The Incredibles (2004)

 

The Incredibles' are Pixar's sixth animated feature length movie and the 3rd film to garner the company an Oscar win. In total the animated studio has collected 10 academy awards for feature length movies, Finding Nemo was their first. This film received 4 nominations and took home 2, best animated feature film, and best sound editing.   Pixar was originally owned by Lucas Films but sold off to Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) to cover the massive loss Lucas films endured with Howard the Duck (1986), while investing heavily and amassing debt to create his Skywalker ranch. Ironically enough 20 years later Pixar  would slowly return home in 2006, for a deal believed to be a 7.4 billion dollar purchase.  As Disney purchased the company and shortly thereafter its founder Lucas films in 2012 for an estimated 4 billion dollars.  

The Incredibles was the first superhero themed animated movie to win an Oscar, the genre would not be recognized for a full decade until Big Hero 6, and again  4 years later with Spiderman: into the spider-verse winning the Oscar gold in 2019.  These films captures the imagination with visual effects and and unprecedented imagination  and it  took almost as long to make as to win.  Jason Lee who was the voice the for Buddy/Syndrome spent only 4 days in a sound booth .  While Craig T. Nelson who was the voice of Bob/ Mr. Incredible took nearly 2 years to complete.  It seems that the approach with Pixar  is that the story is more important than the animation, but being an multiple academy award wining and leading animation studio in the entire world, animation is what they are the very best at. 

The film's story is the bedlam of the animation. Usually delving deep, telling an emotional story of the family dynamic with the dilemma of a family coping in suburban life. Running the risk of being uprooted from witness relocation as their past lives calls back hauntingly. Inside Out  and UP  also gave a real life emotional story to connect with its audience, as the Incredibles gave you the everyday husband and wife / nuclear family going through  past regret and family struggles as their kids go through their own coming of age moments.

The Incredibles is many regards is an awakening for each character beyond it being a superhero film, but when it becomes just a superhero film the movie goes full out to tell an amazing story with an orchestrated explosive score to accompany the action.  An example to best illustrate this remark was when the son Dash discovers he can run on water and with unbridled passion. Its race through a wild jungle and a discovery of levels of excitement.

Venom

Venom on a beach with Spiderman's masked skull in hand uttering "Spiderman alas I killed him well".

From Amazing Spiderman 347, re-iterating an infamous misquoted Hamlet line. The issue takes place after the full completed story arc of the first time Spiderman and Venom had ever fought where the only way to get rid of Eddie Brock and the Symbiote from Peter Parker's life was to make them think they had won.  With Spiderman dead leaving the lethal protector contented with life left on a tropical beach away from New York and the rest of the civilized world. That was until the first emergence of Carnage and Spiderman's desperate need of this lethal enemy who would know how to stop him. Using the logic of my enemy's enemy is my friend. 

That issue was released way back in 1991.  Fast forward to 2021 a deleted scene of Venom Let there be carnage has Eddie and Venom happy on a beach, with the defeat of their latest enemy Carnage.  The difference now being the enemy to bring them back into civilization is the emergence of Spiderman.

As much as the MCU, and their Marvel adapted properties forge ahead with great success; Their designed remains cyclical, Marvel comics has a treasure trove of stories and crossovers spanning well over 50 years that can provide a blueprint to keep historic readers happy and engage the newest fan onto the big screen. The post credit scene of this recent  Venom  movie offers an example of that cross-section.  While setting up what will be Spiderman's No way home, a continuing expanding endeavor of Marvel Studios, in partnership with Sony pictures.  The recent No Way Home trailer can also show how the chaos can possible lead into the multiverse of madness.

Venom,  the Sony pictures' theatrical release, had its debut on the big screen in the fall of 2018, offering  the world the emergence of  Eddie Brock a failed reported and an Alien Symbiote known as Venom, in a world without Spiderman.  Venom Let there Be Carnage offers us the same world without a Spiderman, as Venom's greatest adversary Carnage emerges, An offspring who's host was as deadly and unpredictable as it's alien counterpart. Like any good story, the villain, be it Eddie Brock or Cletus Kasady (aka Carnage), the villain rarely sees themselves as a villain, they are in fact the hero of their own story.  Cletus was denied the love of his life, a Romeo and Juliet story with both characters  sentenced to death to be forever apart.  

