Martin Scorsese once said Marvel movies isn’t cinema. Not that I have a strong opinion on whether movies such as Avengers: Endgame is cinema or not, it’s just that, I thought it’s cool to mention Martin Scorsese in the first line. That said, maybe you could say that Zack Snyder’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a step towards making comic book movies “cinema”, considering the length and the aspect ratio (4:3). At least much more than any of Marvel’s recent tentpoles, right? I mean, it’s grueling four hours long. That’s like, half the length of Lav Diaz’ Melancholia!
Whatever. What I’m really trying to say is, I’m just kind of tired of them. Superhero movies, comic book movies. Anything Marvel. Not that I’m actively avoiding anything made by them, I’m just not actively checking or following any of their new products, or anything that’s in development. I wasn’t even remotely excited for WandaVision. I only got curious with that big reveal the show was said to building up to near the end, which is the only reason I half-heartedly watched it. And I’m definitely not in any way intrigued with what they have in store for that series with Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a.k.a Marvel’s most boring character.
I thought WandaVision was just sufficient. In a way that it demonstrated how Marvel could improve in developing their characters using the TV series format as opposed to the movies i.e., again Bucky Barnes, the most underwritten character in the MCU. But then, there’s the problem again that one has to watch every related tie-in, whether a series on Disney+ or a movie, just so it would be easy to follow and make sense of everything, once the big crossover comes along. But if you don’t like bothering with the series, then it becomes “for the fans only” once gain and the casual fans would have to play catch-up.
Not that there isn’t any superhero-related show or movie that I’ve enjoyed watching recently. I thought last year’s Season 2 of The Boys was great. Better than most movies from either DC or Marvel. Psychokinesis (2018), which is on Netflix, is really good. It’s about a man who accidentally acquires telekinesis. When he tried to win back his estranged daughter, he ended up helping her and a group of people fighting back against a megacorporation who wants to demolish their small business establishments to put up a big shopping center. It’s a superhero movie that reminded me of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies, in that it’s more character-driven. And it’s a movie where using superhero powers has real-life consequences, unlike in the those too-safe for kids and plot-driven MCU movies.
Not really a comic book or superhero movie, but The Lone Ranger (2013), considered to be the biggest flop of all time, I actually liked, like a lot. At more than 2 hours, it’s still terribly long, but I enjoyed the movie’s third act, way way more than in any of the last five movies from Marvel. And I thought Johnny Depp as Tonto was OK, fun, regardless of some issues some people may have (i.e., whitewashing). And I thought I got that “kimosabe means wrong brother” joke. The title character’s love interest is his brother’s widow.
That said, I also understand why the movie flopped and got generally bad reviews. The title character, I would say, is semi-obscure, when compared with any superhero. And the movie’s basically a Western. And I think the impression that this is just a “Pirates of the Carribean” re-hash but with cowboys and Indians is not entirely wrong. Even though it came out six years after the overlong Pirates threequel At the World’s End, maybe audience were already tired of watching Johnny Depp doing basically the same thing, which is also not entirely wrong either.
But if you’ve already forgotten much of At the World’s End and Dead Man’s Chest, like me, and you loved the Lone Ranger character as a kid, again, like me, then there’s a chance that The Lone Ranger would come off as something, maybe not really “fresh”, but something watchable at least—maybe more than watchable. What I’m saying is, I really enjoyed it. Especially the part where the William Tell overture is finally played.
Not really excited for anything related to superhero these days. There’s no pressure to watch Zack Snyder’s latest masterpiece. Nor do I care what would happen to Joss Whedon’s future projects (if any), after those allegations. I still think The Avengers and Serenity hold up pretty well. I’m not really excited for anything comic book right now.
EXCEPT FOR THIS. The trailer for which, just came out last night.
And maybe this. Not really comic book movie but…
superuselessf*ckingreviews 