July 7, 2022 – Wow, that was such a fun movie!! I loved seeing so many characters we’ve not seen in a couple years. And the bunch of new characters were enjoyable too.

Thor and Thor were great together as they always are. Jane and his stories have always been tied to one another. Natalie Portman was great as Mighty Thor and looked like she had fun with it. Chris Hemsworth was wonderful as ever in his role.

Valkyrie and Korg and all the other Asgardians were fantastic. So much was happening and they all performed brilliantly. Oh, also, the Guardians time on screen was fun and had heart.

Gorr, The God Butcher. I still wish they’d had him look closer to his comic version, but Christian Bale was phenomenal as Gorr. He was terrifying and disturbing. Certainly a perfect choice for the role.

As to the connections to the Jason Aaron comic run of Thor where Gorr and Mighty Thor debuted, there were many specific similarities to those stories and how things started and ended, and as these movies work, things have to be a bit sped up for everything to work. In this case, I think they did well with matching what they could in the limited time-frame they were allowed.

The special effects were glorious as always of course. And the new locations we visited were amazing. New Asgard looked great and seeing how things have been going there was nice. The scenes with Zeus were fantastic too! That setting was spectacular! I will have to look at those scenes carefully to see if there are any particular faces I missed. For example, if I see Khonshu or some other god. I don’t think I saw him there, but, there were a lot of them. and of course the music was amazing and the comedy was great. Oh and a couple unexpected cameos early on XD.

Oh. Toothnasher and Toothgrinder were the best. XD

How things ended suggests a number of possible paths forward. I have a couple ideas I’d love to see come out of this. Who knows what we’ll get eventually. all in all, I really had fun with this movie. I wouldn’t say no to a show spinning out of this somehow. Can’t wait to see it again!

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Mid-credit scene: Yes. Setting up some intriguing things.

End-credit scene: Also, yes. Potentially setting up something I want to happen, but maybe something else.

June 16, 2022 – I have to say, if I were Andy and all his friends when he was a kid in the 90’s, I would have been blown away by this movie XD. And today, I’m similarly in awe. It was a fantastic film!

The plot was pretty simple, but it had reach. I love this version of Buzz, he’s what we know from the Buzz toy from the Toy Story franchise, but with more depth of course, since he’s the character the toy is based off of. He’s a bit by the books but does his own thing when he feels he needs to. That can be a good thing at times and a bad thing at others.

The other characters in the movie were enjoyable, though other than both Hawthorne‘s the other two were maybe a bit one-note. But they were still fun. And Sox is of course the best!

There weren’t too many twists and turns, though one thing was unexpected. I think it was a decent twist. Basically a lot of things go wrong before things go right (regarding the team’s plans).

This was just a fun adventurous movie with a great lead and lots of blowing things up! I’m certainly glad I saw it in theaters. Space stuff is always better in theaters.

Mid-credit scene: Yes. A funny one.

End-credit scene: Yes. Also for laughs.

A-very-last-thing-you-see-end-credit scene. Oh yes indeed. The most important one.

June 9, 2022 – So, it’s been a while since I watched Fallen Kingdom, so I forgot a bunch of stuff, I’d seen Jurassic World on television recently, so it was fresh in my mind.

I enjoyed this movie a lot. I loved seeing the classic Jurassic Park characters interact with the modern era characters. The dinosaurs were of course gorgeous as always. There were ones that we’d not seen in a while and familiar ones. This movie takes place 4 years after Fallen Kingdom, so the world is not doing well after dinosaurs were unintentionally introduced back into the wild. Plus those bugs! Wow. There were two clear plots that weaved in and out throughout the movie and they connected nicely later on.

All the actors did brilliantly as one would expect. Since this is the end of this story, I wouldn’t mind seeing a couple of the new characters have their own projects. They certainly seemed to have more to offer.

Seeing the dinosaurs in the midst of the normal world was intriguing and visually fascinating, even if not great for the people in the movie. There were some cameos via photos in one scene from the other Jurassic World movies that was nice. And there was even a couple specific things directly from the original Jurassic Park.

I really enjoyed being in this world again, it’s always fun. Of course it’s not been that long since we’ve been there since Netflix has had its Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous animated series which has been going the past few years. The final season of which drops next month. I’d certainly suggest it, it gets deeper than I thought it would when I first watched it. It’s set before, during and after the first Jurassic World movie, so the connections to that in season 1 are many. Season 2 is during the same month and season 3 is three or so months after season 2. It’s quite fun to see connections to the movies via this series and to see what potential there is for future projects.

