Black Panther was OK IMO. Not great, but also not bad. My main issue with it was the meh bad guy. All the great superhero movies had fantastic villains, this one was certainly not one of them.
I liked Black Panther overall but felt like it just had a lot it was trying to do and some things just worked better than others. I guess I would say it was a great examination of grief and an okay superhero movie if that makes sense. Still unpacking it be honest but I feel like I'd give it a 7/10 or something like that. It definitely suffered from a lot of the issues all the phase four films felt.
I think the biggest weakness of Black Panther for me was that it’s technically the end of Phase 4. Knowing that going in, I expected some major moments that progressed the overall MCU. But instead it was one of the most stand-alone MCU movies I can recall! Just capped off Phase 4 as being meh and inconsequential. It probably shouldn’t matter, but I think I would have appreciated the movie more if it was released earlier. Or if they just labeled the upcoming Antman as the end of Phase 4 instead of the beginning of Phase 5.
I agree with that. Had it just been its own thing I think the few issues I had with it wouldn't be a big deal.
Funny how things work because I thought it was doing too much setting up other things and should have been more stand alone. Should have cut out all the Ironheart stuff and Thunderbolt stuff. Focus more on the Wakanda and Atlantis stuff. Should have explored more of the emotions and politics as a result of T'Challa's passing. Explore Atlantis more, its people and its culture. We know they'll play a big role in the future (also a source of Vibranium), use this movie to give that nation some love like the first BP did for Wakanda.
Guardians vol.3 - best Marvel movie since the last Avengers. Gunn did a really good job, i wonder how will he do at DC now. With that said, i think Marvel is going downhill after this again...
Planning on seeing it early next week. Yeah, they have a lot of junk coming out before they get back to something I'm legitimately excited about. And I'm someone who's seen everything they've put out (behind on Ant Man and Wakanda but we'll get there). Here's what's ahead: Secret Invasion (show): could be decent because of Samuel L. Emilia Clarke is in it though and everything she's been in since GOT has been awful and she's been awful in it. The Marvels (movie): eh. A hard no for in theaters. Echo (show): no. They're going to have to cameo the hell out of this thing. Loki S2 (show): season 1 was alright, I'll watch it but they need to make Loki more interesting in S2. Ironheart (show): nope. Armor Wars (movie): I like Cheadle enough, but not for him to headline a Marvel movie. Not sure why they decided to switch this from limited series to a movie unless they could only come up with 2 hours worth of material. Entirely possible because most of the shows so far have run out of material. Will get around to it because Walton Goggins is in it and he's a national treasure. Agatha: Coven of Chaos (show): no. I know she was popular in Wandavision but did we really need to give her a spinoff? Untitled Wakanda Series (show): no. Interest in this world and character died with Boseman. Spider-Man: Freshman Year (show): pass. X-Men '97 (show): nostalgia play, I'm in because the 90s cartoon was one of the best ones of the decade. What If S2 (show): no thanks. Daredevil: Born Again (show): now we're getting somewhere. Really liked the Netflix show. Irritated at the time it was shelved because of the rights issue. Looking forward to the return of the Punisher. Marvel Zombies (show): pass. Captain America: New World Order (movie): I'll catch it when it hits Disney+ but it's not an interesting enough world without Evans to be a trip to the big screen. Harrison Ford joining the MCU is the biggest draw of this one for me (he'll also be in Thunderbolt). Thunderbolts (movie): more interested in this than Cap because of more interesting characters but probably still a streaming view. Blade (movie): excited about this one. The production trouble is a little worrisome and the fact this was announced with Ali attached FOUR years ago! Writers strike is going to push it back even more. Hoping Disney doesn't sensor them, this will really give us an early idea of what they'll let slide in Deadpool. Deadpool 3 (movie): hell f***ing yes! 6 year wait between 2 and 3 is criminal, but the inclusion of Hugh makes it worth it. Please Disney, don't Disney-fy this. So out of 17 projects slated between now and the end of 2024, I only grade out two of those as must see projects (2/6 in theaters isn't good for theatrical revenue). Seven shows I'm flat out not watching.
Im excited for Blade (one of my fav series of all time, thanks Wesley) and Deadpool. Wolverine is back baby
Now that it's wrapped, Secret Invasion thoughts? I thought it was borderline awful. $225m got us that?! Bob Iger pocketed $150m, that's the only explanation. I'm all for letting Samuel L cook, he's great but this was a waste for him and for Nick Fury. I enjoyed the interaction with Fury and Talos, but that's just because Sam and Ben Mendelsohn both got to out act the material. The baddie was weak. Maria Hill's limited role was a waste. Rhodey Spoiler Not sure if I missed how long he's been a Skrull or not, not about to go watch any of it again. But most of the speculation I saw from a quick Twitter search was that it's at least been for Infinity War and End Game which REALLY cheapens his involvement in those. Never do a great movie a disservice just to service a TV show. Never. Emilia Clarke as Daenerys was a phenomenal performance. One of the best female roles that an actress has knocked out of the park in the 00s. That's why I'm so shocked at how God awful she is in everything else she's done. This was no exception. She's wooden, boring, makes poor acting choices with any material she's been given since. Give me anyone else and they're better. Spoiler And now she's the most powerful person in the entire MCU?! f*** OFF The big final fight scene is something I'd expect from a show with the budget of Smallville on the CW. This should have been a 110 minute movie with Sam cooking in the first half and then he calls Carol and she comes down to earth for the second half. They have the weak line of dialog to excuse any superheros from appearing in this and I'm not buying it. If you can sell me on Tony, Rocket, Lang and Banner perfecting time travel; a couple of them can't create a suit where a Skrull can't incapacitate you, copy your body and take on your abilities? Good job guys!
