Marvel

Film Review – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The first Black Panther film was a runaway success that breathed new life into the MCU. It gave more depth to the fantastic character first introduced in Civil War and gave Chadwick Boseman a chance to really make an impression in the Marvel franchise. T’Challa was set to become one of the strongest and most loved characters that these films have produced. You can see how much he meant to people by the reaction to his death in 2020. Marvel film fans mourned his passing to colon cancer. As it was Hollywood, talk quickly turned to what would happen with Black Panther in the future. Some suggested that they could simply recast. There was also talk of digitally recreating Boseman. The most obvious choice was to move Shuri, T’Challa’s sister into the spotlight as she did in the comics. But would this film ever get beyond the sadness of losing its lead actor? I had to find out.

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Film Review – Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

To say that it was one of the few Marvel films that I’ve actually been looking forward to, it’s taken a really long time for me to actually watch the most recent Thor film. I meant to go and see it in the cinema but Covid kept preventing it. So, it was one of the first things that I watched following its release on Disney+ last week. I was really looking forward to it because I loved The Mighty Thor run of comics. It was always going to a dodgy one with fans though. I remember when the comic first came out and a guy I worked with was livid. He couldn’t understand why there could be a female version of Thor when he’s based on Norse mythology. I had no time for him or his nonsense.

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Film Review – Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

There’s a major problem in the MCU right now. Spoilers. The Dr Strange sequel has been out for less than 2 weeks and already I’ve seen so many spoilers. First, Charlize Theron ruined the mid-credits scene on her social media. Then Elizabeth Olsen confirmed a character’s presence by talking about an actor in an interview. Yes, I know they were both rumoured to be happening but why do they need to be confirmed by the cast within the first week of release?

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Tuesday Review – Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Spoilers man. You can’t get away from them these days. I’m not just talking about idiots on social media either. I’m talking news outlets. Or at least websites that like to think they’re news outlets. The new Spider-Man film has been out less than a month and one of the biggest plot points has become common knowledge thanks to countless articles. I know it’s not as if we hadn’t already figured it out but it still seems unsportsmanly for there to be quite so many articles about it. Not everyone can get to the cinema within the first few weeks of a film and they should get to experience the joy firsthand.

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Tuesday Review – Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

After watching the first Venom film in 2018, I wasn’t exactly thrilled by the idea of a sequel. It wasn’t something that I was rushing out to see. However, I had did have enough faith in Andy Serkis to be interested. It’s taken a bit of time but this week I finally got around to seeing it. My friend had already seen it and I’d got them to tell me about the post-credit scene but that’s not a big problem. Although, a lot of the feedback that I’ve seen have said that the post-credit sequence is the best thing about it. Could the second film possibly be as bad or worse than the first one?

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Tuesday Review – Eternals (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

It’s probably quite odd to be reviewing another Marvel film this week considering how much I’ve been banging on about my MCU fatigue. It’s true. I can’t say that I was exactly rushing to watch Eternals but I also had to give it a go. After the reaction from the critics, I needed to see for myself. It’s been funny watching Disney market this film without many positive reviews from the usual places. It’s why so many of their trailers are filled with quotes by random Marvel fanboy bloggers. It just screams of desperation but Disney is doing whatever they could to make this film seem worth watching. But who was right? The professionals or the fans? I had to see for myself.

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Tuesday Review – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Is anyone suffering from Marvel fatgue? It just feels so overwhelming to be a fan of the MCU these days. Not only are all the films pretty formulaic right now but they are trying to do something huge. It doesn’t help that I was reading about Dr Strange 2 today and the prospect of characters from Fox’s X-Men movies finally arriving in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s become so big. So much has changed since those early days when there were only about 6 superheroes to contend with. This general fatigue is part f the reason that it’s taken until now to watch Shang-Chi. I just needed a break. What with WandaVision and Loki ending in such cliched Marvel ways, I just wasn’t ready to go back to the big blockbusters. Now that it’s on Disney+, I figured it was time to see what it’s all about.

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Bitesize Book Reviews 7

books, reviews
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Marvel’s Eternals is out now and I can’t say that I’m that bothered. It doesn’t help that the critical reaction hasn’t been ideal. It says a lot about a film when they are pushing the reviews of normal people on social media or random people with film blogs. I guess it doesn’t help that I don’t know much about the characters. I’ve never read any of The Eternals comics so I’m utterly clueless about where they fit into the world. I’m also suffering from Marvel fatigue and can’t really face the new directions they’re going in. The total expansion of the MCU and the nonstop Marvel franchises. It’s all so much. The fact that everything has to link also irritates me. When you are manufacturing scenes just to tie films together then something is wrong. Write to add to the story not or don’t write it at all. Anyway, to try and increase my excitement, I decided to delve into a few graphic novels. The first 3 that I got free on my Kindle in fact.

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Sunday Rundown: That’s What She Read

books, films, rundown
Sunday Rundown

What have you been reading this week?

Work is absolutely destroying my spirit at the moment. There’s so much to do and everyone is so over-stretched. On Friday, I rejoiced over having an empty inbox for the first time all week even though I still had so much outstanding stuff to still do. I guess you just have to celebrate where you can. Despite having no energy all week, I’ve actually done quite well on the reading front. I’m not one book ahead and have finished my Spell the Month reading challenge early. Meaning I’m trying to squeeze one more book in before September 1st. Who the hell do I think I am?

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TBT Review – Spider-Man 3 (2007)

films, reviews, TBT

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Yesterday, the official teaser trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home was released. It comes after months of speculation about just who would be turning up wearing the spider suit in this film. Are Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield really make an appearance? We’ve known for some time that some of the familiar villains would be returning for this film and the trailer gave us a glimpse of what we’re in for. With obvious references to the Green Goblin and Electro, there is also the possibility that Sandman and Lizard are hiding in there. With so many evil faces returning, it reminds me of the last time that a Spider-Man film tried to cram too many foes into one film. So, I decided to do what many wouldn’t dare and watch the worst Peter Parker film of the lot. Yes folks, I actually went back to watch Spider-Man 3.

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