X-Men: Apocalypse

I feel like I start every movie review with a line about how, "I am a huge fan of X and it was one of the first comics I started reading". So I'm going to just skip my long history with the X-Men and just get right into what I thought about this movie. Spoilers ahead.

I've come to a realization with the past couple of comic book movies and I've decided the kind of comic book movie I like. I like a movie where there are low stakes. By that, I mean there is personal crisis for the main character, but it is not a world wide cataclysmic event. I don't need a movie about heroes trying to save the world. The personal stories that are more important to me. I know these movies cost a lot to make, but look at what Deadpool did. That movie encapsulates almost everything I want. It was personal, it was not about the end of the world and it remained within the confines of what it was.

Then there is this movie. Each X-Men movie has escalated to ridiculous portions in my opinion. I didn't hate the movie, but I didn't love it either. Like with most comic book movies, there are a lot of nerdy things I get. However, I really begin to think, "I may get this, but would a normal person get it?". The mark of a good movie is that it tells a good story without being exclusive. I do not hold on to an entitled belief that these movies are made for ME. I will not make the studio money. The masses will and these movies need to be accessible.

I don't think this movie is and I will go into some detail to explain what I mean. I am sorry, but you will see my using the phrase, "Checking a box". I mean this to say that there certain items that just HAD to be included in this film so much so that it felt like they had a list of items that needed to appear to be an X-Men movie.

They trot a lot of tried and true X-Men characters in this film. They expect you to get on board for them. I'm a fan of these characters, so I know their backstory. However, that is not relayed in the film. New additions Cyclops and Storm get some backstory within this movie. Characters such as Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Psylocke and Angel do not. Jubilee is even in this movie, but good luck knowing anything about her. You won't get any information. I would go so far as to say the main villain of this movie, Apocalypse has such a thin backstory and so little motivation that I have a problem with him throughout this movie. I'll get back to him in a moment.

With the characters I listed above, they expect you to care about these characters and want you to feel bad when they are in peril. The problem is, they have not earned that yet. I have to buy that Nightcrawler, Cyclops and Jean Grey are such a good team based on what? A shared trip to see a movie? They come together to form a team to save others, but we never see them spend any other time together. The back half of the movie turns into an almost singular reliance on Nightcrawler and his teleportation ability. The character of Psylocke is the most puzzling because if you remove her from this movie, nothing changes. She has zero impact on this movie and her inclusion is fan service at best. You have another great character who gets to show up, but ultimately does nothing. I hear stories of how Olivia Munn trained for this role and took a lot of martial arts. We see none of that in the movie.

Another horseman, Angel, shows up and his whole role is to be quickly turned into Archangel. He is pretty much ineffective in the final battle as well. Including him was checking another box.

What I think is the biggest tragedy is Apocalypse himself. He has been reduced down to a one note villain, hell bent on destruction. Why? Because he's evil. Really though, why? The opening sequence that serves as his origin really doesn't tell us much. So many questions are not answered. What is special about the new host? How did the original Apocalypse become Apocalypse? Then he just disappears for thousands of years and comes back and immediately tries to destroy the world. His motivations or his power set is never really explained. This movie does a disservice to him. They just wanted to include a major X-Men villain. Congratulations. Mission accomplished. 

The deifying of Mystique continues to puzzle me. I understand that now that Jennifer Lawerence is a huge star, these movies have shifted to focus more on her. She also spins a lot of time not in the blue makeup. Just like with the last movie, she gets a lot of screen time. My problem is that Mystique is supposed to be someone working in the shadows. She does little of that here. 

The last thing I want to touch on is Magneto. This guy cannot catch a break. He's already a tragic figure but they just keep piling on him. Either make him good or make him bad. He's gone back and forth so many times, how can you believe him any more? He is always simultaneously the good guy and the bad guy in each of the movies.

One shining bright spot in these movies is Quicksilver. He basically steals every scene he is in. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish there was more Quicksilver in the movie. Not something I came remotely close to saying in the Avengers movies.

There is a lot more I could say and I hate to sound like I'm dumping on this movie, so I'll stop. To finish on a positive note, I did like the nods to their costumes in the final scene and the inclusion of the Danger Room. The special effects are still pretty good. James McAvoy is a great Charles Xavier.

When we got X-men: First Class, I was excited for the direction this franchise was going in. Two movies later, that excitement is gone. Now I just hope they can right the ship because this was a surprisingly by the book, super hero movie. The kind that we need to move past.

Captain America - Agent of what now?

I realized that I haven't written a single blog entry about anything that WASN'T comic book movie related. Guess it's time to change that.

So apparently the new issue, Captain America #1 made the mainstream news due to some controversy. This book was already in my pull list so I was going to read it anyway. After hearing about this, I had to uncharacteristically put it at the top of my list. I just had to read it right away!

Now that I have, all I had to say was, "Meh". I mean, I get the controversy. Spoilers ahead. It is revealed at the end of the issue that Captain America is an agent of Hydra. Not that he just turned, but that he's been a Hydra agent all along.

What the what? Let's just forget the fact that they are ignoring 75 years of history that contradicts this very reveal. Let's also ignore the fact that despite what they say, there has not been subtle clues that lead to this. It came out of left field.

