Batson's Blog

All the controversy about Captain Marvel . Who knew? If you've been paying attention to Twitter and other forms of social media, you probably did know about it. I heard bits and pieces a couple of weeks ago, but didn't bother to give it much research. I did take a look at the reports. I guess actress Brie Larson said while she was on a press tour promoting the movie that she wanted more diversity (specifically women) in the reviewers who get to see movies early. I can see why that may make some people upset. But then she clarified and said that she's not asking to take anyone's seat away from the table --- just asking for more to be added. I don't see an issue with that. That's a good way to put it. Then people tried to bomb the movie on Rotten Tomatoes, which caused the website to make some changes. Ehh, it is what it is. Let's get to the movie (no spoilers in this review). First, I really liked the way the movie handled the flashb...

Most of these movies, of course, are super hero movies. But as each year passes and more and more super hero movies are released, the genre keeps re-inventing itself. They have to in order to stay relevant and successful. I don't know if all of these innovations will work, but we'll find out. The New Mutants Kicking off this list is March's latest X-Men movie: The New Mutants. Unlike other X-Men movies, this one is basically a horror movie. The initial preview I saw didn't impress me too much. It seemed a little bit normal in terms of horror movies. But it's the first horror movie of the super hero genre. We'll see how it goes, but I'm thinking it won't be the biggest box office hit, straying too far from the formula that makes super hero movies work. Will I still go see it? Yeah, probably. Tomb Raider I was surprised that they were remaking Tomb Raider, but I guess it has been 14 years since the last Tomb Raider, featur...

In the day and age of epic Avengers movies and Batman vs. Superman , it seems that ensemble superhero movies are the new norm. You have Hulk apparently appearing in the next Thor movie.  The Flash appeared in an episode of last season's Supergirl . Superman (not Henry Cavill) is going to be making appearances in this season of Supergirl . Then you have Ghost Rider appearing in this season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D . In Season 2 of Daredevil , you had Elektra and The Punisher making appearances. Even Deadpool had a little crossover assistance from Colossus (because Fox couldn't afford to get any big names, as Deadpool stated in the movie). That's a lot of crossover situations there. I'm thrilled, as a fan. It's fun to see different superheroes interact with each other and it really stirs up the storylines. It got me thinking though: are there any superheroes left who could carry a television show or box office on their own? The X-Me...

I went to see Captain America: Civil War on opening day and, I have to say, it was great! Yet another good outing for Marvel here. Let's get this out of the way right away: stay until the end -- the very end. There are mid and post-credit scenes. Also, no spoilers here, so don't worry. There were only a couple of minor nitpicks, but, outside of that, I’m not complaining. So I'm not even going to mention those.  They were very minor. I didn’t really know what to expect --- other than the fact that Cap’ does battle with Iron Man, which the previews indicated.  I’m well aware that there’s a popular graphic novel with the Civil War concept, but, growing up, I never bought that many comic books – not the newer ones anyway.  I wasn’t familiar with much of the Civil War story arc.  I did briefly Wikipedia the comic book version of Civil War about a year ago, but I didn’t want to spoil the movie, so I didn’t read too much about it. I’ve seen all of Marv...

DC vs. Marvel. The Green Lantern and C aptain America: The First Avenger . I haven’t seen a superhero movie that I haven’t liked so I figured The Green Lantern and Captain America were two good choices. ( Warning! Superhero geek mark-out mode here) Batman will always be the best, but I remember wanting a shield like Captain America when I was five-years-old. I started off with The Green Lantern . As big a fan of the comic book heroes as I am, the Green Lantern is one back-story I wasn’t familiar with. I knew he had the ring and it had some sort of power, but, beyond that, I didn’t have a clue what to expect. Unfortunately it fell a little short of what I would’ve liked. It was a little more corny than epic, a little more predictable than exciting and, with the heavy use of computer animation, a little more video game than movie. It felt a little bit like they were going through the motions with this one. Ryan Reynolds was a good choice for the part, but it seems he wa...