Movie Review: The Marvels

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

Great superhero fun. 

I admit that I am biased when it comes to this film. I personally love my superhero stories on the lighter and more fun side. Therefore, an unpretentious superhero movie like this is right up my alley. There is so much fun to be found in this film. The action scenes are especially fun. The idea of them switching places whenever they use their powers allows for these action scenes to always be visual fun and stand out from the action scenes in previous MCU films. It also leads to some very clever and fun scenes as they learn to control it. One scene aboard the ship with them mastering this is tons of silly wonderful fun. The whole movie also moves at a fast pace and at 1 hour and 45 minutes, it is never once boring. 

 The three lead superheroes play off of each other extremely well. This is true of both their personalities and the actresses playing them (Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani). There is simply wonderful chemistry here and it is a joy to watch them work together. In many ways this movie is just as much a warm-hearted buddy comedy as it is a superhero film. Yet I feel in many ways the young Kamala Kahn (or Miss Marvel) is the true heart of this film. As the movie starts it seems like she is mostly going to be comedic relief as a teenage girl who idolizes Captain Marvel and becomes very socially awkward around her. Yet she grows a much deeper relationship with her two teammates that is honestly quite touching. Also, the moments that showcase her kind heart make it hard not to love this character. There are times when she is so darn sweet that you simply want to hug her. This movie also does a great job with Captain Marvel herself. This film does a better job at truly delving into who she is than any of her previous MCU appearances. We delve into her flaws and her insecurities here and the result is very well done. This also leads to some very emotional moments with how she deals with these insecurities around an old friend and hero-worshiping fan.

The humor is often funnier when it comes from the characters than it is when the film delves into pure silliness. Some of the best humor comes from the more stoic Captain Marvel who is a wonderful straight woman to the very energetic and excited Kamala. The distinction between the humor that works and the humor that doesn't is perfectly shown when we get to a planet with a strange way of communicating. The idea behind how this planet communicates is the type of comedy that seems to be very funny in a script but falls flat on the screen. We simply don't laugh at all when this is revealed to us. Yet some of the interactions between our three main characters during these scenes are truly funny. 

I also love how this movie teases future MCU projects (some of which I am looking forward to) while still working completely as a standalone film. 

This film does have a flaw that is all too common in Marvel movies. That is the villain is quite bland. This villain seems to be a copy and paste villain from a hundred other superhero films. She has no real personality outside of what her goal is.  

While this movie may have its flaws, I had a great time watching it and I hope you do too. 

P.S. The scene in the mid-credits was simply wonderful.  

Movie Review: The Persian Version

 

Michael's Movie Grade: D-

An unfocused and meandering comedy-drama. 

The main problem with this film is that it simply tries to do too much and ends off biting off more than it can chew. By constantly changing the complete tone of the movie, the focus of the story, the time it takes place in and even who the main character is, it becomes hard to emotionally connect with anything that is going on. While there is nothing wrong with telling a story that switches between time periods and from multiple points of view (after all this is what Citizen Kane does), it has to be done well or it can simply be off-putting. It is not done well here. The problem here is that unlike the best movies that use this type of storytelling, here it distracts from rather than adds to the story. Sometimes a plot thread will just start and then right afterwards, we will jump to a flashback and not get back to that plot thread in what seems like forever. Sometimes these flashbacks feel like they belong in a completely different movie from the modern-day (well early 2000's) scenes. For instance, there is a long flashback that tells us about the mother's backstory. This flashback is completely different tonally and goes on long enough to feel like an unrelated short film was placed in the middle of this feature film. Not only this but all that was needed from this flashback to help tell the modern story could have been given in a couple brief moments. There is also the fact that this film goes back and forth from being about our main character being pregnant to being about her relationship with her mom. This is done to the point where you almost forget that she is even pregnant, because the focus drifts so far from this for a long time. The exploring of the relationship between the daughter and mother even falls flat because even though a theme is the film is that the two had to grow to understand each other, we never feel like we truly get to know the mother. We get quite a bit of her backstory, but we still don't understand why she acts the way she acts. The movie also suffers from an overreliance on narration. Throughout the movie the action is constantly interrupted by the characters stopping to narrate what is happening. While one gets the idea that this is supposed to make the film feel quirky and therefore make it stand out, it doesn't work. It instead gets annoying and distracting as well as feeling like a storytelling crutch. 

