Yes, it's time for another round of the Japanese Spider-man TV show, my lowkey sexual obsession with "Amazoness" continuing unabated.
This entry brings me up to 28 episodes out of 41. That's all I could find on YouTube. I'd love to watch the remaining 13 episodes, but alas, I couldn't find them online.
Spider-man helps a boy with a heart condition. Not much happens in this episode, even if Spider-man FINALLY figures out Amazoness' secret identity as the editor of his girlfriend's newspaper.
Professor Monster and his Iron Cross Army try to blow up a dam AND flood the city of Tokyo with gas that they plan on igniting afterward. The Iron Cross Army be gangsta like that.
And that's one tough dog. Not only does it walk off two bullets, but it later falls off the side of a damn and fights off several henchmen.
Not sure what the boy was doing in the mountains in the first place. Maybe looking for his dad? But how would he know where his dad was?
Spider-man helps a boy bullied by classmates while the Iron Cross Army, for inexplicable reasons, commits a series of extremely low level crimes across the Tokyo area. Can't help but feel sorry for the mom accused of stealing 5 million yen. That was a low blow, Amazoness, even for you!
And how many boys had fathers killed in car accidents in late 70s Japan? Judging by this show it was A LOT.
Definitely one of the weirder ones. I'd put this alongside the cat demon episode. Spider-man meets an alien boy with mind powers who takes him to a secret village in the mountains where the locals (who can all fly) are planning to sacrifice the boy's sister to a monster in a lake. Amazoness gets a new outfit in this one, and I'm not a fan of the new look. Maybe they thought she was too drab in earlier episodes?
This is one of the more random ones. An Interpol guy gets caught spying on the Iron Cross Army, and Spider-man helps him escape their clutches. But why not carry the guy once he's injured? Isn't Spider-man strong enough? And why bother to commandeer the helicopter if they weren't going to escape in it? And why not take the guy directly to the hospital, so he could see his son another day?
One of Professor Monster's more skeletal henchmen goes around stealing people's blood for his boss. In the midst of that Spider-man rescues a blind little girl. Can you guess who the little girl's father is?
Watch your back, Takuya, some dude's buying your girlfriend presents behind your back!
Shortly thereafter Takuya stumbles upon - I kid you not - a private club where people gamble on rabbit races, chick races and spider fights. Go figure. Was that really a thing in Japan at the time? I kind of doubt it.
It should be noted that at this point in the series Spider-man not only has a spider sense but also X-ray vision and the completely inexplicable ability to know when someone's trying to contact him. By this point his powers are pretty much all over the place.
And naturally the "sorceress" running the club turns out to be one of Professor Monster's Machine Bem. She resembles a lower grade Mysterio.
Spider-man meets A BOY WHO THROWS COCKROACHES ON PEOPLE and who at one point PUTS A COCKROACH IN ANOTHER BOY'S MOUTH. Yeah, if you enjoy that kind of weirdness this show is for you!
And as you'd expect the machine bem at the end is a cockroach. Why wouldn't it be a cockroach? Of course it's a cockroach!!
A former jewel thief is tortured to death by the Iron Cross Army, and they create clone (?) to trick the thief's son into divulging the location of a hidden gem. But as you'd expect Spider-man shows up, and so much for the missing gem, the Iron Cross Army and their giant crab monster.
The Super Sentai series is the last of the big 70s tokusatsu shows I'll be discussing here. I'll work my way back through the Ultraman and Spider-Man episodes I haven't yet seen in the near future, but it seems unlikely that I'll revisit Super Sentai or Kamen Rider anytime soon.
To recap some of what has come before, tokusatsu was (is) a specific genre of effects-heavy show which aired on Japanese television. This genre owes some of its stylistic leanings to the ancient Japanese art of Kabuki. There are examples of the genre from the very beginnings of Japanese film to the present day.
In the popular imagination the first tokusatsu show was Godzilla in the 1950s. The Godzilla series, influenced by the Western King Kong, featured giant monsters doing battle, a science-based team of "experts" tasked with protecting Japan from these monsters, and other motifs that will be familiar to anyone who's seen giant monster movies.
Godzilla was followed by Ultraman in the 60s, a show in which a giant alien does battle with a "monster of the week." After a brief lull in the genre, Ultraman was followed by Kamen Rider in the 70s. Kamen Rider introduced the transformations, cybernetic humans and other tropes often associated with tokusatsu today.
Super Sentai, released in 1975, also helped formulate the genre. In Super Sentai we see a large cast of unlikely heroes, these opposing shadowy groups bent on world domination. Super Sentai, created by the same man who created Kamen Rider and often shown alongside that earlier program, ups the ante on Kamen Rider, giving us an entire team of costumed superheroes instead of just one.
