• For users coming over from tmlfans.ca your username will remain the same but you will need to use the password reset feature (check your spam folder) on the login page in order to set your password. If you encounter issues, email Rick couchmanrick@gmail.com

The Official Movie Thread

I saw Shang Chi last night and it entertained.

It's in the same class of MCU film as Ant-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and most of the phase 1 stuff (but with C-List heroes), as an origin story table setter for a future get together. Similar to BP and CM, it opens up some entry way for young fans who now see more of themselves on screen.

Aside from the plot issues outlined above, I liked the choreography, Wenwu/Tony Leung's acting masterclass, how it addressed and somewhat remediated Iron Man 3 (and I guess Marvel Comics') sketchiness about The Mandarin character. I would've definitely preferred a more intimate, character-driven ending rather than the CGI-budget maxing faceless clashes that all hero-y movies are stuck on these days. The one-on-one fight 'dialogue' was pretty easy to track, so I wish that was a bit deeper. It does indeed feel like we are just waiting for the shoe to drop on the bigger ticket, as this is just part of Act 1 of Phase 4.

It also spawned this wonderful thread:
https://twitter.com/that_mc/status/1459613123590066180
 
You should all go see ?Belfast?

https://youtu.be/Ja3PPOnJQ2k

Some parts may need subtitles ;D
 
He was exactly that in Boondocks Saints

I also learned way too much information about him from a Lars von Trier interview.
 
So I watched the new matrix movie last night.

I?m not even sure what to say. I think in the surface there was a neat concept here that failed to deliver. The premise was kinda cool but the movie was essentially a rehash of the first matrix movie. I just walked away from this thinking ?we needed this? why??.

 
Watched Eternals yesterday. Still a littled befuddled by it. It's not so much that it's outrageously bad(although it's not good) because individually all of the elements are equivalent to a bad MCU movie like Thor 2 but, like, the analogy I would use is it's like if you told a robot that the most popular meal on earth was a hamburger followed by a banana split and it concluded that the best possible meal would then be a blended hamburger and banana milkshake.
 
Nik said:
Watched Eternals yesterday. Still a littled befuddled by it. It's not so much that it's outrageously bad(although it's not good) because individually all of the elements are equivalent to a bad MCU movie like Thor 2 but, like, the analogy I would use is it's like if you told a robot that the most popular meal on earth was a hamburger followed by a banana split and it concluded that the best possible meal would then be a blended hamburger and banana milkshake.
Click to expand...

haha, hamburger banana milkshake seems pretty accurate.

I think it would have been better served in the tv series format. It's a pretty large ensemble and each one has some chunky history to develop story from that got short changed. I would not have minded a 'History Re-write of the week' for 4 episodes before coalescing into the season's arc in earnest. In film form, I cared about no one. Except Lauren Ridloff's Makkari was really fun and sassy in her criminally brief screen time.
 
herman said:
Nik said:
Watched Eternals yesterday. Still a littled befuddled by it. It's not so much that it's outrageously bad(although it's not good) because individually all of the elements are equivalent to a bad MCU movie like Thor 2 but, like, the analogy I would use is it's like if you told a robot that the most popular meal on earth was a hamburger followed by a banana split and it concluded that the best possible meal would then be a blended hamburger and banana milkshake.
Click to expand...

haha, hamburger banana milkshake seems pretty accurate.

I think it would have been better served in the tv series format. It's a pretty large ensemble and each one has some chunky history to develop story from that got short changed. I would not have minded a 'History Re-write of the week' for 4 episodes before coalescing into the season's arc in earnest. In film form, I cared about no one. Except Lauren Ridloff's Makkari was really fun and sassy in her criminally brief screen time.
Click to expand...

I know its not a movie but the counter is I watched the first couple of episodes of the Peacemaker mini-series last night.  I'm a big James Gunn fan and I quite liked it so far.
 
L K said:
herman said:
Nik said:
Watched Eternals yesterday. Still a littled befuddled by it. It's not so much that it's outrageously bad(although it's not good) because individually all of the elements are equivalent to a bad MCU movie like Thor 2 but, like, the analogy I would use is it's like if you told a robot that the most popular meal on earth was a hamburger followed by a banana split and it concluded that the best possible meal would then be a blended hamburger and banana milkshake.
Click to expand...

haha, hamburger banana milkshake seems pretty accurate.

I think it would have been better served in the tv series format. It's a pretty large ensemble and each one has some chunky history to develop story from that got short changed. I would not have minded a 'History Re-write of the week' for 4 episodes before coalescing into the season's arc in earnest. In film form, I cared about no one. Except Lauren Ridloff's Makkari was really fun and sassy in her criminally brief screen time.
Click to expand...

I know its not a movie but the counter is I watched the first couple of episodes of the Peacemaker mini-series last night.  I'm a big James Gunn fan and I quite liked it so far.
Click to expand...

Where do you stream that LK?
 
Frank E said:
Where do you stream that LK?
Click to expand...

https://www.justwatch.com/ca/

This site is great to find out where the hell something is streaming. Just make sure you've got the /ca at the end.
 
Yeah I don?t get Eternals. Just finished it and I spent the entire time wondering why I was supposed to care about any of them.    It felt like a very flat movie. 
 
L K said:
Yeah I don?t get Eternals. Just finished it and I spent the entire time wondering why I was supposed to care about any of them.    It felt like a very flat movie.
Click to expand...

Yes I felt the exact same way. It ended. I turned off the TV. The whole family just stood up and walked away from the TV. No discussion. No comments. That's not normal for us as a family.
 
Well, I watched it. Not too much to add that hasn't already been said. Maybe it's important for canon, but why did it have to be in the overall Marvel universe? That is, the really lame reasoning for not intervening against Thanos could have been avoided. Also, this might have made for a decent 2nd Eternals movie. There needed to be a first that explained who they were better.

Aside from the plot (which is slightly important), the humour someone ruined it. I was confused if it was supposed to be a comedy or a dramatic action movie. Trying to do it all did not work.

I'm also no astro-physicist, but if a celestial needs tremendous amounts of energy to develop, why not grow inside a star?
 
herman said:
I think it would have been better served in the tv series format. It's a pretty large ensemble and each one has some chunky history to develop story from that got short changed. I would not have minded a 'History Re-write of the week' for 4 episodes before coalescing into the season's arc in earnest. In film form, I cared about no one. Except Lauren Ridloff's Makkari was really fun and sassy in her criminally brief screen time.
Click to expand...

Watched it last night, and this is largely along the lines of what I felt, as well. Could have made for a very interesting limited series. Introduce the characters more slowly and deliberately, develop more backstory, etc. There was potential there, but a little much to try to cover in ~2:30.

With the concepts and stories the MCU is now starting to introduce, this could develop into a real issue. They're getting into some of the more "out there" stuff that, not all that long ago, would have seemed too far from the mainline stories and characters to be massmarketed - magic, a wide pantheon of gods, the multiverse, the whole Secret Invasion series, etc. - and these definitely include some sillier characters in situations they're going to want to present in a more serious fashion. There will be a tricky balance of humour, spectacle, and drama for them to navigate. We've seen Marvel handle that with some success in the past (and they've done a really good job of it with their Disney+ series so far), so, hopefully, they can get back on track with the next few films. Going to interesting to see how a lot of it plays out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top