Another major problem with this film is the humor. This is supposed to be a comedy-drama. However, I didn't laugh even once watching this. The humor continually fell flat and like it was simply trying too hard. It doesn't help that the humor is not well balanced with the comedy. Instead of the two being intertwined they feel at odds with each other. At one moment the film will feel like an out and out quirky comedy and then the next moment will be a completely serious drama. You never know when these complete tonal shifts will happen and every time, they do it takes you completely out of the movie. 

 Admittedly this movie often has clever ideas, but these ideas seem lost in poor execution or the pure excess of the storytelling. 

I came into this movie sure I would like it but frankly it turned out to be a complete disappointment. There is a good movie buried in this film somewhere, but it will take a lot of digging to find it. 

 

Loki: Ouroboros

 

The first episode of the second season of this Marvel streaming show is a great start.

This episode starts off perfectly with just the right amount of suspense. Loki being on the run with none of the characters from the first season recognizing him is simply a perfect way of opening this season. It grabs our attention as soon as the episode starts. It becomes obvious right away that this season is going to be darker and more serious than the first, yet not give up its sense of fun. There is a wonderful sense of atmosphere throughout this episode. The darker lighting, the TVA's sets feeling more like a maze and Kang's face being everywhere makes us uncomfortable from the start. This episode also helps make Kang seem like a much bigger scale threat than his previous MCU appearances. It is hard to not take him as a major threat to not only one superhero but to the whole MCU after watching this episode. Yet while this episode gets darker and more intense, it does not abandon the humor that fans of the MCU love. Admittedly this humor is not as laugh out loud funny as the best MCU comedy, but it is charming and did make me smile. This all leads to a really great cliffhanger ending.

However, this episode does contain some weak CGI at times.

This is a wonderful start to what will hopefully be a very good season.   

Movie Review: Priscilla

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A haunting biopic of Priscilla Presley. 

Anyone who goes into this film wanting an Elvis movie will be disappointed. This is not a movie about Elvis (the soundtrack doesn't even have any Elvis songs), but rather about his wife Priscilla. This is also not a traditional biopic (though the real Priscilla has been vocal in her support of this film and serves as executive producer). Rather this film is an exploration of the isolation and loneliness of being married to the biggest star in the world. Anyone familiar with writer/director Sophia Coppola's filmography knows that she excels at exploring these themes and she does an especially great job here. As we start the movie we see stationed in Germany (she is a teenager, and her father is in the military). She hates this life and is simply dreaming of some way to escape. From this very onset we see what attracts her to the days she spends with Elvis. Not only does she fall in love with him, but she also falls in love with the sense of escape. As we move to Graceland though she finds herself trapped in the isolation of which she was trying to escape, only now it is more intense. Much of the time she is alone in Graceland and when she goes to school, she feels as if she doesn't belong with the girls her age. When she is with Elvis, things are not much better as his mind is often somewhere else and she feels out of place with Elvis' Memphis Mafia always around. What makes this so effective is that we never see Elvis on tour or making his movies. Instead, we spend the whole film with Priscilla. We experience each moment with her and because of this we feel a real emotional connection through the whole film. We feel as we are right there with her experiencing exactly what she is. This is also enhanced by the film's slower pace, which simply extenuates the isolation, loneliness and longing. 

However, the glue that holds this whole film together is the performances by Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi. Cailee Spaeny's performance as the title character is simply incredible. There is so much emotion, vulnerability and strength behind this performance, that makes it nearly impossible not to have an emotional connection to who she is playing. While Jacob Elordi's role as Elvis is not center stage (the way Austin Butler's performance was), he still completely shines her. Not only are their times, when he comes as close to embodying Elvis as anybody can, but he also brings both a lot of charm and a real human vulnerability to the role. As this film can explore the darker parts of Elvis (especially when he was on drugs), this is deeply needed to make the film feel real instead of just mean-spirited. 

This is simply a wonderful movie.  

The World's Greatest Super Friends: Space Knights of Camelon (1979)

 

A wonderful episode.

