying Captain Mar—Er, SHAZAM’S archenemy as well, seeing as he’d been attached to a movie about the guy since about 2007 and was now able to swing his Hollywood clout around to push it out of development hell. And while the DCEU was on a bit of shaky ground thanks to Wonder Woman 1984 being infamously bad even for a film shat out during COVID, James Gunn’s one-two punch of critically acclaimed cult classic The Suicide Squad and the fantastic spin-off series Peacemaker gave people hope that DC was on the rise and we were about to be given some of the best Johnson we’d ever experienced.

Unfortunately, that’s just not how things panned out. Black Adam ended up being yet another in a string of bombs for DC, and this wouldn’t be so noteworthy if not for a certain cameo.

Leaked online ahead of the film’s premier, people got super hyped that Henry Cavill was finally back as Superman after faceless teases of the character in Peacemaker and Shazam! No more jerking the audience around, this was full confirmation Cavill was back, and he’d be fighting Adam (a longstanding dream of Johnson’s)! The audience was absolutely ecstatic, and whatever else could be said about the movie everyone was hopeful about the future of DC!

But let’s be real here: A couple of good films notwithstanding, the DCEU was a disease-ridden old pooch, and it had to be put out of its misery with a Gunn. James Gunn was announced to be taking over the DC movie universe and ushering in a continuity reboot to unfuck the messy and convoluted universe, one of the exceedingly rare good decisions WB has made in the past decade. But such a change in the hierarchy of power was not something that was good for this film (or any of the forthcoming DC films), and not helping matters were some of Johnson’s more egotistical decisions coming to light, such as vetoing an appearance by Zachary Levi and forcing in the aforementioned Supernan cameo.

The result was yet another bomb on DC’s hands, losing an estimated $100 million due to its budget ballooning. But this didn’t have the issues that the other recents bombs had; it didn’t have to compete with a Sonic movie like Birds of Prey, it didn’t have to deal with having an abysmal predecessor that scared audiences away like The Suicide Squad, and it wasn’t an astonishingly awful piece of dogshit with horrendous writing starring and directed by two phenomenally terrible human beings like Wonder Woman 1984. It failed because Johnson got too big for his britches and couldn’t just change course to deliver a Shazam sequel and instead tried to swing his Hollywood superstar dick around when the writing was on the wall for the franchise.

But now that some time has passed and we’re on our way to seeing what Gunn’s new take on DC will be, let’s take a look at the death rattle of the DCEU and see if it’s really that bad.

THE GOOD

Dwayne Johnson’s genuine passion for Adam honestly shines through. Like this isn’t really a character who is breaking new ground or reinventing the wheel or anything, but within the framework of the story the film is telling Johnson does an exceptional job bringing the character to life and manages to inject quality acting into the performance. The emotional backstory moments land, the humor lands, it’s just a Rock-solid superhero movie performance. And while he doesn’t end up feeling very antiheroic overall, he rips the bad guy in half with his bare hands while shooting off a one-liner, a moment so fucking cool it makes me a lot more lenient with some of the film’s flaws.

youtube

Of course, as much as he’d like to be the best thing in the movie, Johnson really can’t hold a candle to Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate. You can always count on a former Bond actor to deliver, and he adds a sense of class to the proceedings, especially in his interactions with Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman. Hodge is a bit more of a mixed bag, but when he’s bouncing off of Brosnan he really shines. Seriously, Brosnan is just the MVP of this movie. This might be his best late-career role since Mamma Mia!

All of the action in the movie is great, even by superhero movie standards. That’s not to say everything is amazingly plot relevant, but all of the fight scenes are exceptionally well done and exciting. When two dudes are punching the shit out of each other or Adam is vaporizing thugs, it’s a lot of dumb fun. Going off of the previous point, they actually manage to utilize Fate's powers in a lot of fun and interesting ways that make him a delight to watch in his few battles, and Hawkman is no slouch being a winged dude who can have a midair battle with Adam.

