Rating the MCU - Phase 1

How do you rate the MCU?  Being the resident Office Geek I'm often asked, "What's your favorite MCU movie?" or... "What's your top 10 MCU movies?"

To be honest, with the MCU standing at 21 films (22 as soon as Avengers Endgame drops), I find it too challenging to rate all of the movies together so I've stopped trying.  In a way I really don't think that its fair to try and rate all of the MCU films together.  Why? So much has been developed and perfected that comparing The Avengers to Aveneger Infinity War is simply not a fair comparison.  Another example is THOR compared to THOR RAGNORAK.

This is the first part to a three part series. We start with MCU's Phase 1 (a 6 part series) rated from Low to High... and riddled with spoilers!

Phase 1 started with Iron Man followed by The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and concluding with The Avengers.

6. THOR

Without question, THOR is the weakest of the MCU's Phase 1 films.  Don't get me wrong... Thor's first solo film wasn't all bad.  Some of the best parts of the movie are the moments of comedic relief or any scene with Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis.  Chris Hemsworth brought his own level of comic relief, which was a nice balance as Thor was honestly an unlikable character at first coming across as an arrogant, negligent, angry, power hungry spoiled bratt.  The best scene was Thor's attempt to retrieve Mjolnir from SHIELD's compound.  The emotion and heart ache was, without question, the best moment in the film.  In a way, Thor attempted to tell a similar story to the first Iron Man.  In both films the main protagonist was humbled and suffered a fall from grace (future king of Asgard vs Billionaire Playboy and global leader in arms manufacturing).  This fall put our heroes through their own trials allowing them to grow as individuals.  In my opinion this is where the film Thor failed but where Iron Man succeeded.  The "trials" Thor experienced at over 1,000 years old were not convincing enough for him to be considered worthy.  It just wasn't convincing. May RDJR is just that much more charasmatic than Hemsworth.

Not only is THOR a lackluster origin story, it doesn't stand-up to the rewatch factor making its turn in the Avengers Infinity Saga Marathon a little painful.  Overall, THOR earns a well deserved lackluster 6.5 Stars.

The Good

• Loki's casting was PERFECT!
• Loki's character written PERFECTLY!
• Set and costume designs were great
• Comic relief worked really well to keep the tone light
• Chris Hemsworth makes a perfect Thor
• We got MORE SHIELD and Agent Coulson

The Bad

• Loki may have stole the show
• Thor almost shared TOO much of the story with Loki and Jane Foster feeling like a supporting character
• Thor came across as unlikable
• Thor's trials and tribulations did not feel harsh enough to warrant his character growth

5. The Incredible Hulk
I remember going to the theater to see Incredible Hulk.  This was back before the 7pm showings the day before the global release. We were there before midnight and I was really excited about this film.  I remember the theater passing around an XBOX 360 controller as people were taking turns playing the new HULK game as we waited for the movie to start.  Ahhh... good times.

After Ang Lee's HULK in the early 2000's failed to deliver I'd given up hope on a good HULK movie.  My hope was restored at the end of Iron Man when we learned that Nick Fury was working on a special project called The Avengers Initiative.  This was really all I needed in order to be excited about The Incredible Hulk. The Trailers looked great. Ed Norton was an amazing actor and I thought he would do a great job at Bruce Banner.  I couldn't wait.... and at the time the Incredible Hulk delivered a gamma packed punch.  I was actually taken aback by the level of anger, rage and aggression they managed to capture on screen. The final fight between Hulk and Abomination was almost too much for my 6 year old stepson. For the first time I felt like they got HULK right on the big screen.

Unfortunately, retrospect kicks in and kinda brings down the film.  Based on the issues between the director, the studio and Ed Norton there is a bit of a blemish on the memory of the Incredible Hulk.  Ed Norton was replaced as Bruce Banner by Mark Ruffalo and Joss Whedon changed the visual appearance of the Hulk for The Avengers.  These changes honestly leaves The Incredible Hulk feeling like the unwanted step-child of the entire MCU Infinity Saga.

More than anything, the rewatch factor of The Incredible Hulk has continued to decrease. Maybe more recent films like Thor Ragnarok or Avenger Infinity War made the serious tones of The Incredible Hulk too heavy.  Overall, The Incredible Hulk earns a rating or 7 Stars.

