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Post by BigPapaJoe on Jul 7, 2021 8:15:33 GMT -5
General thoughts. No major spoilers. {Spoiler: Click to show}
The movie was ok, but I'm disappointed in that I feel it's arguably the weakest MCU film. Some cool action scenes, but I guess I left wanting more of the story. Just didn't seem that invested. Sadly, the film really comes off as a filler segment in the MCU that really wasn't necessary. It feels like it really should have been released around Phase 2, and the movie just has this aura of being made due to fans continuing to badger Marvel about it. That's why while watching the narrative comes off as an uphill battle maybe with everything working against it. But I guess for the future it opens the door for one of the characters, and it's pretty obvious who that is by the post credits scene. Oh and Taskmaster was a joke. Almost had Iron Man 3 Mandarin flashbacks. I'm honestly debating if this is worse than Thor 2. |
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Post by The Captain on Jul 7, 2021 8:25:48 GMT -5
Not what I wanted to hear/read about the film. My daughters have been pestering me to take them this weekend to see it, but I'm honestly not really feeling this like I am Shang-Chi or the next Spidey movie, so this does nothing to build my excitement level.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 7, 2021 9:53:30 GMT -5
It's 83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, but no one is praising it as a particularly special/unforgettable film.
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Jul 8, 2021 3:23:50 GMT -5
Not what I wanted to hear/read about the film. My daughters have been pestering me to take them this weekend to see it, but I'm honestly not really feeling this like I am Shang-Chi or the next Spidey movie, so this does nothing to build my excitement level. {Spoiler: Click to show}
Don't think you'll experience the lows like with this film. At least Shang Chi is something fresh, instead of backtracking filler. Spider Man will be a huge crossover event. Black Widow is partly a victim of circumstance. If this had come out around phase two it wouldn't seem like such a yawn. Hopefully your experience with your kids is better than mine was. |
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Jul 8, 2021 3:25:50 GMT -5
BTW there is a post credits scene.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 9, 2021 14:37:57 GMT -5
Just out of curiosity, is there any link to the character, Dottie, from Agent Carter and the whole evolution of the Black Widow program? That was what I wanted to see more of, after she was introduced into Agent Carter and the episode they did with Peggy and the Howlers hitting a Russian facility.
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Post by spoon on Jul 9, 2021 19:04:31 GMT -5
I liked it. Maybe my perceptions are distorted recent MCU events (feeling lukewarm about The Falcon & The Winter Soldier and feeling unmotivated to watch any Loki episode after the premiere), but I feel like it's an above average Marvel movie. Florence Pugh's performance is better than any character in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. It's got the standard MCU flaws like feeling a bit too manufactured, final action sequences going a little too long, and like 15% too many jokes. But I didn't find the fact that it tells a pre-Infinity War story to be an obstacle to my enjoyment. This is a choice the film makes in deviating from source material that BigPapaJoe criticizes but which I am cool with.
I like the post-credit scene.
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Jul 9, 2021 19:27:00 GMT -5
Just out of curiosity, is there any link to the character, Dottie, from Agent Carter and the whole evolution of the Black Widow program? That was what I wanted to see more of, after she was introduced into Agent Carter and the episode they did with Peggy and the Howlers hitting a Russian facility. Marvel Studios has essentially disavowed anything produced by Marvel Television at this point after the falling out between both companies two or three years ago. Kevin Feige has made it pretty clear that Marvel Studios is moving forward, and any connections now are going to be from shows produced by them directly (the Disney+ shows). So Agents of Shield, Runaways, Cloak and Dagger, Agent Carter, the Netflix shows, etc. have basically been shuffled off to the cornfields. So to answer your question, no, and that's not surprising. |
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Jul 9, 2021 19:30:15 GMT -5
I liked it. Maybe my perceptions are distorted recent MCU events (feeling lukewarm about The Falcon & The Winter Soldier and feeling unmotivated to watch any Loki episode after the premiere), but I feel like it's an above average Marvel movie. Florence Pugh's performance is better than any character in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. It's got the standard MCU flaws like feeling a bit too manufactured, final action sequences going a little too long, and like 15% too many jokes. But I didn't find the fact that it tells a pre-Infinity War story to be an obstacle to my enjoyment. This is a choice the film makes in deviating from source material that BigPapaJoe criticizes but which I am cool with. I like the post-credit scene. Didn't mind it was before Infinity-War, but it would have been better if it came directly after Captain America 3. Not sure what the point is to having it showcased now, as it doesn't really add anything for Natasha for the greater picture, and we already know her ultimate fate. In a way she plays second fiddle to Pugh's character in her own film, and it's weird that this is the last we'll see of OG Black Widow. This is actually a good review that sums my feelings perfectly. At least you had a good time though. Nice to hear. |
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Post by spoon on Jul 9, 2021 19:47:31 GMT -5