Also, there’s just something really nice and refreshing about seeing a Middle Eastern country being liberated from its oppressors by a powerful guardian who wants them free from tyranny. It feels very topical even though it pretty obviously wasn’t intentional at all. If you wanted to be extremely charitable, you could call this a pro-Palestine response to Wonder Woman 1984 and its blatant Islamophobia. Do I personally believe that? Uh, no. Does it really make the film any better if it is the case? Er...

THE BAD

I think one of the things that absolutely wounds this film is its steadfast refusal to engage with the source material it’s adapting. Shazam laid the groundwork for this movie, setting up Adam’s appearance down the road, and then this movie doesn’t even mention Billy Batson at all. We get a cameo from Superman, sure, but Superman isn’t Adam’s archenemy is he? And this issue is apparently directly traceable to the Big Johnson himself. There’s this idea that he has it that he can never look stupid in movies or lose big battles, and I don’t necessarily believe that’s an actual thing, but it feels really true here. How’re you gonna be a badass anti-hero and get your ass whupped by a teenager? It’s a dumb thing to worry about when you’re playing a character known for it though, and it’s even dumber to veto a cameo of that character just because you wanna be a big tough guy who only fights macho men like Superman—and that’s exactly what Johnson used his clout to do. It honestly makes me wonder why he wanted to play a villain most famous for going up against the original Captain Marvel if he didn’t want to engage with the character at all.

Maybe this would be easier to swallow if we had a villain who wasn’t a forgettable CGI sack of shit, but sadly as badass a concept as SABBAC the demonic anti-Shazam sounds on paper this is all he ends up amounting to. His human form, Ishmael, is even worse and blander, though I do find it funny Marwan Kenzari has twice now performed as an underwhelming villain who turned into a big red CGI demon turd.

Also, as cool as Dr. Fate and Hawkman are, the other members of the Justice Society are so utterly forgettable and superfluous to the plot that it’s easy to forget they’re even there most of the time. I can’t remember a single thing of note they did. It’s a shame too, since they have interesting powers and designs, but they are just so unimportant to what’s going on that it’s hard to care about them. And it’s not even the heroes who are dull and forgettable; the Kandaq people we follow throughout the film are just really forgettable as well. The fact only a handful of characters will make any impression on you in a film with this chunky runtime is really troubling.

But the biggest crime of the film is just that it plays everything way too safe. This is strictly formula, plain and simple, hitting all the beats of your generic origin story for a hero with just a teeny tiny bit more brutality because they’re trying to sell Adam as a badass anti-hero. Except, no, it doesn’t really work because he’s neutered by the PG-13 rating for the most part and he never really comes off as morally gray or unscrupulous. This man ain’t a badass, he’s a badbutt. The point is, you’ve seen this exact story play out a million times before—and usually better—to the point where you could probably guess certain lines of dialogue before they happen and you’ll likely figure out where the plot’s going ages ahead of the characters.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

Black Adam is pretty much the definition of “mid.” It’s not an awful film. It’s not a great film. It’s not a film that really brings about much of a strong emotional response no matter what way you slice it. But it’s not a wholly unpleasant viewing experience either. It’s just… fine. It’s an okay movie.

But “okay” is not what DC needed, and it’s certainly not what Johnson wanted for this character he was so passionate about that he stuck with him for almost twenty years and used his massive star power he’d accumulated to get it made when he could have easily swung that power into making some dramatic passion project. He wanted this to be big, he wanted to be the next big anti-hero, he wanted to fight Superman so goddamn bad… But it’s ultimately this ego that held the film back. This is a dude who is supposed to fight Shazam, but Johnson was dead set on him fighting the other buff flying super dude; if he really wanted to fight Superman so bad, why not push to play a Superman villain? He has proven time and time again he’s funny, so why not make him Bizarro? Or get really crazy and cast him as Lex Luthor, bald and occasionally buff super genius archenemy of Superman? There are so many dudes who actually fight Superman that Johnson could pull off and yet he chose to forcefully repurpose another hero’s villain instead of shifting gears a bit. The whole film just ends up feeling like a massive monument to his ego and hubris as opposed to the passion project it obviously was, and he unfortunately only has himself to blame there.

