Movies, Movies, Movies.....

^ I ended up seeing Captain Marvel and enjoyed it more than I expected. It's not one of the greatest Marvel movies, but it's an enjoyable film. Goose was awesome.

I also saw Shazam last week and thought it may have been the funniest superhero film I've seen. DC's recent films without Superman have been pretty good.

I don't quite understand why scalpers think people would pay $1000+ for opening night tickets of End Game. They know it comes out earlier internationally right? At that price, if you're that hardcore a fan, just fly over somewhere see the movie Wednesday and have a mini vacation for that money instead.

One week from today I'll be seeing Endgame! Excitement! (And no spoilers, I promise)

Double post, but Avatars 2-4 finished filming a couple of days ago. So begins the post-production!

^ "Avatar" falls into category: "I don't give a crap about". .

BUT. . . also wrapped filming (today, I believe): "Godzilla vs Kong"

yep, filming wrapped a month before "Godzilla: King of Monsters" even opens.

GvK has a great cast, and I'm sure it will take them a while to get the FX work done. . but wowed they already finished the filming.

Avengers: Endgame Review!

SPOILER ALERT!!!

SPOILER ALERT!!!

SPOILER ALERT!!!

SPOILER ALERT!!!

While I'm not going to give away any "major" spoilers of the film, I am going to talk about the movie and some of the plot points, so if you want to avoid knowing ANYTHING about the movie at all, STOP READING RIGHT NOW! I think it would be impossible to talk about the film without talking about some of what happens in the film, otherwise my review would just be:

IT'S GREAT! SERIOUSLY A LOT OF FUN! GO SEE IT!

Let me first start off by talking about Infinity War since this movie pretty much picks right up where that left off. I'll be honest...I wasn't the biggest fan of Infinity War. (as you can see from that review!) To me, Infinity War didn't feel like an "Avengers" movie. It was disjointed, all over the place, lacked the heart and wit that I was used to from other Avengers movies, and at one point I even thought to myself "Is this an AVENGERS movie or a GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY film???"

Thankfully, Endgame fixes a lot of that! The film is back to the core Avengers working together (with a few extras hands in the mix) with that same wit and charm as you've been used to in the first set of films featuring these characters. In fact, there are scenes in this film that I absoultely laughed out loud and that's exactly what I was looking for in these Marvel movies.

I consider myself a "casual" Marvel Cinematic Universe fan. Out of the 22 films, I've probably seen 15 or 16 of them, and while I generally like the characters, I'm not that invested in them. But that being said, this was a film where it was easy to cheer on the "good guys" and with them all working together again, it was exactly what I wanted to see.

I do feel that the movie was fairly predictable and, at least to me, there were no "OMG I can't believe that just happened" surprising moments. Everything that I expected to happen, happened. And that's not really a "bad" thing. You kind of new they needed to "fix" everything that happened in Infinity War, because, if they didn't, they wouldn't be the Avengers, right?

What I did find interesting is the introduction of "time travel" to the Marvel Universe. We had a hint of in Dr. Strange, but now we've got full on time machines, and by the end of the film, time travel almost seemed to be kind of a casual thing. Which makes me think "Huh... they can pretty much change any plot point they want now from any past film" because they've set that precedent in this film.

And don't worry, giving away that plot point really didn't give away too much of the film. I mean, if you didn't figure out that they had to fix everything from Part 1, then, well, sorry, your expectations were not correct! Trust me, there are far worse spoilers I could give away!

I will say that it was nice to see everyone back again and there were a few "hero moments" that really stood out and I'm sure in a full theater will erupt in cheers (me personally, I prefer these media screenings with a small group of people mostly keeping to themselves!)

I liked that the film didn't play out as one giant fight scene after another. It was clever, had some really touching moments, and they saved that big bad-ass fight for the grand finale (as it should be!) It almost played out more as a "quest" movie than a constant comic book action film. I appreciated that.

As a "casual fan" I felt that this movie was a HUGE WIN! Honestly, I'd probably put it up there in the "best" of the Marvel films I've seen. I'm sure it will do crazy big numbers this weekend and I'll be curious to know if my thoughts and musings match other peoples or if I end up having another "unpopular opinion" like my Infinity War review! lol

Overall: GO SEE IT!!! ENDGAME IS GREAT!!!

ps. Oh yeah, you kind of need to have seen the ending post-credit clip from Captain Marvel. So if you haven't seen that yet, Google it. I'm sure it's out there somewhere...

I enjoyed it. I think people who go in expecting tons of action may be disappointed, it's a mostly character driven film. There's a couple of character choices that seemed to be there for comedy that I could have done without, and there were points with time-travel I think you shouldn't dwell too hard on how it should/could have affected the plot of previous movies when people or objects are interacted with or moved and just enjoy the ride or you will get bogged down but for a 3 hour movie I never found myself fidgetting at all and it kept me focused.

