Captain Marvel Movie Review

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Directed By: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Cast: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Clark Greg

MCU is now in its final-final leg. This is it, the home stretch, 'the end game', and Captain Marvel serves as an important thread to round it all. Marvel Cinematic Universe, now in its 21st film has done it all. There have been multiple origin-stories & follow-ups, a pseudo-Avenger film, and 3 Avenger films. The MCU is now the biggest movie franchise of all time (Box-office collections of over $17Bn) and will serve as a benchmark for not just creating an entertainment juggernaut, but also being able to see many years into the future.  However, with every new film, the expectations inch up, the stakes rise, and detractors multiply. And as with everything in life, the law of averages is bound to come into force, sooner or later. Unfortunate as it may be, Captain Marvel will fall into the lower end of MCU film spectrum, with the likes of Iron Man 3, GoG Vol 2 and Thor: The Dark World. But I will get there in a bit, first some background. ...  More

Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse Movie Review

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Over the past decade or so, the only thing DC has had an upper hand on (when compared to Marvel) is animated films. I say this because some of the best animation action/superhero films I have seen are all by DC. Batman: Under the red hood, Batman: The Mask of Phantasm, Justice League: Doom, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and above all Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox (my favourite).  ...  More

Luke Cage Season 2 Review

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2018 seems to be the year of great sophomore seasons. After Goliath, and 13 Reasons Why, comes season 2 of Luke Cage, and lands a massive punch. The season is set-up rather awkwardly because even though there is a recap, it is for season 1. However, those who have followed Marvel shows on Netflix would know that Defenders came after Luke Cage season 1. The storyline in Defenders did cause changes in Luke’s universe, unfortunately, there is no recap of what happened in Defenders. Hence, people who have not seen the show may be surprised to see Misty Knight, missing one of her arms. To know the entire backstory, you will have to watch Defenders and also Iron Fist…actually don’t torture yourself…just watch Defenders.  ...  More

Incredibles 2 Movie Review

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14 years ago, when Incredibles (2004) was released it was in no way a unique story. Powers were all derivatives of the Marvel universe, some of which had been used many times in multiple films and TV shows. But the film still clicked because the treatment was unique and the animation was flawless. Set in a world where Superheroes are illegal, Incredibles (2004) gave us heroes who lived in hiding. Centred around a family of 5 (including the baby, Jack-Jack), who is moving ever-so-often because of Dad aka Mr Incredible who can't seem to keep his powers hidden for long. Incredibles 2 gives us back the same adorable family but this time there is an added bonus (will come to that in a bit). ...  More

Deadpool 2 Movie Review – It has its moments but lacks the balance of the original

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I had initially thought that I will write a spoiler free review but after watching the film, I don’t think it is a big task. There is not much substance in Deadpool 2 so treading around key plot points without revealing them is like a walk in the park.  The film starts a little after part 1 finished. Wade Wilson aka Deadpool is now a full-on vigilante and has a very successful career killing a lot of very bad guys in worse ways. Then some shit goes down and a random sequence of events occur. This keeps happening until the film ends.

Deadpool is supposed to be fun and does not take itself too seriously. However, the first part had a semblance of a story and a logical flow of events. In Deadpool 2, things just happen, sometimes because it is visually appealing or sometimes even to set up jokes.  The saving grace for the film is that a lot of the jokes are hilarious.

The first part was high on humour, broke the 4th wall a few times and was able to laugh not just at itself but the entire superhero genre. The second outing for Deadpool does not tread slowly in this regard. On the contrary, it ups the ante with a mountain of punchlines and meta references that it gets difficult to catch all of them. The film is full of superstar cameos. One of the funniest sequences is the meta reference to Xforce, which has a cameo from Brad Pitt as ‘Vanisher’. Matt Damon also makes an appearance as one of the red necks. ...  More