All-in-all, this was a great ending for this story that started for us all in 1993 (1990 for those who read the novel first).

Mid-credit scene: No

End-credit scene: No

May 5, 2022 – This is the first time I’m writing one of these movie posts on here after having finished being caught up on filling out this blog with content from as far back as 2016 (it took four weeks to catch up to present day XD)!! Woot!! I wanted to have done that before seeing The Batman, but that didn’t work out. This is also the first time I’m sharing this blog on my Facebook (normally I would have posted my thoughts on movies via a post on there).

If this is you’re first time seeing this blog, welcome! And have a look around after you read this! So far it’s comics and movie reviews/reactions. Anyway, enjoy:

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So. This. Movie. First of all, Props to Sam Raimi (first Spider-Man trilogy director) for directing and Danny Elfman (the master musical craftsman behind Batman (1989) which inspired the music and tone for the 90’s animated series, Batman Returns, the first Spider-Man, and many other spectacular scores) for the score. That duo was perfect! XD

There were specific threads that I had hoped would be stitched throughout this movie, and weren’t, but there was so much else going on, that I was perfectly ok with that.

Even though I was a little worried about 2 hours 2 mins not being enough, it certainly felt right. The pace was fine for me. Plus in the story that was being told, things were happening fast, so it made sense.

I can’t believe it’s been 6 years since the first Doctor Strange movie. So much has changed for Stephen since then. Even though this movie had a lot to do, it also served as a decent sequel.

The returning characters were a joy to see again, of course. And the new ones were also wonderful to meet for the first time. And the cameos were brilliant! Hehe. There certainly are some that haven’t been spoiled by the internet.

America Chavez was a character I was worried about a little bit because of how much I enjoy her character in the comics. Of course the MCU has to do it’s own version of all these characters and changes must be made at times. In general, her origins seem to be what they were (initially) in the comics. Though her characterization here was very different, I hope that whenever we see her again she’ll be more similar to her comic counterpart. Time will tell. But she was a fun character indeed.

The multiverse! All I’ll say is the moment this goes to Disney+, I’m going to watch it again and pause on so many frames to see if I can recognize any of the other worlds. There were a lot! XD

The plot itself wasn’t too complicated, but the path from A to B was well, a ball of wibbly wobbly stuff (to paraphrase a certain Timelord :-P). I enjoyed the story and I’m excited for everything that may come next!

And just in case you haven’t yet, if you’ve not watched WandaVision on Disney+, you are required to watch it entirely before watching this movie. Yes, you read what I said. Just do it. It doesn’t matter if you know what happened in the show already, just watch it first. XD

This was a fun movie with a creepy, scary tone thanks to the aforementioned director and composer. I’m excited to see this again soon!! XD

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Mid-credit scene: SO MUCH YES. I’m so glad this wasn’t spoiled. XD though many of you probably will be confused. XD ask me once you’ve seen it XD.

End-credit scene: Yes XD it’s one of those funny, non-essential ones, but I enjoyed it still XD. So, if you have the time to stay, stay. If not, no worries.

April 14, 2022 – Back to the wizarding world we went!

I enjoyed Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore a lot. It was, as always, wonderful to return to this world of magic and fantasy.

The plot was clear and not overly complicated, we jump into things right away and everything flows well. There were still twists and turns but it was nice to not have anything too over the top.

All the acting was brilliant of course, new and old characters alike. And of course the creatures introduced and seen were wonderful too. The music was beautiful as one would expect with these movies.

We have two movies left of this story, and considering one thing that happened at the end, things can ramp up now. I certainly have high expectations for movie five when we get it eventually.

There were aspects of the HP books that were touched upon in this and I liked seeing those threads connect. Though I’ll be interested to see if that continues with the last two films.

The action was great, there’s always some new little bit of magic we’ve not seen yet that just brings joy. It’s just such a fun world. I’ll always love it.

I know Ezra Miller has been having some bad press recently along with the past year or so, we’ll just have to see what comes of it. He’s not been making great choices.

I would certainly say that this made me miss seeing the wizarding world more often like before, I wouldn’t say no to WB making a series out of something. But, with everything that continues to go on with Rowling’s backward views, I think WB is just trying to get these movies done asap. It’s a shame, but again, we’ll have to see what the future holds.