Agree with @JSM. This was awful, made me miss freakin Iron Fist. Im telling you, they killed the franchise with RDJ and Evans After Deadpool (which will be great) im done with MCU.
I'm not done with them but man, they are s***ting the bed like they just chugged a bottle of fireball and then chased it down with every bad decision on the Waffle House menu. Then woke up from their blackout in a Days Inn bed, swimming in it. For me...Deadpool and Spidey are their current champions. I'm hopeful with Blade. Looking forward to seeing Punisher and Daredevil back. Curious to see what they do with X-Men (unlike Singer, Feige at least knows what a comic book is). And slightly intrigued about Fantastic 4 (don't like the characters but those are really beloved characters and probably their easiest path to a financial layup and they need those right now). Their only saving grace is DC is currently the biggest dumpster fire in Hollywood. Gives them time to push past these lousy phases they have mapped out, until they get to the good ones.
Lolz. Why do you all keep torturing yourselves with this? MCU ended with End Game. Everything after has been Marvel Studios wandering blindfolded in a pitch-black room.
Agreed. While I think it was better than She Hulk and a couple of the other series, it is more disappointing in a way because the potential for a great story was right there. Secret Invasion could have been the underlying focus of Phase 4 leading up to the series. They could've easily planted the seeds for more Skrulls posing as different MCU mainstays over the last few years and then really knocked the whole thing out of the park with this series. Instead, the Skrull reveals were underwhelming and the last episode just stunk. Complete fail.
As far as the overall MCU, I am going down with the ship. Lol. Secret Invasion was another dud, but I honestly thought Antman was okay and liked Guardians 3. They've got to regroup and focus though. Scrap some of these needless full series with side characters and really hone in on building back up the core story. I just don't understand making all these series focusing on characters that never moved the needle in the comics. I loved Loki Season 1 and am looking forward to Season 2. I'll watch the Marvels at some point but I'm already not looking forward to it as Secret Invasion could have easily lead into that film and it doesn't look like it will. They are just stretched too thin and trying to do too much. They've got to really get back to basics and build up characters instead of constantly trying to force some new character down our throats. Also, enough with the experimenting. Just tell super hero stories. That's why we're here and that's what they at least used to be good at.
The TV shows stink. ALL of them. But not all recent MCU products were bad. I liked Shang Chi, Dr. Strange 2 was decent, I absolutely loved the last Spider Man movie and Guiardians of the Galaxy 3 is on par with the previous parts. Don't get me started on the Eternals and Thor Love and Thunder though, those were brutally bad.
Yeah. Eternals is my least favorite MCU film. Thor Love and Thunder is bottom tier as well. Unfortunately, I think it will take some more time to right the ship. Best we can hope is that Deadpool really gets it back to great movies instead of just bad to okay ones.
Both were so f***ing frustrating. Eternals could've been solid in better hands. Script was trash. Character development is non existent. They do an awful job of explaining the powers or weaknesses of any of the characters, so you don't know the stakes of any fight. Thor: I don't know how you lose the rope that quickly. Walkie-Talkie made Thor an awesome character. I give him full credit for Ragnarok and that carried over into him being such a hit in Infinity War and End Game. The Thor from Dark World couldn't have done that. But he leaned in too far to the silly, cartoon side of his brain with that one. Hemsworth has even publicly complained about that one. Russell Crowe?! Come on! What was that? Then you get Bale to do one of these and he's a really cool character but he's given nothing to do and that's a character you keep around for future projects instead of a one-off. Don't get me started on the Hercules introduction. It will. I think we have to get through one more phase of trash before they get to the good stuff and hopefully they've gotten the creative vision and blueprints figured out by then. I liked the fight scenes US fight scenes in Shang Chi. Those felt fresh. Unfortunately that's all I liked from it. Strange was interesting because it was such an odd direction to go, there was some cool visual stuff and Raimi doing horror always brings something to the table. Doesn't hold up much on a rewatch though and what they did with Wanda was criminal and lazy. Agree, Spidey and GoG3 were both great. Only strong material they've had since End Game. I'd like to see them learn that you can have a small stakes project like Guardians 3 (save Rocket) and it doesn't have to be a 6 episode show. The world can't be ending every film. When you nailed that landing with Infinity War/End Game, the subsequent versions are going to fall flat. You need to climb that mountain again, slowly.