Super Sentai would, two decades later, give rise to the American show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a distinctly Western take on the genre which intercut footage of American actors and actresses with footage from the original Japanese TV shows.
This is the original series, also known as Himitsu Sentai Gorenger. The plot of both episodes is extremely minimal, involving four individuals (a kind of Mod Squad, if you will) recruited by a secretive military guy who gives them battle suits.
The funniest part of both episodes is the weird soccer thing they do at the end. The pink one makes an explosive ball, they kick it back and forth, and then the red one jumps and kicks it into the bad guy, thus rocking him like a hurricane. Neither of the two bad guys who conclude the first two episodes are especially smart, and the assorted henchmen who attack our heroes seem to do so entirely at random.
Check the company logo on the playing cards. Yep, Nintendo! In the 70s that's what they were better known for.
As an occasional player of poker it bothers me that the best hand we can muster with this team (assuming that their leader Joker is "wild") is a straight. They're all wearing suits, after all - why not make them wear the same suit? Royal flush to the ace - that would feel much better.
Besides, Texas hold 'em is a better game anyway. Change Joker's name to "Ten," make them all clubs (seems appropriate, given how much they fight), and then you'd have a nice royal flush to the ace. Five cards and five cyborgs suited up nicely.
The bad guys in this series are named Crime with a capital "C." It gets a little confusing sometimes, but yes, that's both their name and what they do. They spread crime so that they can call themselves Crime. Seems like the name might make it hard to keep a lower profile, but whatever.
The more ridiculous parts of this show are their helmets, which they'd have quite a bit of difficulty seeing through. There's also the "Covack" finishing move, which combines "atomic, electric, gravitational and magnetic forces" in one go. Our four heroes don't have a giant robo - at least not in the first two episodes - but rather a flying plane which looks decidedly uncool and less than aerodynamic.
All of the above said, the girl in the hot pants is kinda hot, even if she can't, in my humble opinion, hold a candle to Spider-Man's "Amazoness." I think what really does it for me with Amazoness is the scowling.
This is the Super Sentai series which would close out the 70s. It ran in 1979.
Weirdly enough, like Spider-Man this show was also a co-production between Toei and Marvel. It was supposed to feature Captain America (!), but that idea fell apart somewhere along the way.
Instead of Captain America we get Miss America, an American-born espionage agent who does battle in a revealing leotard. At some point in the tokusatsu shows producers got wise to the fact that having a sexier member of the team was more attractive to young boys, and given the popularity of shows like Sailor Moon this might have been a selling point for young Japanese girls as well.
Battle Fever J pits our cybernetic heroes against Egos, an organization that wants to get rid of "bad technology" in favor of their own "good technology" which predates modern civilization. If you ask me the whole thing sounds a lot like a metaphor for Scientology, but even if it's there such a metaphor would have been lost on a Japanese-speaking audience - at least in the late 70s.
The bonkers part of Battle Fever J is that each of the cyborgs have dance moves representing their geographical region. Oh, and they also (somehow) jump into the sky and make letters with their bodies before launching their final attack.
Gotta love how the team puts together seemingly random facts to uncover a sinister plot in the second episode. Some guy in a car accident? A girl's suicide? A man who gets a promotion at work? Way to connect the dots, Battle Fever!
This team, by the way, does get its own giant robo. It doesn't get used in the first two episodes, but there are scenes of it under construction.
NOTE: It's not that I wouldn't enjoy more Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. It's just that Toei keeps a tight grip on those shows, and what I've discussed here was all that I could find on YouTube.
You'd think that the American Amazing Spider-Man TV show would be some kind of influence on this show, but no, this doesn't seem to be the case. American comic book culture had enough purchase in Japan to make the licensing of the character in Japan possible, but after those responsible for the Japanese TV version acquired the character they pretty much ran with the idea, retaining only the costume and character's powers.
The biggest influences on the Japanese TV show were, rather, the tokusatsu shows that preceded it. Given Spider-Man's buglike nature Kamen Rider was an obvious influence, but the creators really threw everything they had into the show, giving us a kaleidoscopic vision of Spider-Man complete with transforming robots, aliens, monsters, and characters who feel the need to announce their superpowers with special words.
This show ran for 41 episodes. I'll be reviewing 14 this outing, and the remaining 27 might get reviewed in future entries.
Spider-Man does NOT live in New York! Spider-Man is NOT bitten by a radioactive spider! Spider-Man is NOT a high school student!
Instead he is, like Kamen Rider before him, another "70s motorcycle dude." This particular 70s motorcycle dude, Takuya Hamashiro by name, finds an alien who's been imprisoned in a cave for 400 years with a whole lot of spiders, and this alien, a refugee from planet Spider, gives our hero spider extract which, of course, gives him spider powers.