Let there be Carnage keeps some of it's comic book origin. Cletus was in prison and bonded with Venom's offspring.  The screenwriters just shuffled the how and why Brock/Venom would be in prison next to Cletus in order for this to happen. Characters like Anne Weying, Riot, Shriek, Carlton Drake, She-Venom were all characters that existed in the comic book lore.  As Sony picture's sandbox of legally owned  characters are tied only to the spider-verse.  In truth they possess only a finite set of characters in which to tell these stories without Spiderman. , As Sony's number one Marvel export  is given a opportunity to be shared within the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. while quietly offering  a world where his friendly neighborhood league of characters like Morbius and Vulture can exist, but told in pocket corners of the world.

A question remains. What is Venom now with the emergence of Spiderman? We were given an anti-hero without a Spiderman,  As we have no origin or connection to the webslinger, what does the future hold? Can Venom play nice and work with Spiderman,  as Eddie continues to try to control the ethical dilemma of eating brains of alleged bad guys.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

With a tie in to the Endgame finale, Ant-man and the Wasp saw over a 100 million dollar increase in their world wide box office revenue,  when comparing to it's original film. Director Peyton Reed who helmed both films, maintained that the formula of each film's success is good storytelling and compelling characters, the special effects and smash 'em up troupes come a distant third.

In story, there was a 2 year span between the conclusion of the original Ant-man film  and when Ant-man and the Wasp begins.  During that time Scott Lang joined Captain America in Civil War, was re-incarcerated, did a year in house arrest; meanwhile the government learned of Hank Pym's technology and activites of the Ant-man suit. That admission of knowledge has now brought fourth  criminal charges for both he and his daughter, As they find themselves on the run for unlawful acts in the midst of the superhero registration act, and Sokovia Accords. 

For the most part, the Ant-man stories is not widely regarded as top tier MCU viewing, but in Marvel Studio's defense  the first film out-performed with world wide box office records when compared to either the first Captain America movie or first Thor Movie.  The film also puts in the forefront the family dynamic, something no other film of the first 3 phases has made a point to do.  Ant-man and the Wasp displays elaborate set pieces, 2 great chase sequences and an extremely imaginative special effects to view the everyday world, but the sum of it parts is the family dynamic, with having the audience invested by showing us a relationship between fathers and daughters. Its what connects the audience on a personal level, while injecting humor into their story. 

Hope's mother Janet was never seen in the first film, but was prominent in it's storytelling, acting  more of a specter, that drives Hank Pym and his daughter apart.  Unable to reveal her superhero deeds that cost Janet her life in the 80's. Hank inadvertently pushes his daughter away while burying himself in his work to rescue Janet from the quantum realm.  Fast forward 20+ years, the relationship between Hope and Hank becomes increasingly fractured, until Scott manages to come back from the Quantum realm and sparks a renewed optimism of Janet's survival and rescue. With a fresh pair of eyes to see what Hank might have missed; Hope, Hank and their legion of controlled ants work endlessly to rescue Janet, and in doing so renew the bonds of father and daughter.

Scott and Cassie approaches' the father and daughter connection from a different angle. they have a strong loving bond to start with. It was Scott's incarceration in the first film, that made him work at Baskin Robins and try anything and everything to be there for his daughter. Desperately wanting to make up for loss time while in prison Scott's life is devoted to being there for Cassie.  In the opening of this movie we have Scott maintaining house arrest for the past year,  while in captivity he has created an elaborate
Michel Gondry playground for him and his daughter to connect in.  His involvement with Hank and Hope in the first film stemmed from his need to be with his daughter Cassie. Here we open up wanting to put that chapter in his life behind and as he is just a  week away from getting out of house arrest.

There is a point in the story that Hank turns to fellow scientist Dr. Bill Foster played by Laurence Fishburne for aid; Conversely Fishbourne's character has a sense of moral obligation as he secretly  fosters a young woman named Ava. Determine to cure her condition  Bill's commitment to surrogacy, showcases the idea of parental sacrifices, as is this case of adoptive father to a daughter.  Similar in set up to MCU villain   Killmonger there is  pathos and legitimacy behind  their motivations, however their methods are what is misguided.  From flag-smashers terrorists in Falcon & Winter Soldier  to  Thanos wanting save the universe from a over-population ,depleted resources, and inevitable extinction.  The implications are good, but methods are radically unacceptable. Humanizing the character, understanding their position, and watching the acts through their eyes is something DC has not yet mastered.

