Avengers: Endgame

11 years in the making, the Endgame is here. After this, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will never be the same. I want to start this review by saying that it is fully SPOILER FREE, no story points, nothing. Which means it is quite vague and a bit short, maybe I'll write something about with spoilers in the future but for now I just wanted to give you my initial thoughts on Avengers: Endgame, despite knowing full well that this epic of a film is going to need a rewatch before any thought is solidified in my mind!

This film truly is the culmination of 22 films, its the end of an era and Marvel knows it, closing this chapter of the MCU with a victory lap of fan service of epic proportions. If you're not a fan, you're probably going to hate it. If you are a fan, then like me, you're going to be grinning so much it will probably hurt. However, fan service only goes so far, this film is not perfect, in fact, Infinity War was much more complete and satisfying on a story level compared to Endgame, which is more satisfying on a fan level. This film is bursting at the seams with everything it has to handle, walking the line between a sombre film about grief and a hokey superhero movie, occasionally not getting that balance 100% correct. There are some choices made with some of the characters that kind of work, but at the same time, they're quite the choices! Either way, as always it's great to see these colourful characters interact with each other no matter what the circumstances.

What I like most about the Russo Brothers direction is how they are able to get the best performances out of their actors. Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans in particular, work so well with the Russo's, really sinking their teeth into the performances and giving some of their best yet within this film. The whole ensemble cast is working hard, the original six truly showing how far they've come since 2012's first Avengers film.

This film gets nuts, like absolutely bonkers and ridiculous at times, like I said, choices are made, some odd, some that will get you punching your hand in the air out of pure geeky joy. I was 14 when Iron Man came out, I'm now 25, I've spent a big chunk of my life watching these films, being obsessed, being hyped. It's a very satisfying conclusion to just over ten years worth of storytelling, it has the right to pat its self on the back, though maybe at times a little too much!

The special effects are great, not one character seems to have been shortchanged, every single one feeling part of the world, no matter how or small the task of bringing them to life was. Other technical achievements include the music, it feels like a long time since the criticism of the MCU's melodies, I think everybody can hum The Avengers theme tune now and it is used to great and emotive effect in Endgame.

The MCU will carry on, but it won't be the same. It's an odd feeling. I 100% need to watch this film again but for now, this is how I feel. Endgame is far from perfect but it's a very satisfying conclusion and film unlike any before it and most likely after it as well. I'm rating Avengers: Endgame a 4/5. I'm going to miss being excited for this film.

Make mine Marvel!

What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Captain Marvel

Here we are, film 21 one of the MCU and there is no denying, it's a little bit embarrassing that this is the first film in the franchise with a sole female lead. I'm happy it's here now but there is no doubt it has been a long time coming.

Captain Marvel follows an extraterrestrial Kree warrior who finds herself caught in the middle of an intergalactic battle between her people and the Skrulls, whilst simultaneously fighting with the recurring memories of her - unknown to her -  former life as an Air Force pilot on earth.

The title character is played by Brie Larson and she is joined by Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Lashana Lynch and with it being set in the '90s, a digitally de-aged Samuel L Jackson and Clark Gregg reprising their roles as Nick Fury and Phil Coulson.

You can tell Marvel no longer want to do origin films but with a character like Captain Marvel, it's hard to do without one because her story is a mix of the earth and cosmic based lore, which is unlike anything we've seen before. It's also quite confusing; I didn't actually know that much about Carol Danvers going in so I can't comment on comic accuracy but I can say that it takes a little while to get your head around everything going on. You can tell the film is struggling as well, exposition is clumsy and contrived, the opening is just a little more disorderly than we're used to from a Marvel film.

When we get to Earth things are a lot smoother, it feels a lot more familiar, reminiscent of phase one of the MCU. However, I think I might be as torn as Marvel must have been on this film. I want something different, and they definitely cater to that but it's confusing and messy, but when it's familiar it feels bland and too much 'been there, done that'. It comes together in the third act, which makes the good parts of this film quite difficult to talk about without spoilers, but I will say that when certain story elements are revealed, it really elevates the film to something quite different and something a bit more poignant.