The Good

• We got to see Hulk throw down with Abomination and not hold back
• Hulk fighting a storm to protect Betty was great
• Ed Norton is a fantasic actor
• The Campus scene was the high point of the film
• Seeing Emil Blonsky move like Captain America gave me hope for the Captain America movie
• The way Betty Ross looks at Bruce Banner is the dream

The Bad

• Despite Ed Norton's performance, the film felt too heavy and serious making any comic relief seem odd and forced
• The changs of Norton to Ruffalo along with the bad press and visual character design change hurt the film long term
• dated graphics look cartoony; Hulk's face looks like the zombies from "Last Man on Earth"

4. Iron Man 2
By all rights, Iron Man 2 is a great sequel that feels like a continuation of the first Iron Man.  Films like Sam Rami's Spider-Man/Spider-Man 2 and Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins/The Dark Knight Rises set an expectation that a sequel should be BIGGER and BETTER than its predecessor.  Iron Man 2 proves that is not necessary.

Iron Man 2 does a great job of continuing to build upon the Iron Man and MCU universe.  Not only do we get the most exposure to Nick Fury, we get to meet Black Widow.  We also get a chance to learn more about Tony's father Howard Stark.  We get WarMachine including a hint at just how bad Tony can be if his drinking and partying were to go unchecked or if the Iron Man tech were to fall into the wrong hands.  We also got to see a few new Iron Man armors.  The only issue I have with Iron Man 2 is the main villain was too easy to beat.  It took no effort to beat the drones or Ivan Vanko. 

With Iron Man 2 feeling like a continuation of Iron Man the rewatch factor has remained solid over the past 8-9 years.  The film stands strong as a sequel and plays an important part in the budding relationship between Tony and Pepper.  Avenger Endgame may play an important role proving that the importance of Iron Man 2 is much greater than initially realized.  If it is proven that Tony synthesized the power of the Tesseract (Reality Stone) it may a key role in defeating Thanos.

Overall, I give Iron Man 2 a rather generous 7.5 Stars.

The Good

• Makes a fantastic sequel
• Introduces the concept of continued evolution and advancement of Iron Man tech
• We got War Machine
• We got more of the chemistry between Tony and Pepper
• May have setup a plot point for Avengers Endgame as Tony may have synthesized the power of the Tesseract (Reality Stone)

The Bad

• The main villains was beaten easily
• Favreau played it safe and did not try to raise the bar
• Stark seems a bit overly careless at times
• Generic plot point of the main character not openly sharing his health issues keeping everyone but the viewer in the dark

3. Iron Man
SOME people may see Iron Man as #3 overall for Phase 1 and be like, "What the damn hell?!"  Hear me out...

Iron Man was fantastic... and it still is.  For me the #1 and #2 spots are neck-and-neck with #3 not too far behind.  Robert Downey JR is amazing as Tony Stark.  As I stated above, he is insanely charasmatic... and really finds a way to be a complete jerk yet still be super lika--LOVABLE.  But all love is not due to RDJR's performance.  Much praise to Jon Favreau for the world he created and story he told.  He put Tony through HELL in that first film and it made his character growth entirely believable.  Again, this is where Thor failed.

As far as rewatch factor, Iron Man is still a fun watch after 11 years, even with the dated graphics.  The only thing holding it back from a higher rating is the ending.  The film drops off a bit after he sends the Mark 3 into production.  It was almost too easy of a story and ultimately IronMonger came across as a bit cheesy and cliche.

End of the day, Iron Man earns a WELL deserved 8 Stars.

The Good

• Robert Downey JR is the PERFECT Tony Stark
• One of the best origin stories in the MCU
• The Iron Man armor is amazing
• Made me actually like Iron Man AND Tony Stark
• Intorduction of SHIELD and Agent Coulson
• Extra Points for taking POST CREDIT scenes to the next level FOREVER!!!

The Bad

• Movie kinda "Jumps the Shark" after the Mark 3 armor is built
• Iron Monger was cheesy and being a killer was a stretch

2. Captain America: The First Avenger

I know some of you may think I'm crazy, BUT I absolutely LOVE Cap's first solo film. It is one of the first Phase 1 films to connect to the Infinity Saga with the introduction of the Tesseract. Although at the time we did not know it contained the reality stone.

