Third time’s the charm for the new Four, for the most part. Faithful and fastidious to its comic book origins but strangely dramatically inert, Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps (B-) does a better job than past attempts to ignite this story but remains simply a passable initial entry into Phase Six of Marvel movies. The glorious production design evokes a retro-futuristic Manhattan with such splendid detail in the film’s first act that it’s a shame there’s really no place to go from there. Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby dutifully play a married couple in a quartet of astronauts imbued with superpowers. He’s stretchy and she’s sometimes invisible, and very few interesting sight gags come from that premise. Joseph Quinn is equally unmemorable playing the Human Torch, supposedly the comic relief, but he doesn’t really blaze the screen with much of a bonfire of hilarity. This feels like the most obligatory team-up since the Gerald Ford cabinet. The heroes fight an intergalactic character who gobbles up full worlds, and yet his presence is evocative of a kaiju rampaging a city block. Still, given some of the MCU movies of late, this one has a positive message and a science-forward agenda and doesn’t careen into too much nonsense. The crafts are impressive. Graded on a curve, this is at least cogent if uninspiring.
One could fret this superhero reboot’s ambition is akin to Icarus soaring straight and unflinching into the Krypton sun. But fortunately in the hands of writer/director James Gunn’s singular craftsmanship, the new Superman (A-) is sufficiently earthbound and will keep viewers leaning in breathlessly, blissfully to trace its lofty legend. In keeping with his tuned-in, punked-up pop cultural sensibilities, the auteur tenders a mighty mixtape of everything currently intriguing him about comic books, comic book movies and life in the (mis)Information Age, and we as viewers are the beneficiaries of his visionary and occasionally cheeky gifts. Gunn’s candy-colored liberal arts curriculum of peculiar fandom and folklore sometimes careens into a pace oddity, but the boisterous blend of art, science and movie magic will surely reward repeat viewings. There’s a central theme simmering about the mysterious planetary protector being too good to be true and a hypothesis about what would happen if a supervillain pierced the perceived mythology he and we have come to expect. A constant hum of newspaper story uploads, breaking broadcast news, word of mouth buzz and social media posts fills the film’s vaguely contemporary Metropolis and surrounding dreamscapes. Gunn’s whiz-bang fortress of freneticism almost overwhelms and threatens to topple over itself, domino-style, like skyscrapers on a chasm: there’s more imagination per frame of this adventure than we’re used to getting in a summer blockbuster or even in a few twirls of a fidget spinner. From the get-go of its intriguing opening scrolls and multiple milieus, Gunn quickly plots the flight and fight patterns of his hero and those who love and loathe him. David Corenswet, graceful and earnest, and Rachel Brosnahan, wide-eyed and wordy, make an absolutely splendid Clark/Supes and Lois, respectively, with charming and too-infrequent screwball sequences straight out of classic Tracy/Hepburn mode. Nicholas Hoult is a deliciously diabolical Lex, always two steps ahead of his adversaries in his fastidious evil plotting. And Edi Gathegi is a solid standout as Mister Terrific, one of a series of DC Comics emerging characters who spice up subplots across various dimensions (he gets an amazing trick with a force field that’s a showstopper). Gunn raises the stakes with a title character vulnerable to physical and emotional pain, and the film is best when it spotlights this protagonist facing fear and fragility, including in tender moments with his nifty Smallville foster parents. The movie’s visual palette is unusual but inventive; not every effect gets “inked” with precision, but whisked in the whirlwind of super-breath, x-ray vision, heat rays and single-bound leaps, contours are maximized with thrilling panache. Once the action starts, with powerful pups and pocket universes hovering around each corner, the film sustains a rather relentless and surprising rhythm. It’s a run-on sentence no amount of diagramming can harness. The hopes and tropes powering this installment provide ample payoff in a superhero treatise with much on the mind. There’s also meta-textural material here about those who aren’t particularly keen on the filmmaker’s hokier, jokier take on the caped wonder plunged into a primary colored silver age universe; Gunn’s humor is preemptive disarming armor shielding against the haters, but sometimes his clever sensibilities do border on eclipsing the superhero himself. Regardless of the whirling dervish of it all, this movie definitely gets the Superman character right; he’s sure to be a fan favorite. It’s all a glorious calling card for a DC universe of possibilities (things are certainly looking up!), and it all makes for an invigorating and slightly exhausting time of fun under the Gunn.
It’s a support group for superheroes as a ragtag bunch of renegades stares into the void of depression to summon better days in solidarity as Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* (A-), the most cohesive and satisfying and least fussy Marvel film in quite a while. Looking to get out from under the trauma dump and back with a chest pump, several outcast MCU characters get a timely reintroduction. Ensnared in a death trap, an unconventional team of antiheroes — previously introduced characters Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker — embarks on a dangerous mission that forces them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. Florence Pugh and David Harbour are emotional and comic standouts as literal family members in this film of found family. Lewis Pullman is a solid addition to the troupe, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a delight as a prickly politico. The action sequences are a thrill, the sarcastic comedy is consistent and the emotions are earned as natural outcroppings of solid character work. Music by Son Lux gracefully underscores the occasion of a thoughtful allegory about the road to mental health recovery and how even heroes need a boost from each other sometimes. This rewards the casual viewer and those obsessed with Marvel minutiae alike.
