avengers

4/5 Stars Avengers Infinity War – Spoiler Review

Julie Gilbert Fantasy, Movie Reviews, scifi , , ,

 

Introduction:

By now, pretty much everybody who wanted to avoid spoilers did so successfully or failed earlier than this article. Still, guess I should start with a warning: CONTAINS SPOILERS. The movie tended to progress from one fight to the next without much breathing time.

Overall: I enjoyed the movie, but I have serious issues with the way it ended. Closure’s a beautiful thing, and this lacks it.

Note:
 The bulk of this story centers on the bad guy, Thanos.

Epic:

There’s much to appreciate in this movie:

  • Thor taking the power of the neutron star through the chest struck several notes of awesome.
  • Thor’s return to Earth, heralded by Bruce Banner’s “You guys are so screwed!”
  • Most fight scenes. The short fight in Scotland came out pretty cool.

Funny:

In no particular order, here’s a sampling of the funny moments I appreciated:

  • Thor repeatedly calling Rocket a rabbit.
  • Draxx pretending to be invisible.
  • Groot acting like a teenager on a road trip.
  • Rescuing Dr. Strange on the alien “donut.”
  • Dr. Strange meeting Spiderman.
  • Black Widow “That was really gross.” (After the chick she was fighting got shredded by one of the alien war machines.)

Frustrating:

I find the lack of closure highly disturbing. They may as well have ended with a big, fat “TO BE CONTINUED” sign. Which sucks. A lot. It’s one thing to need to be able to split a story because it’s just too long to tell altogether. And it’s another to drag things out just to make more money. This definitely smacks of “money grab.”

Conclusion:

They could have found a way to end on a higher note. Even at the darkest point of any story, there’s some silver lining. At least choosing a slightly higher note would have been kinder to audiences. Time will tell if that ultimately hurts Marvel at the box office. I know for my part, I’m done with this story until the next movie. If it ended better, I probably would have been down for 2-3 more theater trips. As is, guess I’ll save my $60 and see Solo more ;-).

 

 

Associate links to follow…

Amazon Prime

 

Audible – If you’d like some free codes, please email me at [email protected] with requests for any of my works.


4/5 Avengers: Infinity War – Spoiler Free Review

Julie Gilbert Fantasy, Movie Reviews, scifi , , , , ,

Introduction:

In the interest of keeping this spoiler free, I’ll keep my comments as general as possible and narrow it down to some questions.

Is this movie worth watching?

Yes, Infinity War hits a lot of the same vibes as most of the Marvel movies. Moments of seriousness get broken with well-timed sprinkles of humor, most crude.

Would you buy a dvd/ bluray?

Not until there’s a box set. I don’t own the others, so it would make sense for me to wait for the final one to come out and get them all at once.

Who is your favorite character in Infinity War?

That’s hard to answer. Probably, Thor. He’s pretty freaking awesome when he enters the final battle. The first time I saw the movie, I’m pretty sure he was the only one to earn some claps. The second time, Captain America and Thor both earned some viewer appreciation.

Who would you have liked to see more of?

In a movie like this that has a cast this big, there’s always going to be some disappointment with how much time gets devoted to each character. Overall, they managed to find great balance in keeping the story moving while juggling several arenas of conflict. I really wanted to see more Black Widow.

Conclusion:

At this point, I’m sure all the spoilers are out there, but let’s just leave it at, check it out and make your own decision. I’ll tell you why and how it missed top marks from me in the next blog entry (tomorrow).

Associate links to follow…

Amazon Prime

 

Audible – If you’d like some free codes, please email me at [email protected] with requests for any of my works.


2018 Anticipated Movies

Julie Gilbert children's, Fantasy, scifi, Star Wars , , , , ,

Introduction:

Typically, I end up seeing about one movie a month. Looks like we might be off to a slow start in 2018. That said, there are quite a few movies I really want to see this year. Here they are roughly in release order.

 

Black Panther:

Release Date Feb 16, 2018

In recent years, Marvel has done a great job of fleshing out a lot of the characters I’d never heard of because I’m not a huge comic book fan. I read a few Star Wars comics as a kid, but never subscribed to any particular series. Marvel Studios spinoff stories have been well told, well acted, and all around superbly played. That’s why it made my list.

 

Tomb Raider:

Release Date: March 16, 2018

I’m pretty sure this is a reboot based on the excellent video game, Rise of the Tomb Raider. I loved that game. Still do. It provided a cool backstory to how Lara ended up becoming an adventurer. Video game movies in general often leave much to be desired, but I’m going in with the perspective that the movie is going to be its own thing with only vague things like the game. The franchise has usually come through in terms of providing a nice action flick.

 

Avengers: Infinity War

Release Date: May 4, 2018

Looks amazing. I’m a tad nervous about how they can pull off a good movie with so many characters to give screentime to. How do you balance a thing like that. I’m pretty sure from that trailer there are over a dozen Marvel characters teaming up this round.

 

Solo: A Star Wars Story

 

Release Date: May 25, 2018

Not sure I believe this release date. It will make a longer wait for the 9th episode of Star Wars but it’ll be way shorter a wait to get to this movie. This one, to me, will be the true test of whether or not Disney can make a viable spinoff Star Wars movie. Rogue One was excellent, but it also fit in very nicely with the established storylines. Here, they’re venturing into a previously unexplored backstory. Should be fun, but I have my reservations.

 

The Incredibles 2:

Release Date: June 15, 2018

It’s been ages since I saw the first movie, but I remember liking it. Sequels tend not to be as good as the original, but since it’s probably been over a decade since the first one, the franchise probably had a chance to reset.

 

Robin Hood:

Release Date: September 21, 2018

Heard it’s darker than most Robin Hood tales, but it still looks like a good time. People have always taken weird angles with the outlaw. I loved the BBC’s latest TV series on the subject. I guess I’m more curious about this one than truly excited.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Release Date: November 2, 2018

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t kept up with the entire X-men franchise. I think I missed most of the first movies. Might try to do some catchup, but regardless, the last few have been decent movies. They’re decent scifi action.

 

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Release Date: November 21, 2018

The first Wreck it Ralph movie was a good time that harkened back to the beginning days of video games. It struck that rare balance between being a cool kids movie and having enough video game lore to intrigue young adults who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s where video games had some booming years.

 

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Couldn’t find any great promo pictures. Might be too early?

Release Date: December 14, 2018

Arguably the stupidest sounding title on my list, this one looks like a great movie. (Not a fan of the multiple hyphens.) Most fans will agree that the Spiderman movies have successfully entered a new era with Tom Holland in the spidey suit.

 

Conclusion:

I’m optimistic about the year’s choices of big screen movies. Should at least make the AMC stubs plan worth it. Usually, I see Star Wars first on principle, but this year, I’m breaking tradition and going to see Jumanji on Jan 1.

What are you looking forward to seeing in theaters?