Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

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last.caress
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by last.caress »

Is Phase 4 actually going to start going somewhere at some stage? I mean I understand that it's going to great pains to establish THE MULTIVERSE so that Marvel/Disney can have its cake and eat it too for the rest of forever but will a discernible storyline hove into view anytime soon? Something that might pull these disparate strands - US Agent, the witchy woman in WandaVision, Elaine out of Seinfeld, Tobey Maguire, whatever happened in Eternals which has now left my mind completely, Kingpin, Florence Pugh's demented Russian accent - into anything approaching a cohesive whole? It's just that, using admittedly vague wobbly maths and not properly checking the numbers, it feels like Phase 4 already has almost as many hours of story crammed into it as phases 1-3 combined.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Morocco Mole »

Wrong thread :oops:
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Kludgehammer »

last.caress wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 7:54 pm My biggest issue as things stand with the MCU is... well, the MCU. They've made it so big, they can never stop it or even reboot it (and of course, with the introduction of the multiverse, they'll never have to).
last.caress wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 7:36 pm Is Phase 4 actually going to start going somewhere at some stage? I mean I understand that it's going to great pains to establish THE MULTIVERSE so that Marvel/Disney can have its cake and eat it too for the rest of forever but will a discernible storyline hove into view anytime soon? Something that might pull these disparate strands
I think you're trying to have your cake and eat it here - you want a coherent theme for phase 4 but don't want a big MCU - I'm not sure those two things are compatible. To my mind, what they've done/doing is just made the film and TV studios into a live-action version of Marvel comics - there's a range of stories that somewhat intersect and influence each other and are happening in the same universe(s) but don't necessarily all lead in the same direction. And I'm happy with that
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by last.caress »

No no, not trying to have my cake and eat it. I definitely want superhero pictures that aren't all interconnected but, since I'm not going to get that, I was wondering where the narrative arc had gone for the last forty hours or so given that they were so keen on - and in fairness, pretty good at - providing one for the preceding fifty-odd. If you're telling me that the plan for phase 4 was always a bunch of disparate stories, some of which connected here and there but most of which did not (like the comics), well, that might not be a bad thing at all. I'm all for these films doing their own thing, being standalone (or as standalone as the MCU will allow). If that's the idea, great. It's good to see that they've recognised that DCs more individualistic approach featuring standalone pictures orbiting independently around a far smaller interconnected core produces better movies such as The Batman and Zack Snyder's Justice League, and moved toward that principle. :)
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Kludgehammer »

You were doing so well up until that last sentence, when your logic deserted you and you took an uncontrolled skid into a messy quagmire - which describes both of those films nicely, come to think of it
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Kludgehammer »

Moon Knight ended OK, I guess. Don't want to say too much until more have seen it.

Watch out for a mid-credit scene.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by last.caress »

Just finished Moon Knight. Hm. Started brilliantly before kind-of disappearing up its own ****hole for awhile. Found myself checking my watch far too often through episodes 3-5. Still, moments of brilliance were dotted sparsely throughout, Oscar Isaac was fantastic and the show felt largely bereft of the sameyness of the rest of the MCU.

So whilst Moon Knight had its share of flaws, it also felt new; it felt fresh; and it felt as though it was attempting something different. And even if it didn't always succeed, it earns a lot of brownie points with me for its efforts.

IMHO, of course.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Kludgehammer »

Pretty much agree with all that - Oscar Isaac was tremendous in subtly showing the different characters through posture, facial expression and cadence of speech. It did feel as though it took a long while to get there, and at the same time being a bit crammed in by the end.

I'd be happy to watch a 2nd series, but doesn't sound like there's going to be one, which presumably means either it's a done-in-one or, more likely, MK will turn up somewhere else, as the TV series in particular are twining characters in an out of each series.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Chicken Run Supreme »

A very fair summary Elsie.