I can't think of a better story than what we got.
I've rewatched Captain America: The First Avenger more than any other MCU film and I honestly enjoy it every single time as much as I did the first time. As a result, Captain America earns a well deserved 8.5 Stars.

The Good

• Chris Evans is the PERFECT Captain America
• Hugo Weaving is the PERFECT Red Skull
• I loved how we got to see Cap in his classic costume
• The 2nd best origin story in the MCU (2nd to Iron Man)
• The film finishes as strong as it started
• Establish Steve Roger's the man and soldier before Captain America the hero

The Bad

• Is there really ANYTHING bad about the first Captain America movie? (The answer is no... no there isnt)

1. The Avengers

It only took 6 MCU films to get to the first Avengers movie but I'd waited 30 years (way back in 2012) to get there.  Joss Whedon did a fantastic job of telling such an amazing adventure with this first installment.  He brought together the Avengers in a story that seemed impossible yet paid homage and respect to the original Avengers comic. This reason alone is why The Avengers earns the #1 spot out of the MCU Phase 1.

One of my favorite moments was when Thor arrives to take Loki back to Asgard. The fight that followed was truly impressive but the highlight of this scene was just before Iron Man attacks Thor. Thor pleading with Loki to return to home to Asgard was powerful. You could tell Loki wanted to abandon his plan and return home but he was in major trouble. We got to fully understand his fear in Avengers Infinity War as his failures brought him face-to-face with Thanos.

As I wait for the premier of the 22nd MCU film with Avengers Endgame, now 45 hours away, it's interesting to think how groundbreaking and amazing The Avengers was and what it meant to all of us. Seeing the Avengers stand side-by-side as the camera panned around them, I may have felt a bit emotional. I'm not ashamed. The first time was during my first of 6 theatrical viewings Sam Raimi's Spider-Man when we saw a full costumed Spider-Man web-slinging for the first time. Honestly, I wish my brother could have experienced this with me. In 2 days we get our 4th Avengers but I still love what Marvel achieved and gave us with The Avengers.  Without question, The Avengers earns 8.5 Stars.

The Good

• The Hulk and Thor fight was spectacular 
• We finally saw a truly angry Hulk that wanted to smash and destroy everything
• I liked that we had more than just heroes with solo films on the team (Black Widow and Hawkeye)
• We finally got to see the full extent of SHIELD and the Helicarrier
• Hulk's line and all that lead up to it, "Puny God"
• The introduction of Thanos
• Loki was truly a sinister villain

The Bad

• The defeat of the Chiturai was too easy
• Loki's scepter was said to be controlled by the Tesseract when in reality it contained the Mind Stone (we learn this later in Avengers Age of Ultron)
• Whedon's Captain America was NOT the leader he should have been
• Captain America's costume was the worst
• The awkward thought of what would have Hulk done to Black Widow if Thor had not intervened 
• Captain America's proclamation that "there is only one God and he doesn't dress like that" seemed a bit unnecessary (I get it... Cap's old old school but I don't see Cap openly dismissing the existence of any religious beliefs)

To recap...

6. Thor - 6.5 Stars
5. The Incredible Hulk - 7 Stars
4. Iron Man 2 - 7.5 Stars
3. Iron Man - 8 Stars
2. Captain America: The First Avenger - 8.5 Stars
1. The Avengers - 8.5 Stars

Captain Marvel Review

I may be a bit late with this review but there are still a lot of people that haven't seen Captain Marvel. With Avengers Endgame less than a week away, I figured why not toss up a review.

First let me say that I enjoyed Captain Marvel.  There were some odd moments that didn't really work for me.  There were times that Brie Larson came across kinda stiff and emotionless, but her character was supposed to be suppressing emotion so Brie gets a pass.  The quality of Captain Marvel felt like an origin story from Phase 1.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  The MCU has raised the bar over the past 11 years.  I would have liked a better quality film for the first female solo film.  Had Captain Marvel been released 10 years ago as part of Phase 1 it may have been better received.  Overall, Captain Marvel was not the worst MCU film (looking at you Doctor Strange) and it definitely wasn't the best MCU film... it was okay.  Which has earned Captain Marvel 7 stars.