Brie Larson is a great addition to the MCU, though I think we've just seen the tip of the iceberg of her potential in her first outing. She clearly has the acting chops, but the writing did sometimes let her down (this is not Marvel's funniest film) and despite her doing a lot of training for the action the editing and camerawork does not showcase just how hard she worked. That being said, she plays the stoic hero very well and her more human moments are touching. It'll be interesting to see how the Russo brothers handle her in Endgame, as they really seem to have a handle on character, story and structure within the confines of a feature film. Not that this film handled it badly, it was just a lot of new and complex balls to juggle. With the information dump out the way, the future can only be less complicated.

One element of this film that was great to see, was the Skrulls faithfully realised on the big screen. The make-up and costuming look awesome and Ben Mendelsohn absolutely kills it as Talos, making for yet another unique and complex antagonist. Marvel really seems to have a handle on that now. They've also got a handle on the de-aging CGI process, with younger Nick Fury looking pretty flawless. Coulson looked a tad smooth at times but I'd be surprised if general audiences would even notice. It's a cool technology that's well used here.

Overall this is quite a middle of the road Marvel film, it's quite the complex story to tell and it does struggle but it's an okay start for the new Captain. The stuff it does well, which is unfortunately spolier-y, is very good; you've just got to sit through some pretty so-so stuff to get there. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it, it was okay. I'm rating Captain Marvel a 3/5. I'm still excited to see where they go next with the character.

What did you think of the film? Love it or hate it, let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

SDCC 2016 Thoughts #1

Another year, another San Diego Comic Con. Its barely begun but already there's a whole host of goodies to look at.

So for this post we are going to be looking at Marvel's Netflix shows and we have had loads of news out of SDCC. Lets start with the big one, Luke Cage, Power Man finally has a trailer, take a look below:

Well it looks like Marvel is going to have another hit with Luke Cage judging by this trailer. The action already looks great and I am so happy to see that they are going to get very creative with his powers, I can't wait to see him kicking so much ass. I love the music choice as well, a hip-hop soundtrack would be awesome and be another way to distinguish this show from its Marvel/Netflix brothers and sisters. 30th of September is when all the episodes will drop, so get ready to binge!

That wasn't the only new footage we got, we also got a small teaser for Iron Fist which you can check out below:

There's not too much too see here but it definitely does showcase some great cinematography and gives enough for fans of the character to start getting excited.

Talking of starting to get excited, the long promised The Defenders show has a teaser as well. The show which will team up the Marvel/Netflix characters.


Showing us nothing new (but maybe teasing a villain in Stick?), this trailer does nothing but let you know that it's coming and it's coming soon. I can't wait to see how this one works out, there's going to be a lot of stuff going on here but if anybody can do big ensemble content it's Marvel!

Smaller news confirmed a 3rd Season of Daredevil, whether that releases next year or 2018 we do not know yet. Also Rosario Dawson was confirmed to be away filming scenes for Iron Fist which will make her character Claire Temple the main thread between all four shows. I guess in a way she is like the Coulson of the Marvel/Netflix Universe, here's hoping her fate will be different to his in The Avengers (though she could always be brought back via alien blood...)!

What did you think of these new teasers? And what are you most looking forward to this SDCC? I personally am looking forward to the American Gods panel as I have recently read the book and cannot wait to see how they have adapted it into a show.

Thanks for reading and keep checking back for more updates of SDCC!

The London Student Experience - Breakdown

Hopefully you have seen my last two posts, and maybe even followed along with the action of the 24 hour London Student Experience. If not, then here's the basics. A couple months ago I was invited to take part in a challenge for Unite Students that would involve heading off around London for 24 hours on a student budget, doing as many cool and exciting things as possible, whilst tweeting, instagramming and vine-ing the whole experience (we're all bloggers you see!). I have now done this and it was amazing! Not only did I have one hell of a time, I also met some pretty awesome people. Now I know this isn't film related that much but I hope you will stick with me as the whole experience was great to do and hopefully just as much fun to read about, also I wouldn't have been invited if you guys didn't read and support my blog! Plus there will be some film related things, there's a short test clip I made, film related gifs and hopefully soon, a proper edited video of my experience. But for now, here's the breakdown of my time in London!

DAY ONE

So day one mainly consisted of travelling. For me it was from Plymouth, for others it was from elsewhere. This was one of the great things about everybody involved, we were all from different parts of the country but we had one thing in common, we're all amazing bloggers, well they were anyway!

