REVIEW - Spider-Man: Brand New Day

 

I caught Brand New Day the night after release, but only just now found the time to review it. This isn’t such a bad thing, though, as it’s given me time to mull over the film, rather than immediately reacting to the thrill and spectacle. While I don’t agree with some critics who have called this the best Spidey film since 2004’s Spider-Man 2, and certainly not the best Spider-Man film ever (the two Spider-Verse films top the chart for me), this is undoubtedly one of the Wall-crawler’s best outings yet. Personally, I’d put this on a par with 2021’s No Way Home, and while the two films take different approaches to Spider-Man’s adventures, they share the same balance of extraordinary action set pieces and truly heartfelt, emotionally rich performances.

Of course, Brand New Day - which has little in common with the comics arc of the same title, beyond Peter Parker’s identity as Spider-Man having been forgotten by everyone - exists entirely as a response to the previous film. No Way Home was released over four years ago, and the new movie picks up Peter’s story in roughly real time. While MJ and Ned have graduated from MIT, Peter’s life revolves fully around his vigilante adventures. That’s not to say he hasn’t moved on at all - he’s developed a strong working relationship with Detective DeWolff, even if she doesn’t know his real name - but he is largely isolated and pours everything into his crimefighting.

What strikes at first is how much older the young leads appear. Part of this is, doubtless, down to the fact that they’re playing young adults rather than pretending to be teens, but now that they’re pushing thirty, Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, all born in 1996, are distinctly more mature in looks and manner than they were when this started. The characters have grown up over the course of this franchise, which makes it all the more tragic that Peter has had to grow up, essentially, alone. All three put in exceptional performances, with Zendaya in particular dominating her scenes, which seem to take up much more of the runtime than the twenty minutes or so they actually do. The fact that she can hide her chemistry with her husband is remarkably impressive. Holland, luckily for him, doesn’t have to hide how besotted he is with Zendaya, meaning he has to impress us with every other aspect of his performance. His Peter Parker is at once more assured, more in control, and yet more vulnerable and fragile than ever before.

Another remarkably impressive element both of Destin Daniel Cretton’s direction and the script from Eric Sommers and Chris McKenna is that this is an incredibly busy story, filled with various heroes and villains, and yet never feels overstuffed. Holland’s Spider-Man shares screentime with both Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, with Sadie Sink also taking on a major role. (Now that Firestar is finally in the MCU… no, not really, but I won’t spoil her role here. To be honest, if you’ve got a solid idea of who she might be playing, you’re probably right.) Florence Pugh even makes a brief but memorable appearance as Yelena Belova, now in a more supervisory role. In spite of the various crossover characters, most of whom straddle the hero/antagonist divide, Spider-Man never feels like he’s sharing the spotlight; Holland never feels like part of an ensemble. The only other superhero film that’s truly pulled off this balancing act is last year’s Superman, and it’s a very tricky job.

Much of this is down to the strong but gracious performances of the other cast members. Bernthal, in particular, impresses as a somewhat toned-down but still accurate version of Punisher, Frank Castle, whose fractious relationship with Spider-Man is great to finally see in live action. Sadie Sink is, to the surprise of absolutely no one, staggeringly good in her role. It’s wonderful to see Severance’s Trammell Tillman as Damage Control head honcho Bill Metzger, and it doesn’t detract from his performance at all that the character is so obviously villainous. 

For Spidey fans of my vintage, there are a lot of nicely nostalgic elements. We only get hints of Peter’s mutation into Man-Spider here, which is perhaps a shame for those of who wanted a full remake of Neogenic Nightmare from the 90s animated series, but there really wasn’t room for the film to go down that route. While it seems that Peter is able to control his new mutation eventually by embracing it, there’s also the potential for more developments down the line. It’s great to see Michael Mando return as Mac Gargan, having been set up as a new villain way back in Homecoming in 2017, now sporting the full biomechanical armour of the Scorpion. It’s a shame Tombstone only gets the briefest of cameos, but we can’t give everyone a plotline.

Brand New Day sets up a number of potentially very important elements for the MCU as it moves forward Avengers: Doomsday and whatever lies beyond the Multiverse-crashing events of this phase’s finale. Whether these will all be followed up, or whether some threads will be left dangling, as so may have been in the past, remains to be seen. Unlike so many of the later MCU movies, though, Brand New Day feels like it can comfortably stand alone, even as a sequel and the potential start of a new Spider-Man trilogy. A top-tier superhero film starring an actor at the absolute top of his game.

2025 films of the year

It has been a bit of a year for me, and I haven't had the opportunity to see nearly as many new films as I'd have liked, let alone write up the ones I have seen. I've decided to run down through my top ten for the year, but there are plenty more films to catch that could shift the line-up, especially given the number of high-profile and acclaimed releases in late November and December. I may revisit this in another twelve months and see if it's changed. I'm going to appraoch these in order of lowest to highest rated, according to my own flawed opinions.

Honorable mention: Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)

Strictly speaking, Nosferatu is a 2024 film, but as it went on general release with only a week left of 2024, most of its run was in '25. A bleak and beautiful film, this updates the original Symphony of Horror into a vampiric epic. Lily-Rose Depp gives the star performance of a powerful cast, in a truly haunting production that's exquisitely realised. It loses momentum halfway and runs too long, and it's not nearly as strange as either the original or Eggers's best work, but it's still an exceptional film. If it had come out a week later it'd have sat at number three on this list. Full review here.

10) The Running Man (Edgar Wright)

I'm pretty sure this one wouldn't have made it into the top ten if I'd caught more films this year. This isn't a great film, but it is an entertaining one. The second film of the year based on a Stephen King novel with a title based on perambulation, The Running Man is the least stylish of all Wright's films, but still way more stylish than most action movies. The general consensus is that Glen Powell is miscast as the lead, and that's probably fair, but he's watchable enough to carry the adventure. There are occasional glimpses of Wright's unique style, and it's sure as hell better than the shitty 80s version starring Arnie. The film has a strong message against corporate greed and the rich's exploitation of the poor, but it's hard to swallow in a film that cost $110 million where the catering budget doubtless cost more than most people's annual salary.

9) Predator: Badlands (Dan Trachtenberg)

Amazingly, the second Predator film from Trachtenberg this year. Killer of Killers was better than I expected, but it was Badlands that I really enjoyed. We've had the popcorn movie approach with Predator before, with varying results, but Trachtenberg really has nailed three different takes on the concept in short order. This is Predator as a full-on comicbook-style action movie, with legions of CGI monsters. This should be crap, but it tremendously entertaining and surprisingly heartwarming film. Showing the film from the Predator's point of view was a bold move, but making him such a likeable goof makes the film. It's hard to say how much of Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi's performance actually makes it through the CGI, but let's give him the benefit. Elle Fanning's the star, though, as both Weyland-Yutani androids Thea and Tessa. Tying the film so heavily to the Alien series without actually including the monster works brilliantly, as well.

8) Wake Up Dead Man (Rian Johnson)

The third film in the Knives Out/Benoit Blanc series is not, sadly, the hoped for Muppet version, but a stylish and highly personal crime story from Johnson. Although he was raised as an Evangelical Protestant, he chose Catholicism for its potent imagery. It's just as appallingly hypocrytical an institution, after all. There's a potent story here about the conflict between the comfort that faith brings and the damage done by indoctrination, with excellent performances from Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin, Glenn Close and, of course, Daniel Craig. The rest of the cast don't get the chance to show how good they are, sadly, and the actual mystery at the heart of the story isn't original or confounding enough to live up to the rest of it. Compels me, though.

7) 28 Years Later (Danny Boyle)

The follow-up that 28 Days Later deserved, with Boyle returning to the post-apocalyptic Britain he created, (frustratingly only 22 years later). The exploration of how society has adapted to a world infected by the Rage, both the isolated community on Lindisfarne, and to a lesser extent, the rest of Europe on the other side of the quarantine line. I can't quite decide who gives the best performance: 14-year-old Alfie Williams as the courageous young Spike, who's never known any other world but this; or Jodie Comer as his dying, mentally-distressed mother Isla. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is also very good as dad Jamie, pushed to understandable extremes by the stresses of his life, as is the great Ralph Fiennes as the isolated Dr. Kelson. Also fascinating is gradual revelation that the infected remain, if not intelligent in a human sense, then clearly sentient, with the sport-like hunting of them even more disturbing as a result. Judging by the final scene, the second part, The Bone Temple, is going to be bizarre.

