The Oscar Project Reviews
A fun stylized look into a lesser-known corner of the Marvel world, Werewolf by Night delivers action, new friendships, and plenty of creepy monsters, just in time for Halloween.
I went into this fairly blind, not knowing any of the backstory to these characters from the comics and without even seeing any trailers or imagery aside from the poster and splash page in Disney+. I’m sure there were some subtle details that I missed, but having the Marvel name on it and the logo at the beginning, I expected a bit more in the way of defined connection to the MCU. Now, I understand that not everything with the Marvel name on it is required to connect to the MCU, but based on the release strategy of the last decade and a half, this felt like an outlier. Perhaps we will see more connections later on, especially with films like Blade coming into the MCU. The film was short at only 52 minutes and actually listed as a TV special on sites like IMDb. Gael García Bernal takes the lead as Jack Russell, a monster hunter who ultimately transitions into a werewolf himself. Laura Donnelly plays opposite as Elsa Bloodstone, a fellow monster hunter and daughter of the late Ulysses Bloodstone. I was a bit underwhelmed by Jack’s role, but thought Elsa stole much of the show. For their small parts, Harriet Sansom Harris’s Verussa Bloodstone (Ulysses wife) was splendid as was Kirk R. Thatcher as the Scottish monster hunter Jovan.
I mentioned earlier that there wasn’t much connection to the greater Marvel universe at the moment, but I did make one connection of the visual style to that of the Disney+ series WandaVision. The entire film is done in black and white, with the exception of the bloodstone itself which appears red. This is also a callback to Schindler’s List (affiliate link) which used a similar black and white technique with the only color element being the red coat of a young girl. WandaVision and Werewolf by Night both also use a transitional technique where the film resolves to color at a certain point when the actions allows for it.
The additional visual elements in the film are likely ripe for data mining by YouTubers and fans in the vast Marvel online community. There are plenty of monsters created for the film along with murals and carvings in the Bloodstone mansion, many of which probably have a connection to things I’m not familiar with yet. I will be interested to see what connections come from these elements in the background that most people will miss. In the final assessment, I was a bit disappointed with this initial Marvel Studios Special Presentation. I think the format has potential but needs to be better marketed. It also needs to decide if it will be an offshoot of the MCU, or if it will be something that runs alongside the MCU but doesn’t necessarily make those official connections. 6 out of 10
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Deadpool 2 brings the return of Wade Wilson and all his wisecracks, this time teaming up with a group of mutants he calls X-Force to help save a young mutant named Russell who is being chased by the time traveling Cable.
This is the rare sequel that lives up to the original while at the same time furthering the story of the central character. Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is up to his old tricks, fighting crime and living his best life with his now fiancé Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). When Vanessa is killed by a baddie that Wade didn’t do away with, he falls into despair and tries to end things in a fiery gasoline-fueled explosion in his apartment. Of course, his healing abilities allow him to come back even from that, and team up yet again with Colossus Stefan Kapičić), and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), both returning from the first film. After an abject failure in their first team-up, Wilson is thrown in a mutant prison with Russell/Firefist (Julian Dennison), a young mutant who had been abused at the hands of the staff of the “Mutant Re-education Center” where he lived. The prison facility is attacked by Josh Brolin’s Cable, taking a break from playing his better-known Marvel villain, Thanos. As Deadpool enters the MCU arena, it will be interesting to see how this is reconciled over the coming years.
What works for the first film, continues to work here. But while the first film is a true origin story, this sequel takes Deadpool in a different direction, shifting from trying to save his damsel in distress by himself, to working with others to save someone not so much unlike himself. I hope that the third film is allowed to work in this same way and not hamstrung by Disney and Marvel executives trying to fit it into the more traditional MCU mold.
7 out of 10
With the announcement recently that Deadpool 3 is in the works and includes a final(?) appearance by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, I felt it was time to revisit the first two Deadpool films and deliver some official reviews. So, without further ado, my Deadpool review.
