Tag Archives: 2019

Avengers: Endgame Review (Spoiler Free)

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endgame

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has spanned 11 years, starting with Ironman and built several billion dollar franchises as new movies have been released each year. All of these movies have accumulated into major crossover event films known as The Avengers. Endgame is the fourth and biggest of these Avenger films. After the major cliffhanger in last year’s Avengers: Infinity War, this movie seeks to conclude the Infinity War arc. Have the years of build up over a decade of films lead to an epic finale, or did it devolve into a convoluted mess?

The Good:

  1. Since the great “ah snap” moment from Infinity War, the cast was reduced significantly from the last film which actually worked to its benefit. My problem with the last movie was that there were too many people interacting with interacting plot points. Granted, Infinity War was more cohesive than it should have been; but Endgame was a lot more focused and structured than the previous movie.
  2. Due to the focused narrative and structure, it doesn’t feel like a 3-hour long movie. I know many people worry when movies get that long, but it doesn’t feel it’s length.
  3. You get some great character interactions and solid jokes here and there. While the bulk of the main cast is OG Avengers (Ironman, Captain America, Thor) you do get a few of the newcomers like Antman, Rocket, and Nebula adding their own flair to the OG cast.
  4. Get ready for some major hype moments, the third act climax is easily the most epic sequence in any Marvel movie.
  5. I thought the conclusions of many of the character arcs developed over the past decade were quite satisfying. And no, I don’t count that as spoilers since “conclusions” is still ambiguous.

The Bad:

  1. Not all the characters were treated equally as there was one I felt may have regressed a bit (even though I understand why, it only feels like they haven’t learned anything in the past films).
  2. Due to the nature of the movie, there’s a lot that is open in the way of plot holes. It can’t be avoided though, they made a fine effort to plug in the holes that they could.

Awkward Walk-In Rating: 2/5

I would say that its a far darker film than we have seen before, especially the first act of the film. If you saw Infinity War you would know why. It also seemed to be much more violent than past Marvel films, with a bit more gratuitous details that might be pushing it for younger kids.

Overall:

Endgame is much better than Infinity War was. Due to the aforementioned structure that the previous movie was lacking: it was easier to follow, everything flowed better and the cast had more time to develop their characters with a clear goal in mind. It isn’t a perfect movie but I am much more impressed with this film then I have been the other Avenger films. The first one is fun and novel as it was the first movie of its kind on that grand a scale. But I’m not as enamored to the other Avenger films. This one may be the best one overall though. But time will tell if this movie becomes a classic.

I tried to be as vague as possible to avoid any major spoilers. There is much more I could talk about. But as we are this close to opening, I won’t mention specifics. One spoiler that I will give you is this: there is no post-credits sequence! Shocking I know, but I also saved you 7 minutes. You’re welcome.

Dragonball Super: Broly Review

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Re-imagined Broly, not only more powerful but more interesting

It’s the first proper movie review of 2019, and it’s not even Glass! Instead it’s a movie that I have more hype for than Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: Episode 9 combined. Yes, a Dragonball Super movie of all things. Let it be known I’ve been on a Dragonball kick since late 2017, having watched Dragonball Super, Dragonball Z and Dragonball series since that time. I’m still trying to figure out why I’ve been drawn to it so strongly recently. It might warrant a future blog post.

Anyways, for those of you not familiar with Dragonball, Broly is a movie antagonist that has existed in a semi-canonical state. He is pretty much the DB equivalent of the Hulk and has been a fan-favorite since his first movie. Even though in my opinion, the original Broly movies are not very good. However, this movie marks his first appearance as approved canon with series creator Akira Toriyama writing the movie. Can Toriyama flesh out the classic yet blandly characterized antagonist?

The good:

  1. Easily the best animation in a Dragonball film ever. This film was absolutely stunning with some of the coolest looking power ups and fights in the entire series. Many people have criticized the animation quality of the recent series (Super) and rightfully so. But this movie is the best the series has ever looked.
  2. The film adds a lot of back story to the destruction of the Planet Vegeta, home of the Saiyan race which our main characters come from. Many were worried about the changes that were going to be made, but I felt that the story in the movie is still very much in line with the series. I thought it was fascinating to see that story unfold in a new way.
  3. In the previous movies Broly was nothing more than a meathead with absurd power and anger issues. While I can’t say that the new iteration of Broly is deep or complex, there is something more to him this time around. His motivations are understandable and there is enough humanity in his character to make him likable.
  4. The movie is quite funny at some spots, with some great character moments including Frieza, Vegeta and Bulma. Let’s just say that you won’t expect why the Dragonballs are being gathered this time.
  5. I toughed on the story in several of my points, overall the plot is definitely better than your average Dragonball movie. Motivations are clear, characters act as they should, and it was just fun.

The Bad:

  1. The structure is a bit weird in this movie. This is a minor nitpick mind you. This is very common for Dragonball movies, since the focus is often the fight with the bad guy, the third act is much longer than normal.
  2. A lot of characters are no shows this go around. Again, a minor nitpick, but the focus of this plot is on the Saiyan characters and Frieza. So anyone who isn’t involved was cut out. So favorites like Gohan and Krillin are no where in the movie.
  3. This movie takes place after the tournament of power arc in Dragonball Super, so people who aren’t up-to-date on Dragonball might be a bit confused.

Awkward Walk-In meter:

Other than the fact that people might be weirded out by a bunch of dudes screaming at each other, there’s nothing too graphic or offensive with this movie. One of the Frieza Force soldiers does offer some minor “fan service,” but isn’t explicit enough to get anyone in trouble. This movie was rated PG, mostly for violence. (2/5)

Overall Thoughts:

The Dragonball movies have been fairly “meh” for the most part. However the last three entries have actually felt like actual movies instead of direct-to-tv specials. This one is definitely high up on the top tier Dragonball movies. But is it a good movie in general? There’s a few things that holds it back, namely it is made and directed for Dragonball fans. If you are new to the series, there’s a large learning curve to truly appreciate the movie.

If you are a fan of Dragonball, then you really ought to watch it. I watched it very recently so I’m still high off the hype. Time will tell if the movie holds up (For example: The Last Jedi wouldn’t have made the top 10 of 2017 if I did that list now). But I have a feeling that this will go down as one of, if not, the best Dragonball movie thus far.