This is a dumb decision by Marvel, but I will tell you why I'm not as enraged as I should be. First and foremost, I feel like I can see the wheels turning behind such a move. You just had a Captain America movie that made hundreds of millions of dollars. The Captain America comics haven't been a big seller, so you want to make a shocking move that gets people talking. Congratulations, Marvel. It worked.

I wish companies would realize that negative attention isn't better than no attention at all. Or maybe I'm just wrong and now a lot of people will pick up this book based on this.

I got a little off my main point. This is comic books. Nothing lasts forever. I give this storyline one year to run it's course. Two years at best. Then it will be revealed that he's a Skrull or that he was brainwashed or they will grab some alternate reality Captain America that was never an agent of Hydra. Some comic book trope will be used to wash this whole thing away in due time.

To all my comic friends out there, hang in there. This will be another terrible decision that you will remember in a few years when a "Top 10 Comic mistakes of all time" click-bait article comes out.

Captain America: Civil War

After a couple of days and two showings of this movie, I've had enough time to gather my thoughts about this movie. As if you might not already be able to tell, I loved this movie. There were so many little things about this movie that I loved. So let's get right to it. Slight spoilers may follow.

I will start off by saying any comic fans that were expecting this movie to be like the comic book event from a few years ago, prepare to be disappointed. This movie deviates from almost all facets of that story except for a central conflict between Captain America and Iron Man. I for one applaud that. I don't want a literal translation of the comic book pages to the screen. Also, let's be realistic. If you're paying attention, a lot of those characters in that story have not been introduced into the Marvel cinematic universe. Or they do not have the rights to those characters. I think people forget that the Fantastic Four was a big part of this event. Marvel doesn't have the rights to them. The X-Men were involved too. Guess what, Fox has them.

This movie does grab just about every hero we have seen so far and puts them into this movie with the exception of Hulk and Thor.

I won't go into a plot synopsis with this little review. Instead, I will talk about what I liked and what I didn't like.

Two of my favorite characters, Spider-Man and Black Panther were well represented in this film. Spider-Man is a revelation and the actor, Tom Holland gives us the best onscreen Spider-Man we've seen yet. His inclusion in this movie is bigger a bigger deal than most casual fans realize. To summarize, the film rights to Spider-Man belong to Sony, not Marvel. So for him to even APPEAR in this movie, some deals and money had to change hands. Going any further would be too inside baseball, but let's say they get the most out of it. His characterization was spot on and he didn't get lost in the shuffle. In fact, he probably shone brightest.

It was so great to see the Black Panther appear on screen for the first time. He was also well represented. Chadwick Boseman put on a great performance (and believable accent) into his version of T'Challa. We do not get to see the super intelligent, patient T'Challa that we see in the comics, but this movie is our introduction and that can be forgiven. He is probably the character that had the most personal stake in this movie and is arguably the most sympathetic character. He is practically pulled into this conflict due to forces out of his control.

I want to just take a moment and geek out about a few specific Black Panther items in this movie before I continue. When I heard that the character Martin Freeman was going to play in this movie was Everett K. Ross, I was giddy. He is a character that was introduced in the wonderful Christopher Priest run of the Black Panther comics that came out 1998. Also, they included the Dora Milaje, which are female warrior bodyguards of the Black Panther. Finally, they show a glimpse of Wakanda during the end credits. Needless to say, I'm super excited for the Black Panther movie.

Speaking of other characters who steal the show, I would be remiss if I also didn't mention Ant-man. Paul Rudd plays him with such an "Aw shucks. I'm glad to be included" vibe that you can't help but to root for him. He makes the most of every moment that he is on the screen.

To round out the rest of the characters, Falcon is great once again. I loved their interpretation of Redwing, his remote controlled drone. In the comics, Redwing is a falcon that he has a psychic connection too. So yeah, they made a much better choice here. Captain America, although outnumbered in this movie, still gets to be the central character in the story. Even if he does have to share some of the time with Iron Man.

I do like how they balanced the large cast that they had in this movie. Everyone gets to have a moment, which is more than I can say for Age of Ultron. I also love seeing how all the characters interact with each other in combinations that we normally don't get to see. It's good to see them all bounce off one another. The action was also great. I like that with the Captain America movies, we get a lot more hand to hand action, which is the stuff I love. You get pieces of that in the Avengers movies, but never to this extent. You get to see Cap really got loose in his own films.

If I have any gripes with this film, is that there is not really a villain for the heroes to fight. They just fight each other. This version of Helmut Zemo is not what we get in the comics, but he works for what they were going for here. He set up the conflict that will tear the Avengers apart. We get to see Crossbones, who was built up towards the end of the last movie, only to be dispatched within the first twenty minutes.

Speaking of villains, while I liked the twist at the end, I was a little disappointed that it didn't go in the direction that I was hoping. What happens is still satisfying.

Even though the movie has been out for over a week, I don't want to go into any more detail than I already have. I will have a supplemental post where I will cover some loose ends.

I liked Winter Soldier more, but this was a very strong entry into the Marvel Universe.