Also, you don't need to sit until the end of the credits on this one or potentially even mid-credits.

thanks for that non-spoilery review, Robb.

one thing I am wondering.. are there any "deaths that stick" coming out of this? or does it all wrap up in a nice bow?

(not asking for specific spoil. . just wondering)

one thing I am wondering.. are there any "deaths that stick" coming out of this? or does it all wrap up in a nice bow?

Yes and no. And I will answer that question more when the film had been out a few days. Let's just say that now that time travel has been introduced, IMO, no deaths are ever final. I mean, some of the deaths you thought for sure would stick in Infinity War were reversed, because... well... time travel. So now anything should be possible, right? If Marvel wanted to reverse some things that happened in this film, they now have the plot spackle to do that with.

Going to avoid posting spoilers on infinity war deaths or otherwise there are a couple of moments in the story or the end where they make it clear this is just a chapter closing but the universe goes on for others and there is story left to tell.

Would it be possible to have a separate spoiler thread could be made for a discussion with its international release already happening combined with the U.K. tomorrow and more on Friday?

Going to avoid posting spoilers on infinity war deaths or otherwise there are a couple of moments in the story or the end where they make it clear this is just a chapter closing but the universe goes on for others and there is story left to tell.

 

Would it be possible to have a separate spoiler thread could be made for a discussion with its international release already happening combined with the U.K. tomorrow and more on Friday?

Nah. To be fair, once it's had it's opening weekend, I think it's all fair game to talk about, IMO. And you're right about "closing chapters" but you know what I mean... if Marvel ever wanted to go back and be all "Crap, we need this character again..." there is now a fall back plan.

I mean how many times have we seen Loki come back to life now throughout the different movies?

I completely agree with you. Again for the sake of non spoilers as Robb said there is time travel and it felt like the movie set up rules on the time travel but also, at least in my opinion subtly broke them and in a strange way I think it’s kind of clever. It means that deaths they want to stick will have weight to them but when they do want to change something they’ve given themselves enough wiggle room to do it without looking cheap.

Avengers: Endgame.

Well I'm kind of a emotional wreck. I laughed, I cheered (internally), I cried. Like Robb said the movie is very predictable but that isn't a bad thing, it's all in the name off pay-off. I'm happy I don't go to a theater where people uncontrollably yell and cheer, but there where some jokes the whole theater laughed at and there was a moment the theater was extremely quiet I just heard boxes of popcorn fell and crying around the theater. Marvel really deserves praise for the entire MCU, I mean for creating an universe loved by millions or billions, I believe they showed a cinematic universe can work if you take your time and money to let it grow by it self, that is the lesson I think other studios should take from the MCU.

There is indeed no mid or post credit scene but I do recommend sitting partly through the credits it was the best credits in the MCU if you ask me.

I just heard boxes of popcorn fell and crying around the theater.

Huh. Maybe I'm just not invested enough in the characters to get emotional or I just felt that everything I expected to happen in this film happened, but at no point did I feel the slightest bit of "sadness" in any way towards anything that happened in the movie that would lead me to even think about "crying."

I also perhaps, just don't take comic book super hero movies THAT seriously, because, you know... they can travel through time and fall off buildings smashing into the ground or get punched in the face with giant weapons without showing a single scratch, but that's just me!

I just heard boxes of popcorn fell and crying around the theater.

Huh. Maybe I'm just not invested enough in the characters to get emotional or I just felt that everything I expected to happen in this film happened, but at no point did I feel the slightest bit of "sadness" in any way towards anything that happened in the movie that would lead me to even think about "crying."

 

I also perhaps, just don't take comic book super hero movies THAT seriously, because, you know... they can travel through time and fall off buildings smashing into the ground or get punched in the face with giant weapons without showing a single scratch, but that's just me!

I can't speak for everyone in my theater sitting off-course. But I can see your point Robb, in a way these are pieces created to have a fun time at the theater with family or friends. Heck I had a 20 minuted drive from the theater to home tears running down my face and laughing at myself that I was crying about a movie aimed to teenagers, I felt pretty dumb.