The 35th Marvel Cinematic Universe film mixes Tom Clancy style espionage with the increasingly complicated trappings of serialized superheroism, and the whole hulking smash-up faces an identity and creativity crisis. Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World (C) chronicles two characters in the honeymoon periods of newfound careers: Harrison Ford as newly elected and problematic U.S. President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson who assumes the mantle of the Captain America persona with a touch of imposter syndrome. A proposed team-up between commander-in-chief and the newly coronated Cap is quickly jeopardized by a series of meddling menaces plus raiders of a lost “adamantium” element that proves to be a MacGuffin most mid. The story fails to transport viewers to interesting places despite the fact that one location is intriguingly titled Celestial Island and then not developed in the slightest. Conversely the production devotes multiple minutes to a junkyard fight and one single row of cherry blossom trees shot from various angles. A presidential security advisor played by Shira Haas is furnished limited lines when there could have been a smart political subtext unfolding. Danny Ramirez coasts on charisma as Joaquin Torres/Falcon, a sidekick who’s both silly and sentimental and generally the most genuinely entertaining part of the movie. The action sequences move fast, largely masking any real momentum, while generally the film’s pace crawls. Much of this installment plays out like a chore with phoned-in performances, despite the participation of multiple past Oscar nominees. Ford and Mackie are game for the drama, but the temperamental POTUS and the bearer of the shield can only wield so much life out of this flimsy episode.
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In the service of a more mature and madcap Marvel installment, Disney has cracked open its most violent and vulgar vaults to unleash a buddy comedy adventure with its own crass love language. The mouse is definitely out of the house with superkillafragilistic, zipadeedickjokes, hakunayomama abandon. Except for over-staying its welcome by a short hair, Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine (A-) is an absolute laugh machine throughout with a singularly sensational “meta”-morphosis of the superhero form. If there were a fifth and sixth wall to break, consider them toppled. The plot involves snarky mercenary Deadpool (a series best performance by riotously funny Ryan Reynolds) recruited to safeguard the multiverse by uniting with his would-be pal Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, in great stoic form for action and comedy) to save the world from an existential threat and villain (Emma Corrin at the height of her powers). Despite their outward swagger, both titular costumed crusaders must overcome a crisis of confidence, and it’s in their tentativeness and vulnerability that many of the film’s most delicious zingers and gags are born. It helps to know comic book, movie studio and pop cultural lore to fully follow some of the funniest and most subversive laugh lines. The stunts and action choreography are top-notch with excellent needle drops and kick-ass sass rivaling the first film in the series. The film outwardly acknowledges past Disney/Fox rivalries and casting incongruities, and it remedies some of the vexing variances in clever and convincing ways. Expect some stale conventions to get upended and some new directions for the franchise to come of age based on this fierce installment.
The cure for superhero fatigue? Cut tie-ins to extraneous characters and multiverses of quantum physics straining credulity, focus on an outsider of humble roots, tell an origin story we haven’t seen before and raise the stakes for a showdown involving characters we enjoy. Basically do what Ángel Manuel Soto’s does in Blue Beetle (B+)! Buoyed by Cobra Kai star Xolo Maridueña as the movie’s charismatic protagonist, Soto tells the story of a working class Mexican-American family in the fictional Palmera City facing a supernatural shock to the system that jettisons them into life as DC Universe warriors. The film is consistently engaging with escalating threats and joyful action abounding. The hero’s family customs and worldview are central to the film’s successful audience engagement, with George Lopez and Belissa Escobedo as comic relief highlights in his close-knit Latino family. Only Susan Sarandon misses the mark with an underdeveloped role as a ruthless baddie. The adventure overstays its welcome a bit, but novel and nostalgic flourishes keep the film fairly fresh. Bobby Krlic’s symphonic score sets a manic mood, and the special effects are competent enough to populate a believable world. Families will enjoy seeing a multigenerational group of likable characters rise to the occasion.
A speed trap of half-baked time travel comedy and junky action sequences surrounding a phantom zone menace, Andrés Muschietti’s The Flash (C) runs around in more circles than a Lazy Susan dishing out a smorgasbord of DC multiverse morsels with limited entertainment value. At the center of this carousel of excess are two performances by Ezra Miller, and a little of this eccentric actor goes a long way. Reversing time to save his mom’s life, the titular sprinting action hero opens up portals of paradox that produce a doubting doppelgänger plus an encounter with an underused original cinematic Batman Michael Keaton, who along with Sasha Calle as Supergirl must battle Michael Shannon’s General Zod, whose character is given virtually nothing to do. Despite some funny opening moments involving slow cooking and an aerial ballet of super saving, the schtick gets old fast, and the retread plot lines give way to a bitter after-haste taste. The visual effects are uniformly second-rate, and the two quipping Barrys’ vaudeville act collapses and careens toward a desperate parade of cameos in the final reel. There are more guest stars and CGI characters than a caravan to The Love Boat by way of The Polar Express could accommodate. Muschietti eschews solemnity for all-out stoner comedy, and perhaps, for some, even a glimmer of fun in the generally grim DC Universe can feel like finding renewed life in the fast lane.