Black Widow (2021)

 

In the comics, when Black Widow made her first appearance two Bond films had already been out in theatres - Dr. No and From Russia with Love. The release of Goldfinger was set to hit on September 1964, just a few months after Widow's comic book debut . Tales of Suspense issue #52 (April 1964), and it is obvious that many characteristics were shared with Ian Fleming's Tatiana Romanaova, the Soviet Army corporal officer instructed to send Bond to his doom.

In the beginning the Romanoff character was an alluring agent, shifting evening wear and alliances with the avengers, it was the better part of this century that she has been evolved into a symbol for feministic ideals, thanks in large part to the portrayal of the MCU's writing and character development,  and largely by her inhabiting star Scarlett Johansson.

Secure in weaponizing her femininity, fighting skill, counter interrogation of psychological profiling & manipulation, Black Widow is a formidable assassin, removed of compromise thanks to the Red Room. An institution who creates élite Assassins or Black Widows and graduates them with sterilization to remove the maternal instinct, for a  pure unrelenting  killer instinct. Her character defected to become a shield agent then promoted to becoming an Avenger thanks to Nick Fury's hiring, but positioned secondary to its Trinity of leading heroes, Her Budapest counter assassin Hawkeye were regulated as supporting characters for the majority of phase 1 & 2 within the MCU.  These assassins were given more fleshed out backstory in The Age of Ultron, with Clint Barton being a family man, and Natasha a lonely, but beautiful monster on par with Banner's disposition of without having ties or relationships.

This film maps out when she was taken to the Red Room, the same time Carol Danvers became Captain Marvel and met Nick Fury in 1995. Natasha was a sleeper agent in Ohio, USA, discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. and fled back to Russia, to be enrolled into the Red Room/Black Widow program at the age of  9. The film quietly supports the concept of a time variant. Captain America went back  in time to return all infinity stones, before anyone realizes they were gone.  In those time jumps he himself was respectively frozen under water, Red Guardian in the movie claims to have fought Captain America in the 1980's which would make Alexi amongst his fellow prison inmates a liar, but of his conviction in his story holds some truth as Steve never returned to his present and decided to live throughout time hidden with Peggy Carter.  Quietly being once again a man out of time, but by choice, not to disrupt the timeline.

The Black Widow movie fits between a period of time, after the events of Civil War, but before Infinity War, and concludes with the moments leading to the team breaking out from the raft.  Like Tatiana Romanaova, she finds herself attracted to her British spy and lethally was willing to save his life at the cost of ending hers. Although Taitana died at the hands of her Boss, Natasha is wanted fugitive, but sacrifices herself in Infintiy War so that Clint Barton and his family could live.

Runaways SEASON Three

 The Hulu original programming series comes to an end at Season 3, with the introduction of a new villain Morgan le Fay, and finding closure from story arcs that expanded the entire length of the series. The show says goodbye to a talented cast who has made these wayward teens so enduring to us a viewing audience.

Morgan le Fay is a character that Marvel has acquired the rights since the late seventies/early eighties, A magical nemesis of Arthurian legend.  In the comics, Morgan has battled the Avengers and Spiderwoman on both the astral plane and on a grounded reality.  Here she is played by an enchanting Elizabeth Hurley, a model turned actress who for over the past three decades have racked up an impressive acting resume, from Austin Powers to the Raquel Welch remake Bedazzled, in which she played the devil incarnate. To encapsulating the British monarchy and high society in both The Royals and Gossip Girl. It's to Elizabeth Hurley's credit that gives this version of Morgan  le Fay the right balance of being both an enigma and a presence of dark corruptible magic.

