Supergirl

Oh no. Another female super hero action movie. If you know the internet at all, the usual, lazy ass backlash of calling this film woke arrived just on time. Ignore all of that.

I thought this movie was pretty good. A solid B+. I did enjoy it and I had very few issues. Per my usual, here's my lazy, bulleted format:

• Milly Alcock I think is the perfect choice for this newly rebooted Supergirl. She was able to carry off the whole hero arc her character HAS to go through in the movie.
• I liked the smart way they nerf her powers. Super people (her and Superman) are overpowered, so by having her traveling the galaxy that have different suns, you get to see the effect it has on her. Did the story dictate this? Yes. But also, it helped to show how she can be heroic without powers.
• On the flip side, the villain is so one note. And that is OKAY. I don't need to be invested in the bad guy. He is an obstacle to get punched into oblivion later.
• Normally I don't like kid sidekicks, but Ruthye was precocious and spunky in a way that was not oftputting. She helped Supergirl realize her journey, but also herself. Eve Ridley was wonderful in her portrayal.
• I wish filmmakers would lay off the slow-mo nonsense for the action scenes in their movies. If I had a downside in this movie, it's when the action slowed down for this nonsense. Just show it straight up. And all the panning and zooming too. It's too much.
• Slight spoiler and a specific problem I have. If you're going to have a character that has a specific costume and you feature it on the poster, maybe have them wear it before the climax of the movie. Jesus Christ.
• Going back to the story, I Like how they portray how she deals with her grief and it makes a lot of sense.
• I see that they are going to continue with the "Aw Shucks", corny version of Superman. That's fine for a while, but I hope they start to dial it back a little. He's had two movies and already, it's a lot. This has nothing to do with the actor in the role, it's how they are writing him.
• Look, some people like Krypto. I don't and I'm glad to see he has a reduced role in this film. I don't want to say more than that.
• I like the look of the various aliens in the movie. 
• On the above note, I loved that this took place on not Earth, but didn't go too far with weird spacey stuff. It still felt grounded. Everything is treated with a matter of fact attitude and doesn't try to explain anything. Other than what sun circles the planet so you know.
• I never read the maxi-series that Tom King and Bilquis Evely. It's a blindspot I have. It also means I didn't come in with any baggage in how they would adapt that story.
• Jason Mamoa is basically Lobo, so this was perfect casting.
• With THAT being said, I am deathly afraid they will take the wrong lesson from this movie. "People loved Lobo. Let's give him his own movie!" Hell to the no. He works as a chaos agent and nothing more. I do not give a shit about seeing him in a two hour long movie. Sometimes a spice works becasue you use a little in a dish, not make the whole dish about that one spice. Ya dig?

Do I recommend this movie? Yes I do. Not only because of the haters out there and I like to see them get the unhappiness they deserve, but because it is a fun movie. I wouldn't look more into it than that. I will finish with this closing thought. Since James Gunn has taken over, everything is FINE. I'm not in love with his vision yet, but at least he's choosing to not make everything dark and gritty and I can get behind that. 

The Punisher: One Last Kill

I have to be honest with y'all. I didn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to. It is clear that the Punisher is a character that Jon Beranthal loves and is a passion project for him. He even gets a writing credit and producer credit. But at a certain point, you keep trying to mine depth for a character that we don't need it on. The Punisher's family was killed by the mob, so he wants revenge. That's the story.

Then they layer on PTSD and his time in the special forces. They did this in the two seasons he had on Netflix, so this is ground WELL covered. In this special, we deal with all of that again. It's like seeing Batman or Superman's origin repeated in every iteration of the character. We know the back story, so let's move on to something new.

I'm at least thankful this was one long episode and not a series. I  would not be able to stick around for seven more hours of the life and times of Melancholy Frank. He barely says a word for about 75% of this episode. He speaks when haunted by his demons, but he is just being standoffish and weird the rest of the time. Also, this Punisher doesn't have a scream that he hasn't met.

What makes watching the Punisher difficult for me is that they can't contain themselves on the action. They have Frank taking hits like he's a super hero, but he's a regular guy. He's falling off buildings and getting slammed into walls like it is nothing. It's like I'm watching Looney Tunes. What next, an anvil drops on his head? As violent as Daredevil gets, they at least shows restraint. Frank dishing out the violence is not my problem for the most part because the fight choreography is great. It's just that it goes overboard. They try to set up the fight scenes like "The Raid", but this show wishes it was that.

This special episode never explicitly specifies where on the timeline this takes place. You can infer some, but it's not said and that is frustrating because we just saw him at the end of Season one of Daredevil: Born Again and you would think this takes place then? Frank has fallen off since then. 

And this is about to be the most neck beardy complaint I can make but, would it kill them to put Frank in his costume? I came to see The Punisher, not down-on-his-luck guy. 

I really don't have much more to add. I just hope they pick their spots better with his appearances.

Daredevil: Born Again - Season 2

I finished Daredevil: Born Again - Season 2 a few days ago and of course I have thoughts! You would expect nothing less.

Like season 1, I thought overall, this was pretty good. The show's action is brutal, but draws the line at being too cartoony (looking at you Punisher). Let's just get to my thoughts, in my lazier, bulleted format. I will have two longer thoughts at the end.

