What do you do when you’ve made multiple successful films in New Zealand, graduated to Hollywood blockbuster franchise installments while maintaining your idiosyncrasies and then won an Academy Award? In the case of Taika Waititi, the answer is to make another blockbuster where the idiosyncrasies are even more pronounced, to an extent that may amuse…
In 2002, the superhero genre achieved an ideal form in “Spider-Man,” which built upon aspects from the Superman and Batman franchises as well as 1998’s “Blade” and 2000’s “X-Men.” Over the subsequent two decades, the genre developed and expanded, but a consistent aspect throughout is the cinematic expression of the experience of superpowers. This was…
Two beautiful people in a beautiful setting confess the beauty they see in each other, before creating something beautiful between them. There’s a lot of beauty in this scene, a scene that could happen in any number of films, but here it takes place in an entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Its presence…
It has become a cliché to identify that Marvel Studios combine the superhero genre with other genres. From conspiracy thriller in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” to buddy comedy in “Thor: Ragnarok” to space opera in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Kevin Feige and the various writers, directors, editors, actors, composers, cinematographers and more that work…
Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone are back, six months after the release of their last (and worst) film, “Superintelligence.” Their latest work, Thunder Force, is a superhero comedy telling the story of best friends Lydia (McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) and Emily (Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”), who become the superhero duo known…
There is a scene in Zack Snyder’s Justice League when one of the central superhero figures uses his superpowers for good. This may sound obvious, but it is notable that such use usually translates into beating up bad people, whether they be muggers, megalomaniacal crime bosses or genocidal aliens. This scene, however, involves helping someone…
In an interview, Kevin Feige confirmed that he had a plan for the next five years of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films. When talking about that plan he said — in reference to the possibility of an appearance from the X-Men, who Disney now own — that fans should “not hold their breath” and that…
