by TheLionPrince » May 10th, 2017, 7:10 pm
I should have posted some of this a year ago, but better late than never.
I saw the Thor: Ragnarok trailer during the Easter break, and I think it has the potential to be the best Thor movie ever. It will be interesting to see Thor without his Mjonir, and the return of Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk. The Enchantress looks like a cool villainess and there will be more Loki to go along with it.
While the latest trailer of Spider-Man: Homecoming revealed a little too much, I will still see it though. Ever since his character was dropped from Spider-Man 3, I always wanted to see the Vulture on the big screen.
I fell behind on watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. since season 3. Hopefully, I'll catch up in the near future since I really enjoyed watching the first two seasons.
I really loved Captain America: Civil War. Following the destruction of New York City, Washington, D.C., and Sovokia, the United Nations pass the Sovokia Accords to regulate superhero activity. Learning from HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve Rogers/Captain America knows better than to trust bureaucrats to do what's right. It was interesting to see which superhero took which side and there being some emotional weight behind their decision. Before watching the film, I was on "Team Captain America". Despite the heavily death toll and mass destruction, the Avengers saved more lives had they not been on the grounds combatting enemy forces.
In my opinion, Robert Downey, Jr. gave his best performance as Tony Stark/Iron Man since Iron Man. It was amazing to see him in an antagonist role. Also amazing was how his reflection on his actions as an Avenger led into the introduction of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. However, it was hypocritical for him to recruit Spider-Man into the airport fight. That said, it was nice for once to have an actual teenager portray Spider-Man and they really captured Spider-Man's cocky, pun-wielding personality. I'm absolutely fine with the fact that Aunt May is younger than her representations in the previous film series and comics. Furthermore, the filmmakers did justice with bringing T'Challa/Black Panther into the fold along with a character arc to follow. Chadwick Boseman did a fine job with his performance with creating a believable African accent. I cannot wait to see his solo film.
I am in agreement with Helmut Zemo being a bland villain. Nevertheless, it was refreshing to see a human villain take on the Avengers versus the alien warlords and robotic supervillains we have had in the recent years, and actually succeed with dividing them (for a while). Finally, the action sequences were well-staged, choreographed, and violently exciting. Honestly, it was one of the best theatrical experiences ever that washed away the aftertaste of Avengers: Age of Ultron the year before. It was a great start to the "Phase 3" era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I really enjoyed Doctor Strange. It wasn't quite what I expected to be, but it's proof that the Marvel storytelling formula is still strong and hasn't grown tiresome just yet. While his American accent was a little wobbly, Benedict Cumberbatch did justice with portraying Doctor Strange. Rachel McAdams didn't have much to do with her character. Tilda Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor made for good supporting characters. Kaecilius (portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen) was sadly another bland villain.
This film was DC's Green Lantern done right. Think about it, it has the same arrogant protagonist who has the same career profession as his girlfriend. Both protagonists suffer an accident, travel elsewhere, and end up being trained as part of a team to protect the Earth. An even better improvement was the handling of the post-credits scene. The post-credits scene of Green Lantern had Sinestro wearing a yellow ring and turning evil. It was supposed to hint at a sequel, but to first-time viewers who were not familiar with the Green Lantern comics at the time it was released, it came from nowhere and there wasn't any lead-up to Sinestro turning evil. Here, in Doctor Strange, it was understandable to know why Mordo feels disillusioned with everything he thought he knew about the mystical arts.
Other than that, the psychedelic special effects was amazing to watch. I did like Michael Giacchino's score which had traits of Pink Floyd in there. If there was a few discrepancies, it was that some of the humor was weak.
I'll watch Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 this weekend. It should be fun.