This movie is exactly as good as you think it will be.
Remember how you were wondering how they could pull off such an ambitious movie like the Avengers and then they did some how? Well that, but again, and it is still excellent.
(this review gets a little into details, but nothing really spoilery)
When Tony Stark, a man who thinks he is justified to do anything in the name of protection shockingly goes too far and creates Ultron, a murder bot who loves murder. Ultron, who is basically evil Tony, is very quippy. But this being a Whedon flick, everyone seems really quippy (don't worry, it's not as annoying as that sounds).
One of the best things about this movie is the destruction that you see happening in the action scenes. Something about the other Marvel movies never really made the people seem in danger when everything was exploding, but there are people everywhere in these scenes, screaming in horror as the super people punch the murder robots. Many innocent bystanders die in this one. Easy. Some of the other movies just seem too "clean", no sense of danger.
I also really liked the characters in this one. The other Marvel movies always seem like maybe one or two supporting characters from the other movies show up, but this movie has so many people in it. All your favourites!
Also, it had a really great "adventure continues" vibe. This movie starts with Avengers action and ends with Avengers action. There is no more "how they came together" or "this changes the very foundation of the universe". It was an awesome addition to what is now a serial story. More of this and less of origin stories!
So in conclusion, check out this sweet indie Whedon film, you might not have heard of it but it's pretty cool.
AMAZING! There're no words. My favourite episode so far. Holy crap, that Hell loop was brilliantly written. The episode went from confusing to holy shit that's fantastic in a heartbeat.
However, I feel kind of depress now and it sort of gave me the creeps. The worst thing is that Reese doesn't realize where he is and that he probably never will. Re-living their most painful moments on repeat and not being self-aware. I said it last season when that doctor poisoned Chloe but I'll say it again, I can't think of a worst way of being punished.
What a rollercoaster of emotions. I felt sad, happy, shocked, depressed then happy again, wth? I felt sorry for that poor guy and I definitely want to know more of the aftermath of his death for Linda.
Lucifer's face when Linda called him a friend. Lovely. I loved her scenes.
That Reese's board. Charlotte Richards: lover, sister, step-mom, WTF? Lmao.
"You're ex-husband? So we're tunnel buddies!", lol. I can't. Sometimes I can't with this show. And he said it so happily. It was hilarious.
My only complaint (not with this episode) is that they should start moving the pace along. We haven't had any further development since episode 1.
If there's one thing this episode told me is that we're our worst enemy. I really have no idea how I'm supposed to feel right now.
I've been waiting for this show with a lot of excitement. The Netflix shows are probably my favorite part of the MCU. DD and JJ were simply excellent, with compelling stories, great cast and a dark tone, although each of the two had its own unique atmosphere. DD played out like a crime procedural/legal drama with phenomenal fight scenes, while JJ was a gritty psychological thriller with incredible depth mixed with some neo-noir detective stuff. And I loved them both. Luke Cage was more of a mixed bag for me, but the first half of it was great and it had some of the best music I've heard on any show in a long while, so I still liked it. And Iron Fist... I mean, I didn't hate it? It was just kind of meh. But still, seeing these four characters together was something I've been looking forward to for months.
This episode is your typical introducing-our-heroes-and-setting-up-the-overarching-plot pilot. Except we already know the heroes, so instead, we catch up on what they've been doing. Matt's given up on the vigilante business and his relationship with Karen is visibly strained, he's also having trouble moving on from Elektra. Jessica drinks hard as ever and doesn't want to be anyone's hero, thank you very much (although she can't help but follow the mystery that quite literally knocks on her door), Luke has a delightful reunion with Claire (I love them!) and is determined to continue his mission of fighting crime in Harlem, and Danny... spends most of the episode on a plane. Doing nothing. Oh well. There's a reason Iron Fist was the weakest show of the four.
We're also introduced to our main villain. Sigourney Weaver is one of those people who just radiate elegance and steal any scene with their presence. That's the kind of person I strive to be. She's so... regal, I guess. They couldn't have chosen a better actress.
We see Foggy (who is rocking the hell out of his new haircut) for a second as well and Elektra, The Actual Love Of My Life, makes a short appearance at the end. I forgot how beautiful she is. Elodie can kick my ass anytime.