Then some of the bad aliens show up and sh*t goes DOWN. Suddenly Spider-Man has a weird bracelet thing, and he uses this bracelet to summon Marveller, his flying ship, or his sweet, sweet spider car.
There's also some kind of revenge subplot in there, but I can't quite remember what happened. Wikipedia says his father was killed by the bad aliens, but I must have blinked and missed it.
Professor Monster's henchwoman is kinda hot. I'm not that evil or anything, but I wouldn't mind serving underneath her.
Hitomi, while we're talking about the women of Spider-Man, is kinda dumb. It's like dude, your boyfriend was here just a second ago, how are you not aware that he's Spider-manning on the side? Aren't you supposed to be a reporter or something?
This one goes into more of Spider-Man's backstory, detailing the exploits of the guy who gave Spider-man his powers. It is a timeworn tale of murder, attempted revenge, and unexpected cave diving. Not that they never bother to explain WHY our hero was chosen to receive the spider extract, despite the fact that space guy was in the cave waiting to find someone for 400 years.
Spider-man's super car, the GP7, can also fly. This comes in handy when the Marveller is circling overhead. If the monster is too much for the GP7 he can switch to the Marveller mid-air. Then? OF COURSE it's Leopardon time!
In this one the baddies create a fake Spider-man to ruin Spider-man's reputation and draw him out of hiding. Aside from that there's A LOT of flipping.
Spider-man finally meets Professor Monster! Prof Monster gets the bright idea to write a computer program which will determine Spider-man's fate (or something), the outcome of this program being a death match with Mer-Man.
Hitomi, girl, you can probably do better than your present boyfriend. He's not emotionally supportive and he's got a secret life you know nothing about.
A young boy witnesses the Iron Cross Army up to no good, and after they hit him with a truck (!) Spider-man decides to donate blood to help the kid recover.
Surprisingly the kid DOESN'T develop spider powers by the end of the episode. I feel like the writers really dropped the ball on that one.
The robot vs. kaiju battles at the end are fast becoming the weak points of every episode. Spider-Man struggles for a bit, he calls forth Marveller, he changes Marveller into Leopardon, and Leopardon does the same three moves before dispatching his foe with Sword Vigor. Was all this done for the sake of merchandising? Or just to save film?
If I ever buy one of the toys its' going to be Spider-Man's car, the GP7.
If you're watching this show for the sake of sheer ridiculousness you might start with episode 1 and then skip to episode 7, because episode 7 is where things REALLY get silly.
In this one a rock band writes a hit song about Spider-Man, and Professor Monster gets the bright idea to replace the band with cyborgs who will sing/play the song at a frequency which drives Spider-Man crazy. The resulting "Spiderman Boogie" is a song I will never, ever be able to get out of my head.
Probably my favorite episode thus far. Professor Monster's henchmen dig up a cat demon from the Edo Period and turn it into a still more formidable cat demon monster. Spider-Man later gets wise to the plot and uses magic to irritate it before thoroughly stomping it with Leopardon.
Gotta love Spider-Man holding beads and burning both a statue of a cat and a magic spell written on paper. I'll take Buddhist/Shinto Spider-Man over all others!
Bonus points for actual cats, one of which Spider-Man saves from the cat demon monster.
Like episode 8 another favorite. Matters take a turn for the weird after Professor Monster uses a beetle monster to spy on Spider-Man and his immediate family. Somewhere along the line the beetle monster falls in love with Spider-Man's sister and even steals a dress for her from a local store.
A snake woman lures men to their deaths in a mountain house. Turns out she knew Spider-Man's alter ego back in the day, and her conflicted loyalties spell the end of Professor Monster's nefarious plans - at least in this episode.
Thankfully by this point in the series they vary the penultimate robot-monster showdown a bit.
The abridged version? The one on YouTube is the standard 23+ minutes.
There are some slightly upgraded special effects in the movie, and also the addition of an INTERPOL character who appears off and on in later episodes. The INTERPOL stuff complicates the show in a good way.
For all its corniness this episode is weirdly affecting. In this one Spider-Man gets poisoned and the boy from episode 5 shows up again to provide him with a much-needed blood transfusion.
A young woman becomes a "modified human" as both a way of getting her boyfriend back and becoming a top model.
Oddly enough no Leopardon in this episode. Only Spider-Man swearing revenge for the hundredth time. For someone set on revenge he sure does let Professor Monster and Amazoness slip through his fingers a lot.
Look out, Spider-Man! The Inheritors want to drain your life force!