Writer/director James Gunn completes his trilogy of space-age strays, agile action, wily wisecracks and nifty needle drops with a wondrous and emotionally resonant finale in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (A-). Chris Pratt plumbs deeper emotions fighting the loss of his great romance in this go-round as the ensemble endeavors to save their injured and intubated collaborator Rocket Raccoon by infiltrating a series of treacherous lairs. This leaves a game Dave Bautista, Karen Gillian and Pom Klementieff to carry much of the franchise’s incredible comedy, and they get some wonderful zingers. The film is grimmer and more violent than past outings as it tells Rocket’s onerous origin story and terror at the hands of a truly diabolical villain memorably played by Chukwudi Iwuji. The world building and creature effects are first-rate, and the movie builds to a resonant final act. This epic rescues Marvel from its doldrums, but given its auteur has left to shepherd the DC universe, more greatness lies in store for the latter.
Sometimes a comic book movie can simply be a fun adventure, and the latest DC Universe installment, David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods (B) is just that, a rollicking escape. The funny Zachary Levi leads a Philadelphia posse of scrappy superheroes harboring a collective secret: They are actually teenage foster children who can transform into caped crusaders in a snap. The story doesn’t really plumb the full depth of the family trauma and psychological implications inherent in the premise. but it plunges head-first into a mythological action barnburner with the teens fighting titans. The moviemakers disguise their earnestness with wry, throwaway humor especially via teen actor Jack Dylan Grazer, but they squander some chances to dial up the camp value of Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu as daughters of Atlas. There are long passages with pretty elaborate special effects, evocative of the original Ghostbusters with mixes of laughs and thrills packed into showdowns on expansive streets. Opportunities about to root for the underdogs. The film is largely family friendly and keeps enough plates spinning to nourish viewers for its duration.
Life’s rich pageant unfurls in Afrofuturistic splendor as gifted director/co-writer Ryan Coogler showcases a mythological superhero swashbuckler that towers over recent installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (A-) accomplishes three simultaneous goals: honoring the legacy of the late Chadwick Boseman and his character as the denizens of the fictional Wakanda grieve the loss of a hero and protector, setting up an absorbing new conflict between nations and sharpening some critical characters on the precipice of critical leadership. Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright and Lupita Nyong’o lend grace and gravitas as the women delivering emotional and intellectual superpowers to hold their kingdom together. The introduction of a new threat in the form of an underwater world called Talokan led by charismatic mer-man Namor, played brilliantly by Tenoch Huerta, advances the plotting and political intrigue. Although a little bloated in run time, Coogler’s sequel properly nourishes its characters and dazzles with wondrous world building. The below-the-line crafts are flawless, with Ruth Carter’s gorgeously ornate costumes again a standout. In many ways the film is an improvement on its predecessor with motivated action and stunts and weighty consequences. It is an epic worthy of the Marvel monicker.
Director Taika Waititi’s building blocks for his latest Marvel entry include three parts Airplane! style quips and playful pratfalls, three parts romantic comedy and four parts solemn action. It’s a wonder Thor: Love and Thunder (B-) works as well as it does in spurts even though it doesn’t really hang together in a cohesive way. Chris Hemsworth is amusing and swashbuckling as the central hero, although there’s never any real action stakes as he and colleagues march through perfunctory episodes. This installment is largely about the god of thunder regaining his emotional mojo. Natalie Portman returns as a love interest with new powers and an occasionally resonant backstory; she’s good enough to warrant a bit more. As new villain Gorr The God Butcher, Christian Bale is acting in a whole different universe, menacing and maniacal under macabre prosthetics. There’s also an amusing series of sequences involving a convention of deities. The film is often a clever lark, largely inconsequential and a missed opportunity for even more fearless and frolicking fun. This one doesn’t throw down the gauntlet with quite the precision or focus necessary.
The logline for Marvel’s latest film probably wasn’t “Watch vast numbers of various versions of an underwritten sorcerer character move through time and space to stop a fellow spell caster from doing infinitely uninteresting things,” but if that were the pitch, the filmmakers nailed it. Alas Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (D+) feels like a contractual dirge in every way, from Benedict Cumberbatch’s lifeless lead performance to uninspired sidekicks to a convoluted plot and antagonist. The moribund blend of studio superhero franchise and bursts of horror elements is uneasy and does neither genre much service. The visual effects are pedestrian; in fact it may be one of the least aesthetically pleasing films in the film series. Little is done with some minor cameos which could have spiced up the mix. The lead character simply goes through the motions, ties up some loose ends from the WandaVision TV series and embarks on a few chases with jump scares. Even with all the possibilities of sly magic and universe hopping, it’s a creative low point for a series generally more inspired than this.