Once arrived, I met the gang of bloggers and the people involved from Unite Students who had put on the whole thing. I then unpacked my stuff and found a cool goodie bag up in my room waiting for me, which even had a my favourite snack of choice (like I told them in my bio!?) chocolate chip cookies. Here's a lovely pic of us all for the first time, atop the Stratford One accommodation which we called home for the four days (yes, I am the one wearing the Batman t-shirt...):

We all hit it off straight away! It was great, I don't know about anyone else but I was quite nervous meeting everyone at first and was extremely happy to find out that everyone was super cool. Skip down to the bottom of this post to find out who they all are, their blogs and where to follow them! After the initial meet, we strolled over to the Westfields Shopping Centre next to our accommodation to find out more about each other over a cheeseburger and game of bowling.

Bowling is very hit or miss with me and this time it was a miss! First impressions aren't everything people, are they?...

DAY TWO

The second day was a day of planning. After a lovely breakfast we were sat down by Unite Students and given presentations about themselves and STEAK, a digital marketing agency who provided us with some tips on how to get the most out of the day in terms of publicity. As we were going to be provided with cameras on the day of the challenge, Tim Richardson from There 4 Productions came in to teach us how to use and get the most out of them. He and his company also made us feel very famous by filming the whole experience and conducting interviews throughout the four days. We were then given a task to come up with 5x5 second clips that tell a story. We were split into teams and below is the video (very roughly edited) that Tim and twenty seven thousands pounds worth of film degree taught me to do... 

Amazing.

More food later (lunch), we came to the moment we had all be waiting for, the teams! There were 12 of us, and for the day of the challenge we were split into three groups of four. My team consisted of myself (duh), Ruby, Rachel and Iman. Again, head to the bottom of this post to find out who they are and read their awesome blogs! 

Split off, we named our named team, Team RAIR, because initials. 

We were told that for the 24 hour challenge each of us had £30 to do stuff and £30 for food. Travel was paid for so all we had to do was work around that.

We began to plan our trip.

By the end of the day we had some pretty sweet things planned and concluded with some Dominoes Pizza and an early night due to a 4am start the next day to watch the sunrise, which isn't very student-y but we all agreed would probably be worth it...

DAY THREE

The big day. 4am start. Was the sunrise worth it? Yes it was!

Apologies for the quality of the photo. 

All teams started together, there was The Dream Team, Team Bueller and ourselves, Team RAIR.

Morning selfie. Team RAIR. From the left: Myself, Iman, Ruby, Rachel.

After breakfast, the real trip began. We headed to Stratford Station where we got our travel tickets and began to get our on tubes to who knows where...

TO A MORNING RAVE!

A video posted by Alex Hunt (@superalexman) on Aug 4, 2015 at 11:12pm PDT

It was amazing. Never have I felt so awake at half 6 in the morning. The event was put on by Morning Gloryville and they did one heck of a job! Not only was there the rave itself, but also free hugs, yoga, massages and a writing workshop. It was very family friendly and everybody was having a hell of a time. Also there was no judging, which was good because my dancing is awful. I know it would mean another early start but if there is ever a morning rave nearby me again, then sign me up for it!

Next we took to the streets, more specifically Brick Lane, and stopped off for another breakfast at the Cereal Killer Cafe. They sell over 120 different varieties of cereal, 30 different varieties of milk (how, I'm still not sure?) and 20 different toppings. Being the film/superhero nerd I am, I chose an Avengers themed cereal with normal milk and chocolate chips as toppings!

Following our second breakfast we travelled to the 'Walkie Talkie' building/skyscraper to enjoy the views atop of it in their Sky Garden. We're talking these kind of sweet views:

A couple even got engaged next to us. It was all kinds of romantic. 

We then returned to Brick Lane where we were invited to eat some frozen yogurt provided by The Sloane Bros Frozen Yogurt Company. They took us through all the amazing flavours, toppings and sauces they had before letting us decide on what froyo masterpiece we wanted. I went for a tropical flavoured yogurt with strawberries, kiwi, a caramel brownie and chocolate sauce. It was as awesome as it sounds.

Full of frozen yogurt we took off to Camden where we decided to eat more food. So for my second lunch I went for a Masala Naan Wrap provided by Food In The Middle who actually created the Naan from scratch right their in front of me. It was super tasty.

Back on the tube we made a quick stop at Covent Garden to enjoy the shops and many street performers in the area. We were a little stuck as to what to do from here and after a bit of wandering we found ourselves on a boat, cruising down the River Thames. The tickets were surprisingly cheap (£7 for student) and it was a simple and economic way to see some of London's greatest sights. 

