Andrew Ames

THIS. This season (this series in general) is what gives me hope for the MCU to turn itself around. Season 2 is beautifully done from script to cinematography. The outcomes are all unexpected which is pleasing and offers a new take of what it means to be a hero. No poses, no flash, no predictable plot. This flips things on its head. It’s somber and this finale makes for a great debate based on the chosen outcome. It’s hard to not say anything with spoilers so please watch this season (do yourself a favor too and also watch season 1 if you haven’t yet). Watch the breakdowns on YouTube too because there are some fascinating tid bits to take in from this show (and if you love the science and the fiction of time travel, the concept of time, etc. there’s plenty!). I’m excited to see how this all translates moving forward and what questions and answers may develop as the MCU moves on.

When I saw that Secret Invasion was going to be adapted as a show I was excited for it, but this one fell flat. To be fair the first few episodes did catch my interest. The secrecy and deception not knowing who was a Skull and who wasn't played well and the spy vs. spy style of the show really brought back memories of Captain America 2 where espionage reigned supreme. What killed it for me though was towards the end. I would love to write out all the things here, but again I do not want to spoil anything for those who still haven't watched it yet. Long story short, CGI took a bit of a hit here and the storyline should have been extended, maybe even revised again as one of the plot's twist was VERY questionable. Hard to peg the show a bit on that as this was in the middle of the SAG/AFTRA strike, but there was likely pressure to get this out the door and of course that hurts the quality overall. For me, this was the show that made me go "I hope the MCU pauses and takes a few steps back and focuses on quality not quantity". This is a beloved universe, but throwing too much all at once can hurt a genre many hold dear and it seems like it is beginning to happen with some of the new content coming out (Loki S2 is fantastic and Echo just looks phenomenal based on the trailer).

As with any Marvel movie, there are sometimes doubts speculating whether or not certain actors or actresses can fulfill their roles as these legendary heroes we grew up on as kids. Marvel Studios though seems to have the formula down pat as I was proven wrong time and time again with their recent installment of Captain Marvel. Brie Larson gives us a great rendition of Carol Danvers and though many speculated she would have been emotionless with her acting, I felt as though she nailed it. Her quick wit and sarcasm in some scenes were nothing out of place and her tender moments with some of her co-stars felt sincere. My only one complaint, and I feel like it's just a thing when you become newly initiated into being a superhero for Marvel, is to tone down the superhero "pose". There were some moments where it felt forced, but to be honest this was minimal. Overall, I am excited to see where things go from here and am looking forward to see what is done in the future for Captain Marvel.

I admit I was worried after watching episode 1 of this series, wondering if things were going to be too "corny", but as the series continued I fell in love with it. I have to commend everyone involved in the show from figuring out how to work with the change in Ms. Marvel's powers to the storyline. Iman being the big Marvel fan that she is too killed it and adapted to the whole new power situation beautifully. If you haven't watched this series, but are a big MCU fan I recommend you watch it. You don't want to miss it.

This was an okay movie overall. Definitely an ambitious film and kudos to Chloe Zhao for taking this project on and making sure things were balanced as much as possible. The bottom line though, Eternals has A TON to unpack and fitting it all into one movie I think hurt the film more than it helped it. I will start by saying I took the time to read the comics before seeing the movie (highly recommend doing so) to get a better understanding of what to expect as I am not super familiar with the Eternals. Definitely worth it as it helped me greatly see the connections between the Celestials, Thanos, etc. The film definitely did a nice job giving a backstory to each of the Eternals and their purpose to why they serve the Celestials. The action was plenty and there were some nice twists in the film that I think will catch some people off for those who really know the Eternals. The downside though is, again, I felt like this film could've been split up instead of cramming everything into one big long film. Some of the characters I felt got rushed off quickly and were a bit watered down and the transitions seemed random in some spots. The ending (not the after credit scenes) seemed abrupt as well (actually heard a few audience members go "is that really it?!"). Maybe it was meant to do just that, but I just thought it felt rushed like production just went "end it already!" and they stopped everything. I will say the after credits did leave me with questions and some excitement which I won't spoil here, but it made me wonder if Eternals should have come out later in the phases vs. now. I don't think it's timeline was in the right spot unless we're being deceived based on everything we know so far. All in all, not the best MCU film, but definitely worth a watch to get caught up and make connections between some characters current and soon to be announced.

This is definitely not your typical MCU movie and if you bring your kids, beware! This is more on the horror side than anything. Loved that they went with this to create the atmosphere of uneasiness throughout the film and Wanda has turned into more of a complex character than before. I feel there are a bit more mysteries to solve in future MCU movies tied to this film as it gave more questions than answers which I love. I guess my criticism to why this wasn't a 5 Star for me was this film didn't explore a ton of multiverses and was sort of was expecting that due to the film's name. It did make up ground though explaining some new terms in the multiverse (won't spoil it here) tied to the show Loki. We're beginning to see some bits and pieces unfold and a foundation set for Kang to return as well as Secret Wars to explode.