This was such a nice pallet cleanser after the Venom films I reviewed the last two weeks. Looking back, it almost feels like both Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage were trying to have the humor and wit of Deadpool, but couldn’t take the leap, stumbling in the process. That said, Ryan Reynolds is the straw that stirs the drink in this film. It doesn’t work with anyone else playing Wade Wilson/Deadpool, but you can probably put just about anyone around him, and it will work. That’s not to say that the supporting cast is bad. Just the opposite. T. J. Miller is great in a limited role as Wade Wilson’s best friend and Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa goes toe to toe with Wilson as their relationship grows through the film. Ed Skrein’s portrayal of Ajax is not as memorable, but sufficient as the lead villain. Further down the supporting cast list, Gina Carano as Ajax’s sidekick Angel Dust feels very one dimensional, and a bit of a wasted opportunity. On the other hand, Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) provide a lovely connection to the world of the X-Men, and feel like fuller characters than either of the villains.
If yours is a family that likes watching Marvel movies together, make sure to put the kids to bed before putting this one on. It earns the R-rating, but everything that contributes to that rating feels relevant. Some of the blood and gore could be a bit excessive, but it still serves to drive home the point of Deadpool’s physical resilience, even if he is a bit weaker emotionally. A well put together film and worthy of a place in the MCU once that connection is made.
7 out of 10
Last week I posted my review of the first Venom film from 2018 and made it a point to follow it with the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, this week, hoping the series would improve. Sadly, I was disappointed, despite the best efforts of cast and crew.
The sequel was set up very obviously at the end of the first film with a credits scene, something Marvel is so well known for. However, in this instance, it didn’t connect to some other character or series, but rather simply foreshadowed the obligatory sequel for films like this, regardless of the quality of the original. Did we need another Venom movie? Probably not. Are we going to get even more after this one? Probably. When it comes to the character, I echo what I said for the first film that I prefer Hardy’s version of Eddie Brock/Venom to Topher Grace’s. I also appreciated the fact that Venom and Eddie became a bit more distinct in this film, with a few characters in the know addressing Venom directly, regardless of whose body he was in at the time. Michelle Williams ups her game in this film from the first despite her limited screen time. As far as the villains, I believed less in Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady/Carnage and Naomie Harris’s Shriek than I did in the first film’s version of Riot. Don’t get me wrong, I love both Harrelson and Harris as actors, but this material didn’t quite suit them, and it never seemed like they really inhabited the roles.
Venom was one of the few gaps in my Marvel film viewing in recent years, and it was time to fill that gap.
I didn’t expect much from the film after it a tepid reception when it was released. But, since it did well enough to warrant a quick sequel, it was worth a shot. I loved Tom Hardy in the role of Eddie Brock, much more so than Topher Grace’s version in 2007’s Spider-Man 3. Michelle Williams role in the film was a bit understated, and I enjoyed seeing rising star Riz Ahmed, this time in a true villain role. The story itself is pretty typical for a comic book film. It was a bit slow to build the characters and even took some time to get Venom and Brock together. Fortunately, it wasn’t overly long, clocking in just under the 2-hour mark. I’d say it probably could have been about 10-15 minutes shorter, but I’m not sure how much shorter a film in this genre can be and still be viable at the box office.
Thor is back and I wish I could say better than ever, but unfortunately Love and Thunder leaves a bit to be desired.
Much was made of the return of Natalie Portman to the Thor franchise, and it was great to see her back on screen, and even better to see her don the Thor armor and wield Thor’s legendary hammer Mjolnir. But the truth of this film is that it feels like an awkward follow-up to what was an excellent previous installment in Thor: Ragnarok. The film picks up with Thor as he tries to figure out what to do with his life after Avengers: Endgame where he left with the remaining Guardians of the Galaxy and while they figured prominently in the trailers promoting the film, I’ll disappoint any Guardians fans by letting you know they disappear about 15 minutes into the film. Don’t worry, they will be back with their holiday special on Disney+ and another theatrical film in the works, but Chris Pratt has been busy with Amazon lately, so the Guardians scenes in this film are pretty limited. The other high point of the film is Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher. The film actually opens with his backstory and I wish we’d gotten more about his character. We quickly understand his motivations from the opening scenes of the film, but there was so much more they could have done with the character. His lines are sparse and Bale delivers them with his typical dedication to the material, but I couldn’t help hearing Bruce Wayne/Batman in some of his scenes.
