Marvel Studios
A throwback movie that pleases on every level, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a positive, encouraging entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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While previous Marvel films merely scratched the surface of the darkness bubbling beneath, Thunderbolts* dives headfirst into it, laying bare the personal trauma experienced through these films and how, if left unchecked, it can swallow one whole.
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What utter joy The Marvels brings to the Marvel Cinematic Universe! For a blithe 105 minutes, we get all the requisite action and hilarity we’ve come to know and love from the best of the MCU, but we also get a playfulness that escaped even the most lighthearted of the 32 films preceding it. It’s […]
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Art either exposes the frailty of humanity or pushes us to follow our better angels. No matter what it is – from the earliest cave paintings to Minor Threat songs to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – all any piece of art hopes to do is to make something larger than ourselves by putting […]
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The things that set the Ant-Man films apart from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were cheeky humor and a slam-bang heist spirit that more than made them memorable and endlessly watchable. Ant-Man and its first sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, carried with them a mirthful, bratty-little-brother vibe, almost making meta-parody mincemeat of the […]
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(Originally published at Gunaxin on April 25, 2019.) Author’s note: there will be no spoilers AT ALL in this review. This is a film best experienced, not summarized. Full confession: I don’t think I’ve ever attempted to write about a movie as big as Avengers: Endgame. This, the twenty-second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, […]
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I tend to keep my reviews at Gunaxin a little less personal and a little more focused on the film itself. When you read it, know that the tone of it was completely inspired by my eight-year-old daughter who came with me to the screening. Here she sat, having seen all of the Marvel Cinematic […]
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(This review was originally published at Gunaxin on March 7, 2019.) Captain Marvel isn’t merely a superhero origin story; it’s the story of women past, present, and future. From being put into control systems in early life to being told they’ll never be able to do certain things because of their gender, women have had to […]
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(This review was published at Gunaxin on April 25, 2018.) Just before their leap into the Marvel universe, Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo were executive producers (and frequent directors) of the NBC show “Community,” with one episode showing the results of a character rolling a six-sided die. The episode examined all possible […]
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(Originally published at Gunaxin on May 4, 2017.) How does one write about a film sequel concerning a goofy space pirate, a hardened warrior, a hulking mass too mentally dense to know his ass from a hole in the ground, a genetically-engineered raccoon hellbent on instigating as much chaos and mayhem he can muster, and […]
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