6) The Penguin Lessons (Peter Cattaneo)

Although this premiered in 2024, it didn't go on general release until '25, so it definitely belongs on this list. Based on the memoir of Tom Michell, this is the story of how he arrives to teach English in a school in Argentina, in the middle of the 1976 military junta. Steve Coogan is funny, sympathetic, and surprisingly hot as Michell, who ends up rescuing a penguin from an oil slick, in a desperate attempt to get laid on a break in Uruguay. Adopting the penguin - Juan Salvador - and smuggling him into the school, he is able to inspire his students and find some purpose, but the military's abuse of power soon comes out of the background and begins to impact him and those he has become close to. The comedy is gentle, but not the drama. Disturbingly more topical each day in its exploration of life under fascism, this is an undersung success.

5) Superman (James Gunn)

Gunn's relaunch of the Superman movie franchise and reboot of the DC Universe is quite unlike any Superman film that's come before, and yet is the most satisfying film for the character since Superman II over forty years ago. This doesn't feel much like a Superman film, but it does feel like a Superman comic, which makes a huge difference. Skipping the origin story is standard now, but this feels deep into its universe even as a first instalment. Clark is just one of many powerful beings working as heroes, yet stands apart from the metahumans, something that works far better than I would ever have thought. Having him and Lois already deeply in love and managing their relationship is another plus. Yes, this takes a few hints from the CW but in a vastly more cinematic way. Clark is the giant Boy Scout he always truly was, with David Corenswet giving a wonderful performance, while Rachel Brosnahan is actually perfect as Lois. Nicholas Hoult is remarkable as Lex Luthor, and a special shout-out goes to Edi Gathegi for stealing his every scene as Mr. Terrific. Amazingly, this film manages to both be a bold statement on today's genocide-steeped world, while still being a wholesome live-action cartoon featuring Krypto the Superdog.

4) Thunderbolts* (Jake Schreier)

The second of three MCU films out this year, and while Brave New World was better than I expected, and Fantastic Four: First Steps was decent if unremarkable, Thunderbolts* was a genuine surprise. I did not expect Marvel's answer to The Suicide Squad to be a powerful examination of depression and mental illness. Florence Pugh is the standout as Yelena Belova, dealing with the unbelievable trauma of death and resurrection as well as a truly horrific upbringing. While superhero films can get too serious for their own good sometimes dealing with trauma in a realistic way, in the right setting it works. It's an ensemble by its nature, but the other dominant performance is Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds, whose journey through mental illness is powerfully expressed through the allegory of his good and evil superhuman personae. It'll be interesting to see how Bob/Sentry will be used in the future, being essentially Marvel's deliberate Superman ripoff; based on Thunderbolts* alone, his character is one of the best things introduced to the MCU in a good while. 

3) Sinners (Ryan Coogler)

Vampire films are such well-trodden ground, it's incredibly refreshing when one as original and unique as Sinners appears. It's unsurprising that Coogler took some inspiration from From Dusk Till Dawn, but this is far and away the superior work in every way. The direction, music and visual effects are impeccable throughout, but what sets Sinners apart from so many vamp-fests is that it's actually about something. The indelibly racist history of America, the ongoing abuse of Black people and other minorities in the West, the cultural and binding power of music, the strengths and weaknesses of Christian belief, the kinship between Black and Irish... this is a dense film worthy of serious analysis. Michael B. Jordan is predictably excellent as gangster twins Smoke and Stack, with Hailee Steinfeld and Miles Caton (the latter, astonishingly, in his film debut) also giving powerful performances. The fact that half the costuming and period material was bought from Disney after Marvel stopped production on Blade is the icing on the cake. This is how you make a modern vampire film when you know what you're doing.

2) Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro)

The film del Toro was surely born to make, the latest adaptation of Frankenstein blows so many others out of the water. While far from being a faithful interpretation, del Toro's script captures much of the spirit of Shelley's novel, with a strong focus on Frankenstein's selfishness and abandonment of his responsbilities. Oscar Isaac, one of today's great character actors, gives a riveting performance as Frankenstein, with able support from Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz. However, the real star of the film is Jacob Elordi as the Creature, giving a nuanced and powerful performance that is both deeply sympathetic and frequently terrifying. Del Toro remembers the oft-forgotten detail that the Creature was intended as a perfect example of human form, with the design and Elordi's performance elevating the monster to a thing of twisted beauty. Achingly sad in places and quite beautiful throughout, in its own gruesome way, this makes a perfect companion piece for Nosferatu as classic horror bookends for the year. It deserves a proper theatrical release, but at least having it on Netflix means plenty of people will watch it.

1) The Long Walk (Francis Lawrence)

In October I said this would be my film of the year, and I stand by it. I'll also likely never watch it again. The other Stephen King adaptation in this list, The Long Walk shares some notable themes with The Running Man, each story essentially being about the way the powerful exploit the masses through scraps of generosity, the promise of opportunity, and ever more twisted entertainment. It's a far more serious, brutal and emotionally honest story, though. Cooper Hoffman gives a strong lead performance as Ray, but it's David Jonsson, rapidly becoming my one of my favourite young actors, who is the heart of the film as Ray's friend Pete. A brutal production in both filming and presentation, The Long Walk is harrowing but a must-see. Full review here.

REVIEW - Captain America: Brave New World

Brave New World is the fourth Captain America film for the MCU, and the first to see Anthony Mackie step up as the lead after playing second fiddle to Chris Evans for so long. It's also the 35^th movie in the MCU as a whole, and deep into Phase 5 of the increasingly convoluted franchise. This perhaps explains some of the film's messiness and the mixed reviews it's been getting. It's inarguable that Brave New World tries to juggle too much of the franchise's unwieldy backstory, leaving us with a messy script. Yet, for all that, I found Brave New World to be a highly entertaining movie, one of the stronger Marvel movies of recent years, and a great showcase for Mackie's classy new Cap.

Still, it's an odd beast. It's challenging enough for the wider audience that this follows from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a TV series that was released three years ago, and which many watching in cinemas would not have seen. Yet the Marvel masterminds have decided not to make this the true next step in the Captain America story (not for the first time, in fairness: film three, Captain America: Civil War, was an Avengers film in all but name). No, this is a follow-up to The Incredible Hulk, a middling film that came out over sixteen years ago. This is one way to get round the seemingly intractable distribution dispute between Disney and Universal, which has prevented a Hulk-led sequel from being produced. Add to this the involvement of “Celestial Island,” a vast leftover from the equally middling Eternals, and it's impossible to escape the conclusion that Marvel has made this film just to tie up some loose ends. It's also no secret that this film has experienced significant rewrites and reshoots, even more than Marvel usually subjects its films to.

Still, messy as it is, the film works. This is largely down to some excellent star performances. Mackie was popular as the Falcon, but has his work cut out for him taking over from Evans as Captain America, the figurehead not just of a nation but a global franchise. Fortunately, his quietly commanding, resolute performance makes Wilson's Cap easily the equal of Steve Rogers. Still displaying an infectious sense of humour, this is a more serious, more focused Wilson than we saw in earlier films, shouldering an enormous responsibility. Both Wilson and Mackie himself are representing Black people, and more specifically African Americans, something the film comments on and brings to the forefront without ever becoming preachy or overbearing. Wilson may wear a vibranium-laced suit of armour, but he lacks the physical enhancements that Rogers enjoyed. He suffers in his fights, his refusal to back down against overwhelming opponents a potent parallel to the fact that, as a man of colour, he has to be twice as good and work twice as hard to get to the same place.

Harrison Ford is the second star of the film, putting in a more committed performance than I would have expected. It's a shame for William Hurt, who was reportedly keen to play the next stage of Ross's story, but Ford makes an excellent replacement and brings some solid gravitas to the role. In spite of some critics likening President Ross to Trump, he's really not that like him beyond being old and arrogant – for one thing, he advocates coming together as a country, which is pretty much the opposite of the First Felon. Plus, if he'd been meant as a Trump analogue, they'd have made his Hulk orange, surely. Ross's transformation into the Red Hulk was heavily trailered, so there was no surprise in its revelation; rather, a gradual build-up to its inevitable creation. The Red Hulk is a remarkably realistic creation, given how absurd a creature he is. Making it a transformation against Ross's will is far more potent than the deliberate “upgrade” of the comics, with more of a parallel to the original Hulk.