...and not just your life force, but the life force of every spider-hero across the spider-verse, from Earth 001 to... whatever the highest-numbered Earth might be!
No big surprises here. Dan Slott's Spider-Man odyssey is as advertised, bringing every Spider-man you remember (and a few you don't) into a big, spider-verse-spanning quest to defeat a group of other dimensional vampires from a place called Loomworld.
My biggest complaint about this TPB is the story, which is just barely coherent and rarely interesting. The Inheritors' motives and plans remain confusing throughout, with them first portrayed as carnivorous supermen playing with their food and later portrayed as an oversexed family out to destroy the spider-heroes altogether.
To make matters worse only the first half of this TPB is the actual Spider-Verse saga. The second half, perplexingly placed after the Inheritors are defeated, is a series of outtakes and side adventures that would have worked a lot better if mixed into the first half. As it is the saga leads to a conclusion, then leads to another, less thrilling conclusion, then leads to a third, still less thrilling conclusion, and on, and on, and on.
A lot of the art isn't very good, though I did enjoy the Spider-Woman issues near the back. Spider-Woman is, by the way, far more interesting than any of the numerous spider-men and spider-girls inhabiting this series of comic books, and I wish that Spider-Verse had been more about her, and less about Spider-Man.
Anyway, I read it. I'm now more than ready for Across the Spider-Verse, which will hit theaters this June.
For reviews of older superhero movies click here and here. It felt like time to get rid of the "baggage" those older entries carried, so I'm starting again from October 2018's Venom. Oh and by the way, I think I'll stop reviewing these movies as a separate genre at the end of 2020. Endgame has come and gone, the MCU is now an established brand, and to be honest I think most of the best superhero movies are behind us. 2020 seems like a good time to move on to movies as a whole, rather than focusing so much on whatever Marvel Studios, Warner Bros., or Sony are putting out.
Superhero Moves On The Way
Morbius, the Living Vampire (Taiwan Release Date Unknown, July 31, 2020 in the States) Wonder Woman 1984 (Taiwan Release Date Unknown, June 5, 2020 in the States) The New Mutants (Taiwan Release Date Unknown, April 3, 2020 in the States)
Birds of Prey (Taiwan Release Date Unknown, February 7, 2020 in the States)
Joker (Comes Out in Taiwan October 3, 2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home
What I Liked: Zendaya. She was my favorite thing about this movie. Her character holds the whole thing together. Without MJ this movie wouldn't make a lot of sense.
Also Mysterio's illusions. I don't think I'm giving any plot points away when I mention them. His illusions are some of the more visually impressive things in the MCU.
And speaking Mysterio's illusions, the battle at the end is great. Setting this battle in London was a good choice.
What I Didn't Like: You can see the plot twist coming from a mile away. Maybe not calling him "Mysterio" right of the bat would have helped.
Future/Sequels: A third one seems likely. Still no word as to whether this take on Spider-man will tie into Sony's other Spiderverse films.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Got bored and saw it the other day. It was blazing hot outside, and there wasn't much else to do. What I Liked: For one thing it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the reviews would lead you to believe. It's definitely NOT great, but if you were able to sit through Apocalypse you'll be able to sit through this one. It's actually not bad up until Jean visits the house, though after that point... What I Didn't Like: At times this movie just doesn't make sense. WHY do the cops show up after Jean visits that house? And WHY do the two mutant factions fight in New York? And WHY do the aliens insist on boarding the train from the other end, when they're clearly walking all along its length, thus making it incredibly easy for the X-Men to fight them off? To make things worse, Sophie Turner really can't carry a movie. Watching her interact with some of the other, more talented cast members is truly cringeworthy. As bad as this movie is, it's still better than X3, and yet I found myself missing Famke Janssen throughout the film. Most inexplicable of all is Magneto. First he says revenge is wrong and that he's given up on it. Then someone gets killed and he's all about revenge again. Then he learns about the Phoenix Force and he's all about saving Jean. This, and that magnetism/telekinesis battle between him and Jean is the most unintentionally hilarious thing I've seen in a long time. Future/Sequels: As far as anyone knows, The New Mutants is still coming out next year. After that it'll be a long wait before we see Marvel Studios' take on the same set of characters.
Avengers: Endgame
What I Liked: Everything. This movie is awesome from beginning to end.
What I Didn't Like: Only two (very small) complaints: 1) Bruce and Nebula's explanation for their "heist" probably isn't going to satisfy anyone who bothers to think it through, and 2) the part at the end where all the "Marvel superheroines" line up and go into battle seems a bit too much like checking off an item on a checklist.
Future/Sequels: The next MCU offering is Spider-Man: Far From Home later this summer. No other films have been given a release date as yet. I think it's fair to say that Marvel will make a big announcement soon.