I love how they used colors in this episode. Matt's apartment was bathed in red, Jessica's scenes were sort of pale blue with hints of purple, Luke was surrounded by different shades of yellow, and Alexandra's signature hue seems to be white, from the sterile hospital rooms to her coat to the pidgeons in the park. I also love the way the show fluidly moves from one character to the next with some really neat editing. The older I get, the more I find myself paying attention to those more technical aspects of shows and movies - cinematography, editing, sound design. The opening episode of The Defenders is incredibly aesthetically pleasing and it seems a lot of thought went into the visuals, which I appreciate.
Whether you like or dislike this movie, the ridiculously unrealistic portrayal of the CIA, tropes or uncomfortable situations, there is one thing you can't deny:
The female protagonist -Lauren- is not ridiculed or slutshamed, despite having had relationships in the past and considering sleeping with/dating two guys. (And rightfully so!) Neither the two men in question nor anyone else thinks of that as slutty or bad, which should be a given but ends up being one of the redeeming factors of an otherwise mediocre film. It's sad, but it's also true: I found it positively refreshing how they never questioned or judged her.
I do have huge issues with the actual love-triangle, though. Regardless of the Beauty-and-the-Beast nature of the relationship between Lauren and Chris Pine's character, there is also the fact that both guys used their CIA technology to spy on her and, truthfully, stalk her. To find out where she was, what she liked, whom she had been with in the past. - I don't care how unrealistic it was, or how it was just a plot-decide and a comic relief. It's not acceptable, period.
Lauren and Tom Hardy's character, too, made me slightly uncomfortable. They weren't Beauty-and-the-Beast material, but did the writers need him to be with his ex-wife again after Lauren's final rejection? Was that really necessary? Yes, I, too, wanted him to have a happy ending, giving his sweet and genuine (and stalker!creepy) nature, but that was just too easy, and frankly also too predictable.
Had a few laughs, predicted most of the plot (was surprised one or two times) and overall enjoyed it enough. For a chic flick, it'd probably deserve about 7 stars - IF you're drunk like I was while watching it.
Wow, very good episode imo. But let's talk about it. First of all, Mary being back was nice to watch and her interactions with Dean and Cas were perfect. After 12 years and Dean finally talks to his mom and not a ghost or Mary in the past. Plus, she's a badass. The scene with the Impala was priceless. After that Dean will be scared forever. Once I told my sister that it would be fun to see that Dean was actually conceived in the Impala and there we go. Awesome.
Overall, it was a nice start of the season: Season 4 Cas is finally back and his guilt for releasing Lucifer will team him up with Crowley, which will be very nice to watch. Angel and demon road trip is always fun to watch.
And please, British freaking lady, just die already or go back to your son and leave Sam alone. He doesn't deserve this. He has saved the world and come on, if you wanted to change things among hunters, why didn't you do it before? Jared's acting through the episode was on point. I strongly suggest someone gives this guy an award for his scenes. You could actually feel his sorrow and loneliness in the last scene. For probably the first time, he knows no one is coming to rescue him. And Solitude playing at the end gave me goosebumps.
This season's opener was brilliant as we go back to the roots of the show. I don't really know where we are going from now on with the big bad this season (which I think will be Lucifer) but it will be fun to find out. All we know is that the British men of letters are bad guys, but it will be over by episode 2 I think so, where are we going, I hope ask to its roots, to the monster of the week episodes.
Another thing I liked Was dean's best Liam Neeson impression and the famous saving people slogan. My, how much things have changed. S1: saving people, hunting things, the family business. S12: saving people, hunting things, this is our life. Simply perfect!
I started this show when I was in high school and it never ceases to impress me. Thursday come quickly!!!
Wow. This episode was so much fun. I love when The Flash gets so silly and stupid. And we now have 8 metas. 4 to go!
I loved seeing Barry helping people, not as the Flash but as Barry, even when he's in prison. That was a really nice touch.
Man, I really love Big Sir. He's just a fun dude, so loyal and understanding. I've got mixed feelings about his escape. On the one hand, he deserves his happy ending. He's just a good guy who got caught in the middle of something awful and got condemned by it. However, I'm rather disappointed he's gone. I would've loved to see more of him, although he got a lot of character development in just a couple of episodes. I really hope we see him again.