However, the best performance in the film is from Carl Lumbly, who, as usual, is pure class. Lumbly has form playing superheroes, of course, but as in Falcon he shows he's at his best when playing wounded characters carrying the weight of the world. Isaiah Bradley is a lesser known Marvel character, one who is unlikely to be recognised by those who aren't up on the comics or haven't seen Falcon, which is the bulk of the audience. Bradley's story, though, is so straightforwardly tragic and infuriating that anyone coming in can understand how this man was wronged and why he's so important to the story of Captain America. Less essential is the inclusion of Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon, but Danny Ramirez makes him hugely likeable and it would be a poorer movie without him.

As for the villains, the surprise inclusion (well, surprising when the news broke months ago) of Samuel Sterns works fairly well. The beginnings of Sterns's mutation into the Leader, way back in The Incredible Hulk, left the MCU with one of its biggest unresolved story hooks. Now we finally see the fully enhanced Sterns, he looks just right; recognisably like his comicbook counterpart, but distorted and deformed, how someone haphazardly mutated by radiation and chemicals surely should look. With his towering intellect, the Leader can provide a complex plot in which he pulls the strings of our heroes... unfortunately, there isn't really time for all that, so it remains largely sketched in and frustratingly easily resolved. This is one area to which a TV series is more suited than a film; had this been season two of Falcon, say, Sterns's plan could have been made as Machiavellian as it deserves. It's also hard to deny that, while Tim Blake Nelson gives a decent turn as the Leader, he's thoroughly outdone in the villain stakes by Giancarlo Esposito as Seth Voelker. Esposito has a sinister presence that Nelson simply lacks, and his relegation to an impressive but minor adversary is a misstep.

The elephant in the room is the inclusion of Ruth Bat-Seraph, one of the most controversial Marvel characters. As a member of Mossad and an originally highly Islamophobic, Palestine-vilifying character, her inclusion was going to be contentious even before Israel's nightmarish final push began. Disney/Marvel hedged their bets and rewrote the character into an ex-Black Widow, who while Israeli has no overt ties to that regime. I'm all in favour of reinventing problematic characters from earlier times, but it still rankles, particularly due to the casting of Shira Haas in the role. She gives a strong performance, and there's a certain joy in seeing a tiny, disabled actor playing a deadly warrior, but given Haas's historic support of the IDF her casting is bound to cause anger. There's not an easy way round this, and it's not as if Israeli actors shouldn't be cast in major films, but it adds an unsavoury political controversy to the film.

On a far less weighty note, there was one genuine surprise appearance in the film. Not Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes – it would have been more of a shock if he hadn't turned up – but Liv Tyler reprising her Incredible Hulk role as Betty Ross. After trolling the audience by using a perfunctory voice performance which could just as easily have been a soundalike, Tyler appears in the flesh in the film's closing act. We are assured that it is indeed her, and she was present on set with Ford and Mackie, although given the amount of Botox she's clearly had they could have saved a few quid and used generative AI.

The really baffling thing, though, is the act of making this an in-all-but-name sequel to The Incredible Hulk, and not include the actual Hulk. Who knows, perhaps that would have tipped it over into being a Hulk film and invoked the wrath of Universal. Still, it's one of many odd decisions in a film that baffles as much as it entertains. Nonetheless, it does entertain, and should Mackie lead the Avengers in the MCU's next phase he can certainly shoulder the burden. Let's hope Marvel holds its nerve.

REVIEW: The Marvels

Getting to the cinema is a challenge these days, but I finally got the chance to see The Marvels, a movie I had really been looking forward to. I was aware, of course, of the poor reception of the film, but based on the trailer I was honestly expecting a good time.

I wasn't wrong. The Marvels is, quite simply, great fun. It's not a groundbreaking or genre-defining instalment, and it's certainly not going to reinvent the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something which, if we're honest, is probably needed at this point. Moviegoers who are tired of the MCU or comicbook movies in general are not going to won round by this, but those who are simply looking for an entertaining adventure are in for a treat.

This movie was always going to have a hard time of it, purely because of the depressingly inevitable backlash from the more misogynistic side of fandom. Much like the She-Hulk series or 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, the actual quality of the film is completely irrelevant to such people. They were downvoting it on ratings sites as soon as it was announced, insisting that their problem wasn't the gender balance, but the writing and acting - before anyone had even seen it. For all the damage these quarters do to a movie's reputation before it even arrives, there's little point engaging with them.

However, women have to work twice as hard to get half as far in this world, and unless a film of this type is a phenomenal work of art, it will be largely written off if the cast if more female than male (or contains multiple people of colour, varied sexualities or gender expression - anything to which the label "woke" can be attached derisively). The Marvels is a perfectly serviceable and enjoyable superhero romp, easily as good as the majority of the MCU. 

The story is fairly by-the-numbers, with a maniacal villain perpetrating terrible cosmic crimes, who must be stopped at all costs. Some handy technobabble causes the three characters with light-based powers to become entangled, shifting places with each other when they use their abilities. The plot is primarily there to generate some exciting visuals and provide a reason for the three leads to be brought together so that they can bounce off each other, and this is where the film triumphs.

The stand-out star here is Iman Vellani, returning as Kamala Khan after her breakout series Ms. Marvel. It must be mind-boggling for Vellani, to have been propelled from fan to superstar in such a short time, but she undoubtedly deserves it. Her performance as Kamala is heartfelt, adorable, relatable and resolute. Seeing Kamala encounter her hero Captain Marvel is a blockbuster-scale version of one of us meeting the our favourite movie star, and Kamala's joy, mixed with fear of disappointing her hero, is brilliantly portrayed by Vellani. As the story progresses, she matures, stepping up as a hero while never losing her idealism.

She provides a great contrast to Brie Larson's Carol Danvers, who has been operating as Captain Marvel for thirty years at this point, in-universe. Thankfully, the film doesn't go down a "never meet your heroes" route of dragging Danvers down, but she is weighed down by responsibility and the mistakes she's made. The script is brave enough to show us that the first thing Danvers did was foul up massively, causing a chain reaction of events that devastated the Kree homeworld, while still maintaining her as a hero it's right to look up to. Larson's performance as Danvers has received some flack since her first appearance in Captain Marvel, but I don't get it. She's a powerful leading lady, and dominates events even as she is generous to her co-stars. 

This gives Teyonah Parris the tough job of being the third member of the team, neither the main lead nor the up-and-coming youngster. She does an amazing job in a tricky position, making Monica Rambeau the most down-to-earth and pragmatic member of the trio, but also the one we might look up to the most. With even less experience in using her powers than Kamala, Monica has the steepest learning curve of all, while grappling with far more complicated feelings for her Aunt Carol than Kamala's fannish worship. Having given a strong performance in WandaVision, Parris really steps up here and makes Monica a central figure of the film.

The supporting cast are all very good as well, with Samuel L. Jackson putting in a reliably entertaining and worldweary performance as Nick Fury (rather more engaging than the theoretically richer material in Secret Invasion). The script is wise enough to remember that Kamala's family are central to her story, and while it takes a bit of contrivance to keep the Khans in the middle of the action, it keeps things on a human level even when the weirder space stuff starts happening.

The weakest member of the cast is, surprisingly, Zawe Ashton as villainous Dar-Benn. She's not bad, by any means, but puts in an arch and hammy performance that, while fun, seems ill-judged for a character who has a genuine and understandable grievance with Danvers. It's one occasion when making the villain cartoonish was the wrong move for the story. It makes her treatment of the Skrulls too simplistically evil, when something cleverer could have been done. Still, it's good to see the Skrulls being used in a positive way in the story again, unlike the mixed messages of Secret Invasion which too heavily linked refugees with terrorists. A dignified performance by Gary Lewis, under a mountain of make-up, as the Skrull leader helps.