Ultimately, while I don’t think Black Adam is responsible for the DCEU dying—this film series was on life support since Dawn of Justice—it definitely is emblematic of every single problem that brought down the series. It just genuinely doesn’t understand what fans of the character would want to see, it features a bland and underwhelming villain only there for some cool action scenes, and it sets up so many things that would never be delivered upon. Sure, there’s plenty to like here, but why bother when you can watch something else with these same good qualities and actually have it be more than decent background noise? You wanna see some great Pierce Brosnan acting in an action movie? I have great news! He made three James Bond movies worth watching, and also Die Another Day! You want a good comic book anti-hero movie? Go watch Dredd, The Suicide Squad, or even Punisher: War Zone. Dead set on a movie where a buff hero with your typical flying brick powers fights some evil demons? Just go watch Shazam!

I hope this movie failing so hard and leaving so much egg on Johnson’s face humbles him a bit and gets him to check his ego in the future, because I do genuinely enjoy the guy’s movies. He’s got good comedic chops, he’s pretty charming when he wants to be, and he’s great at elevating batshit material if given the chance as Southland Tales’ unorthodox use of him goes to show. I’d like to see him go back to doing weirder, smaller stuff for a while and maybe build back confidence in his acting career again because right now he’s almost as big a joke as the Scorpion King CGI in The Mummy Returns. He’s just not respected as much as he was a few years ago, and this overhyped bomb is what did it.

I’d say the score here is just about right. This really isn’t a bad movie, but it’s not anything special either; it’s just some mindless entertainment to put on in the background while you do something else. It genuinely is a shame, because this could have been a great movie that ushered in a fantastic new age for the DCEU, with Johnson saving the franchise after the past blunders of Snyder almost tanked it… But he came too little, too late and his movie ended up paying the price. And while it’s not fair to lay all the blame on Black Adam, it’s hard to feel too sorry when it does next to nothing to justify its existence beyond a scant few memes, and even in that regard it is outdone by far worse (and thus more entertaining) films like Morbius and Madame Web. This movie is, sadly, just nothing. It is a nothing film that elicits no strong feelings and you’ll likely forget it soon after watching it. It won’t be an unpleasant experience to view, but I’d be shocked if it leaves anything beyond the most minimal impact on you. It is the dictionary definition of “mid.”

#is it really that bad?#IIRTB #review #movie review #Black Adam #DCEU #Dwayne Johnson #DC #DC comics #comic book movie #superhero movie #Youtube

10 notes · View notes

kimjimagery · 3 months

Text

I did some more research on the movie Goomer (1999) because it intrigues me, I wanted to find out more about it then I stumbled across one of the artists who worked on it and I found this!

If this is true that means that this movie started out as a series but then they changed it to be one movie which would explain these missing clips that I saw on YouTube but only the people who worked on this film can confirmed this.

If anyone else have seen this movie un edited with theses clips please let me know.

youtube

#Goomer #Goomer 1999 #2d animation #comic book movie #Spanish film #comic #movie adaptation #obscure #lost media #tumblr radar #sci fi #Youtube

7 notes · View notes

cinesludge · 7 months

Text

Movie #78 of 2023: Dredd

14 notes · View notes

professorambrius · 11 months

Text

Jeremy Will Continue to Act!

Jeremy plans to continue acting and playing Hawkeye as long as it's okay with his daughter.

#My post #Jeremy Renner #Jeremy Renner Update #Jeremy Renner's Recovery #Jeremy Renner's career #Clint Barton #Hawkeye #Comic Book Movie

22 notes · View notes

secondaryartifacts · 1 year

Text

Hot take: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania may be the perfect CBM. Near perfection.

