Comic Book Movies

[Avaitor]

Not only is he back for Guardians, but he's still directing Suicide Squad 2.

Does that mean that'll actually be good? I don't want to have to deal with Margot Robbie's terrible Harley impression.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just got back from seeing an early access screening of Shazam! today. It was a lot of fun, and the tone felt just right. It's easily the most entertaining DCEU movie to date, and the better of the two "Captain Marvel" movies from this year.

I'll grant you that it's nothing outright amazing, but it's on the same level as a pretty good MCU flick, which as it stands is a good thing for DC compared to what's come before.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Oh yeah, Darkseid would have killed Lois in the Snyder Cut.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I don't know about you guys, but Thursday night tickets in all theaters around my area (Louisville, KY) for Avengers: Endgame have already mostly sold out crazy fast. I was put into a 20-minute waiting screen before it would allow me to purchase tickets. When I finally did get in there was literally only one seat left in any of the middle rows (which I quickly snagged, thankfully) and a few open in the very front row (where I never sit because it gives me a headache). And this is just in an area that's moderately populated at best. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like trying to get tickets back up in New Jersey where it's more densely populated and where I'd actually be trying to get a few seats together to see the movie with my brother and some friends (I don't have too many friends down here in KY, and the few that I do don't really care about Marvel movies).

At any rate, I got a pretty good seat and a decent showtime that I can actually make without having to leave work early, so I'm pretty happy. I'm honestly just really pumped to see Endgame as I'm unabashedly a fan of the MCU and this is my most anticipated movie of the year, easily.

[Dr. Insomniac]

It's alarming how quickly tickets are selling. I haven't even bought one in advance, and just hoping to watch it on the Friday it comes out.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I think it partly depends on where you live, as well. If you are in the city or any other densely populated area, most tickets for Thursday and Friday screenings would be sold out weeks in advance, except for maybe really late shows (I've seen ones going all the way to 3:00 AM). However, you might not have to deal with that if you live in smaller area. When I went to see Infinity War last year, back when I was staying in Paducah, I didn't seem to have any trouble whatsoever getting tickets to see the movie on opening night.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Now on the other side of the shore, comes the Joker trailer.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Jesus. Hellboy has a 10% on RT.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

While I don't put much stock in RT scores anymore, this doesn't really surprise me. Not only did the promotional material look like shit, but the fact that they wouldn't release the review embargo until this close to the movie's actual release was a pretty big warning sign as it is.

It's saddening that we had to drop Del Toro's inspired vision for this. I feel as though they would have done a better job trying to reason with him to decrease the budget somewhat than to just up and reboot everything. I've seen people defend the decision by saying that this would be a more comic-accurate adaptation of Mignola's source material, which was just PR bull-shit that anyone who was actually paying attention to the promotional material of this movie could see for what it was. If by more comic-accurate you mean more references to original work, then I'd probably give it at least that much, but even Del Toro's many creative liberties still had a strange and unique vibe to it that helped it stand apart from other comic book movie adaptations, in the same way that Mignola's work felt very removed from a lot of other genre comics that came out at the time. Perhaps it's premature of me to say this as I haven't seen the movie yet, but everything that I have seen just leads me to expect this to be a soulless product. Even for those who didn't particularly care for them, at least Del Toro's two entries had genuine care and passion put behind them to see out a director's vision rather than satisfy a committee checklist.

[Avaitor]

The new Hellboy doesn't seem to be pleasing anyone. Maybe I should give the del Toro movies another shot, since it's been a while, but I really want to read some of the original comics again first.

Oh, I got around to seeing Shazam! the other night, and I enjoyed it, but I'd be lying if I called it a super favorite. My main problem, besides Big being creepy and crappy, and a poor choice of core inspiration, is that a lot of the dramatic moments don't really land. That, and the action kind of sucks. But I agree that it's the better of the two Captain Marvel movies, and probably better than Aquaman when its best moments land.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, while I didn't marathon the MCU movies leading up to Endgame due to time constraints, I did basically re-watch all of the MCU films (except for The Incredible Hulk, as well as Captain Marvel which just came out) out of order over the past year since Infinity War. I concluded this loosely connected series of re-watches by re-watching the original Iron Man last night.

As I write this, I will be seeing Endgame in just a few hours. I am so incredibly excited for this that I can't remember a time that I was this hyped for a movie since Return of the King. I'm honestly even feeling somewhat emotional and I haven't even watched the movie yet. That said, as someone who has unabashedly been a fan of the MCU and superhero movies in general for as many years as I have, I'm insanely eager with anticipation to finally complete this movie-series journey that I (and millions of others) have been on for the past 11 years.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just got back from the movie.

I don't think that I'm going to stop thinking about this one for a while. How much you get out of it personally as a movie experience will depend on your level of attachment (or lack thereof) to the MCU. If you are a fan like I have been, though, this one hits you hard in the feels. I have a few issues and nitpicks, but the overall experience was overwhelmingly satisfying.

It's also one of the most unique films in the genre that I have ever seen for the first two-thirds, with the final hour being comprised of perhaps some of the greatest moments in any superhero film ever made to date.

[Daikun]

Google is letting you snap the Infinity Gauntlet. Do a Google search for Thanos and click the gauntlet.



It's randomized, so you can click it multiple times and get different results.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Endgame was a blast.

Spoiler

Even though I hid from spoilers, I was pretty sure that Tony would die based off of that announcement over a year ago, saying the kid from Iron Man 3 would show up. I knew the only reason they'd bring him back was for a funeral, and he probably wasn't going to show up to anybody but Tony's. Also, it was a cool stealth bookend to dress up Thor like a Jeff Bridges character.

Guess in lieu of Stan Lee, we'll be seeing timejumping Chris Evans cameos from now on?

And I know the Netflix characters will never show up in a movie thanks to creative and contractual decisions, we had to settle for the butler Jarvis from Agent Carter making an appearance, but a tiny part of me was hoping for something. Even just a cameo of Matt Murdock executing Tony's will.

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[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Spoiler

Tony's death and funeral were handled perfectly. The original arc reactor with Pepper's message to Tony from the first Iron Man was a great touch and really hit me emotionally. And that final line delivery of "I am Iron Man," sent chills down my spine with how good of a moment it was.

Also, Captain America lifting Thor's hammer and proceeding to beat the shit out of Thanos for like a straight minute is now one of my all-time favorite MCU scenes. It manages to also confirm my long-time theory from Age of Ultron as well.

I have mixed feelings about Thor's arc in this movie, but Hemsworth is just so charismatic in that role that he's undeniably entertaining to watch. I'm also still unsure of how I feel about Professor Hulk, but Mark Ruffalo helped to sell the character even if it's not necessarily where I wanted to see the character go. This was also the best character-work for Scott Lang and Nebula to date. Even Carol was more tolerable here than in her own movie.[/quote]

I'll be seeing the movie again this weekend, so a second viewing should help me to sort out my thoughts and decide where I'd rank this movie in the MCU. It's likely a top 5 contender, though.

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