In spite of there being some serious themes here, the film is joyfully silly and over-the-top. Some critics have had problems with the film's tonal shifts, and it's a fair point, but I feel that these jumps are all part of the frenetic journey of the story. Suddenly stepping across genres into an impromptu Bollywood-esque musical number, or hingeing the climactic act on alien cats is a delirious way of keeping the story fresh and surprising. It does, however, need a stronger villain to ground the threat that drives the plot.

There are other elements that I loved. The effects are spectacular, combined with some absolutely stunning fight choreography (the best since Daredevil, I'd say), making the film into a visual feast. It's also consistently funny in a low-key, unforced way, more Spider-Man than Guardians of the Galaxy. In the comics, Monica was Captain Marvel before Carol got a chance, and has had various names including Photon, Spectrum and Pulsar, making Kamala's continual workshopping of her superhero identity a fun running gag. There are some fun cameos by other MCU stars, some expected, some not. Park Seo-Joon, who I understand is a big deal in Korea, stood out as the charismatic Prince of Aladna, and deserved more screentime.

While it's never going to top the polls of MCU movies, The Marvels is simply tremendously entertaining, and I can see it becoming a film that I will rewatch often simply because of how much fun it is. And, you know, it's a comicbook movie - isn't that really the point?

Extra spoiler-y bits after the cut

REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

 SOME SPOILERS

It's been a long old wait for the third Guardians film; six years since Volume 2, thanks to Disney's decision to fire James Gunn for decade-old shitty jokes, then realising they'd made a huge mistake and hiring him back. Years after revealing he had the story ready for the final film in the trilogy, and after the place-marker of the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special to keep us going, Gunn delivers a film which rounds out the story beautifully, while giving us something quite unlike the previous Guardians films. 

Of course, Gunn's off to DC now to run their movie universe, in a move that's both promising for the future and depressing in the crushing inevitability of another reboot. In spite of a post-credits tagline that informs us that "Star-Lord will return," Chris Pratt's statements on the subject are contradictory, most of the main cast has had enough, and if we do have another appearance by the Guardians, it'll look very different from what we're used to.

Volume 3 provides closure for most of the main characters, new beginnings for others, and, surprisingly, is ultimately Rocket's story. Quill gets to run the show and move the plot onwards, and gets to mature at long last, but everything he and the others do is in the service of Rocket's story. The bizarre little critter is barely involved in the mian plot until the final act, but his backstory drives everything. In spite of what the others say, he has tried to tell us about his origins before, in a sudden, devastating outburst in Volume 1, that showed us there was more to Rocket than just an angry cartoon character with a gun. While Gunn wasn't keen on some of the choices made for his characters in the Avengers films, the Russo Brothers realised that Rocket and Nebula were not only of a type, but the strongest characters from the Guardians team, and therefore the ones that survived the Snap to continue fighting.

I've never really rated Bradley Cooper the way others have, but his voice performance as Rocket has been phenomenal from the start, giving the character more depth than anyone could have anticipated. (Credit also has to be given to Sean Gunn, James's everpresent brother and Kraglin actor, for providing the motion capture performance for the raccoon.) Adapting the backstory established for the character in the comics, already somewhat disturbing, James Gunn creates quite the most affecting and distressing origin story for any character in the MCU. There's an unexpectedly strong vein of horror running through the film, not least in Rocket's upsetting backstory, linked here, in an excellent move, to Marvel's very own Dr. Moreau, the High Evolutionary.

I've spoken before about how most Marvel films are basically cartoons, and Volume 3 is meets this description more than most. Like Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, it's a visual spectacular, with Disney-Marvel's tireless and under-appreciated visual effects team bringing to life the bizarre realms of Gunn's imagination and Marvel's back-catalogue. More so, the most effective scenes revolve around the trials of four CGI animals which could have made a powerful short filmin their own right. The design, animation and vocal performance of the animals are truly remarkable, creating characters which are monstrous yet endearing, and incredibly sympathetic. As well as Cooper and Sean Gunn (as the odler and younger Rockets respectively), there are amazing performances by Linda Cardellini (in her second MCU role as Lylla the otter), Kevin Michael Richardson as Teefs and Mikaela Hoover as the heartbreaking augmented rabbit, Floor.

One of James Gunn's skillsis taking the hokiest, most absurd ideas in comics and making them work on the big screen, from Wal Rus to Cosmo the Spacedog (finally a fully realised character who works as a sort of reflection of Rocket's story, with a fine voice performance by Maria Bakalova). The High Evolutionary is a creepy character, but also a deeply silly one, yet here, under the eye of Gunn and a truly exceptional performance by Chukwudi Iwuji make him into the best villain the MCU has seen for some time. There's nothing sympathetic about this character; he is simply arrogant, ruthless and cruel, and his unwavering self-belief helps sell the reality of what should be very silly ideas like Counter-Earth and the Halfworlders. Iwuji threatens to steal his every scene, and I find myself wondering if perhaps he should have been cast as Kang and had the chance to come back time and again.

This storyline almost makes it easy to overlook the progression of the other Guardians. Chris Pratt might be becoming annoying in cinematic everpresence, but he remains perfectly cast as Quill, and this film sees him get the chance to develop the character in a more mature direction at last. Zoe Saldana is as good as ever as Gamora, and clearly having a ball playing a more ruthless version from before the Guardians softened her up. Gamora has basically swapped places with Nebula, who, having finally moved past the abuses of Thanos (and had many years longer to deal with her hang-ups than the others), is a more rounded character, with Karen Gillan giving another brilliant performance. Om Klementieff and Dave Bautista remain a wonderful double-act as Mantis and Drax, both now able to move onto new stages in their lives. Drax, in particular, is a character who needed more development; his story is, after all, brutal and tragic, and he gets to be more than the comic relief this time round. Groot is Groot, and he's as entertaining as ever.

As always, Gunn peppers the film with his favourite actors, and although some of them are hidden in vocie roles, Nathan Fillion finally gets to appear in the MCU in a full and recognisable role. Will Poulter does well as the childlike superbeing Adam Warlock, but to be honest, his inclusion is one character too far. There isn't really room for his story and that of the Sovereign here, even with their reworking to be linked to the High Evolutionary. It's well known that Gunn has been trying to get Warlock into the series for a while, and this feels like he was forced in as it was his last opportunity. Nonetheless, he could work well in the future with more room to breathe, which the film seems to be setting up.

Volume 3 comes together as a expansive cosmic adventure that, in spite of its huge scope and the millions of lives in the balance, has a very small scale story at its heart: the rescue and understanding of a friend. Along the way, it explores the horrors of vivisection, ethnic cleansing and war, and the importance of family and compassion. A fine end to the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

REVIEW: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

SPOILERS if you still haven't caught it.

Well, that was certainly very strange. I can fully understand that Quantumania isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I don't get the level of hate thrown at it. It's nonsense, yes, but it's enjoyable, entertaining nonsense, as befits an expansive sci-fi cartoon (more than any other MCU film, this is clearly a cartoon). 

The first Ant-Man was a very clever film that masqueraded as a stupid action flick. Quantumania is a rather stupid film trying hard to appear as a clever one. The plot moves arbitrarily, with some huge illogical elements that aren't quite covered up by the spectacle. It was hard enough to accept that Janet Van Dyne could be picked up from the Quantum Realm with such ease once Scott had been down there, considering that we're talking about what is supposedly a whole universe. It's tiny, yes, but lying within the "main" universe, it's still infinite in extent. In fact, relatively speaking, it should be even bigger to its inhabitants than our universe is to us. Yet everyone who enters it ends up in the same area, where everyone knows each other from some point in their lives either above or below. Even when you accept that MODOK was interfering with Cassie's satellite, this is hard to swallow. The Quantum Realm is microscopic, but it shouldn't be small.

There's also a deeply uneven tone to the film. The Ant-Man films, more so than even the rest of the MCU, have always balanced the over-the-top and comedic with high-stakes drama, but here, the balancing act fails somewhat. The comedy - particularly the later scenes with MODOK - becomes intrusive to the drama. Add this to irrational plotting, and you have a film which can be frustrating to watch.