Even after the boat trip we had a lot of our budget still left. Who knew you could do London so cheaply!? With the day drawing closer to an end we decided to treat ourselves to cocktails at the Be At One bar, where we also used their app to get 'Appi Hour' priced cocktails. 

By the time we exited the night had truly set in and we had chance to explore the great big city in all its lit up glory.

We even found a cool circus'y bar like place by the London Eye. It made for a great end to the evening.

After we had explored we decided to call it quits. The day we had travelled was the day of the Tube Strike and getting home was proving to be a bit of task. Thankfully the group I was with knew London pretty well and I was able to follow them like a lost lamb on to some buses followed by an Overground trip back to Stratford One. It wasn't exactly 24 hours but it felt like it when hitting the hay at 2am.

I won't be forgetting this day anytime soon.

DAY FOUR

The final day. Another early start but enough time to catch some rest after our previous mental day. We regrouped atop Stratford One, ate breakfast and then split up back into our teams to put together a presentation.

Did I forget to mention this was a competition with the winning group all getting Ipad Mini's? Maybe that's because I'm bitter... It must have been a close call because all three groups had amazing trips but in the end it was Team Bueller who took home the prizes. And do you know what, I don't mind because they all deserved it and at the end of the day who needs an Ipad anyway...

Following the winners announcement we all had to be quickly shipped off into taxi's in order to get through London and make our trains home in time. God damn you Tube Strikes! (Not really.)

It was an amazing four days and I met some truly awesome people. I cannot thank Unite Students and STEAK enough for inviting me to be a part of this experience! I could gush and gush more about everybody but why not instead find out why everybody was so great for yourself! Below is a list of all the students involved and their wonderful blogs/vlogs. Check 'em out!

TEAM RAIR

Iman - Iman's Youtube Channel

Rachel - Handbags and Cupcakes

Ruby - Total Modisch

THE DREAM TEAM

Channon - Oh, Hey There Channon!

Connor - The Connorsseur

Harley - Darling Vintage

Jack - Jack Owen May

TEAM BUELLER

Jade - Sweet Treats and Perfect Pleats

Lewis - The Bearded Blog

Nammie - NammieLovesToTravelAndThings

Rachel - Rachel Coco

I hope you enjoyed this post. I did edit together a video of the trip and am currently working on getting some music made for it so I can post it on here soon! As soon as it is ready you guys will be able to see it.

Being around all these awesome bloggers did inspire me to maybe mix things up a bit on this blog, I will still keep everything film related but maybe broaden the type of posts I make for it. This post itself is a bit different to usual so if you liked it let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

Avengers: Age of Ultron

We've already had the magic and amazement of seeing our comic book heroes team up in 2012's incredible The Avengers, and now, three years later, they're back and bigger than ever. But does their second outing hold up to the first? Read on to find out in my SPOILER FREE review of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The main Avengers are back and this time they fight off against, Ultron, an A.I set on saving the world by destroying the human race, mo-capped and voiced by James Spader. It's your usual A.I philosophical tale but this time done on huge budget with superheroes. New to the cast of the film is Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch, Aaron Taylor Johnson as Quicksilver and Paul Bettany as The Vision. The less you know about The Vision the better, just know that he is awesome in every way, steals the show and leaves you wanting more!

Seeing the main characters on screen in the first film truly was an experience, one that is hard to replicate in Age of Ultron. Instead, director Joss Whedon decides to just go full out and show you these characters working as a team from the offset with loads of incredible action and geeky visuals. In fact the who film is made up of insane action scenes, probably the most we have seen in a Marvel film so far. There is never a dull moment and the whole film is well structured and interwoven into a fast paced two hours and twenty minutes thrill ride. This however, is sometimes its flaw, one of the great things about this film is that you get to see these cool characters interact and engage with each other, and although we get this, for me there weren't enough moments where they slowed down and interacted in other ways rather than just fighting. I mean, we do get these scenes, but personally I just wanted more. The film basically goes from one set piece to another, and although these set pieces are incredible, I just needed some more down time every now and then to catch my breath.
There are pretty much ten main characters to deal with here and they all get their time to shine, even if it's for a small amount of said time, I felt Captain America and Thor could have been given more to do, but apart from that it works, every now and then you realise a character hasn't been seen recently but with the amount of cool stuff going on in the mean time, you can let that slide.