It was far from perfect, but it was different and Oscar Isaacs was excellent.
I struggled with Episode 1, then hit the ground running with episodes 2 & 3, only to get more confused with 4 & 5 with final episode redeeming itself.
I would like to see a second series though understand not in the pipeline yet.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by WCpete »

Final episode was just ok for me. Way too rushed. Felt like an in depth term paper from high school where you run out of time to finish it on the night before it's due, so you end it abruptly with a completely out of place two sentence conclusion paragraph.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by MB »

Been off work the last two days so binge watched Moon Knight. Quite good, but agreed the pacing was off and lost its way in the middle. Enjoyed it though and thought the whole cast did well.

Reminded me a bit of Legion (though nowhere near as good...) similar vibe to it.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Kludgehammer »

Just got back from Dr Strange and it was ... OK. It's much like the first one, in the sense that the visuals are fantastic (even more so this time), but the film never really catches fire and drags you in. A pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, but I don't think it's one for multiple rewatchings. There are certainly Raimi off-the-leash touches in there - some fairly gruesome bits and a lot of the camerawork.

Having said that, there are moments which will provoke nerdgasms (including the mid-credit scene if you're really nerdily into Dr Strange). You really really want to avoid spoilers before seeing this, if at all possible. FWIW, there's also another scene right at the end of the credits, but it's not worth sitting through the credits for, IMHO.

As ever, the trailers are pretty good at hiding the plot of the film, and several things in the trailers don't play out like you might expect.

Solid 6, I think.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Kludgehammer »

Having said that... the more I think about it, the more I want to watch it again. I felt the same about Thor:Ragnarok, which really really grew on me later, so who knows - I'll certainly give it another view once it's available for home watching.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by WCpete »

Watched one of those nerdgasm easter egg youtube channels last night with my kids re: MK 6. In the after credit scene there is a quick pan past a QR code on a poster which if scanned leads to a Marvel page that features a comic book about Kang the Conquerer battling Moon Knight. Taking the bait, I would imagine that conflict happening in the next loki series or maybe in a stand alone film.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by mumbles87 »

Kludgehammer wrote: Fri May 06, 2022 2:14 pm Having said that... the more I think about it, the more I want to watch it again. I felt the same about Thor:Ragnarok, which really really grew on me later, so who knows - I'll certainly give it another view once it's available for home watching.
think whats worrying is it took time for Thor to grow on you... when its one of the strongest movies in the franchise and an instant classic
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Kludgehammer »

I dunno if it's the cinema experience and that I just prefer watching them at home, but I had a pretty muted response to Infinity War and Multitude of Madness, and was downright disappointed in Ragnarok - and I absolutely love Ragnarok now, and very fond of IW.

MoM is definitely worth watching in a cinema for the spectacle - the viuals are absolutely stellar in parts
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by wolf359 »

Watched DR last night and going again tomorrow (different family members) it flew by on first viewing but I can’t decided if I really liked it or thought it was rubbish. What I do know is right now is phase 4 is a bit of a mess, I’ve seen everything films, shows, animations but still can’t get excited about any of it.

It really needs a single ‘big bad’ but topping the infinity stones/Thanos arc would be pretty much impossible.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by WCpete »

Dr Strange 2. I'm undecided. As a standalone I was entertained. For the most part. There wasn't a single surprise in it, however. If nothing else, MCU films usually have a trick or two up their sleeve and usually play out a little differently than expected. Not this one though. SPOILER: If you've seen the trailers, well... The tone is quite different than the Dr. Str 1 as well, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but it is somewhat jarring because I liked the tone of the first one. I'm probably going to see it again because my wife wants to see it, so I'll be curious to see which way my opinion ends up swaying.
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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by Kludgehammer »

On another tack, a new trailer for the Ms Marvel series, which is due in about a month

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Re: Superhero ( & sci-fi / other relevant) films

Post by simonirons »

Dr Strange.

Not sure I liked it, pretty middle of the road Marvel Film TBH, The trailers and youtube theories usually end up way more exciting than the movies.
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