I knew something fishy was going on with the warden. I definitely expected him to be working with the enemy, but not that one. However, it's shocked when he told Barry he knew who he really was. I didn't expect him to discover Barry's identity. But what kind if camera did he put in there? No way a normal camera could catch Barry like that, especially since the warden had no idea Barry is the Flash when he installed the camera unless DeVoe is behind it, which at this point I'm inclined to assume.
I guess that the warden took Barry to a secret anti-metahuman prison in which the rest of the bus metas caught are spending their days. After all, it's DeVoe the one who said his bus metas were where he expected them to be,because he knew about the deal Amunet and the warden had.
If there's one thing I loved this episode was Harry. I do love me some Wells, whatever the earth, and showing his leadership skills is the right way to go. After all, it was Barry who told Harry to stick around before he entered the Speedforce. At that moment I thought he was gonna be the leader and not Iris. She just needs to go back being a reporter. The team should be leadered by someone who has a particular set of skills, and not by a reporter/barista. All the work is done by Cisco, Caitlin and Harry, actual scientists/doctors/whatever the plot requires and Iris is basically given credit by association. I just hope the van exchange between Harry and Iris about taking the wheel was a metaphor of taking over her spot as team leader.
Since Barry got imprisoned there's one thing that's been bothering: how the hell is Barry getting enough calories? Then I saw him cheating at poker to get all the pudding and my questions were answered, lol. Or maybe, since he's using his powers less, he doesn't need all those calories.
I love Cecile with all I've got but she should've realized sooner that voicing everyone's thoughts might make people angry. Though her reaction is pretty much the same everyone would've, she should've been a wee bit more understanding. And btw, no one messes with grandma Esther's noodles, lol. Her comment about not knowing how to use semi colons had me in stitches. Cecile was great in that last scene.
I love how no one was even mildly concerned that Cecile randomly developed powers, even if it's for some residue of dark matter. I just hope that this subplot is aimed at looking into DeVoe's mind. If they don't use her powers against him I'm gonna be pretty upset. Although DeVoe would already know about it. Maybe they could use her as a guinea pig to create that cerebral inhibitor Savitar talked about.
"Why are you still thinking about Bulbasaurs?", lol. The Bulbasaur stuff was so great, as well as the pink elephant. That made me laugh damn much.
"Hack harder", lol. I can't get over that line. And "Could've just gone in the bushes" had me rolling. The whole Dibny and Cisco being in that Lego set was so funny.
Cisco: "We're two inches tall, Caitlin!
Dibny: "Yeah, I'm, like, Cisco's size now. Is this how you always see the world?"
Cisco: "Oh, that's really fun, man. I guess your body just finally shrunk down to a size that's proportional to your brain!"
But today's best line was: "Your face is huge. I'm watching your emotions on IMAX". I spit my drink.
I know that this is an adaption, but come on at least /try/ to do the comics justice! I was expected something quite near to the comics, with all the characters introduced to pull of one of the best comic adaptions in cinema history. The comics are awesome so I expected an awesome movie! Rumlow being killed off so fast irked me, as Crossbones is a pretty key factor in Cap's death at the end of his arc in the Brubaker comics, and Sharon was not nearly included enough, and when I saw little to no romantic interaction between her and Cap, I knew that it was not going to play out like the comics.
I was looking forward to some character development, but there was none. Here we have Bucky, who is an awesome candidate for epic character development, but he had very little. Stark seemed very angry all the time, and they did not really justify his stance on the issue originally. Cap seemed a little out of character. I know he's all about 'freedom' and the 'american way,' but it got on my nerves how little he trusted his fellow avengers. (Oh and yes, Clint's character is still being treated like shit by the writers. Do they even know who Hawkeye is? Where the fuck is that character development?)
I'm confused. Evans has one movie left on the contract, but since they've taken majority of this storyline from Brubaker, would it not be fitting to kill him off in the same way? Also, Sebastian Stan has 6 movies left on his devil's deal with Marvel... which is yet another reason I expected some bigger, world turning stuff. Where's my character development? Where's the plot that is not just an excuse to introduce Parker and T'Challa? Where the plot that is not just an excuse to have some crazy, unjustified action scenes?
Marvel, you just did Winter Soldier, and it is one of my favourite movies of all time, but you have really blown it with this one. What the hell was your budget? You could afford Downey and other big stars, but you could not even find any good writers?