You may not agree if you don’t read comic books. This film will be very polarizing. Lots of folks don’t know what to make of it. There are lots of critics who are comparing it to other MCU films as they have recent Thor sequels but they are not paying attention to the right things. Maybe this film is not for them. Or you?

Stan Lee in his With Great Power documentary: “I want to do more. More writing. More movies. More lecturing. More everything. The problem is time. I wish there was more time.” This is the crux of Quantumania.

The dilemma of Scott Lang and Hope. Lost childhood of Cassie. Regret of Janet and Hank. Menace and banality of Kang. One supreme axiom that dogs the little guy, parent, teen, lover, super hero, and super villain alike, on all levels. Time.

Few understand this.

Least of which the critics of the 31st film in the MCU. The start of phase 5 is about time. Inevitability. Futility. Perspective. Cycle of life. Cause and effect. This is not your regular CBM. But it’s exactly like a good comic book story arc in the four color pages by Stan Lee and his peers from the early days of Marvel story telling.

Time is the ultimate currency. If you are Gen X like me, you think a lot about time, right now. The debates of boomers vs millennials and those upstart, digital native Gen Z kids are all around the fringe of a self importance debate. Gen X are the ones in charge of this story because it’s our place at the center and we are reflecting on being stuck in the middle as referees and self made protagonists who were never given recognition for our role in the first place. This is Kevin Feige. This is Scott Lang. This is Hope van Dyne.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is bizarre and strange and weird and alien – because humanity is alien here – and skewed perspective is the main foil in all of the character dev, relationships and the action itself. The commonality at play is empathy or lack thereof. Morals and best intentions vs failures and mistakes. Balanced vs imbalanced against time.

I loved this film and I’m excited for what’s next. Paul Rudd is a national treasure. Jonathan Majors is one of the most interesting actors out there. Make mine Marvel.

Excelsior!!

Did you see the latest Marvel film? What did you think?

#movie #review #film #mcu #ant-man and the wasp: quantumania #ant-man #the wasp #Jonathan majors #Paul Rudd #Stan Lee #marvel #comic books #cbm #comic book movie #Scott Lang #Kang #kang the conqueror #quantum realm #quantumania

21 notes · View notes

mechaniz89reviews · 2 months

Text

Madame Web Review

Oh boy. Where to start with this? I really wanted to like this film when i first heard it was being made. I had always loved the Madame Web character, especially the 90s animated series version.

But, sadly, it wasn't meant to be.

First of all, this project, at least from my point of view, was kept in the dark. Like, it was hearing it being announced to oh its coming out next week. The fuck?

But anyway, first I'll tell you a spoil free version of what i had an issue with and then give you the points i thought weren't bad or at least, that bad.

Ok, the two things that i felt like sank this film, was

A: The story.

B: The acting.

Story-wise, i felt this story was lazy and predictable. We all saw where everything was going just from the start. As it started, i felt deja-vu because this set up has been done so much. Parent doing something important, then something bad happening which greatly affects the main protagonist later. I felt i was being spoon fed story here.

As for how it ended, I hated the final fight. Some of it was done ok, but it was still predictable and mostly terrible CGI as well as a big WTF moment.

Acting-wise, they were everywhere. At some points, trying way to hard and at others, no where near hard enough. Mostly from the lead actress. Seems like half of the movie, she was barely going through the motions and it shined through. It felt like she found out during filming it wasn't a MARVEL film, but a SONY film. Which shows very VERY well throughout the film.

Now, as for the things I liked.

I enjoyed the Spider-Girls. Yes i know they don't have an official name.

I liked the chemistry the 3 actresses had. Little rough at first but then became pretty fluid and seemed to have fun. Of course, i enjoyed all the sexy spider suits, but this one especially.

Also, she was probably one of my favorite characters.

Safe to assume I'm a Sydney Sweeney fan now and I'd watch any Spider movie with her in it.

Anyways, back to the other stuff i liked.

The other thing i liked was the fact that they used a practical villain... most of the time. Which, even if it's a badly or overused villain type, I'll enjoy a practical villain then a CGI mess.