Like the first film, there is a lot of comedy, something I think worked better throughout this film than its predecessor. It's really funny and pretty much all the jokes land and I was laughing out loud throughout. There are a few running gags which really do work, especially one which involves most of the team winding Captain America up about a comment he makes early on in the film, it's hilarious. That's not to say that this film doesn't get dark, it's not all fun and games, but it gets the tone right and the jokes never feel out of place like they do in Iron Man 3. There are a few moments that definitely hit me right in the feels. I still think Captain America: The Winter Soldier got the tone perfect and more so than here, but this still walks the line between seriousness and comedy well, but never really packs too much of a punch.

Ultron is very cool, he looks great and is a good match for The Avengers, however I was a little disappointed at the fact that for me, he wasn't as scary or intimidating a character as the trailers made him out to be. I truly thought this would be Marvel's best villain but he didn't blow me away like I thought he would. He's still menacing but at times he just sounds like a robot Joss Whedon. The two new characters Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch however, did surprise me. I wasn't sure what they would be like but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well they fit into the story and their character arcs as a whole, even their Eastern European accents worked. Scarlet Witch turned out to be one of my favourite characters in the film and her powers truly looked awesome on screen, especially her mind manipulation which creates some very cool sequences for the Avengers to deal with. Talking of favourite characters, Black Widow really stood out for me in this film. I found her annoying in the first Avengers film and a little bit better in The Winter Soldier, but in this film I truly enjoyed watching her on screen and her development as a character throughout. Another character who might surprise audiences is Hawkeye, in fact he gets more character development than most and you will enjoy his character as part of the roster a lot more than previously.

There is an emphasis on saving people in this film and it was refreshing to see this within the superhero genre, which has not shown much of this recently. I definitely think the genre has learnt a lesson from the backlash to Man of Steel and I really enjoyed seeing the heroes putting civilian life first before then going to stop the villain. There are still some 9/11 looking destruction that may upset some, but the emphasis on saving civillians was something I really enjoyed about their second outing.

My last little niggle with the film was the music, there wasn't as powerful a score here and the main Avengers theme is only heard a couple of times and didn't really give me the same feeling it did when I first saw The Avengers. This film as whole didn't have that same kind of feeling you got when you first saw the characters assemble on the big screen, but it gives you enough nerdy comic book moments to forget this and just enjoy what was going on.

The film is a comic book come to life, and although it doesn't pack as big a political punch as The Winter Soldier did, it still is one heck of an enjoyable watch. Joss Whedon knows how to make a fun film and although it does lay the seeds for the next instalments, its still its own thing and not just a trailer for Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It will be a shame to see Whedon leave the franchise, but with The Russo Brothers helming the next instalment means we should still be in for another great ride.

It's not the best Marvel film but it sure is good still and is definitely a worthy sequel to the first Avengers. I feel it deserves a second viewing (like I did with the first film) to fully solidify my views, but for now this how I feel and I am rating Avengers: Age of Ultron a 3/5.

What did you think of the film? Do you think it was better or worse than than the first? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Spider-Man Joins The MCU!

Unless you have been living under a rock, you may have heard that Spider-Man is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You probably all know by now that I am a huge Spider-Man fan so I could not be happier with this announcement. And although you may be sick of hearing about the news I thought it would only be right to write a small bit on what I think of this exciting team-up between Sony and Marvel.

So we all heard about the Sony hack from a couple months ago, I believe that this had an impact on the deal that went down between Marvel and Sony. After a disappointing critical and financial backlash from the rebooted The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, Sony didn't know what to do next, and this was evident when rumours of Aunt May spy films started making their rounds on the Internet from the hacked emails. I personally believe that Sony were left with no choice but to hand Spidey over to Marvel in order to get some credibility and much needed life brought back into the character. Now Marvel still don't own the rights or the final creative control of Spidey but the fact that they have barely put a foot wrong in their universe shows that the webslinger is in good hands. 

