*I will be vague and try not to spoil anything.
I'm not sure if there has been a movie with so much hyperbole of opinion around it as The Last Jedi. There seems to be this idea that either you think it is awful or you think it is the best Star Wars movie ever but I imagine there are many people like myself who thought it was a mixed bag. It doesn't help that it starts off in a confusing way when you think about how The Force Awakens ended. To that some might say well the books explain what happened between that and The Last Jedi to which I would say well you shouldn't have to read the books to understand why things are the way they are. There is also the issue of how Luke Skywalker is handled with Mark Hamill himself coming out and saying he didn't agree with his characterization in this movie (that said he didn't let that affect his performance so fair play to him). That and how new characters who were great in The Force Awakens are not handled that well in this movie don't help things. It does have some exceptional moments and I do understand that Rian Johnson wanted to subvert expectations and breathe new life into Star Wars that said I think I enjoyed The Force Awakens more.
I now realise as I'm writing this that I haven't commented on Justice League yet. Going to see it was actually my first trip out after getting my wisdom tooth out last year. Whilst Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice made me angry and frustrated and Suicide Squad was disappointing despite low expectations Justice League was just medicore. I'll say that again, Justice League the first live action Justice League movie where we see heroes such as Superman, Batman, The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman and Wonder Woman team up was mediocre (at best). Zach Snyder stepped away from the movie due to a personal tragedy and the director of Avengers and Avengers Age of Ultron was brought in to finish the movie. It is fair to say that the movie is a bit of a mess with lame comedy bits added, this weird focus on a Russian family that the movie keeps cutting to and an unfinished, poor quality CGI finale. It once again shows the very poor decision making that goes on at Warner Bros in terms of their DC Extended Universe. There has been much campaigning by fans of Zach Snyder for a "Snyder-cut" of the movie and as much as I think Batman V Superman was a bad movie at least it was ambitious and it was clearly setting stuff up for Justice League which was then not included. It's hard not to wonder if the original vision would've been better.
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| The movie was't helped by moustache-gate |
Before I talk about Marvel movies I'll talk about some other superhero movies that were released this year. The first Deadpool was a great movie and it showed that Fox could differentiate themselves from Marvel Studios by making more mature (aka violent) superhero movies. It was funny and had great action and it deservedly got a lot of praise. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy Deadpool 2 anywhere near as much. I don't think it was as funny, there were too many jokes relating to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I thought it really dragged in places. It's not awful but definitely could've been better. I wasn't overly fussed on Josh Brolin as Cable or his backstory in the movie but I would be interested in seeing an X-Force movie with him and Deadpool having a smaller role.
The first Incredibles movie was released in 2004 and I think it's fair to say that it remains one of the best superhero movies. The sequel was finally released in 2018 and it was hard to know if it would meet expectations. I must confess I saw it late in its run at the cinema, I went in the afternoon expecting there not to be many people at it only to find lots of parents and their kids so I maybe didn't enjoy it as much I might've if there weren't kids stomping up and down. It definitely looks great, the voice acting is spot-on and it has some great set-pieces. That said I don't think it reaches the quality of the first movie and I don't think the villain is anywhere near as good as the villain in the first one.
2018 was a big year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first movie being Black Panther, a big budget blockbuster movie that is culturally important for having a primarily black cast. T'Challa/Black Panther had been introduced in Captain America: Civil War and despite his small screen time he came across as a very interesting and badass character. I enjoyed this movie, it's yet another polished, entertaining Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, it doesn't just feel like another generic superhero movie. That said I don't think it is perfect and I think it is overhyped a bit especially given the finale which I thought could've been better especially with the poor CGI (possibly due to priority being given to Avengers: Infinity War).
Avengers; Infinity War had a lot of pressure to live up to. This is due to it not only being an Avengers movie, being directed by the Russo brothers who directed Captain America: The Winter Solider and Civil War, being a movie featuring not just the Avengers but also other characters such as Black Panther, Spider-man, Doctor Strange and also the Guardians of the Galaxy but also finally having Thanos, a villain who had been teased since the post-credit scene of the first Avengers movie finally take center stage. Whilst not spoiling anything I think it is fair to say that it managed to both meet and exceed expectation. It is action packed, it is funny, it has twist and turns and covers a lot of different emotions. It is a great looking and sounding film as well. Josh Brolin is fantastic as Thanos and he comes across as a real character with real weight to him despite all the CGI and motion capture used to bring him to life. Seeing it in the cinema for the first time is an experience that I will remember for a long time.
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| How you do a CGI villain cough*Stepphenwolf*cough |
Ant-man and The Wasp was the next film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in a way acted as a bit of a palette cleanser before Captain Marvel next March. Like the first one it is a self-contained story and is better for it. Again it is a very polished entertaining Marvel movie. It has an interesting antagonist and lots of great choreography and action. It's not going to top many people's favourite MCU movies but that is fine. Paul Rudd is proof of the brilliance of the casting of the MCU and Evangeline Lilly gets to step up and does very well. I think if there is anything to complain about is that it does juggle different baddies and plot-lines. It might have been better if one element of the plot had been given a bit more focus and time but it may be that it is revisited in future movies.
I cannot review Solo: A Star Wars Story, as I haven't seen it, nor have I seen Venom (partly out of protest due to Sony being so short-sighted and going ahead with their Spider-man spin-off universe that isn't connected to the MCU). There are a number of big movies out now that I haven't seen yet, hopefully I will be able to see at least one of them before Christmas now things are winding down a bit in terms of my job hunt.
If I don't write anything before then well please have a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
