Joker Is a New Type of Superhero Film – For Better and For Worse
Joker is the first film to deliver on the promise of a different kind of superhero film.
Why Avengers: Infinity War is a Different Kind of Marvel Movie
The divisive reaction to Avengers: Infinity War is explained by how it differs from its MCU forebears. Beware: spoilers!
Thor Ragnarok Finds the Balance Between Waititi Silliness and MCU Formula
Thor Ragnarok is half Taika Waititi film – funny, digressive, unpredictable – and half Thor film – mired in tiresome Norse mythology and following the MCU formula note-for-note.
Welcome to the World of Tomorrow! – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is everything its predecessor should have been. That doesn’t make it a masterpiece, but it’s pretty fun.
New Blood in a Deteriorating Body: Logan
At this point, a superheo film eschewing setting up spinoffs and post-credit scenes in favour of robust character development feels almost revolutionary.
Star Trek Beyond Boldly Goes Where Sci-Fi Films Have Gone Before
The third instalment in the Trek reboot embraces its inherent whimsicality. However, the narrative is all too familiar, borrowing numerous tropes from similar films in the sci-fi genre.
Deadpool and the Search for a Truly Subversive Superhero Movie
If Deadpool had come out in 2006 – before Iron Man kicked the superhero boom into top gear – it might’ve been a genuinely subversive superhero film. The film – which sees Ryan Reynolds make his fourth attempt at pulling off the superhero shtick (if you count Blade III) – is definitely trying to subvert…
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Avengers: Age of Ultron is, for better or worse, the culmination of Marvel Studios’ approach to commercial cinema. By this stage, their much-discussed directorial departures – Patty Jenkins from Thor: The Dark World, Edgar Wright from Ant-Man – and the homogeneity of their output make it clear that this is about as far from auteurist…
Unpacking 2014’s Blockbusters
If you want to talk about the experience of the average moviegoer in 2014, you need to talk about blockbusters. Boyhood might be the recipient of cascades of praise from critics and award bodies alike at the moment, and stands a solid chance of picking up the Best Picture at the Academy Awards. And yet,…
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy promises the kind of irreverent disdain for blockbuster norms that founded the Marvel Studios juggernaut, way back when they handed the reins to Mr. Favreau and Mr. Downey Jr. It features an unapologetically weird crew of intergalactic outlaws – green-skinned princesses and rocket-wielding raccoons – in an unapologetically weird universe mined…
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