Funny Note from my daughter: My wife ultimately refused to go see Captain Marvel so I took my 13 year old future feminist all about girl power daughter.  On the ride home we discussed the movie.  Her only issue... "Captain Marvel ran like a girl." Her words... NOT mine... even though I agree 100%.  My daughter is a bit short for her age and is an avid soccer player.  She's insanely fast  and found the representation of a Super Powered female running hard yet super slow to be a disappointment.  Seriously, she ranted for like 5 minutes straight over how slow Brie Larson ran.  I see her point.  Just 2 years ago we saw Wonder Woman charge across a battle field in one of the most iconic kick ass hero moments of all time... I don't think its unfair to expect Captain Marvel to move a bit faster.

Do you need to see Captain Marvel BEFORE seeing Avengers Endgame?

That's a good question and the answer may depend on Endgame itself.  We've already seen in one of the Endgame trailers that we get a VERY quick explanation of "where has Captain Marvel been all this time."  There are so many uncertainities about Endgame it is honestly difficult to tell if Captain Marvel is essential to the events of Endgame.  How big is Marvel going with the Infinity Saga?  Are the plot points and twists at face value?  Or will we see Marvel Studios and the Russo Brothers tie everything together across the 22 film saga?

The short answer... I think you should see all 21 MCU films before going to see Avengers Endgame. Yes, you could skip any of the movies but you will be the person whispering, "Who's that" during the 3 hour Infinty Saga conclusion.

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

Overall, Captain Marvel was an enjoyable movie.  I walked away feeling less intrigued by Carol Danvers' fight against the Kree Empire and more intriguided by the mystery, "What happened to the Tesseract (Reality Stone) after Howard Stark retrieved it at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger?"

Based on all my geeky discussions with my brothers and fellow geeks I've come away with even more questions.  Trying to piece together this timeline is difficult without the missing answers to the Tesseract's timeline.

• Do the Avengers retrieve the Tesseract from Howard Stark in Endgame?
• This would definitely explain a portion of the timeline
• We believe the Avengers will be doing some type of time travel during Endgame
• We know Howard tried to use the Tesseract as a type of substainable power source (Iron Man 2)
• Do the Avengers even need the Tesseract if Tony synthesized the Tesseract Power source in Iron Man 

• If they do retrieve the Tesseract, we can assume its taken to either one of the 3 moments in time
• The events of Avengers 1 using the portal for a quick trip to fight Thanos
• The present... AFTER the SNAP
• The future
• If the Avengers do take the Tesseract from Howard, we may get a heartfelt scene between Tony and Howard for that closure Tony needs to forgive Cap, Bucky and himself
• How does Mar-Vell end-up with the Tesseract back in the late 80's early 90's?
• Does this feed into the theory that the Skrulls are currently among us?
• Does Hawkeye travel back with the Tesseract because he is a Skrull?

I could go on-and-on with these conspiracy theories and clearly can't wait to see Avengers Endgame.  I'm excited to see a more experienced Captain Marvel throwdown with Thanos.  It's going to be a helluva ride!

NETFLIX's New Zombie Series: BLACK SUMMER

I think we can all agree that ZOMBIES are WAAAAY overdone.... especially in 2019 we've seen it all.  The late George A. Romero's vision established that the undead crave brains from the living in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.  Including his later installments showing that zombies retain some type of cognitive abilities and connection to their past.  The 80's RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD gave us a glimpse that the zombie virus can bring back the dead even if burried 6 feet deep while also teaching us that brains help subside the pain of being dead.  We also got that really awkward punk rock cemetery scene.  We got our first glimpse of a fast zombie thanks to Zack Snyder's DAWN of the DEAD remake.  We've seen over the top zombie rage, power and speed in the WORLD WAR Z adaptation.  28 DAYS LATER brought us a virus that is so fast acting even a drop of infected blood to an open eye can turn someone in a matter of seconds.  Robert Kirkman's THE WALKING DEAD may have had a very similar start to 28 DAYS LATER but it gave us the idea that we are ALL infected with this mysterious zombie virus and that we will all return as zombies regardless of cause of death.  We even got the iZombie comic adaptation by CW.  This campy series brings us a unique fun twist to the zombie mythose with an oddly enjoyable CW style story (don't judge me).  I can't forget the dramatic audio podcast WE'RE ALIVE which presents a unique twist and conclusion on the start and end of the war for survival against zombies. Even NaughtyDog brought us a unique twist on the zombies with the masterpiece, THE LAST OF US.  I can't WAIT for that sequel. Let's not forget the RESIDENT EVIL franchise of both games, movies and animated films.