This is Ezekiel Sims, the big bad of this film. Not the best by any means but I still enjoyed the practical scenes with this actor in the suit. I'm a fan suits and having someone in one on set, interacting with people was awesome. I feel like, this was a preview of what a potential serial killer Spider-Man film could be. just saying.

in short, awesome idea and awesome potential. Meh, execution.

And the final thing that i liked, actually has to do with the trailer. The trailer actually misleads us into thinking one thing about this which turns out to be the other way. Which I love. I hate it when trailers tell you EVERY SINGLE FUCKING THING about the films plot.

This one, at least, misleads us to give us a slight surprise. Which I can appreciate.

Alrighty, think I'll end it here. This film, like sooooo many other Sony films, had so much potential, but it fell short because of the people in charge at Sony...and possibly others but whatever. The hardcore Madame Web or Spider-Man fan may enjoy this film just to see characters on the screen. Otherwise, this film is pretty damn bad. My love for the Madame Web character is the only reason I'm not completely blowing this film to hell.

I give it a 2/10.

2/23/2024

Ya FUCKED it up again Sony.

#madame web #sony #marvel #spiderman #spidergirls #spider #spiders #review #comic book movie #comic book movie review #mechanized reviews

2 notes · View notes

askmovieslate · 2 years

Photo

Doctor Strange.

No, I’m not saying this to take advantage of the sequel being in the theater, I genuinely love this movie, it’s a lot of fun. Sure, the structure of the screenplay is nothing special, and it follows the Marvel formula, but everything else is fantastic.

Also I love Benedict Cumberbatch, he’s great in everything.

#Doctor Strange #Marvel #MCU #Ask Blog #Web Comic #Unicorn #Changeling #Pony #Ask Pony Blog #Ask Movie Slate #Comic Panel #Comic Book Movie

81 notes · View notes

i-reviews-tuff · 5 months

Text

The Marvels (2023)

Why all the bitching and moaning?

Quick Reviews/MCU/Definitely Rewatch Directed by Nia DaCosta Written by Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonell, & Elissa Karasik Based on characters by Marvel Comics Starring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaky, & Samuel L. Jackson Release Date: November 10, 2023 Running Time: 1hr 45min Rating: PG13 Carol…

View On WordPress

#2020s #2023 #action #Brie Larson #comic book movie #Gary Lewis #Iman Vellani #Marvel Cinematic Universe #Mohan Kapur #Nia DaCosta #Park Seo-joon #Saagar Shaikh #Samuel L. Jackson #sci-fi #superhero #Teyonah Parris #Zawe Ashton #Zenobia Shroff

2 notes · View notes

nerdby · 8 months

Text

Happy 30th Anniversary To The X-Files❣️🛸

"Question everything." -Albert Einstein

17 notes · View notes

arcadebroke · 2 years

Photo

#Richard Philpott #Batman Returns #poster #art #design #character art #movie poster #DC Comics #90s #1990s #90s movie #comic book movie

42 notes · View notes

wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 1 year

Text

Michael in the Mainstream: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

As most people know by now, I am a huge fan of superhero movies and have been since I was a kid. I grew up with Batman, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and even Ghost Rider, and I loved the transition into the MCU and the huge leap in care and respect towards the source material.

Still, I don’t think it was really until 2014 that I really came to love the genre like I do now. I sat down in a theater for a little movie called Guardians of the Galaxy, not knowing what to expect since this was a pretty obscure superhero team comprised of characters I’d never heard of, directed by a guy whose work I wasn’t familiar with at the time (aside from Scooby-Doo, of course). The opening scene, in which Peter “Star-Lord” Quill watches his mother die before being abducted by aliens had me intrigued. But when the next scene began and Chris Pratt began dancing through the ruins of an alien world to the sound of Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” I knew I was watching something special, something extraordinary. I left the theater that day with a new all-time favorite film.