Mid-credit scene: No

End-credit scene: No

March 31, 2022 – Morbius

Well, first thing’s first, it wasn’t horrible. The plot was simple, and thus a little predictable, it was okay but not great. And my knowledge of Morbius came from the 90’s Spider-Man animated series and the various times he’s showed up in the comics that I’ve read, so it’s not a lot. I did do some extra reading yesterday just to get a little more acquainted. And other than many stories with other marvel characters (mainly, of course, Spidey), there wasn’t a lot of stuff just on him besides his origin and then what it later became. So Sony basically had free reign. It basically was 5 ish main characters. Maybe 3 proper main ones and 2 side characters.

One thing that I did enjoy were the special effects. I think they were well done. The use of color and smoke was a nice touch.

I do wish there was a little more character development with the antagonist though. The actual antagonism of them came out of no where and wasn’t explained or hinted at. Maybe they were just a naturally violent person? Who knows.

I think Jared Leto did a good job here, Michael Morbius is a man of science but he doesn’t generally lean towards violence even in his vampiric form. Everything he does is about a cure.

There were a couple decisions at the end where I was a bit confused about. Though one of those things maybe less confusing and more, I don’t think that needed to happen. And the second thing I don’t understand why it happened (unless it’s because of the first). So, maybe we’ll see.

I really haven’t said a lot here just because it’s such a simple plot, I can’t really dig into it. It was a sequence of 10 ish plot points in all. Maybe 11.

Since there’s not a lot about Morbius when not interacting with other marvel characters, this movie doesn’t need to be judged against the comics much. It was nice to see Morbius on screen even if this is Sony. But this didn’t really “wow” me. Not that I expected it to. It’s an okay movie. Though I think I do have to put it below both Venom movies only because I liked the humor in the venom movies more than anything else in those movies XD.

Oh and another odd thing, the animated credits were so random. It’s was like a 70’s theme or something. It didn’t match the movie at all whatsoever. It just felt jarring.

Mid-credit scene: Yes. There are two, both during the animated credits. Both related. At first I was confused as to why what was happening was happening, then I guess I figured it out and was like eh, alright. The second one suggests more to come.

End-credit scene: No.

March 3, 2022 – The Batman.

First of all, it was fantastic! The plot wasn’t too complicated. The characters were well spaced out so everyone had their own time. The score was amazing of course. And as advertised, this showed the detective side of Batman much more than the other films.

Pattinson did quite well as Bruce. Showing us him during his second year as Batman where he’s known but still not yet quite trusted was a good move. Gotham is in a state of transition in many ways and everything felt built up in a way that offered change to come.

I wasn’t so sure about how they chose to portray Riddler from the promo information and the trailers and such, but it was well done. The characterization still seems a bit off when we see his goals and reasoning for what he’s doing, but it works for the story I suppose.

Selina Kyle. Zoë Kravitz was brilliant. There wasn’t too much about her past really other than what I feel like they made up for the plot, so that one part was a bit odd. But again, worked for the story. But she was great as this proto-Catwoman version of Selina. Also, Bruce and Selena’s chemistry was good. I mean Bruce is putting out his stoic kind of personality as Batman but it still works. And could set up for more down the line.

The action was certainly amazing. The fights were brutal and sound design assisted in that. The lighting was also well crafted. Of course it’s Gotham, so there’s a lot of darkness and the use of shadows was all over the place. Specifically the beginning of the movie when Batman is being introduced, the way the shadows are used in those sequences was probably a favorite aspect of the movie.

I may have to watch it again to really see if this is part of the movie, but I didn’t really feel the city of Gotham as a character. Sometimes with Batman projects, you watch or read and you just feel Gotham. There was a little bit of that, but as I said, I’ll watch it again to see for sure. But either way it didn’t detract from the movie.

It was a well done movie. Certainly one of the best Batman movies. The balance between crime fighter and detective was very well done. I’d still like to see Bruce be a bit more detective-like, but this was a good start.

Of course, we have no idea how we’ll see this iteration of Batman in the future of DC Films, but I’d be happy to see more of this. There were hints at what could be coming at the end, but we’ll see. This is on another Earth compared to the other DC Films as far as I remember being announced. But with the Flash movie basically being a Flashpoint story, this Batman could be ours in the future. Time will tell.

I certainly enjoyed The Batman. I hope that Pattinson stays in the role for a while.

Mid-credit scene: no

End-credit scene: not really a scene, but there’s something. You could probably guess what it is after seeing the movie, but if you want to stay, go for it.