In spite of those frustrations, Quantumania is tremendous fun. We don't get enough truly weird, visually over-the-top sci-fi these days, and this film just throws us straight in there, showing us a noisy, colourful, baffling universe. There are some brilliantly bizarre choices, not least making the MCU's version of MODOK the twisted remnants of Darren Cross. The comedy isn't on the level of the previous two films - the opening act is easily the funniest, and the comedy never really recovers from jumping to the Quantum Realm - but there are still moments of gold there. That's probably the biggest problem with this film, and why it doesn't reach beyond good fun to something more. Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp worked so well because they juxtaposed the absurd and the mundane, and they were refreshing amongst later MCU films by mostly standing alone. 

Quantumania, for all its joyous embracing of the bizarre, loses this juxtaposition, and by positioning itself as the introduction of the new Big Bad and the fulcrum of Phase Five, there's a lot riding on it. Plus, after the surprise hit of the first Ant-Man and the impressively solid follow-up, the expectations were higher. I guess a weird cartoon alien battlefield doesn't cut it now.

All this serves to distract from the stars, who without exception gives great performances. Paul Rudd remains the adorable everyman of the MCU (albeit the terribly handsome everyman), who grounds the film even in its weirdest moments. Evangeline Lily is a little underused, but continues to make Hope a formidable character, one who could easily carry her own story if given the chance. Kathryn Newton is very likeable as (the third) Cassie Lang, now rather randomly given her own suit to become another size-changing hero (Stature/Stinger/Giant-Woman in the comics), and while she doesn't yet have the presence to carry the adventure herself, she shares great chemistry with Rudd and brings their scenes together to life.

One thing that I really liked about the film was its embracing of an older heroic cast. Aside from Newton, they're all over forty. Lilly is the youngest at 43, and actually looks it, which is a rare privilege for an actress in Hollywood, and while Rudd is forever ageless, he's now 53. Michelle Pfeiffer is 64 and Michael Douglas is pushing eighty, and they both get a solid chunk of the action. Pfeiffer is excellent as Janet Van Dyne, holding her own against the villainous Kang in both present-day and flashback scenes, and Douglas manages to give a classy performance even when delivering lines about hyper-intelligent ants.  Honestly, the original Ant-Man and the Wasp deserve their own film as out-of-retirement superheroes. Pit them against Doctor Nemesis or Egghead. It's a sure-fire winner.

Hats off to Jonathan Majors, who takes on the thankless task of following Josh Brolin's Thanos as the new chief villain. I didn't like his performance as He Who Remains, the alternative variant on Loki, at all, but here he gives an entirely different performance. He embodies the arrogance and frustration of someone utterly convinced he is destined to rule, with a remarkably restrained performance. There were moments when he seemed to be channeling Chiwetel Ejiofor's performance in Serenity: that same resignation to doing what he is certain is right, whatever the unpleasant cost. I'm reassured that Kang will make a great villain for the franchise, although the other variants on the Council of Kangs were all rather broader.

The core cast rightfully dominate their scenes, but there are some nice moments from the expansive supporting cast of peculiar characters. Bill Murray's much-anticipated appearance as Lord Krylar is fun, although he just plays Bill Murray like he always does. David Dastmalchian has a silly cameo voicing Veb the blob, which is a nice touch since there's no room for Kurt or the rest of the X-CON gang here (although Michael Pena is sorely missed as Luis). William Jackson Harper is underused as the telepath Quaz, but is entertaining in the scenes he has, and Katy O'Brien's warrior Jentorra deserves a future appearance. Lovely to see that Jimmy Woo got his dinner with Scott. The decision to include MODOK, played by Corey Stoll as a twisted version of the first film's Darren Cross, is hilarious; it's just a shame that his comedy intrudes on more dramatically important scenes later. (And look, MODOK has always been utterly ridiculous. The last screen version was a cartoon parody starring Patton Oswalt. It's not like he was ever a serious villain.)

I liked how the Quantum Realm was depicted, and how we had a mixture of humanoids, inexplicably alien creatures and almost protozoan organisms all mixing together, giving a truly otherworldly experience. It was satisfying how quantum physics played into the action at crucial moments; given the Multiverse is the central concept for this iteration of the MCU, playing with the Many-Worlds Interpretation is an obvious and effective way to create new problems for the characters. I'd have liked a bit more quantum, though; have characters appear in two places at once, or play with superposition. It's not like any of this really makes sense when applied to people and macroscopic action anyway, so why not go nuts with it?

The final confrontation is where it falls down somewhat. Not because it isn't an effective final battle; the siege of Kang's fortress and his showdown with Lang are both some of the best end-of-the-movie fight scenes we've had. It's just that, with Kang being built up to be the ultimate, multiverse-threatening villain, having Scott and Hope be the ones who kill him seems a bit imbalanced. Of course, we know he's coming back. Whether he was actually crushed by that singularity, or fell down into an even deeper level of reality, we don't know. Equally, it looked like the film was going to end on a powerful cliffhanger, with Scott and Hope marooned in the Quantum Realm. And then they just got out, with the minimum of effort. It massively undercut the final act.

However, let's remember the Many-Worlds Interpretation. If we're talking about a Multiverse-travelling villain, he can surely never be truly defeated, since there will naturally be a version of events where he won. Logically, there should also be a version of events where Scott and Hope won, but remain trapped. Is this how they'll follow up the climactic scenes? Or is that giving them too much credit?

REVIEW: Thor: Love and Thunder

This review contains spoilers for Love and Thunder and just a brief one, in passing, for Ms. Marvel. On a related note, I swear I'll get those reviews of Shang-Chi and Black Widow up before they're two years out-of-date.

BRIGHTON FRINGE REVIEWS 2022 - Part the Second

Unfortunately my fringing has been somewhat reduced due to both foreseen and unforeseen circumstances. I was very much looking forward to Christian Jegard's "Ol' Red Eyes" on reliable recommendation, but it was sadly cancelled due to health concerns. That one will have to go on the "see it when you can" list. However, the missus and I did get to take in one show which we have been meaning to catch for several Fringes.

THE GEEK SHALL INHERIT...

Hattie Snooks of Clap Back Club performs her one-woman show about the comforting joys of sci-fi and geekery. Definitely one for the slightly obsessive among us, this is packed with knowing references to Star Trek, Buffy, Doctor Who and more, as Hattie takes a sick day and dives head first into a sci-fi marathon. 

More than just a sci-fest, "The Geek Shall Inherit" is an honest and relatable look at anxiety and depression, and the pressures of life that lead us to take comfort in imaginary worlds. Plus it's a musical, packed with parody songs. My favourite was the technobabble song, but they're all awesome. 

A must for Reg Barclay fans. 

Last showing TONIGHT June 3rd at Sweet@The Poets (also bloody good food there), starts at 19.30. £12, £9 for concessions 

Click for ticks

DO THE THING: UP TO, BUT NOT EXCEEDING, TEN MUSICALS

If that doesn't suit you, I can also recommend Do the Thing in their latest show, which I have sadly been unable to attend this year. Based on previous shows, this will be a raucous and unpredictable comedy where the manic musicaleers Simon Plotkin and Tim Meredith do strange and unexpected things with audience suggestions. 

Previously limited to two improv musicals a night, the gents have played with the format to allow anything up to ten audience influenced performances of variable length. If previous shows are anything to go by, this should be hilarious. 

Not strictly part of the Fringe, Do the Thing is performing at The Electric Arcade on Madeira Drive. The last show is TONIGHT, June 3rd at 20.00 for £11

Click for ticks:

REVIEW: Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness

 SPOILERS!

REVIEW: Spider-Man: No Way Home

OUR SPOILER-SENSE IS TINGLING!

Review after the break! 

Marvel Review Round-Up: Eternals

So, although I've been watching all of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it's been released, I've not found time to sit down and review the films. Having just got back from watching Eternals, and with Black Widow and soon Shang-Chi up on Disney Plus for a rewatch, I'm going to work my way backwards along the films over the next few days. (Probably won't bother with What If? because, although it was great fun, I haven't much to say about it.)

Eternals has received some very mixed reviews, some absolutely scathing, others glowing, and I can completely understand that. It feels both very different to the rest of Marvel's films, yet at the same time just another in a long line of superhero films. The decision to hire Chloe Zhao to direct (and largely write) the film was an interesting one, and the greater creative freedom that Disney/Marvel are giving their directors can only be a good thing for the franchise's future (one of the better decisions that DC/WB made in its attempt to rival the MCU was to let directors have considerable creative control, and Marvel is finally following suit). There's a much slower, more melancholic feel to Eternals than to any previous MCU production and this gives helps it stand out. A film embracing the truly mythic side of Marvel's canon is overdue, with characters who have lived for millennia and literally world-shattering events granting a sense of scale that we really haven't seen before. The huge range of different location shoots helps as well (although I was pleased to see the film start in London's Natural History Museum, one of my favourite places). 

