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Comic book movies II: the Richard Donner cut


Bellenda Carlisle

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Anyone watching Falcon and the Winter Soldier? I’ve enjoyed the first two episodes. I’m not big in to Anthony Mackie who seems like a capable actor but a bit of a charisma vacuum however I like the extra layers they’re giving him even if Marvel handling racism in America is about as subtle as a brick. Interested to see what they do with Wyatt Russell too. I like him as off-brand cap and with super serum knocking about there’s some possibilities.

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16 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Anyone watching Falcon and the Winter Soldier? I’ve enjoyed the first two episodes. I’m not big in to Anthony Mackie who seems like a capable actor but a bit of a charisma vacuum however I like the extra layers they’re giving him even if Marvel handling racism in America is about as subtle as a brick. Interested to see what they do with Wyatt Russell too. I like him as off-brand cap and with super serum knocking about there’s some possibilities.

Yeah I've really enjoyed the first two episodes. Far more traditional Marvel than WandaVision really but that's okay. Suits these characters more. Nice to slow the pace down a bit and get some more insight into them after the huge events that happened before.

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I watched the first episode and didn't like it, I watched the second one and enjoyed it a lot more. More Bucky please. I hate the new Captain America, I really really hope he doesn't stick around too long. I want to punch him the face. His sidekick seems more palatable.

 

I've started watching the Snyder cut of Justice League, we are about half way through it. Its marginally better than the other version but not much so far. It makes a lot more sense as everything is more fleshed out but good God some of the dialogue is so so cheesy, and parts of the slow-mo filming make me feel like I'm watching a telenovela. Overall I feel this will be a wasted 4 hours but I don't have much better to do when my baby is napping so I'll watch it till the end.

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I'm really enjoying the performances in Falcon & Winter Soldier, and I'm liking how it gives us more time exploring Sam and Bucky beyond just being Steves mates. But the actual storytelling is so clunky it keeps pulling me out of it. 

@Mr_Danger Wash that Anthony Mackie diss out of your mouth!

Edited by Lorne Malvo
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I don't know what version of Falcon and the Winter Soldier you're watching, but Mackie's the only thing holding this slog together.

We're persevering because we're MCU completists, but this show cookie cutter and tonally all over the place. Bad buddy cop movie, socio-political commentary, MCU-lite - it has scenes and lines in totally different styles and tones banging into each other, without the incident, intrigue or wit to paper over the joins.

What's worse is that, for a show promoted on addressing race and symbolism, they've given Mackie absolutely nothing to work with. Hell, they gave him Captain Osiris' back story from Tropic Thunder. At times, it feels like someone watched 48 Hrs and rather than seeing two chalk and cheese characters solving a thrilling case, they went to Stan and Mackie and said, "OK, so you're Nick Nolte, and you're... (Peter Griffin voice) A Black Guy."

It's now about 90 minutes (ie a movie) into the series, and I'm still not sure who the antagonists are, what the goal is, and what the stakes are. There's been lots of name checking and character work, but it's all talk. Isaiah Bradley's story could've been a whole flashback or even an entire episode, so we can experience the horrors he went through, but instead we got a single line of dialogue (albeit acted at 150% capacity by a brilliant Carl Lumbly) and then straight onto a BIG ISSUE scene of systemic racism. The fact I rolled my eyes at a scene depicting a very real social injustice is a very bad thing.

Longstanding characters make very dumb choices, as if decades of their lives never happened. People casually taunt killing machines strapped to weapons of mass destruction. Former enemies of the state can stroll into secure government facilities whenever they want, and contractors can whizz off in military aircraft for unauthorised side quests. Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn prove that two gorgeous parents can produce one ugly kid.

It's everything the Netflix shows were criticized for, but on a better budget with Feige's name on it.

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I dunno about all that, you have a point but my Marvel bar is pretty low to start with. As I said the race stuff is heavy handed but I’m not expecting kids super hero stuff to make me stop and think. Its just part of Falcon’s build to being the new Captain America which will be pretty shit and I’d much prefer he did his own thing. Bucky is the more compelling character but it’s not like Sebastian Stan is pulling up any three’s in the leading man category so for them both to come across as a bigger deal than they are in this is a pleasant surprise. It’s Saturday morning fluff.

The impromptu couples therapy was wank though and I agree with that aspect being cringingly forced. 

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I never really watched the Netflix shows so not too aware of the criticisms but I've not had any issues with the show. Neither are particularly characters I've been that fussed about previously but I'm enjoying the extra time with them and feel like I'm getting some good insight into where they are, how the bigger picture issues have impacted them and their own personal issues too. Is it a subtle top notch character driven drama? No, but I never expected it to be either. So it's enjoyable enough for me.

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I've found it very dull and heavy-handed so far. The relationship between Falcon and Winter Soldier just isn't remotely believable, there's no sense of them having any shared experience beforehand - and, from the movies, they really don't have any, they haven't earned the relationship as they're trying to depict it, and it's full of forced Marvel sub-Whedon "witty banter". 

There's potential for good stories to be told with the characters they're setting up in the early going, but it's a slog getting there, and it's hard to get invested in the characterisation when you know the only likely pay-off is a final episode extended CGI fight scene the same as every Marvel third act yet, including Wandavision.

The only good thing is that the new Captain America is a very convincing smarmy prick. 

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Struggling to get through the Snyder Cut. I’ve tapped out at the part they decide to resurrect Supeman. It’s infinitely more watchable than its original incarnation but there’s a bit that sums up my thoughts where they make a torch and it shows individual shots of the process, stick, rag, oil, matches, light it. Probably would have made a decent 2 hour film if someone else edited it funnily enough.

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42 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Struggling to get through the Snyder Cut. I’ve tapped out at the part they decide to resurrect Supeman. It’s infinitely more watchable than its original incarnation but there’s a bit that sums up my thoughts where they make a torch and it shows individual shots of the process, stick, rag, oil, matches, light it. Probably would have made a decent 2 hour film if someone else edited it funnily enough.

it's the last hour that ramps it up, but I am 100% in agreement that just because you have enough footage for a 4 hour film, doesn't mean you should have a 4 hour cut of a film. It would of made a fine 4 part tv series, but would have made a great 2 hour film.

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