Thor: Love and Thunder is still a fun film. There are plenty of new characters introduced and we may look back in five years’ time with a different lens after seeing what else has transpired in the MCU, but for now this film didn’t quite reach its full potential.
6 out of 10 In re-watching this film with the benefit of hindsight, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. Our introduction to Captain America (Chris Evans) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings us to WWII and introduces another key element of the battle between good and evil, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s evil counterpart, Hydra. Don't get me wrong, The First Avenger is a fun film that does an adequate job of introducing an additional critical character to the world. It also gives us background on the Tesseract which contains one of the Infinity Stones that we will start to hear so much about in another few films. The film stars with Steve Rogers as a scrawny kid who has tried multiple times to sign up for the army during the war, only to be told no every time due to a number of ailments. He tries once more and catches the attention of a former German scientist (Stanley Tucci) who brings him into a new army program testing the development of super soldiers by injecting them with a special serum. Rogers receives the injection and emerges several inches taller, and many muscles larger, immediately taking off to chase down a Nazi/Hyrda agent who sabotages the experiment. Following his heroics, Rogers joins a traveling revue complete with a chorus line and "Hilter" himself, trying to get the country to pony up for war bonds to fund the fighting. After receiving applause across the country, the show moves to Italy, just miles from the front lines and receives a much different response. Upon hearing that his childhood friend James "Bucky" Barnes (Sebastian Stan) was captured or killed nearby, he takes it on himself to free the prisoners and receives a hero's welcome upon returning to camp. Other than The Incredible Hulk, this film feels the most "comic-booky" in the series so far. You really get the wartime feel, even if this is not a great "war movie." It could have easily been twenty to thirty minutes longer in order to flesh out some of the story better. Trying to pack the entire backstory of America's greatest hero into a little over two hours is really tight, but with The Avengers needing to come together in the next film, it had to be done here. Captain America: The First Avenger did not receive any nominations for Academy Awards. Had I written this review when the film was first released, I probably would have given it a 7 or 8 out of ten. As it is, I can only muster a 6 for the film today. 6 out of 10 Previous: Thor | Next: Marvel's The Avengers Get Ready for Endgame In what might have been another dud along the lines of The Incredible Hulk, the Marvel Cinematic Universe took a turn away from Earth to introduce us to Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth), along with his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and trickster brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Thor is the introduction to two additional members of The Avengers, Thor himself along with Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) who has a small part in this film but will expand in upcoming films. We also meet a myriad of supporting characters including Thor's friends from Asgard, Heimdall (Idris Elba), the guardian of Asgard, and the Earthbound friends Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings). Unlike The Incredible Hulk, Thor introduces these characters with ease by making them relatable and connecting them to familiar characters Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) The story here is simple enough. Thor is the selected heir to the throne of Asgard but is also brash and searches out a fight with the Frost Giants of Jotunheim after a small band of them break into Asgard even though Odin had forbidden such action. As a reward for his insubordination, Thor is stripped of his powers, along with his hammer Mjölnir, and banished to Earth. Odin's health takes a turn for the worse and Loki takes the opportunity to seize the throne of Asgard, sending a powerful machine to Earth to eradicate Thor. Thor must learn to accept his limitations in order to be deemed worthy of his hammer and powers once again. We begin to see the intertwining of the stories between multiple films here with a repeat of the credits scene with Agent Coulson from Iron Man 2. We also find out the full meaning of his being sent to New Mexico and start to see the team of Avengers coming together. Thor did not receive any nominations for Academy Awards. Ultimately, this is a good addition to the MCU and provides a welcome respite from fighting only earthbound foes. The inclusion of more mystical elements helps show that there is way more at stake in the universe than Tony Stark's ego or Bruce Banner's rage. 7 out of 10 Previous: Iron Man 2 | Next: Captain America: The First Avenger Get Ready for Endgame The Marvel Cinematic Universe gets back on track with the second installment in the trilogy of Iron Man films. Despite the bad guys feeling like alter egos of characters from the first film, the second Iron Man continues to provide intense action, a few doses of comedy, and budding