December 16, 2021 – Spider-Man: No Way Home.

I can’t even. Like. I can’t even. I’m still figuring out how to absorb it all. HOLY CRAP.

First and foremost, this is a Peter Parker movie. The most Peter Parker movie ever. Certainly the best Spider-man movie.

I just got home, made some food, now typing this all up. They did so many things. All the things!! XD

Surprises indeed, laughs, emotions, sadness, pain, utter joy. Just so much. And very well done. The movie felt long but I wanted it to be long. I wanted it to feel long so I could just sit in the awesomeness and revel in it.

Everyone acted brilliantly. Tom Holland though. Lordy. The best he’s done. His range is just ever expanding.

I loved seeing the characters again, it was nice to been in this environment again. And it picks up moments after the last one, so one could totally watch them back-to-back and it would be quite the ride XD.

There’s really not a lot more I can say without just being repetitive XD. Everyone was fantastic!! The story was great and flowed well. The action was what one would expect from the trailers and so much more. I certainly wonder when we’ll see everyone again. I mean, of course some in Doc 2 but I dunno when the others will show up again beyond another Spidey movie.

I just really loved this XD. Can’t wait to watch it again and be blown away again XD. Things happen fast and then a lot happens and then A LOT happens XD haha. I just. Wow.

Mid-credit scene: Yes XD indeeeeed. The implication. Hehe.

End-credit scene: Well. This is tricky. Yes technically. But also, SO MUCH MORE. This is the best end-credit addition to ever grace the end of a movie XD. You’ll understand what I mean. XD

Just. Wow.

Enjoy the hell out of this when you see it. XD

November 18, 2021 – Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Wow, I really enjoyed this!! It has been a while since I’ve watched the original, I think I may have before the female lead version from 2016. So it’s still been a while since I last saw it. But even then, I retained enough that most of the references to the past were not lost on me.

It had enough modern story and legacy of things being tied up to balance it out. The cast was great! Most of the leads were actors I know of and they were fab.

The story made sense for everything that had come before. It was a nice way to end things while still leaving the possibility of more if ever they decide to make more.

The special effects were modern of course but they still retained the look and feel of the original effects.

Mid-credit scene: Yes. More for fun and nostalgia

End-credit scene: Yes. Suggests the possibility of more should they decide to continue telling stories.

I certainly recommend this to fans of the franchise.

November 4, 2021 – I just got out of Eternals! XD. I went into this knowing that the history of the Eternals wasn’t as similar as it could have been, compared to the comics, so I was a bit worried about that. Reducing their history from 1 million years (in the comics) down to 7000 was jarring. But I was still very excited for this.

Okay, so, this was fantastic! XD not as much Celestial stuff as I wanted, but I feel like that kind of movie could be in the future. This was dense as many of the people who complained about it have said. But I enjoyed that aspect. There are a lot of characters and we have to know them well enough to care about their stories. I think it did a good job of that. I still think it would have been better to have two movies, one set solely in the past and this movie’s story could have been set in present day. But eh.

Of course the problem with having so many characters is that one wants more time with each other them. There are certainly some characters who I wish they’d focused more on. But, I’m sure we’ll get to them in the future.

They did change aspects of what Eternals are and how they came to be. Power sets were changed too. Instead of each having an assortment of abilities, each Eternals has one main ability and of course all a prolonged lifespan.

Each Eternal had their own passions and personalities that we saw throughout the movie. Some changed and some didn’t too much in their long history.

I have to say, there were twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I think they worked well. Again, time will tell about certain aspects of those events.

There were a few references to the others in the MCU, though I will say, most of them are shown to us in the trailers. So don’t expect too many more.

I enjoyed the story and what they crafted it to be and even though it was different than what I had expected, it wasn’t jarring.

I certainly expect a sequel at least, though wouldn’t mind if it were to cross over with another MCU property.

Mid-credit scene: Yes! XD this was a bit spoiled for me, but so much happened in the movie that I basically forgot to expect it XD. It hints at a sequel or some such continuation.

End-credit scene: Yes!! This one was intriguing. I wasn’t sure what to expect for this one. I am excited about what it suggests though. Though I need to talk to a friend who’s also seen it to help me figure out some things XD. (Blade, it was Blade.)

I’m very ready for the MCU to be more cosmic since the cosmic beings are my favorite aspect of marvel conics. So, bring it on Marvel Studios!!