Hellboy
What I Liked: Uh... it's more... British than the original? That's good, right? More interesting? And uh... the fight with the giants is kind of cool. Brief but cool. This movie has the quirkiness that made the Mignola comics good. Upping the gore was also a good idea. Not sure about the humor though. Seems like they should have doubled down on that part. Making this movie funnier would have also differentiated it from the original. As it is it strays too close to the Del Toro version. What I Didn't Like: It's pretty bad right from the beginning. For me the worst thing was the sequence explaining Hellboy's origins. This part of the movie ventures so close to Del Toro's version that you can't help but compare this one to that one, and this one is always going to suffer by comparison. They should have avoided that altogether. Future/Sequels: Ha ha not likely.
Shazam!
What I Liked: Zachary Levi and Asher Angel are both examples of great casting, the story is well thought out, and the battle at the end takes some interesting twists and turns. I consider Shazam! a vast improvement over Aquaman, which was trying to do too much in too short a time, and also Captain Marvel, which was in my opinion one hot mess of a movie. Shazam! is much smaller-scale compared to those other two films, but its smallness works to its advantage. It's very focused and to the point.
Mark Strong, who was wasted on Martin Campbell's Green Lantern, has much more to do in Shazam! Even if his reasons for being "evil" aren't that well thought out, he's still a good (bad) villain.
What I Didn't Like: The battle at the end goes on a bit too long. I think shortening it would have made for a better movie. The introduction of the rest of the Marvel Family feels a bit rushed, even if it was gratifying to see them onscreen together.
Future/Sequels: No definite plans for any sequels as yet, but one of Shazam's other villains is introduced in a post-credits scene. It's early to say, but I think this movie will be well received and I'd be surprised if a sequel isn't announced soon.
Captain Marvel
What I Liked: There's a part about halfway through, when Carol Danvers is reunited with an old friend. In that part you can see Brie Larson's skill as an actress. The fight on the spaceship near the end is oddly satisfying, but some of my satisfaction may have to do with 90s soundtrack, and the fact that I was a much younger guy when those songs were everywhere. Nostalgia, in other words.
What I Didn't Like: Going back to the comic books, I never found Carol Danvers especially interesting, and this movie did nothing to change my mind. Really, what is her reason for doing anything in this film? At what point does her character change or make any real kind of discovery? She's also so much more powerful than anyone she comes up against in this movie. There's no sense of threat when "danger" strikes. Jude Law? Nope. The Skrulls? Not really. Ronan the Accuser? Their confrontation is a non-event. I've also got to say, the explanation given for Nick Fury losing his eye really bothered me. It's always seemed like this event should be of crucial importance, but in the movie it's explained in such an offhand manner. The randomness of this explanation diminished the entire film.
Future/Sequels: Strap yourself in because Avengers: Endgame is less than two months away. After Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home Marvel has announced no other films, though if Captain Marvel does well I'm sure we'll see a sequel. I've heard a lot of talk about an Eternals movie, but we'll see. I think what's going to make or break a Captain Marvel sequel is the Asian market, especially China. If it goes over big in Beijing and Shanghai (as Aquaman did) you can be sure there will be another one. If, however, this movie fails to find an audience in such places, I imagine Kevin Feige will start vaguely alluding to "future adventures" without making any real commitment.
Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Does this one count? Batman and the Justice League are in it. It also features the newer and older versions of Aquaman. What I Liked: It's a funny movie, though not as good as the first. This said, it's not nearly as hyper as the first one, which might be a relief for those who found the first film slightly overwhelming. What I Didn't Like: It does drag a bit toward the end. It's weird to say, but I found myself having to really concentrate on Lego Movie 2. There are SO many references, to so many things, that after the first hour my brain got tired. Future/Sequels: There might be a sequel to the Lego Batman movie, though there's no release date as yet. There might also be The Billion Brick Race.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
What I Liked: Everything. In my opinion this movie's awesome from start to finish. The characters, the plot, the animation, the soundtrack, all of it's great. I suppose it depends on how it does financially, but Spider-Verse could be a real game-changer for CBMs. For me the best part of the film was the Bill Sienkiewicz-inspired sequence halfway through. I've been a huge fan of that guy for years, and seeing his art animated almost brought tears to my eyes. That version of the Kingpin? That's all Bill Sienkiewicz. What I Didn't Like: Small complaint: no Spider-Woman. I've always liked Spider-Woman more than Spider-Man, and it would've been wonderful to see Jessica Drew (finally) show up in this movie. Future/Sequels: There's talk that Spider-Woman could feature in the sequel alongside Spider-Gwen and Silk, but such plans are tentative of course. It's entirely possible that a sequel would feature Spider-Man 2099 instead.
