I hadn’t expected to enjoy Sing so it took me a while to get round to it. I think, in the end, it was only after I heard Taron Egerton singing ‘I’m Still Standing’ that I decided to watch it. I enjoyed it. I mean, it wasn’t groundbreaking or outstanding but it was fun. Fun enough that I was interested in watching the sequel even before I knew Adam Buxton had a starring role as a Proboscis monkey dance instructor. But was that enough to make this film necessary?
During all of the press surrounding Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson criticised the film in which she made her first MCU appearance. Johansson spoke out about the “hypersexualisation” of her character during the film. Of course, she didn’t have an awful lot to say about Joss Whedon’s decision to focus on her arse as much as possible during Avengers but never mind. It’s not like you can disagree with her. Everything about Nat’s first appearance in this franchise problematic when you look back. First and foremost, the way she looks. It’s her worst look by far and speaks to the male gaze that comes from the comic books. That awful red wig doesn’t really work and makes Johansson look much less beautiful than she really is. Yes, she’s still one of the best looking people on the planet so it’s all relative. Now with all of this talk of Iron Man 2, I decided it was time to go back and rewatch it.
It’s been a long road getting to this Black Widow film. The character first appeared in the MCU way back in 2010 and has been sidelined ever since. Then the news finally hit that she was getting her chance in the spotlight. Of course, it wasn’t smooth sailing and Covid put the release date back by over a year. It’s fair to say that Natasha deserved a better deal but at least she’s finally the star of the show. Yes, it’s 4 years after Wonder Woman debuted and we’ve met Captain Marvel already. The fact is, Black Widow is here and we’ve got a lot to celebrate. For one thing, Scarlett Johansson is playing a character with an appropriate ethnic background. But this has always looked like a genuinely good film. The cast looked awesome ad there was plenty of potential to get to know the character from a different point of view.
Had I not been struck down with festive flu last week, I had planned to write a post about the things I liked and disliked about the latest Star Wars film. One of those things was Adam Driver and his Kylo Ren oversized sweater vibes. It was hot. It’s probably not the right thing to take away from The Rise of Skywalker but the casual Kylo Ren vibe is everything. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always believed Adam Driver was a beautiful man but his appearance in the last quarter of the film is insane. It was one of the first things my friend and I discussed upon leaving the showing. And it was something we both needed after watching him in Marriage Story. There’s nothing like showing two beautiful people going through a messy divorce to make them instantly unappealing. It feels like we’ve been hearing about marriage story for years and the wait has only increased my expectations and excitement for it. On paper, it had everything it needed to be great and provide Netflix with another Oscar contender. Even though I’ve never been the biggest Scarlett Johansson fan, I was excited to see how these two actors would work together. And I love me some Laura Dern and Noah Baumbach. It’s one of those cases where something would have needed to go horribly horribly wrong for not to enjoy it. But, let’s not forget, this is Netflix…
Yipee ki-yay, motherbooker 