The alien race taking human host to live among us comes to surprising end, this season poses the question of  how beings of light who are superior to humans handle a new force comprised of a dark dimension, Light and absolute Darkness cannot co-exist, The show talks about a prophecy, and introduces the teens to a shape-shifting alien. In the mix, there are characters like Nico and Gertz who are dealing with internal struggles of darkness, from mental health and darkness as a pure literally sense from within

The show, manages to use the above mentioned elements and cannibalize its own story arcs into one final battle arc that sees many characters giving subtle closure, by which end,  should the series decide to go into a spin off.  There would be a landscape of characters and ideas that could be revisited and mined if the show were to carry on.  However, after battling the big bad, and unleashing a hidden darkness  from within the group.  The final episode takes place in the year 2022, sharing a fate similar to that of Marvel's Endgame or more closely to Back to the future. The teens revisit themselves at the beginning of the series, and gives us one last exciting adventure a la
days of future's past while give our heroes an anecdotal swan song, that leaves room for possible outcomes and very expected turns.  

Thor: Ragnorak (2017)

 In a interview, Hemsworth indicated that his professional acting job has taken a toll on his personal life, his daughter walked away from him at a parent and child function at school, while he was only there for her in a capacity of a cameo appearance due to commitments to go back to Hollywood for a few more months to be Thor after being gone for nearly half that year already.  

Thor Ragnarok was shot almost entirely in Australia giving the Aussie the opportunity to spend his nights at home with his family and make up for time lost, and repair the strenuous relationship he had put on his family.  Director Taika Waititi also a fellow Aussie pitched a compelling story for this third installment to the producers at Marvel, and with his gift for writing and understanding the balance of comedy he played to Hemsworth comedic strength as seen on the remakes of Ghostbusters and National Lampoons vacation. 

 About month into production Taika and Hemsworth shot series of short films or more commonly known as one-shots; being self aware of the questions being generated amongst fans of why Thor wasn't in Civil War,  Thor 3 had gone into production as Civil War was released in theatres, the shorts were titled Team Thor, near the conclusion of production Taika shot the post credit scene for Doctor Strange , with Stephen Strange and Thor seated having a discussion, it is also of note this was the only time in MCU history that Strange has worn his comic book trade mark yellow gloves.  The Director of Doctor Strange Scott Derrickson thought the scene was perfect as it shows the progression of the character leaping from origins into the more wilder world of the MCU.

Critics and fans praise the film for being a refreshing boost to the character and arguably the crown jewel to the then trilogy of films. Thor Ragnarok did not however crack into the billion dollar mark at the box office, it was just shy of under 200 million dollars.    

To put into some perspective it took just over 10 days of release for the movie's worldwide box office total to surpass Justice League's complete box office total. Considering the movie was released one month before the Justice League debut.

Jessica Jones SEASON Three

 

Its a thrilling and bitter sweet conclusion to a well written and directed series, that saw it's star Krysten Ritter direct her very first episode and technically it was one of the more creative, having a nice training montage that incorporating the most cameras used for a scene than any other show of Marvel Netflix series ,and having a technique in storytelling stemming from Kurosawa's  "Rashomon" where its a  retelling of the same story from a completely different point of view, before getting introduced into the main villain of the season.

With hints of Fincher's Seven; Jessica Jones has met her Moriarty in Gregory Salinger a Dexter Morgan type serial killer, who has mastered every conceivable angle for a crime and manipulation to attack back without getting legally caught. Known to the comic book world as Fool Killer, Jessica also finds herself getting into a real relationship with Eric, a Daredevil villain in the comic books known as Mindwave.  Eric in this season has a superpower of sensing evil in others and uses that to swindle money from others.  The season, brings back Trish and Jessica  from an unforgiveable act from season two, only to be tested again on an almost reciprocal way.  The darkness and misdeeds of Malcolm, Jeri and Trish will be atoned for in their own special way as the series progresses, and Trish's mother Dorothy Walker has the most surprising reveal of all, not just borrowing from a chilling cliffhanger episode  from Dexter; but a revealing hidden truth of her daughter is brought into light that makes you question how much sympathy and blame can be given to this overbearing Hollywood mother.

Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg was planning to exit the series after the third season before getting the news of the series cancellation. Rosenberg has always wrote the first and final episode of every season of Jessica Jones seasons;  and now learning of the show's demise Rosenberg had enough time to craft the final episode to give the show its tonal send off  in the right way and end it just as it began.  Similarly to that of Dexter's season 1 finale vs its series finale, Dexter was given a choice to save his sister or choose a life with his brother. In the finale Dexter chooses the path not initially taken.  With Jessica Jones, she was given the choice of fight of flight, and a ticket to go, but does Jessica choose the path not initially taken?