Aquaman
What I Liked: Atlantis looks cool. Amber Heard is easy on the eyes. The battle in the end - aside from a ridiculous pause in the action for a predictably romantic moment - looks amazing. What I Didn't Like: Weird moments of exposition. Instead of showing the audience what's happening/has happened, the characters in this movie often feel the need to stop whatever they're doing and explain things. The only part of this movie where the action flows seamlessly is when Aquaman and Black Manta have their big showdown halfway through. The part in the beginning about Aquaman's parents could have been removed entirely. It adds absolutely nothing to the story, and starting the movie from the adult Aquaman's first appearance would have made a lot more sense. This movie gets dumber as it goes along. By the end I was laughing at certain scenes and bits of dialogue, and I wasn't the only one. And before someone chimes in with "at least it doesn't take itself so seriously," let's remember there's a difference between laughing WITH a movie and laughing AT a movie. The small ray of hope being that it's not as terrible as Justice League. Not that this is saying much. Future/Sequels: Shazam!, also set in the DCEU, will be out in a few months. After that it's a long wait until Wonder Woman 1984. Aquaman 2? It's kind of early to tell, but the movie's been doing well in China, and those wanting a completely brainless superhero romp will be all over this one.
Venom
What I Liked: After a really clunky beginning there are some great action sequences. Everything after Venom shows up is much better than the 15 minutes that try (and fail) to set up the story. The fight between Venom and Riot near the end is very good. What I Didn't Like: That beginning part. It feels like they weren't sure what kind of movie they were making. Horror? Action? Science fiction? Going more for the "body horror" elements would have improved the film, and the spaceship/alien invasion subplot could have been dispensed with altogether. As clunky as the beginning is, the dialogue throughout the movie is by far the worst part. None of the actors seem at ease with what they're saying, and a couple of lines are unintentionally hilarious. Future/Sequels: There are plans for a sequel with Woody Harrelson's Carnage in a bigger role. I think that after setting up the general premise, a sequel is bound to be better. Harrelson would also make a great villain. Last I heard, Sony's next comic-based movie will be Morbius the Living Vampire, with Jared Leto as Morbius. There may be some crossover between Venom and Morbius. Related Entries:
Due
to the truly astonishing number of Marvel films either released or in
various stages of production, I have decided to begin the list below
with the first Iron Man, in 2008. For reviews of older Marvel films
look here.
****
Excellent!Had to see it twice!
***
Good movie with a few flaws.
**
Not bad, but not great.
*
I’d watch it once if I was bored enough.
[no stars]
Just terrible.
@
So bad it’s kind of good.
21. Iron Man (2008) ****
After Batman Begins, this is the other movie that reinvigorated the genre. Where Batman Begins was
dark, this one was funny. Where Batman is driven, Tony Stark is
brilliantly conflicted. It is everything that Nolan's movie wasn't, and
that's why it works.
22. The Incredible Hulk (2008) ***1/2
This movie was sidelined by the overwhelming success of Iron Man,
but I loved it. I loved Edward Norton's take on the character, I loved
the script he wrote for the film, and I loved the Greco-Roman take on
The Hulk. My only complaint is that he let The Abomination live at the
end. I found this hard to believe.
23. Punisher: War Zone (2008) *
A more violent take on Frank Castle. It's a solid film, but maybe a
little too depressing for its own good. I consider it an improvement on
the first. 24. X-men Origins: Wolverine (2009) *
This movie is standard popcorn fare, much along the lines of Ghost Rider.
Hugh Jackman goes through the motions, an attempt to bring Deadpool and
Gambit into the mix is handled badly, and by the end you're thankful
that it's not as dreadful as X3.
2010s
25. Iron Man 2 (2010) ***
I
liked this almost as much as the first one. Downey Jr. is given even
better one-liners in this film, and Mickey Rourke characteristically
chews the scenery. Sam Rockwell is also great as Justin Hammer, and my
only complaint is that Don Cheadle isn't given enough to do.
26. Kick-Ass (2010) **
I have friends who love this movie. I don't. I think the first half is good, but after Big Daddy dies it just gets silly - especially the jet pack. A nice warm up for The Amazing Spider-Man, however.
27. Thor (2011) *
Considering
how hard it must have been to adapt Thor to the big screen, I would
consider this movie a success. Still, compared to other movies Marvel
Studios has made, I think this is the weakest one. I've never been a
big fan of Kenneth Branagh. 28. X-men: First Class (2011) ***
Michael
Fassbender makes this movie. Forgive the pun, but he is positively
magnetic as Magneto. I thought the end was weak, but it's still miles
ahead of the first three films.
29. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) ***
Still one of my favorite Marvel movies.It might seem a bit slow for some people, but the mixture of Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark really worked for me. 30. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)
Ghost
Rider journeys to Europe on an extremely low budget. The screenplay
was probably good, but the direction is all over the place and Nicholas
Cage overdoes the "manic" elements. The only good thing I can say about
this film is that the actress who plays "the Devil's baby-momma" is
extremely beautiful. Fun Fact: Idris Elba, who appeared in Thor the
year before, is Johnny Blaze's sidekick.
31. The Avengers (2012) ***1/2
There
are entire websites devoted to how awesome this movie is. It's a good
film, but not one of the best. Considering how difficult it is to put
characters as diverse as Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor into the
same movie universe, this one is an unqualified triumph. I'm only sorry
the Oscorp Tower didn't make an appearance.
32. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) ***
This
is a good movie, and I'm looking forward to the sequel. Andrew
Garfield and Emma Stone have some terrific chemistry, and it's a solid
effort. The Lizard is a bit too Hulk-like for my taste, but this is a
vast improvement over Spider-Man 3.
33. Iron Man 3 (2013) *
I
was super excited about this movie, but walked away from it
disappointed. It starts out well, but neither of the villains are very
compelling, and the stunt work is too over the top. My biggest
complaint is the ending, which gives us a Tony Stark who no longer has
any reason to be Iron Man.
34. Kick-Ass 2 (2013) **
It's not a great movie, but it's not bad. There are some funny scenes in this one, but it could have been a lot better.
35. The Wolverine (2013) **1/2
I
had high hopes for this one, but it wasn't all that good. It's
certainly much better than X-Men Origins: Wolverine and all the other
X-Men films, but that's not saying all that much.
36. Thor: The Dark World (2013) ***
This
was a great movie. I didn't love the first Thor, but this one was a
vast improvement. Reminded me a lot of the Walt Simonson run on the
comic book. Hoping to see Beta Ray Bill in Thor 3!
37. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) **1/2
Steve
Rogers struggles with the modern world and his role in S.H.I.E.L.D.
After encountering the Winter Soldier, he has even more reasons to doubt
the nobility of certain causes. A very topical movie, with some great
action sequences. Didn't like it as much as Thor: The Dark World, but
it was well done.
38. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) **
Too
much CGI, but some great performances from Andrew Garfield and Emma
Stone. I liked this movie more than "Captain America: The Winter
Soldier," though the action sequences in Cap were better. This film has
more dramatic tension, better ensemble performances, and more heart.
Looking forward to the third film!
39. X-men: Days of Future Past (2014) ***1/2
A
surprisingly good movie. As mutantkind faces extinction, Wolverine
journeys into the past to change the future. Excellent performances,
and one of the most emotionally resonant superhero films to come along
in quite a while. Fun Fact: Although played by a white midget (Peter
Dinklage) in Days of Future Past, Bill Duke, a rather large black man,
plays Bolivar Trask in the earlier X-Men: The Last Stand.
40. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) **
A
good movie, though it features too many characters for its own good.
Humor holds the film together, and makes some of the less plausible plot
elements seem more plausible. As with many other recent films from
Marvel Studios, seems less inspired than calculated. Maybe the second
one will be better?
41. The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)**1/2
I
can't say it's flawless, but I did like it much better than Guardians
of the Galaxy. It's less talky than the first Avengers, and the battle
between
Hulk and the Hulkbuster is truly awesome. Quicksilver seemed a bit
underused, and I would have liked to see more of the Vision, but it's
still a great movie.
42. Ant-Man (2015)**
Any
great scenes in this movie involve a) Michael Pena, b) shrinking, or c)
both. As for the rest of it? It starts off well enough, but it takes
too long to get going. "The heist" at the end is a bit of a non-event,
but the fight scenes between Ant-Man and Yellowjacket are good.
43. Fantastic Four (2015)*
This
movie is not bad up until the four return from Planet Zero. After that
point it's a mess. Once Reed escapes from the military facility the
dialogue is awful, the characters do things that make no sense, and the
movie somehow ends without building up any kind of dramatic tension. It
feels like an hour of this film was removed before it hit theaters, and
Dr. Doom looks like he escaped from another, much lower-budget film.
44. Deadpool (2016)***
The good news: as far as films within Fox's X-men universe go, this one is second
best. It's not as riveting as X-men: Days of Future Past, but it's
better than all the other ones. Compared to the Marvel Studios films,
I'd rank it above lesser efforts like Iron Man 2 and 3, though it comes
nowhere near their best. It's refreshingly profane, yet it struggles
during most of the "serious" parts. A sequel to this movie would
probably be much better than the original.