However with this good news comes a minor setback: Andrew Garfield will not be back to play Peter Parker. Now his take on Peter may not have been the most comic book accurate, but his take on Spider-Man was the best we have had yet. Although I am not overly upset by his leave, I still did enjoy the way he became a great spokesperson for the character of Spider-Man, and you could really tell that he was genuinely a fan of the character. Who knows who they will cast to replace him but if they really wanted to surprise us they could always bring in the character of Miles Morales instead, a young man who took up the mantle of Spider-Man in the Ultimate universe after Peter Parker was killed. This would be a great device to shock audiences, especially if they stick close to the source material and have Spidey reveal his identity publicly during Captain America: Civil War. Imagine going to the cinema without knowing who had been cast and then revealing under the mask is not Peter but Miles instead, It would definitely make an impact! But do Marvel have the guts to keep hush on their newly bought character and could the internet keep is casting a secret? Peter or Miles, I cannot wait to see Spider-Man back on the big screen and hopefully with a more faithful adaptation of the source material.

We might even see the new Spider-Man this year! The post credits scene for Avengers: Age of Ultron has not been filmed yet and is rumoured to feature a new set of Avengers. Maybe this will be the first time we see Spider-Man? Wouldn't that be awesome! If not, we will be seeing Spidey next year in Civil War and then his own solo film in 2017. This unfortunately means that Black Panther has been pushed back a year, which upsets me because he too is also one of my favourite comic book characters. I personally would have held off on a new Spider-Man film and instead made a TV show for Netflix about him. The best thing about the Spider-Man comics is the relationship and everyday life struggles that Peter has to endure as well as being a superhero. I think Spider-Man is a character who is best suited to the serial from of television and would love to see his character developed on that medium before bringing him back to the big screen to kick ass. But hey, that's just me and I'm still super excited to see Spider-Man alongside the Avengers as well as bringing his awesome gallery of villains to the MCU.

What are your thoughts on the news? Are you as excited as me? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

I have been dreading seeing this film for a while, being a huge fan of Spider-Man as a character, I was let down by the 2012 reboot of the franchise that I had a lot of high hopes for. For the sequel I made sure I wasn’t going to be disappointed and I didn’t get too excited when Sony spewed out a dozen trailers or so for the film. However it still didn’t stop me from watching the sequel on day release to find out if they had dug an even bigger hole for my favourite superhero to climb out of. Thankfully with my expectations being quite low I left the cinema happy knowing that Spider-Man was on the right track once more in his surprisingly decent sequel. Read on to find out my whole verdict on the film that will be as usual SPOILER FREE.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 follows a now more experienced Spider-Man then what we saw in the first film. Like his new (excellent) suit this film has stripped away all the darkness and gloom from the first film to make this film more on tone with The Avengers rather than trying to be the next Batman Begins. We find Peter Parker as his busiest, mixing his superhero lifestyle with graduating and being in two minds as to whether to get together again with Gwen Stacy after he promised her dying father to keep away from her. Whilst this is all going on Max Dillon is on his way to becoming the villainous Electro whilst Harry Osborne is back in town facing a tough moment in his life. Thankfully Sony has learnt from their mistakes in Spider-Man 3 and this time juggle the many storylines well throughout the film.

One of the redeeming qualities of The Amazing Spider-Man was the casting and it has continued to get better in the sequel. Jamie Foxx as Electro is brilliant, he plays the character really well and truly looks and sounds awesome when in full blue mode, the visual effects crew did a lot better job with him then they did with The Lizard. Dane DeHann is one of the best new actors out there and the chemistry between him and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker is great, I would have loved to have seen a lot more scenes with the two of them together. It was great to see Paul Giamatti take on role of Aleksei Sytsevich as he has wanted to play him for quite some while even if he was very stereotyped, but with him only playing a small part in the film it would be great to see him improve on that in the next one. Also the character of Dr Kafka from the comics has been awfully turned into stereotypical male German scientist, thankfully one of only a few stupid decisions in the film. As with the first film Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone steal the show with their brilliant performances and amazing on screen chemistry. They look and sound the parts even if this Spider-Man is taking more of his roots from the Ultimate Comics rather than the 616 Universe. Garfield gets Spidey perfectly with the way he moves and quips constantly during the action. Added with the perfect suit, this is definitely one of the best Spider-Man performances we have seen, though having no explanation for the change of suit does grind my gears a bit.

Visually this film looks great, when Spider-Man is swinging around New York it is exactly how I imagined he would and many of the scenes were pretty breath taking and gave me goose bumps throughout. Along with the great new score from Hans Zimmer who puts a new unique take on the generic superhero soundtrack, this Spider-Man feels like a breath of fresh air in a crowded market for comic book films. There is the odd scene where the music choice feels out of place but overall the film sounds great, especially the main themes for both Spider-Man and Electro.