Thinking about it better, in 2012 I joined the MCU when Avengers hit theaters. Back in 2005 after Star Wars episode 3 I took a back seat around theaters only returning once in 2007 for POTC 3 and once in 2009 for Transformers 2 and twice in 2011 for POTC 4 and Transformers 4. As you can see I stuck with what I knew, I did see a trailer for Captain America 1 back in 2011 and I was genuinely interested until the part in the trailer where he run around in a blue PJ as I called it then, I didn't care for another action movie about one guy that could bring one maybe two sequels. Then late 2011 early 2012 (I can't remember) There was this "Hype" About a movie called the Avengers. I though why not watch the trailer? What got me "hooked" was the multiple superheroes working in a team. I remember thinking that it could be a universe I might get invested in. Right before going to watch Avengers my parents watched the movie Thor, I picked up only parts of the movie not the entire thing but Thor and Loki they looked familiar then it hit me. They where the same characters I was going to see in the Avengers movie, Thor was a movie of what came before, I wondered did the other Heroes have their own movie and I found out most did. I figured if I enjoy the Avengers I give them a shot. Well that all brought me to today (sorry for the rambling but I felt it was a bit necessary to get in my head). I've seen every MCU movie since in theaters, Seven years I spent watching these movies to see where all these characters I invested time in end up that indeed got me to cry.

I figure I was more hooked then I myself thought.

Seven years I spent watching these movies to see where all these characters I invested time in end up that indeed got me to cry.

This is what Jack and I were talking about after the film....

The movie was trying to give this implication of everything coming to an "end" with all these characters, but...

- Spider-Man has a movie coming out in a couple of months.

- Guardians of the Galaxy also has a new movie (with what would appear with some new members joining the team.)

- We've got TV series announced with Hawkeye, Winter Soldier, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Loki

- And you can bet there will be another Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and from what it would appear from the end of the film another... well, I won't give it a way, movie or two.

I keep seeing this all over the internet: "A solo Black Widow movie is officially in the works" so.... huh?

I dunno... I guess I just looked at this movie as maybe an ending to a "chapter" but I highly doubt this will be the last time we see most of these characters, even some characters that we THINK we might not see again...

Nothing is ever "final" in the comic book world...

Like I said it felt like the end of a chapter to me, but not the end of the story but I think the reason so many people are viewing it as the end is that they've realized that they've followed every movie and every story and yet it could possibly out-live them and they won't see where it truly ends (just like comic books or soap operas) and so they are looking for a jumping-off point and using this to convince themselves they made it from start to finish.

I kind of think, even though it's just meaningless labels, this is why Marvel is now claiming Spider-Man is the end of 'phase 3' of Marvel movies as sort of an epilogue to it all and not actually the start of whatever comes next to try and convince people the universe they love is still there.

I'm personally in the camp of I'll see the characters I like with sequels or drop in on new movies I'm interested in. I think these last 2 Avengers movies have scared people into getting lost if they don't see all of them and that's why they will step out here.

^^ I'm completely aware of all these movie's coming (soon), but yes Endgame feels like the end of a chapter or book that you know will get a sequel. It's in a sense over. I'm not planning on leaving the MCU anytime soon, but when the second chapter or book closes in who knows 11 years from now I just know it wouldn't be the same and as satisfying as Endgame, or in the unlikely event everybody returns and we get the team ups I can't right now image we will and then it will still be approach with caution. No I believe the MCU has peaked and I'm okay with that. That's how I have that sense closure.

It's in a sense over. I'm not planning on leaving the MCU anytime soon, but when the second chapter or book closes in who knows 11 years from now I just know it wouldn't be the same and as satisfying as Endgame. I believe the MCU has peaked and I'm okay with that. That's how I have that sense closure.

I am unable to relate to any of what you just said. It's a movie. And they've been making comic book movies and franchises since I can remember. I mean, I saw the original Superman The Movie in the theater in 1978. Everyone thought then that was the end-all, be-all Super Hero film.

Saying that you think super hero films have peaked with Endgame, to me that's like someone saying...

"I know that roller coasters have peaked at Magnum XL-200 and I'm okay with that..."

and then 10 years later....

"I know that roller coasters have peaked with Millennium Force and I'm okay with that..."

and then 10 years later...

"I know that roller coasters have peaked with Steel Vengeance and I'm okay with that..."

And then 10 years later...

I'm glad I went into Avengers spoiler free. I really liked it. The movie did exactly what it needed to and also added in plenty of fan service.

The only downside was the theater I was in exited us directly into the parking lot so no one could use the restroom afterwards.

I've stopped trying to review MCU films the same as I do with other films. As an individual film, Endgame is very messy, but as the end of an 11-year film series, it's hard to deny the good job it does tying up character arcs. It also manages to make 3 hours fly by, and the final action scene delivers.

I saw the movie twice today actually and yeah it lived up to its hype. My favorite since in the entire movie is when all those portals appear at once and all those characters emerged through them. Now I can’t say it’s the best comic book (or MCU for that matter) I’ve seen.

So now that Avengers Endgame has made an INSANE $1.2 Billion Dollars and everyone that would care about spoilers has obviously seen it, it's okay to talk about the movie, now, right?

seeing it on Wed

seat at Alamo Drafthouse already purchased.

So that's a "yes?"