In this episode Superman tries to stop a radioactive meteor. He finds himself on a medieval planet (called Camelon) and having lost his memory. After losing his memory he starts to believe that he is the evil Black Knight of Camelon. The other Super Friends have to stop him before he takes over the planet.

This episode is everything I love about this show. It combines a fun corniness with a real sense of suspense and some great superhero action. The idea of an outer space planet that is very much like the legendary Camelot is just the type of corny superhero fun that I love. While even a casual DC comics fan has seen the idea of an evil Superman before many times, it is still a very effective idea, and it is done very well here. To have the strongest DC hero become evil, brings a great sense of suspense. Even having all the other Super Friends against him, it is hard to picture them winning. I also appreciate seeing this idea carried out without any of the cynicism that would be seen in a modern story. Having Superman as the villain also leads to some wonderfully handled action scenes that are simply a lot of fun. The background art is always wonderful in Hanna-Barbera cartoons of this time period. However, it is especially good here. This is a very atmospheric episode and one that is simply a joy to look at. 

Also notice how this episode came out just two years after the first Star Wars film and that the characters clearly have lightsabers. 

This is a must watch for anyone who loves corny superhero fun. 

Movie Review: Radical

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A wonderful comedy-drama from Mexico.

If you were to simply read a description of this film's story (an unorthodox teacher helps kids, who everyone else has given up on, see their true potential), it might just sound like another typical feel-good movie. In many ways it kind of is. The film follows all the conventions of such movies. However, I have rarely seen this type of story told better than it is here. This movie truly pulls on the heartstrings and knows just how to make you smile and make you cry. Every emotional beat hits perfectly here and even the most familiar scenes can be very emotionally powerful. Much of this is due to the characters. Our main character is very likable and easy to both relate to and respect. While we definitely do look up to and admire him, the film also shows him as very human. When things get tough, he does have moments where he doubts whether or not he is doing the right thing and whether or not he can actually change these kids' lives. At the same time what he does for these kids is incredibly touching. I also appreciated that this movie never made his teaching methods too over the top. They may have been unorthodox, but they make sense. Many films would have played up his eccentrics for humor. However, that would have hurt the drama and made this movie seem unreal. The result here is the exact opposite. Yet he is not the only character he captivates us. We spend a good amount of time with three of his students. During this time, we get to know these kids just as well as we do with the teacher. Each of these kids has their own character arc that is completely believable and often quite emotional. Also, when focusing on these kids living in poverty, the film never sanitizes the position they are in. Instead, it takes an honest look at how these kids have incredible hurdles to overcome to make it in this world. It also has some scenes of real tragedy that are simply heartbreaking. Beneath this the film does offer us a sense of hope. Even in the worst circumstances, there can still be hope. This movie also takes an intelligent look at just what it means to have hope in such situations. All this leads not only to some very smart moments, but also some of the film's most emotional. The movie also benefits from a really good sense of humor that often made me laugh out loud.    

A wonderful movie. 

The World's Greatest Super Friends: Lex Luthor Strikes Back (1979)

 

A wonderful episode. 

In this episode, Lex Luthor escapes from prison by switching places with Lois Lane. After escaping he captures each of the Super Friends. 

This episode is one of the most normal episodes of The World's Greatest Super Friends. They do not enter a fairytale or other famous fantasy story, instead this is a straightforward superhero adventure. However it is a simply wonderful one. Lex Luthor has never felt more threatening (at least in a Super Friends episode) than he does here. His early scene in a jail cell perfectly sets up why he is one of the most dangerous villains in the DC Universe even without superpowers. This episode truly shows how he can believably be a threat to the most powerful superheroes. Because of this, this episode is truly suspenseful and does make you truly wonder how our heroes will make it out alive (if they do). This is exactly the kind of superhero story that I love. It is a simple story, well told. There is also a lot of the wonderful artwork that I love about Hanna-Barbera cartoons of this time period. The backgrounds are wonderful to look at and the designs of the sun creatures are very well done. 

This episode also benefits (at least in my opinion) by the fact that Gleek the space monkey receives very little screen time. 

The only problem I have with this episode is the voices for Luthor's sidekick and the sun creatures. However this is a small complaint. 

This is pure superhero fun at its finest.