I liked it. Maybe my perceptions are distorted recent MCU events (feeling lukewarm about The Falcon & The Winter Soldier and feeling unmotivated to watch any Loki episode after the premiere), but I feel like it's an above average Marvel movie. Florence Pugh's performance is better than any character in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. It's got the standard MCU flaws like feeling a bit too manufactured, final action sequences going a little too long, and like 15% too many jokes. But I didn't find the fact that it tells a pre-Infinity War story to be an obstacle to my enjoyment. This is a choice the film makes in deviating from source material that BigPapaJoe criticizes but which I am cool with. I like the post-credit scene. Didn't mind it was before Infinity-War, but it would have been better if it came directly after Captain America 3. Not sure what the point is to having it showcased now, as it doesn't really add anything important to Natasha, and we already know her ultimate fate. This is actually a good review that sums my feelings perfectly. But "don't make a Black Widow movie" is basically a criticism of the concept of a Black Widow movie, not about the execution of this movie given the constraints of Endgame. I don't really think Civil War added more than Captain America than this movie. Or the last two Thor movies added more to Thor. Or the last two Iron Man movies added more to Tony. I don't think meeting Clint's family in Age of Ultron was more interesting that what this movie gave us about Natasha. I found the dynamic between Natasha and Yelena rewarding and worth the movie. I feel like there's a reason now why Natasha speaks unaccented English. We have more background on Natasha's guilt. Now, granted with her background, I'm sure any number of incidents could be written to fill that in, but you could say that about anyone's backstory. It was interesting to contemplate this particular source. |
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Jul 10, 2021 1:39:02 GMT -5
Didn't mind it was before Infinity-War, but it would have been better if it came directly after Captain America 3. Not sure what the point is to having it showcased now, as it doesn't really add anything important to Natasha, and we already know her ultimate fate. This is actually a good review that sums my feelings perfectly. But "don't make a Black Widow movie" is basically a criticism of the concept of a Black Widow movie, not about the execution of this movie given the constraints of Endgame. I don't really think Civil War added more than Captain America than this movie. Or the last two Thor movies added more to Thor. Or the last two Iron Man movies added more to Tony. I don't think meeting Clint's family in Age of Ultron was more interesting that what this movie gave us about Natasha. I found the dynamic between Natasha and Yelena rewarding and worth the movie. I feel like there's a reason now why Natasha speaks unaccented English. We have more background on Natasha's guilt. Now, granted with her background, I'm sure any number of incidents could be written to fill that in, but you could say that about anyone's backstory. It was interesting to contemplate this particular source. Those movies regardless how you feel about the main character growing or not, at least didn't have the uphill battle of having to try and make an interesting narrative when the audience already knows the character is dead in the near future. Deck just seemed stacked against the filmmakers. I am at least up for watching it again. A couple of days after I didn't feel as bummed as I did with Iron Man 3. My expectations for that film was higher though. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 10, 2021 12:10:05 GMT -5
Seeing it tonight at the local drive-thru (my first time going OUT to see a movie in well over a year!).
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 10, 2021 15:28:00 GMT -5
Seeing it tonight at the local drive-thru (my first time going OUT to see a movie in well over a year!). Dive-thru? You actually have to stop, to see the film! |
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Post by The Captain on Jul 10, 2021 20:42:49 GMT -5
Saw this with my family at home last night using the Disney+ Premier Access option with our subscription. $30 is basically the cost of four movie tickets, but we can watch it as many times as we want before it goes all-access on October 6. They'll invite friends over at some point, and I may take another look at it to see if I missed anything or if my opinion changes.
As for the movie, it was a perfectly acceptable way to pass the evening. To echo other comments, this would have had more impact had it been released just after Civil War due to the timing of how it fit into the MCU timeline, but it was nice to get some details on Natasha's history (particularly about Budapest).
Florence Pugh absolutely took the film and made it her own; my wife and daughters were completely into her character from the outset. I thought David Harbour did a nice job as Alexei/Red Guardian, living in his past glory as the Soviet Super Soldier, which gave him some depth, but Rachel Weisz unfortunately wasn't given a whole lot to do.
Taskmaster was disappointing and predictable, as I guessed the identity about halfway through the movie.
There was a strong theme of female empowerment in the movie, which I felt was fairly well done. It wasn't overt to the point of being overbearing, but it was definitely noticeable throughout.
Post-credits scene, as always, raises more questions than it answers, but I guess that is what it is designed to do.
Overall, mid-tier MCU outing. Not a Winter Soldier or IW/EG level flick, but certainly not IM3 or GotG2.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 11, 2021 0:03:56 GMT -5
Seeing it tonight at the local drive-thru (my first time going OUT to see a movie in well over a year!). Dive-thru? You actually have to stop, to see the film! I need to stop confusing "drive-thru" with "drive-in". It makes my kids pretty nervous when I promise to "drive-in" Dunkin Donuts. As for the film, I went in expecting a generic b level marvel film and was therefore impressed. It's a film with significant flaws (bad cliches, conveniences, plot holes, and even significant character changes that happen off screen and go largely unexplained, and BOY did they waste Taskmaster!), but it was ambitious in it's own way. That opening scene was heart-wrenching, and even when the rest sometimes failed to deliver, I cared about the family that they were fighting to preserve. Yes, Pugh stole the show (and I think that was intended) and yes the female empowerment aspect was present and well handled (though there was a cringe-worthy creepiness to the main bad guy who was controlling all those little girls). The post credit scene didnt really live up to the hype, and I doubt this is a film I'll end up watching twice, but I enjoyed it, and I respect it more than most second-tier Marvel films. It truly seems like the best Marvel is happening on TV right now. Hopefully the rest of this wave of film releases will be stronger. |
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