That being said, I'm always up for a new zombie story.  This brings us to NETFLIX's latest series, BLACK SUMMER.

I'm only 2 episodes in and will postpone any type of a review until I've finished the first season.  I like the start of the series as it opens with a collection of chapters introducing each character.  By the end of the first episode all of the individual storylines converge resulting in two groups of survivors trying to make it to "The Stadium" where it is believed they will be safe or find their loved ones.

Instead of trying to do something new, BLACK SUMMER surprisingly gives us an amalgam of zombies stories from the past two decades incorporating some of the unique factors from various franchises.  Time will tell if this is worth the effort.  If you watched Netflix's BirBox you may notice a similar SHOCK factor that plays out in "OH SHIT" moments. I legit said "OH SHIT" out loud while watching... then again my wife claims I have a bit of a flair for the dramatic.  Regardless, we get two of these in the first and second episodes.  I hope Black Summer keeps them coming.

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

In BLACK SUMMER we see Zombies that turn quickly, run and chase their prey at top speeds while snarling, grunting and yelling... regardless of physical injuries or limitations.  Upon death, anyone will turn into a zombie instantly REGARDLESS of how they die.  I should mention that a woman is thrown THROUGH a windshield at high speeds (oh shit moment) in the second episode. She instantly turns into a zombie despite what would have to be severe head trama.  She was honestly a bit annoying so I was glad to see her go.  I have yet see a direct injury to the head cause someone to die and they NOT turn into a zombie. We also learn quickly that an encounter with a zombie will most likely result in instant death.

I like what I've seen and plan on finishing season 1 over the weekend.  If you like zombies and need something to watch during this Easter Holiday weekend, check out Black Summer.  (Is it wrong to point out the irony of Easter being about Jesus who returned from the dead and me suggesting a zombie series during the holiday weekend?)

Netflix's thriller BIRD BOX Review

Social media is a-buzz with Netflix's latest thriller, BIRD BOX.  I've seen several review headlines calling this film as one of the scariest movies in existence.  I decided to give Sandra Bullock's latest film a shot and I have to say I was a bit disappointed.  Maybe that was due to all the recent hype.  Don't get me wrong, the film was enjoyable but in no way is it one of the scariest movies I've ever seen.

The story is pretty basic.  Sandra Bullock is an expecting mother, scorned by her ex-lover, distant from everyone. when a mysterious creature begins to cause people to randomly kill themselves upon seeing the creatures.

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

BIRD BOX follows the basic Alfred Hitchcock style of NOT showing the antagonist through the entirety of the film.  The film attempts to build the fear based on the ability to relate to the fear and emotions between characters.  We do get a small hint of what the creatures look like through the artistic representation via various yet different charcoal drawings. of the film using the element of the unknown to be the main scare factor.  In a world that has 9 seasons of "The Walking Dead" (some seasons better than others) that is a HUGE exaggeration. 

The part I have the most difficult time overlooking is the RIDICULOUS setup that Sandra Bullock had been raising her son and adoptive daughter for 5 years while never bringing herself to connect to them enough to even name the children.  even going as far as to call them BOY and GIRL... that's right... their names are BOY and GIRL.

BIRD BOX definitely "jumps the shark" in the first 15 minutes.  Regardless, I'd say it is worth checking out as the movie is enjoyable overall landing a 7 out of 10 stars!

War for the Planet of the Apes Review

War for the Planet of the Apes is the latest installment in the Planet of the Apes prequel series.  I went into this film with some minor concerns as I was warned that it was slow start.  I couldn’t disagree with that assessment more.  Despite some personal issues with the film and the overall arch across the series I honestly enjoyed this installment landing the film a 7 out of 10 stars.  For anyone that enjoyed the first or second films of this series, I highly recommend seeing War.

Per usual, Andy Serkis does an incredible job as Caesar which is no surprise as he never fails to deliver a believable and memorable performance. The ape CGI renderings are also impressive.  I’m curious to see how this holds up with the Bluray release in HD.  One of my favorite things is seeing the anger and rage on Caesar’s face as he struggles to contain his exposure through most of the movie.