Tonally every now and then a scene feels disjointed but not as much as some critics are saying. The film isn’t just a random bunch of scenes thrown together, there is a lot more care put into the editing of this film. The design of the characters may not be to every fans liking but I only had a problem with the look of The Rhino. In terms of faithfulness to the comic books there are certain aspects that are great but a lot of it is being rehashed into new scenarios but with a great sense of familiarity especially with some iconic scenes. I don’t mind this as much as I did in the first film but I am annoyed that character of Uncle Ben is more of an afterthought in this film rather than being strong icon in Peter’s life that ultimately makes him the person he is. Overall the script works pretty well even though there is the odd bad line throughout, Electo's 'It's my birthday, time to light some candles' springs to mind.

My favourite thing about this film though, that is a huge improvement on the first, is the fact that you get a sense of what Spider-Man means to people. He is just a good guy who thinks about other before himself, there is many a scene of him saving bystanders before taking on the main threat, he has a sense of responsibility even though the famous line has yet to be said. Spider-Man is a true hero and this is shown throughout the film, he saves lives in more ways then one. There are scenes involving kids that could easily come across as cheesy but in the end they are some of the best scenes that signify why Spider-Man means so much to so many people in and out of the film universe. People like myself, who is now happy that the Spider-Man I wanted to see on screen is back and stepping in the right direction. With the world building and foreshadowing to a Sinister Six showdown, bring on The Amazing Spider-Man 3!

Finally a step in the right direction for the web head, I am rating The Amazing Spider-Man 2 a 3/5.

What are your thoughts on the Spider-Man sequel? Are you as happy with it as I am? Let me know in the comments below.

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger is here and Marvel have finally turned what many people consider to be a 'lame' superhero into a total badass! I did enjoy the first film but felt that the final act was a bit rushed in order to get Cap to where he should be in The Avengers, the film that made him cool, but it is The Winter Soldier that proves Captain America isn't lame in the slightest! Read on to find out my verdict on the film as a whole, and as usual this review will be SPOILER FREE.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier revolves around Steve Rodgers struggling to embrace his new role in the world and who he can trust in it. At the same time he also faces a new threat from old history, a soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier.

The action is one of the best things about this film and it kicks off pretty quickly. Cap has a new style of fighting and it is brutal but also very, very cool. His iconic shield is used a lot more, and his strength is shown off a lot more during the film proving the fact that he is in fact a superhero and not just a slightly stronger guy. His new suit is also very cool and the whole design of the characters, old and new like The Falcon, is pretty much perfect in this modern day re-imagining of the comic books.

The acting is all solid and Chris Evans owns it as Steve Rodgers, along with Scarlett Johansson who surprisingly did not annoy me at all with her portrayal of Black Widow, unlike with previous appearances of her character that I have not always enjoyed. Samuel L Jackson IS Nick Fury,there is no denying it and newcomers Robert Redford and Anthony Mackie are also great additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

A change of directors for this film, The Winter Soldier was directed by Joe and Anthony Russo. They have done a perfect job of turning the film into an interesting and intriguing action flick that juggles around an ensemble of characters, almost perfectly, into new territory tonally and thematically for Phase 2 of the Marvel Universe. The writing is also great and has the best balance of seriousness and comedy since The Avengers. The only problem with it being that there were a lot of cliched 'saved at the last second' moments and the biggest flaw of any Marvel film, that there never seems to be too much peril. As I have mentioned before though, I think this is something that could definitely change in Age of Ultron.

My biggest gripe of the film would be the amount of screen time that the Winter Soldier character actually gets. If you have ever been interested in comics then you most likely know who the soviet agent is and know that it creates a pretty powerful storyline. Now there is no denying that he is a more memorable villain then Malekith was in Thor: The Dark World but I would have liked to have seen a lot more of him! My other gripe is with Maria Hill who occasionally just pops up in this film, I have come to terms that she most likely will never be exactly like her character in the comics, but I would have either cut her from this film or given her more to do thnn what she was given.

I have seen a lot of people criticise this film for a lack of character arc for Captain America, but I believe that if you were to change any part of what the super soldier is all about then he is no longer Captain America, that's the whole point of his character, he is and always will be a good man.