Fast forward nine years. The superhero movie landscape has changed a lot in that time, but there are only two things really relevant to the topic at hand. The first is that people have grown incredibly tired of Marvel’s brand of humor and witty banter, something that really defined the first two Guardians movies. It doesn’t help that so many superhero films, even outside of Marvel, tried to crib their style without understanding why people liked it there (looking at you, Suicide Squad). People don’t mind some humor to lighten things up, but they also want dramatic moments and genuine emotion to let them connect to the characters.

The second is that the MCU wrapped up its decade-long overarching plot and gave a few characters the satisfying conclusions they deserved while leaving some threads dangling for the future. It was a truly massive event that felt like the end of an era… and it was immediately followed by Disney churning out dozens of movies and shows in only a couple of years, inundating the market and pushing out products that feel incredibly half-baked and underwritten. Even the ones I’d call great like Wakanda Forever or No Way Home suffer from the sort of wonkiness that the home runs of Phase 3 didn’t have, while the ones I didn’t like exacerbated all the problems people have with Marvel. Now I don’t believe in “superhero fatigue,” because people still want superheroes. What they don’t want is bad movies, and too many of the films lately are falling short of audience expectations.

And that brings us to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Despite James Gunn having hit it out of the park with Marvel twice before and hopping over to DC to redeem their cinematic universe with two of their best entries, the aforementioned points weighed heavily on everyone’s minds. That’s not even getting into the film’s tumultuous development, with Gunn being fired and then rehired, which only further had people worried about the gang of intergalactic goofballs. Even from a man so known for quality superhero cinema that DC put him in charge of their own cinematic universe, the odds seemed stacked against this film delivering.

But in spite of all that, even with all these things against the film, Gunn managed to pull off one of the rarest feats imaginable: He went three for three and delivered an amazing finale to a perfect trilogy.

Now, when I say “perfect” I don’t mean the films are without flaw, because a movie without flaw does not exist. What I mean is that the trilogy consistently builds on core themes while maintaining its identity throughout, as well as maintaining a high level of quality throughout. Think of the original three Star Wars films or The Lord of the Rings to see what I mean. The key is to start strong, keep building through the middle, and then conclude on a strong note that wraps everything up nicely. In short: Be a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Vol. 3 manages to pull off being that satisfying endpoint that no other superhero third movie has been able to so far.

The big way the film does that is by recontextualizing the series in a big way: It establishes that, rather than Peter Quill, the trilogy’s true protagonist has been Rocket. It makes sense when you look back on the movies and see how he has had the most development (which is even more pronounced when you remember he and Nebula were the only Guardians to survive the Snap), and this film is no exception other than taking this to the logical conclusion by making him the focus character and the one who drives the plot. It’s frankly amazing how a character who spends two acts in a coma dreaming of his heartbreaking backstory still manages to feel relevant even when he’s not actively participating in the plot, and when he is Bradley Cooper makes a case for being one of the single greatest actors in the MCU.

That’s not to say the other characters are bad, though! Every single one of the Guardians’ actors brings their A-game here, especially the ones for whom this is definitively their last rodeo (Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana). Bautista is finally given his due, getting to play Drax as more than just dumb muscle, while Saldana gets to play a more brutal and vicious Gamora than we’ve seen before. Outside of them, the very best performance is probably from Karen Gillan as Nebula who, while still as crabby as ever, genuinely feels like a part of the family for the first time and gets to play the straight man to a lot of antics.

I think it’s also worth pointing out how good Chris Pratt is here, especially after Quill was something of a joke in the Avengers films. Here, Quill is back to his proper characterization and gets a great character arc that plays to Pratt’s strengths, unlike many of his modern roles. I know there’s been a bit of a Pratt fatigue lately, but he’s in his element under Gunn and delivers one of his strongest performances yet. And with all that said, no matter how minor (Cosmo) or out of focus (Groot) a Guardian is compared to the core cast, they all get their time to shine in the third act with a finale that makes use of all their skills in unique and creative ways. No one really feels underutilized here, even if they don’t get as much spotlight as others.