In DAWN, Caesar was forced to violate one of his core laws, “Ape shall not kill Ape” when he chose to kill the rebel ape Koba. Much of Ape society was based around this law.  This was a theme from the original film series (see the pointless 1 hour loop of “Ape has killed ape” from Battle for the Planet of the Apes) as well as some comics from the early 2000’s.  Caesar was faced with this difficult decision after Koba tried to kill him and lead an attack on humans endangering their entire civilization.  

Despite this being a running theme in the Planet of the Apes mythos, the timing of release of DAWN (2014) wasn’t too long after the 2013 release of Man of Steel. Man of Steel’s controversial ending saw Superman kill General Zod in an effort to save humans.  It is the, “for the greater good” argument where we see the main protagonist being forced to violate their principles in order to stop the antagonist.  This was also carried out in the 2014 release of Transformers: Age of Extinction where we see the noble Optimus Prime execute Megatron.  I’d be curious what DAWN would have been like had Man of Steel not inspired so many films to run with this theme.  At anyrate, the actions of Koba in DAWN still haunt the Ape civilization throughout WAR.

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

The film opens 2 years after the conclusion of the second film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  War quickly recaps the previous events of RISE and DAWN and then establishes the escalated hostility between Apes and the surviving humans. We see a human military unit, aided by apes called Donkeys, on the hunt for Caesar and his surviving ape civilization.  The film takes us on some twists and turns as we see Caesar suffer more loss and question his overall leadership.  We meet an angry and crazy Colonel and a bunch of loyal rebel soldiers willing to follow his orders.  We learn that the main conflict is between human military factions and Apes are slaves caught in the middle of the WAR.

One of the biggest plot holes of the film is Amiah Miller’s character Nova.  Caesar and his apes find a young girl, who was in hiding, with the inability to speak.  They draw a connection between her and several executed humans with severe nose bleeds.  Later Caesar is taken before the Special Forces Colonel, played by Woody Harrelson, who delivers a rather long semi-emotionless-emotional monologue about how the virus that nearly wiped out the human race has mutated and is turning humans into savage primates leaving them unable to speak.  This mutated virus plays a role in much of the conflict of the film.  There is only one problem, Nova is far from a savage primate like human.

Speaking of Woody Harrelson, I did not care for his performance in this film.  I’m pretty sure when he was pitched this role, he was told “think of Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now.” Except he’s no Brando and this is definitely NOT Apocalypse Now.  But you can see the heavy inspiration.

My biggest issue with this series is that Caesar was not leading the Ape Civilization to the Planet of the Apes we’ve all been waiting to see.  If anything, he was holding them back with his compassion and tolerance for humans.  Koba would have actually lead the Apes to Planet of the Apes.

The burning questions that still exist at the end of this film are:

Is this the end?

Is there more story to tell beyond WAR?

Does this ending actually represent the Planet of the Apes

Does this conclude the “trilogy?”

Based on an interview from 2016 with Producer Dylan Clark and director Matt Reeves, which you can read over at CinemaBlend, the goal doesn’t sound like it was specifiaclly tell a trilogy.  To quote Matt Reeves, “So the trilogy I'd say is that this is a Caesar arc that is specifically in our minds how he becomes a mythic, giant character. He is the sort of the seminal figure in ape history. And the events of this war, and what he does in this war cement his position in that place. But we don't see this story as ending.”  Despite these comments from Matt Reeves, the movie felt like a definitive conclusion.  If we do see another chapter I don’t see how it could take place any earlier than 10 years later.

With a $150,000,000 budget, WAR has already made over $300 million.  I’m hoping Fox sees this as a property worth continuing.  I can’t be the only one waiting to see Planet of the Apes.  Where do we see this continuing?  The failed 2001 Tim Burton version seems more realistic than the original 1968 film.  Here’s hoping another Ape can rise up and lead this Ape Civilization further into the future.

David Tennant is returning to Jessica Jones Season 2

News broke today on ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY that David Tennant would be reprising his role
as Kilgrave in the next season of Jessica Jones. This is exciting news as Tennant was an INCREDIBLE villain!!! We still don't know if this will only be via flashbacks or if he somehow managed to survive the conclusion of season one.  I always had the impression that he had some type of healing abilities as this would not be the first time Jessica thought she killed Kilgrave.