relationships (romantic and professional) that will last through the rest of the MCU films. We are introduced to several new characters throughout this film, from the vicious Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) and the conniving Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) to the Tony Stark's sultry new secretary Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) who turns out to be none other than Black Widow, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to work undercover within Stark Enterprises. It may be the first time we are meeting these individuals, but they all have a realness about them allowing us to easily accept who they are and what motivates them. The plot here is simple, and a bit derivative of the first film. Tony is dying because of the arc reactor he build into his chest in the first film. He is back to being the flashy billionaire, only made worse as he faces his mortality and feels powerless to change it. The two villains feel familiar and basically come across as two sides of the main villain from the first film. Hammer is the billionaire side that really wants to make money selling weapons and will go to just about any length to do so. Vanko on the other hand is the scientist side, dedicated to bringing down Stark by using the technology that their fathers worked on a generation earlier. In Vanko we see what Stark could have become, had he fallen to the "dark side," to mix film metaphors. We are also introduced to the fact that there is a much larger story at work for the first time in this film. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) is assigned by Fury to keep Stark under house arrest until such time as he can find a non-lethal compound to power the reactor in his chest. However, once Stark returns from breaking house arrest, Coulson announces that he's being reassigned and heading out to New Mexico, a comment that is explained in the post-credits scene. These scenes have become something of a cult favorite, but they really started hitting their stride with this scene. Iron Man 2 received one nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for Best Visual Effects, but was beaten out by Inception. In the final analysis, Iron Man 2 is a tremendous film and helped propel the MCU forward. I couldn't quite give it a full 10 out of 10 since some of the material felt a bit recycled from the first film, but applaud what it accomplished in setting the tone for the next several films in the series. 9 out of 10 Previous: The Incredible Hulk | Next: Thor Get Ready for Endgame Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) arrives with his alter ego, The Incredible Hulk, in the second film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unlike Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk drops us right into the story with little background on how Banner found himself in this predicament other than some broken flashbacks during the opening credits. From the beginning, this film feels less cohesive, not sure exactly if it's an origin story (it's not) or a story about Hulk finding himself and becoming one of the "good guys." Hulk also feels like it is trying to give too many nods to the past portrayals of the big green guy. Lou Ferrigno makes what feels like an obligatory cameo in one scene, Banner utters the now famous line that "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry," and Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) shows up with super baggy purple pants as an option for him to wear. While they're funny, they get old quick and you just want the film to get back to the story at hand. That story ends up going all over the place. As I noted above, we drop in with Banner on the run in Brazil at the beginning of the film and soon end up with him making his way through Central America back to the U.S. to try and find a mysterious "Mr. Blue" he has been communicating with online. The core cast is small, including Norton, Tyler, William Hurt as Ross's father, General Thaddeus Ross, and Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky, the special forces soldier tasked with taking down Banner. There is little chemistry between any of the actors and similar levels of character development. The filmmakers try to show the relationship between Betty and Banner during one scene with them together in a cave, but it falls flat. One last note is the effects in this film. It is obvious that Hulk is entirely computer animated throughout the film, but the animation here looks generally cartoonish. In many scenes, Hulk doesn't feel like he's part of the world so much as animated on top of the scenery around him. There is also some inconsistency in the size of the Hulk. In certain scenes he appears to be a mere 10-12 feet tall while in others,like when he rips apart a police car to use as boxing gloves, he comes across much bigger. It may not be fair to compare this film to Iron Man as the two characters are from different worlds, but after the thrill of the first MCU film, this one is a big disappointment. Unlike Iron Man, it was not nominated for any Academy Awards. If you're going through the films to catch up like I am, this is worth a watch, but this is definitely one of the lesser MCU films. 5 out of 10 Previous: Iron Man | Next: Iron Man 2 Get Ready for Endgame |
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