• The show still looks like when the show was on Netflix, gritty and not overly stylized. I love that.
• Loved seeing Jessica Jones show up
• Karen Page finally has more to do.
• So much tension in watching Kingpin's inner circle start to collapse in on itself
• This show is extremely well acted.
• To rephrase what I stated in the paragraph above, the fight choreography is easily the best in all Marvel projects (television). I didn't say all Marvel movies because Winter Soldier and Shang-Chi would like a word.
• An unhinged Bullseye is a perfect, chaotic force in this season
• With that being said, the physics of some of his attacks border on ridiculous
• I liked the little moment in the courtroom scene where Fisk is testifying and speaks under his breath knowing only Matt Murdock can hear what he is saying. Very nice touch. 
• I, for one, wish there was even MORE courtroom scenes. There were plenty, but I just like the legal battles they show and the drama that shows. Just like any flavor of Law and Order. 

For my longer thoughts, first I need to talk about Matt/Daredevil the character. His self-righteousness is extremely off putting. I know his rigidity is a character flaw, but in this show he needs to go with the flow of traffic, not at his own speed. Feels a lot like our politics. The landscape has changed, but you want to still play by old rules that don't exist anymore. A moral high ground isn't going to save lives.

When Matt has a choice to end Kingpin or Bullseye, he always chooses the righteous path, like they're going to suddenly switch sides. This is who the character is but it is exhausting. It's the same way they always play Captain America. Dude was literally in World War II and I'm sure he wasn't stopping Nazis with strong words. Daredevil is putting his beliefs above his closest allies and eventually that should cost him. 

My other long thought is I loved this season, but hated how the Kingpin arc resolves itself. Let's just say he kills a lot of people and is allowed to get exiled, but not put in jail. But Daredevil, for acting outside of the law as a vigilante, is thrown into a maximum security prison. The math ain't mathing.

I love the street level characters and I love that this show is tying into the Netflix series more than trying to jam that other MCU madness into it. It keeps this show grounded. Easily my favorite series of the Disney plus shows they've done. So glad they got season three coming!

Wonder Man: Season 1

When it comes to comic books, if there is one thing I enjoy, it's being proven wrong. I was extremely skepitcal when this show was announced. Wonder Man on his best day is a D-List Marvel character. I don't care what anyone says. Yes, he's shown up in Avengers, but I was not an Avengers fan pre-2003. I felt like this was Marvel, once again scrambling with their own IP. There was no way this show would be any good.

I was wrong. This show is a breath of fresh air. Instead of something flashy full of stupid special effects on a TV show budget with mind numbingly dull action, this is a character story first and foremost. You also don't have to have watched many other Marvel properties. As loathe as I am to say it, I would argue that watching Iron Man 3 is a good pre-requisite to this show. Also Shang-Chi. I'll explain why later on.

I know comic fans were angrily typing away on their sad, overcomensating keyboards when Simon Williams was cast as a Black man, instead of a white man as he appears in the comics. If there's one thing they hate besides strong female leads, it's race swapping. I said before that Wonder Man is a D-List character, so if nothing else, now he can have an actual personality because by being a Black man, his struggles in life are amplified.

One thing I specifically like is when actors play actors and have to act like they don't know how to act. Simon's whole story is trying to become an actor because it is that art that fills his cup up. That's buoyed by the secret he has and why he always has to keep his emotions in check. (Welcome to the life of a Black person). I don't know what it's like to be an actor, but the way they portray it here, I feel like I have a clear picture. The story revolves around his love of an old movie, also called "Wonder Man". There is a remake being made and he feels his whole life has lead to this. The love and care this show takes on that aspect of Hollywood is evident everywhere in this series.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is fantastic as Simon Williams. You see the full range of his struggles with his career and within his own family. Side note, I love that they added the personal detail that Simon is the child of Haitian immigrants. That gives him more depth, because he always felt like an outsider except when he's with his family, for the most part. 

Remember when I talked about Iron Man 3 up above? I only bring it up because that's where you're introduced to "The Mandarin", played by the character Trevor Slattery, played by Ben Kingsley. They reference his role as "The Mandarin" a lot and it is the other parallel plot running through the show. Slattery also showed up in Shang-Chi. Iron Man 3 is a terrible movie, but I am glad that they have spun gold out of their use of Ben Kingsley and they keep finding ways to bring him back. 

The core of this show is about the friendship between Simon and Trevor and it is truly heart of this show. I found myself just enjoying minutes upon minutes of them just talking and interacting. I was transfixed. Trevor finds a mentee and helps Simon open up and be a better actor. Simon finds a mentor that pours into him the way that no one else has. Their friendship felt authentic, even if it started under false pretenses. Both characters grow by knowing each other.

Here's a quick spoiler. You've been warned.

Unlike other Marvel shows, there is no big bad to fight. There's no super hero battles. Hell, there really aren't any fight scenes. This show remains tightly focused on the dual goals of Simon and Trevor. I'm being deliberately vague because I don't want to spoil everything. They do slip in a deep cut origin of what will potentially be a super villain. They took time out to dedicate a whole episode to it and it was all in black and white, a huge stylistic swing in a show like this.

This is the kind of show you get when Marvel just leaves the creators be without interfering. You get a cohesive show that doesn't rely on 40 movies and 20 series as requisite viewing. You feel this was a passion project for the creators.

Now, I'm going to pivot to what pissed me off. It is not aimed at this show. It's aimed at Marvel itself. They just slid out all 8 episodes in the cover of night. I barely saw any advertising for this show. It's hard for me to not think, "I bet if this was a show around a white lead, they'd promote the hell out of it." I felt the same about Ironheart last year. No runway to build up anticipation. Just a trailer and then months later, it arrives. They could have waited a week and premiered it during Black History month. They have left this show out to die and it is one of the best efforts they've put out since they started doing TV shows. It feels like nothing more than some kind of tax write off with how dismissive they've been. 

Simon and Trevor BETTER show up in other shows and get a second season. The way this has panned out, I won't hold my breath. I hope word of mouth, increased ratings, etc. makes Marvel take a hard look at doing more with this show or these characters.