According to EW, Jessica Jones is set to return to Netflix in early 2018.  I guess we know she'll survive the battle with HAND MARVEL's Netflix Original THE DEFENDERS (debuting in just 5 days).

Look... he's wearing purple!!!

DuckTales: Solving Mysteries and Rewriting Histories

If the first episode of Disney XD’s new(reboot) DuckTales series is an example of what’s in store for this first season the perfect tagline would still be, “Solving Mysteries and Rewriting Histories.”  One of those “histories” may be the DuckTales story itself...

...And that is not necessarily a bad thing.

When I first heard that Disney would be producing a new DuckTales series I was immediately excited.  I was 5 years old when the original series first debuted in 1987 and ran until 1990 (100 episodes and 1 film).  To say I was a fan would be an understatement.  After the success of DuckTales , I never missed an episode of the shows that followed like Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck and Goof Troop.  These shows all felt like they took place in a similar Mickey Mouse world.  To say I have a nostalgic love for these shows would be an understatement.

When I finally saw a preview of the new DuckTales series and I was taken aback.  I was confused and disappointed at how different this reboot looked.  The original DuckTales followed the same style of art seen in Mickey Mouse based cartoons for decades.  Not to mention the original comic book source material.  These new renderings featured odd looking renditions of these familiar characters with this odd shaped heads and angular faces(duck bills).  It followed a very basic  I wasn’t a fan in the least bit.

The first episode of the DuckTales reboot aired on August 12, 2017.  After watching this first episode I am 100% on board for this new series.  I’m very impressed with how they have been able to take such an iconic story and reshape it into what may be a fun adventurous show with what promised to be a much more in depth and layered story.  The art style is VERY different than anything I’ve ever seen from Disney.  But it QUICKLY grew on me and I’m actually a fan now.  The second episode is not set to air on September 23.  Overall, I’m giving this first episode a SOLID 8.5 out of 10 stars.

I remember Scrooge McDuck, AKA Uncle Scrooge, being a cranky and greedy old duck with an awesome Scottish accent.  He was always looking for an opportunity to increase his fortune while hoping to never spend a dime doing it.  His ambition for adventure was always rooted in greed. The first episode of the reboot establishes Scrooge McDuck as a bored and successful business-duck and a once famous adventurer.  He is still the richest duck in Duckburg.  Although it is not stated how he amassed his legendary fortune you quickly get the impression it was a result of his many epic adventures which later funded his successful corporate empire.  As the series begins, Scrooge McDuck is viewed as a “has-been adventurer.”

Huey, Dewey and Louie seem to be the same troublesome brothers with a bit more of an edgy know-it-all attitude.  They come across as a bit older with more focus in making the triplets duck brothers individuals.  Although they are sporting the same colors, they are dressed more like individuals (T-Shirt, Hoodie and Polo).  They also have 3 distinct voices… which I’m not sure I like.  They sound too old in my opinion which makes it difficult to see them as kids.  At any rate, their rambunctious nature is just what Uncle Scrooge needs to get him out of the boring phase he is trapped in. The first episode ends with a few surprises that may lead to the answers we never got from the original series.  I’m looking forward to seeing how their backstory with their mother unfolds. (I’VE SAID TOO MUCH!!!)

There are more of the original supporting cast making their debut in this first 44 minute episode.  Donald Duck, Mrs. Beakley (who is now a no nonsense Bad@$$! That keeps Scrooge in line), Launchpad McQuack and Webbigail Vanderquack.  As a father of four( 2 girls and 2 boys) I’m happy to see Webbigail step-up to a stronger character in the new series.

The only negative thing I can say about this series is that Donald Duck is nearly impossible to understand.  Donald’s voice is iconic.  Not really sure how they could mess that up so bad.  I’m hoping they make some adjustments so that this issue is resolved by the time the next episode airs.  

After seeing this first episode coupled with recent rumors of a Darkwing Duck appearance I can’t wait to see what happens next.  I’m hoping we don’t have to wait too long for GizmoDuck. Say what you will about the recent run of reboots but I think sometimes they work very well.  This looks like this may be one of those times.  

In closing, check out the new show intro!  It stylistically pays homage to the original comic source material while reminding me of other cartoons from the 80’s like GI Joe and ThunderCats.