I think one of the more divisive new additions is going to be Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock, though I think most of that will hinge on how familiar you are with his established character in the comics. As I’m not super familiar with Warlock, but do love Poulter even in films I hate like Midsommar, I thoroughly enjoyed him here. He feels like Age of Ultron Vision done right, a powerful being only recently born but forced into dramatic conflict. He is a bit underplayed unfortunately, but you know we’ll be seeing more of him soon enough, and at the very least he gets a handful of really funny moments and some cool scenes to build him up. They could have done more with him, but I certainly loved him.

This movie certainly ends up being one of the darkest films in the entire MCU, and nearly all that darkness is the result of the film’s villain, the High Evolutionary, who is quite possibly the most evil villains in comic book movie history, if not necessarily the very best (though I certainly think he’s up there). His entire character revolves around his insane god complex, and to satisfy it he abuses animals, cruelly experiments on living beings, and commits genocide with an unnerving casualness. On top of that, he’s just incredibly petty, never missing an opportunity to either figuratively or literally kick the dog. Chukwudi Iwuji is clearly relishing every moment he has playing a guy who can switch from classy visionary villain to frothing lunatic at the drop of a hat. If nothing else, it’s just so refreshing to see a villain without a tragic backstory or sympathetic motivations and who is just an asshole, plain and simple. This might not work for everyone because it does leave him as a rather simple character, but sometimes it’s just nice to see a villain who’s just a massive cunt that you want to watch die with every fiber of your being. He’s pretty easily the best villain of the entire trilogy, and considering how good Ego was and how fantastic Kurt Russell is as an actor, that’s really saying something.

You will not be surprised to hear that the soundtrack is good, because Gunn has not missed once when it comes to these soundtracks. It’s not quite as good as Vol. 2’s soundtrack—how could it be when there’s no Fleetwood Mac?—but the variety of decades the Zune brings beyond the 70s and 80s tunes of the first couple of movies really help set the scenes. It’s never bad to hear Faith No More’s “We Care a Lot,” and the movie has the best use of the Beastie Boys in a movie starring Chris Pratt that you’ll see this year.

What is surprising, though, is that the CGI isn’t dogshit. We’re not talking Avatar levels of quality, but it’s still a damn pretty movie, and this is supported by some fantastic practical effects and costumes. The only real complaints I’ve got are that the humor doesn’t always land and there are some rather weird editing choices, but aside from that you can tell everyone working on this was given the time to make sure this was the sendoff these heroes deserve.

And I think that’s the movie’s ultimate strength: It’s a true sendoff, and not just setup for the future. The characters conclude their arcs, and unlike with Endgame all of the endings our heroes get feel fitting, satisfying, and well-earned. We may see some of these characters again someday, but for certain members of the Guardians you can tell they’ve finally ended up where they need to be. And this is a good thing! All stories need an ending, and as far as endings go this is one of the best.

At the very end of the film, the audience gets to experience something the other characters have throughout these films: We get to clearly and without translation understand what Groot is saying, symbolizing how we as an audience have become as close to him as his friends have. In essence, we are all Guardians of the Galaxy now. Our journey, too, has come to its logical conclusion; we’ve seen these characters we’ve followed for so long complete their arcs and end up where they need to be. Isn’t it nice to reach a conclusion, however bittersweet it is?

This is one of the best superhero movies out there, and easily one of the top 5 MCU films. If you like superhero movies and are tired of the same old slop being shoveled out, you need to go see this movie, because it shows a bright future where creative control goes to the filmmakers so they can make films with heart and soul. The future of DC is definitely in good hands, that’s for sure. And if this is ultimately where you get off the superhero rollercoaster, I can’t blame you when this is the best stopping point we’re likely to get. For me, my days of obsessively making sure I see every Marvel project are over; I’ll stick to checking out what interests me, ignoring what doesn’t, and being at peace knowing my favorite heroes got a satisfying conclusion.

15 notes · View notes