45. Captain America: Civil War (2016) **1/2
I
liked it, but it was WAY to long and that fight at the airport seemed
entirely unnecessary. The inclusion of both Black Panther and
Spider-Man also did very little to advance the plot, though I was happy
to finally see Marvel's approach to these characters. I think a
smaller-scale movie, concentrating on the dynamic between Steve, Bucky,
and Tony would have worked much better.
46. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) **
Continuity be damned! Never mind the fact that many of the events occurring in Apocalypse happened much later (or is it earlier?) in the first three X-men movies. Never mind the fact that many of the characters from First Class ought to be in their 50s by the 1980s. The biggest problem with this movie is the villain, and the fact that he's just not threatening. When you title a movie "Apocalypse" it ought to feel like the end of the world, and this movie just doesn't deliver on that promise.
On the Way
47. Doctor Strange (2016)
All
I can say is... finally! I've been waiting for this movie for so
long. Scott Derrickson is directing, and Benedict Cumberbatch will star
as Stephen Strange. The first trailer was released today, and it looks GREAT. Time to get strange!
48. Deadpool 2? X-Force? New Mutants? (2016)
The
Gambit movie has been put on hold for the time being. A Deadpool
sequel so soon seems unlikely. X-Force also seems unlikely without
Deadpool. New Mutants is a distinct possibility, however. 49. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)
Who
would have thought the first Guardians of the Galaxy would be such a
success? And who would have thought that a sequel would be on the way
so soon? Most of the original cast and crew will return for
this film.
50. Third Wolverine Film (2017)
Hugh
Jackman and director James Mangold will be returning. Hopefully they
can improve upon The Wolverine, which wasn't the stylistic triumph I
hoped it would be. Hugh Jackman has indicated that they'll be going for
"Old Man Logan," though of course Fox will need to change a lot of the
story to make up for characters they don't have the rights to.
51. Deadpool 2? X-Force? New Mutants? (2017)
Fox
just greenlit the Deadpool sequel, and it seems likely that it will
take over Fantastic Four 2's release date. Either that or they'll skip
straight to X-Force and put Deadpool on the roster. New Mutants is also
a possibility.
52. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
The
Hulk will be in it, though nothing is known about the plot. Taika
Waititi will be directing, and Chris Hemsworth will return as Thor.
53. The Black Panther (2017)
Chadwick
Boseman will play the Black Panther. Creed's Ryan Coogler is directing. I think it's safe to say that
elements of his backstory will appear in the upcoming Avengers: Age of
Ultron. Nothing else is known about this movie.
54. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Sony
finally set a release date for this film. After years of negotiations
with Marvel, Tom Holland will finally star as a much younger Spider-Man,
with Jon Watts directing. I thought the Amazing Spider-Man films
were... OK, but I'm glad to see the character back under Marvel's
supervision. Last I heard Michael Keaton (Batman!) was in talks to play (one of the) villain(s).
55. The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (2018)
It
was bound to happen. Thanos will be the villain, and his quest for the
infinity gems (stones) will probably cause Earth's mightiest heroes a
great deal of misery. The interplay between this and DC's two Justice League movies will be fun to watch.
56. Captain Marvel (2018)
A
female superhero film - even if it will appear a YEAR after DC's Wonder
Woman. And Captain Marvel ain't no Wonder Woman! My guess is that
Marvel will struggle with the script for a while and eventually give
up. Captain Marvel just isn't that interesting a character.
57. Inhumans (2018)
It's kind of hard to imagine the Inhumans in the absence of the
Fantastic Four, but I'm sure Marvel will figure out a way to make it
work. Last I heard this movie had been delayed, and its release date may be given to another film.
58. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
No
details on this movie as yet. It was announced this week, and the
release dates for both Captain Marvel and Black Panther have been
adjusted to accommodate it.
59. The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 (2019)
With a rumored budget of a BILLION dollars, this and Infinity War Part 1 will, if nothing else, be something to talk about.
60. Untitled (2020)
Have
fun guessing. My guess is that we finally get another Hulk movie.
Yeah, I know about that business with Universal, and yes, he often works
better as part of the Avengers, but a Planet Hulk or World War Hulk
movie would be amazing. Marvel also knows how bad many of us want this one. 61. Untitled (2020)
Have fun guessing here,
too. We can safely rule out Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America.
Ant-Man's sequel and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 are also listed above.
What does that leave us? Could Marvel have won back the rights to the
Fantastic Four? Or will it be Guardians of the Galaxy 3?
62. Untitled (2020)
Go CRAZY guessing! Ghost Rider? Daredevil on the big screen? The Punisher? Ego the living planet? The U-Foes? Spider-Gwen?