Yet it still feels somehow more of the same. Your mileage may vary, but I'd say the modern era of the superhero film began in 2000 with X-Men, although you could certainly push it back further if you wanted. Still, I'd say that was the start of the current run of hugely successful film properties based on, largely Marvel, comic series. That was twenty-one years ago. Even if you don't look further back to the many popular superhero films of the nineties, eighties and even seventies, that's a long time with a lot of movies packed in. The Eternals, in spite of being the alleged inspirations for various mythical heroes and gods, come across as just another superhero team. You've got the super-fast one, the zappy one, a couple with magical-type powers, the one with superstrength, flight and laser-eyes, who's explicitly likened to Superman... While some have more interesting and less common powers, notably Phastos who can build anything and create mechanisms from nowhere, it's still mostly stuff we've seen time and time again. 

Likewise, the fight scenes, although impressive, are the most standard Marvel the film gets, and while they're visually interesting, their style and magical graphics look too much like those scene in both Shang-Chi and Doctor Strange to stand apart. I get it, this is what magic looks like in the MCU, but could we not have some more visual variety? When fighting the Deviants, reimagined here as elaborate but mostly uninspired monsters, Eternals falls into the trap of looking like a video game, something that the MCU had largely managed to avoid so far. 

Which is a shame, because there's some wonderful stuff in here. The cast is both star-studded and truly impressive, while also being proudly diverse. Unlike the comics, which had largely white male Eternals in the main line-up, the film has a cast that involves people from various ethnicities, equally split down the sexes but largely focused on the women. We have a deaf actor in the form of the wonderful Lauren Ridloff, and finally some prominent gay characters in the MCU, and while half of this is getting cut for Middle Eastern and Asian releases (where they haven't banned it altogether) at least they're doing something. And look, this is, as far as I'm aware, the first time we've had Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie together in a film, which is an incredible thing in itself. Both are absolutely brilliant, of course, still incredibly beautiful and playing powerful, noble characters who push the narrative in interesting directions.

Gemma Chan is very good as Sersi, although I feel she has relatively little to work with for the first half of the film. Once things kick up a notch she really gets to take a bit of the role. Oddly, she's already been in the MCU, painted blue as Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel, and clearly the PTB were impressed with her seeing that they brought her back so quickly. It's good to see a solidly strong actor finally get a major movie role. Standing out is Lia McHugh as Sprite, fifteen but playing someone eternally twelve/thirteen years old, but giving the role more depth and pathos than many adult actors I've seen in a long time. Whereas everyone in the cast is strong, not many of them really give the impression they've lived for seven thousand years; McHugh, in spite of being the youngest, manages it best. 

I particularly liked Don Lee as Gilgamesh, reinterpreting the legendary warrior in an entirely new way, and Bryen Tyree Henry as Phastos, the Enternals equivalent of Hephaestus, but my favourites are easily Kingo and his valet, Karun. Kumail Nanjiani is hilarious as the Eternal-cum-moviestar, and Harish Patel provides a much needed human touch. Obviously we're going to get sequels to this, but I really want to see a prequel with Kingo and Karun building a Bollywood career in the 1950s. Richard Madden is suitably inscrutable as Ikaris, but there's surprisingly little of Kit Harington as Dane. Hats off to them for resisting the urge to drop in some Game of Thrones jokes, especially when they were both there talking to a character called Sersi. Harington is very likeable, though, and the film sets up his inevitable return as the Black Knight, with a whole plotline that runs along in the background unseen. 

That's probably, though, where the film struggles the most. While the shout-outs to the MCU are some of my favourite moments, they feel weirdly detached from the rest of the film. Had this been entirely separate, it would have stood on its own merits more, but as it is, it feels like an uneasy insert into the existing continuity. The reason given for not interfering Thanos's assault on reality is slender. Sure, the Eternals have their prime directive which prevents them from interfering in human conflicts, but this falls down on numerous fronts. One, we see them interfering in other conflicts in human history, even though they agonise over it. Two, an alien invasion is scarcely an internal conflict. Three, they talk aboit how they helped Odin fight the Jotnar, which proves the point of number two. And four, gratingly at least for any fans of the comics, Thanos is a bloody Eternal so why the hell wouldn't they get involved with that? It's a small thing in relation with the film it itself, but it makes it hard to accept as part of the overall story.

Really, this is Eternals all over. There's so much in there that's good, but it doesn't quite gel together, finally giving us something that's enjoyable but ultimately unsatisfying for reasons it's hard to articulate. It's certainly too long, some of the dialogue is spectacularly clunky, but the real problems are deeper than that. It's a shame, because there's a lot to recommend it, but ultimately it's an also-ran in the MCU.

REVIEW: Loki Season One

Loki is a far better series than it has any right to be, even considering that they have the endlessly entertaining Tom Hiddleston as their star. For all the twists and turns, it's ultimately quite predictable, and is hugely derivative of any number of things that came before. What you'll mostly see as an influence depends on your fandom and reading material. Of course, for me, I couldn't escape how much this was like a high budget Doctor Who, riffing on such concepts as individuals who exist across different incarnations, a vastly powerful civilisation that rules time, a villainous time traveller who begins to learn redemption... It's all there, but it's not like Doctor Who was ever wildly original with much of its material anyway. No, much of this goes way back to the early annals of sci-fi, with huge debts to Asimov's The End of Eternity, Norton's The Crossroads of Time, and Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself, to name but a few. And of course, everything in here is based, to a greater or lesser degree, on Marvel's comics. 

But originality isn't all it's cracked up to be. This takes the time-travelling, dimension-hopping melting pot of influences and mixes it up into a new combination, full of colour, beauty and pathos. Derivative as they are, the Time Lords Masters Bureau Variance Authority are a brilliant concept, rendered with style and wit. Loki's had his journey from troubled prince to supervillain to uncertain hero before, but here it plays out completely differently. It's never anything other than hugely entertaining, even in the somewhat slow, rather flawed final episode. Having the restraint to keep the series down to a mere six episodes helps keeping everything moving and never gives us a chance to get bored. 

This has all standard elements of the MCU: highly choreographed fighting, absurd plot contrivances, spectacular visual effects that get way to busy by the end of thing. Yet, the MCU's most important element, the real key to its success, is its characters, their relationships, and the actors who portray them. This is perhaps why the last episode feels like a bit of a cop-out, introducing as it does a major new character without earning his presence, even if that in itself was also predictable. Still, there's a fine balancing act in play here, between the small and intimate and the vast and cosmic. This series sets out the scope of Phase Four in a way that WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier only hinted at. Everything in the first three phases is revealed to be nothing more than a sliver of a huge universe. The first episode knocks the stuffing out of Loki by proving to him that the TVA is an organisation of phenomenal power, hammering it home with the revelation that minor agents use Infinity Stones as paperweights. 

I had assumed, before the series began, that we'd be seeing a return to the outright villainous Loki of The Avengers, given that this variant had jumped from immediately after those events. While we do get that for a spell, it doesn't last long. This Loki's redemption is fast-tracked, the sheer futility of his "glorious purpose" being shown to him by the catastrophic consequences of his actions in the main timeline. More so, however, it's his relationships with the people he meets during his bizarre quest that lead him to change. In Mobius, Loki finds his first genuine friend, someone who has no time for his God of Mischief shit but all the time for him as a man, if he ever allows himself to be one. Mobius is beautifully realised by Own Wilson - who ever thought we'd get a subtle, understated performance like this out of him? Mobius goes on his own journey of discovery, of course, with Loki's presence being the catalyst. The tenuous friendship he shares with Ravonna Renslayer - the absurdly over-the-top name for a quietly intense and dangerous character, played perfectly by Gugu Mbatha-Raw - is at once touching but clearly can't survive his new friendship with Loki and the revelations it brings.