The film is a lot of fun and has a lot of great moments and very cool set pieces. The story sets up some big changes to the Marvel Universe and it is great being able to see big events from the comics be brought to life on the big screen. There are twists and turns galore, some predictable, others not as much and thankfully nothing as infuriating Iron Man 3. Keep an eye/ear out for all references including one of the best ever to Pulp Fiction, and as always make sure you stay for the post credits stinger! Captain America: The Winter Soldier is not just the best of phase 2 so far but is also one of Marvel's best films to date. I am giving it a rating of 4/5.

What did you think of the film? Let me know in the comments below.

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Thor: The Dark World

When the Captain America: The Winter Soldier trailer came out the other day I thought that the film would easily top the solo outing films of Marvel phase 2. However I may have been wrong, because Thor: The Dark World just raised the bar pretty damn high! After feeling a bit let down from Iron Man 3 and Marvel's TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D I went into the cinema with average hopes and a critical mind, I came out having just had a blast of a time! Read on to find out why and as always my review is spoiler free!

Thor: The Dark World picks up after the events of The Avengers. Loki is in jail, Thor is back on Asgard with the Bifrost Bridge rebuilt, whilst love interest Jane Foster is down on Earth still doing science experiments and attempting to get over her fling with the demigod. All this gets shaken up when Jane discovers the Aether, a dark force that wakes up Malekith, a dark elve that wishes to bring revenge to Asgard for killing his people a long time ago. Like the first Thor, the plot is quite simple making for a fun and easy watching film, something I really loved about the first film. There's obviously a bit more going down in this second instalment but the heart of the first film is still there even with new Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor on board.

Let's start with the acting, as with all Marvel casting so far, everybody is perfect in their roles. Especially Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston who you couldn't imagine anyone else in their roles as Thor and Loki, their chemistry on screen is even better again and every scene with two becomes the highlights of the film. In villain duties is Christopher Eccleston as Malekith who does a decent job but his performance lacks being memorable, not by fault of his own but my fault of yet another underwritten villain who's plan is essentially to destroy everything, again. One of my favourite characters though is Heimdall played by Idris Elba who gets even more kick ass action in this film. 

That's one of the best things about Thor 2, the really cool moments that see your favourite character do something so cool it makes you nerd out. Early in you know you are in for a good ride when Thor jumps off a balcony twists grabs his hammer and flies away. There are loads of moments like this which make for a really enjoyable watch. This is something Iron Man 3 failed to deliver on apart from the end scene with all the suits but that was unfortunately mostly spoiled in the trailers. Like Iron Man 3 though Thor 2 is very funny but it never feels like a comedy. Unfortunately a few of the joke do fall a bit flat. 

We also get to see the continuation of Marvel writing some stronger roles for it's female characters. They're not fully there yet but I sure would soon like to see a film with female superhero lead soon. Thor's mum Frigga is one of these strong characters and even gets her own fight scene that turns out to be one of the best of the film. Natalie Portman's Jane Foster is still a bit of a damsel in distress but has no fear of standing up to the likes of Loki and even Odin. A love triangle between Thor, Sif and Jane is also hinted at but never really goes anywhere.

The film itself looks great! The use of real sets and locations really makes a difference and something I imagine Alan Taylor had some doing with. The fights are more epic and everything is dirtied up a bit. Saying that Thor is not going down a Nolan esque route with being dark and gritty, far from it actually, in fact it's a very fun and moving adventure film. The visual effects were also great and the whole film looked awesome!

A few dodgy lines and acting aside, Thor: The Dark World is a great ride and really delivered a lot higher than what I expected it to. The story is great and has some great unexpected twists and a lot of fan service. There is a lot of teasing of the future of phase 2 and beyond, so much so that you will hope they announce a Thor 3 soon! Remember to stay for the mid credits and post credits sequence! I really, really loved this film and I can see it becoming one of my favourites of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s not without its flaws but you sure do get one hell of a Thor film that leaves you wanting more, therefore I am giving it a rating of 4/5.

I think Alan Taylor really brought something special to the Marvel universe and it is unfortunate that due to rumoured disagreements with the studio and few suspicious answers to questions during the junket for this film that he most likely won't be back. However the bar has been raised for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Guardians of the Galaxy.

What did you think of the film? Do you agree with me or disagree completely? Let me know in the comments below.

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