Hiddleston's performance is heartfelt and affecting, hilarious and tragic at turns, and he's come on years from his performance on the first Thor, and he was pretty damned excellent then. The real hit of this series, though, is Sophia di Martino. Sylvie could easily have been a slim, contrived character. A female alternative of Loki, written as essentially a combination of Lady Loki and the second Enchantress from the comics, she rises above the gimmicky character she could have been and becomes a fascinating character in her own right. di Martino's fluid, emotionally wrought performance makes it, along with her chemistry with Hiddleston, but she's an intelligently written character with a far more rational motive than Hiddleston's Loki. She presents in a very different way, too, with di Martino using her gently northern accent as a distinct contrast to Hiddleston's posh RP. Her downtrodden survivalist character is a world away from the Asgardian prince, and her more down-to-earth style completely different to the Etonian old boy's superiority-based characterisation. And yet, the design, writing and performance show similarities throughout, so you can absolutely believe they're two versions of the same person. Again, the Doctor Who similarities are obvious. And a blonde, northern female time traveller from a race of cosmic beings... it's hard not to see Sylvie as better-realised version of the Thirteenth Doctor.

The fourth episode ends, of course, with the fabulous cliffhanger of Loki deposited abruptly at the end of time, faced with four other variants of himself. We're verging more on DC territory here, embracing the concept of the multiverse and endless versions of familiar characters. DC/WB have, of course, pretty much cornered the market in this sort of thing on screen lately, with the Arrowverse's huge crossover events on the CW, culminating on Crisis on Infinite Earths, but this crisis of various Lokis comes close. The writers, headed by Michael Waldron, wring it for all the pathos it's worth but happily embrace the absurdity of it all. Having Richard E. Grant, looking more animated than he has in years, portraying Classic Loki (a perfect recreation of his early comics look and persona but actually prime Loki's alternative future), is a masterstroke, but let's not forget the rest: Jack Veal as Kid Loki, being the only one who successfully killed Thor, is bound to be back in some capacity (Young Avengers on the horizon?); DeObia Oparei as the still-villainous but otherwise Thor-like Boastful Loki; and everyone's favourite, Alligator Loki. The only thing more delightful than the existence of Alligator Loki is the bit of trivia that the rest of them acted alongside a cuddly toy before the CGI was inserted in post-production.

We also have the face-off with President Loki and sundry other variants, clearly inspired by this moment from The Mighty Thor series, but it's the quieter interactions between Lokis that tells us the most about their character. Of course, Loki has always been a fluid character, in both the comics and the original Norse mythology. It's only right that the writers embraces this - there are few other characters in the MCU who could've withstood the approach in this series. Pretty much it's only Spider-Man (that's got to be the only person with more variants than Loki, right?) Playing with Loki's sexuality and gender is all part of the parcel. With crushing inevitability, some people are furious at a brief line suggesting Loki is bisexual, apparently blissfully unaware that he was completely fluid in sexuality and gender in mythology. He fucked a horse, for crying out loud. Alligator Loki doesn't seem so wild now. Of course, it might have had more impact if they'd had Loki share a romance with another male variant of himself, but we can't have everything.

Loki, Sylvie and Mobius are the centre of the series, but there are other interesting characters involved too. There's a clear opportunity for some fascinating stories developing from the revelations about Renslayer, and the turncoat time soldier Hunter B-15, who becomes something more interesting than she first appears as performed by Wunmi Mosaku. There's potentially a lot more that could be done with Sasha Lane's damaged Hunter C-20, and we need more Miss Minutes. In fact, we need more Tara Strong in any capacity.

After everything, the final episode is both a huge event and a bit of a damp squib. There were only ever two likely candidates for the identity of He Who Remains. The obvious one, for those not versed in the comics but watching the actual show, was another Loki variant. The other, for those of us steeped in comics lore, was Kang the Conqueror. This is who we got, although they never quite come out and say his name yet, but there we go. Jonatahn Majors gives it his all, although he dies just in time as his relentless OTT-larking about was on the verge of becoming intolerable. When he returns as Kang proper in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it's likely he'll give a very different performance. While setting up the new big bad for the franchise is an understandable move, his presence in the story feels arbitrary in the way that another Loki variant wouldn't have.

Nonetheless, the ending, while predictable as ever, is a perfect cliffhanger. With the multiverse well and truly reestablished and allowed to run riot, history itself in the firing line and potentially infinite realities to explore, the MCU can expand into unknown territory. We're already expecting to see elements of this explored in Quantumania, Spider-Man: No Way Home and, most of all, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which will bring back both Loki and Wanda. Where Sylvie will come into this remains to be seen, but given a second season of Loki is guaranteed, we haven't seen the last of her. Or indeed, anyone: there's no character that now can't be brought back in one way or another. It doesn't get more comic-booky than that.

 

Review: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

 SPOILERS for this one... I've given you a week, but if you're not caught up, don't read on.

REVIEW: WandaVision

 There's no way to review this one without considerable SPOILERS. Go away and watch it, if you're in any way inclined but somehow haven't done so yet. I recommend it.

Thoughts on the Disney/Marvel announcements

 Disney has just emptied a bucketload of new series and film announcements onto the internet to gear everyone up for the next phase of its media empire. Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new wave of Star Wars properties and more, there's a lot to take on, but he's my thoughts on the MCU revelations. (I'll get to Star Wars eventually, but I'm not even up to date on The Mandalorian yet. However, really suspicious of the idea of bringing back Hayden Christiansen.)

MARVEL PHASE 4

She-Hulk: Confirmed to be starring Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters, this will be a Disney+ series. I was hoping for Gina Camaro, but Maslany is a solid choice (presumably the She-Hulk herself will be at least partly CGI). No surprise that Mark Ruffalo will be appearing as Bruce Banner/the Hulk, but very surprised and pleased that Tim Roth is back as Emil Blonsky, aka the Abomination. He was the best thing about The Incredible Hulk back in 2008.

Secret Invasion: Good news, but no surprise. The involvement of the Skrulls in Captain Marvel and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos pretending to be Nick Fury all pointed to the Secret Invasion storyline coming to fruition. Presumably this will have an impact on the films in time, but for now, this is another Disney+ series. Marvel have tried to tie together their TV and cinematic productions before to limited success, but this looks like a far more sophisticated effort. Mendelsohn and Sam Jackson both confirmed back for this.

Ironheart: The occasionally controversial (for small-minded people) new Iron Man comic treatement, Ironheart features Riri Williams as a young genius who creates her own biomechanical armour suit. The Disney+ series will star Dominique Thorne. Could be well worth watching.

Armor Wars: Less interested by this one. Do we need both? This has Don Cheadle back as Rhodey/War Machine dealing with the fallout from Stark's death when his technology falls into unscrupulous hands. Should be good, but just not sure these need to be separate series.

I am Groot: This sounds very silly: a series of Disney+ shorts revolving around Baby Groot, with "new and unusual characters." Could be a good chance to involve the more ridiculous and out-there ideas from the Marvel universe (Howard the Duck please!) No word on whether Vin Diesel will voice Groot.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special: Now this is just fabulous. Prior to the third Guardians of the Galaxy film in 2023 (finally confirmed to have James Gunn onboard without a doubt), this is a wonderfully daft thing to do. A homage to the notorious Star Wars Holiday Special, this is bound to be all kinds of ridiculous. Lined up for 2022, presumably for Christmas unless they bring it forward for a Thanksgiving drop.

Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel 2

Really looking forward to this one. I adored the first couple of runs of Ms. Marvel comics, and I'm stoked to see her on screen. Iman Vellani stars as Kamala Khan, and from the brief glimpse here, she seems perfect. She'll also appear with Ms. Marvel's idol in Captain Marvel 2, confirmed to star Brie Larson (so much for the stupid rumours that she was being recast), with Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau.

What If? and Loki

Not going to overload this post with videos, but here's the link to the dazzling trailer for What If? and a fun first look at the Loki series. Both are set for Disney+ next year, dealing with the MCU's expansion into the Multiverse. What If? looks particularly fun, with some of the best of the MCU cast involved (although clearly not everyone is voiced by their original actor). Hayley Atwell as Captain Britain? The inevitable introduction of Marvel Zombies? I'm in. Loki looks like it's going to embrace the alt-reality elements as well, with the introduction of the Time Variance Agency. A crime thriller with time travel and Tom Hiddleston? Can't go wrong.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

This is going to be fabulous, but the news today is the casting: Rachel McAdams is returning as Christine Palmer, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo and Benedict Wong as, well, Wong. We already knew that Elizabeth Olson was onboard as Wanda Maximoff, but the big news is the confirmation that dimension-jumping America Chavez is involved, played by newcomer Xochitl Gomez.

Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania

I love how silly these titles are getting. We expected a third Ant-Man film, but it's good to get confirmation of the title, which implies some exploration of the Quantum Realm, aka the Microverse. It was revealed a little while ago, but I'm still excited for Kang the Conqueror to finally make his big screen debut played by Jonathan Majors.

Fantastic Four

The least surprising but most welcome revelation, the Fantastic Four property is now back with Marvel following Disney's acquisition of Fox. Jon Watts, set to direct the third MCU Spidey film, is on to helm this. No cast news yet, but we can expect some crossover elements, if not with this film, with a follow-up, given the close links in the comics between the FF and Spider-Man, Kang and the Secret Invasion.

Casting round-up!

Almost out of breath now, so a quick rundown of casting news. Hailee Steinfeld is Kate Bishop in the new Hawkeye series on Disney+ (I foresee next gen crossovers with Ironeheart and Ms. Marvel). Hilariously, Christian Bale's role in Thor: Love and Thunder is Gorr the God Butcher, an alien being committed to killing every god in the universe. They won't be recasting T'Challa for the second Black Panther film due in 2022, instead "honouring his legacy." I presume that means a new Black Panther, but I think we can rule out Shuri, since Letitis Wright's in trouble these days for stupid online behaviour.

Spider-Man 3 casting round-up!

Now this is ridiculous and wonderful. The third, as-yet-untitled Spidey film is clearly taking Tom Holland's requested route and piling straight into a live-action Spiderverse story. Presumably they got sick of him spoilering things in interviews so just went with his idea from the outset. Holland is confirmed, of course, along with Zendaya as MJ, Jacob Batalon and Marisa Tomei. But there's also official confirmation that Jamie Foxx is back as Electro (from The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and now Alfred Molina as Doc Ock (from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2). Emma Stone is in negotiations to return as Gwen Stacy, and rumour has it that Andrew Garfield, Tobye Maguire and Kirsten Dunst have been approached to reprise their version of Spider and MJ. Plus Benny Cumber as Dr. Strange, presumably handling the interdimensional stuff.

Thoughts on The New Mutants

 In the latest of my "occasionally catching up on the films I've seen lately" series, I'm taking a look at New Mutants, the Fox comicbook movie that has been stirring in development hell a while. This was supposed to be released in 2018, but the continual messing around by more than one production company delayed it by two years. The original idea, to make the The New Mutants comic series into a full-fledged horror film was kiboshed by Fox's cold feet. The film was rewritten and reshot, then changed back again after the horror-themed trailers gained a good response, before Disney bought up Fox and demanded yet more reworking to make it marketable under their brand.

The result is a very brief 94-minute film, with a botched sense of tone. Still, I found a lot to enjoy. The first couple of acts work really well as a genuinely unsettling asylum horror, riffing on the enduring fear of being unjustly imprisoned. It balances this with the superpower stuff pretty well, particularly since the New Mutants' power sets are mostly pretty horrifying anyway. The final act has the same problems many superhero movies have, going all out with the action at the expense of the tone and coherence of the film, but overall it works. It feels like there's a much stronger film in here, though, and I hope that it proves popular enough that someday a director's cut is released. Sadly, the fact that it finally limped to cinemas in the middle of the pandemic means it'll probably be put down as a failure regardless.

This is officially part of the X-Men movie universe that started back in 2000, and after twenty years audiences are familiar enough with that for a mere handful of references to reassure them this is the same world. Just having people manifest powers spontaneously as a fact of life makes everything much more streamlined.

The cast is excellent, and the interpretations of the characters is strong. Blu Hunt is the star, playing Dani Moonstar (Psyche or Mirage in the comics), a teenaged girl of Cheyenne heritage who manifests her powers when her village and family are destroyed by a demon bear. If this seems ridiculous, then the writers agreed, taking that strange supernatural villain from the comics and reworking its nature very cleverly. I mean, it's well signposted, so I won't reveal the exact nature of Dani's story here for anyone who is going to watch it still. In any case, I liked what they did with the idea and thought Hunt was solid in the role.

Dani is then taken into a hospital/prison/training camp for adolescent mutants whose powers threaten them and their loved ones. Maisie Williams, probably the most recognisable of the young faces here, is excellent as Rahne Sinclair, a Scots girl shunned by her Christian community because of her mutation. Her name in the comics is Wolfsbane, and she's basically a werewolf (I guess the inference is that all werewolves must have shared the same mutated gene, but this is never explored). She and Dani form a close friendship that develops into a very sweet and tentative romance, which is a new development to the comics but works very well onscreen. It adds more weight to the anti-fundamentalist Christian narrative as well.

Anya Taylor-Joy is also excellent as Ilyana Rasputin, aka Magik. She's initially characterised as the surly mean girl, but her character has much more depth than that and has been through real trauma and abuse. Her memories of it clearly aren't meant to be accurate depictions of what she went through, instead manifesting as some of the most horrifying imagery in the film. The fact that she's very sexualised as a result of her abuse actually makes the character uncomfortable to watch, since to begin with she's clearly meant to be the sexy lithe one and this forces you to question how you're viewing her. 

Ilyana has a strange rewrite in the form of Lockheed, the dragon companion that is associated with Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde in the comics. It's not clear exactly when this is set (X-movie continuity being a minefield anyway), so they could have included a recast young Kitty here, but instead, Lockheed is reimagined as Ilyana's soft toy hand puppet, essentially her safety blanket. Her reality warping, dimension jumping powers do give us a "real" Lockheed eventually though. What's missing is her brother, Colossus, who was apparently part of an earlier draft. Still, it's hard to see how he'd fit in here.

Brazilian actor Henry Zaga plays Bobby da Costa (Sunspot in the comics), who's a rich boy jock but is a very vulnerable character once you get past the bravado. His fire-based powers are a standard superhero ability, but the script really looks at how terrifying and destructive they would really be. His character turned up briefly in the future segment Days of Future Past, so presumably this is a good few years before that. I understand there was some controversy over Zaga's casting, since Sunspot is supposed to be of mixed race and Zaga isn't, but to be honest this didn't seem to be part of this version of the character's story at all. 

Charlie Heaton, who's definitely a new big thing since Stranger Things, is Sam Guthrie (Cannonball), and plays him with a broad Kentucky accent. I really liked his character in this, more openly vulnerable than the others but tremendously brave when it came to it. I imagine that, had the Fox X-Men films continued, he would have graduated eventually to X-Force as in the comics, along with maybe some of the other cast members.

The wonderful Alice Braga plays Dr. Reyes, the teens' doctor/captor, and manages to make her both sinister as hell and quite sympathetic. Like in the comics, she can generate powerful forcefields, even using them to maintain the border of the hospital, which is a cool concept. She's normally a heroic character in the comics, so it's interesting that they've made her a villain here. She works for the Essex Corporation, which ties this film to Logan, which is presumably many, many years later. 

While I found the early part of the film very atmospheric, it's still a fairly low-rated film, whereas the initial idea was clearly to go for an R-rated release like Logan and Deadpool. Still, you can get away with quite a lot on a PG-13/UK 15 rating these days, and there are some really disturbing moments. Again, there seems like there's a lot of unrealised potential here. The plan was to make this the beginning of a new trilogy of films, and the ending is left open in a way that could easily be followed up, but this really looks like the last gasp of the Fox X-Men franchise. I mean, it's thirteen films over twenty years, if you count the two Deadpool movies, so that's an impressive innings, but it's fizzled out now and there's no indication that Disney wants anything to do with the series. Well, with the exception of a (presumably toned-down) third Deadpool and recruiting Hugh Jackman back as Wolverine (which is highly unlikely). Any new X-Men projects will be a separate thing, and we'll never get to see the screen manifestation of Mr Sinister. On its own merits, though, The New Mutants works well, but it's inarguably a middle-of-the-road comicbook movie. A shame, because it tried something different and has a lot to enjoy.