Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Luke Cage Season 1

 

The 13-episode first season of Luke Cage was released on Netflix in September of 2016. It was the third of the four Marvel Netflix series (including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist) that exists within, but ancillary to, the Marvel Universe/MCU. It starred Mike Colter, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Alfre Woodard, Mahershala Ali, Frank Whaley, and Erik LaRay Harvey. Rosario Dawson also appears as her character, Claire, who was first introduced in Daredevil. Luke Cage (Colter) made his first appearance in season 1 of Jessica Jones (which is referenced throughout the series) as the owner of a bar. Now, he turns up in Harlem, working in a barber shop and as a dishwasher at a club owned by the local gangster (played by Mahershala Ali). It is partly an origin story for the character and part a fight to take down the local mob, corrupt cops, and politicians, with a bit of a Cane and Abel story and a lot of social commentary thrown in (yes, it does have a take on BLM for any snowflakes out there who cannot handle that). There is no direct tie-in from this storyline to what plays out in The Defenders (which will bring together all the characters from the Netflix shows like The Avengers), but it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger.

The show is well-written and acted. While Mike Colter does much of the heavy lifting, the rest of the cast comprises many great actors, some great character actors and others of more notability. It is a true ensemble cast, however, because when the show aired (and arguably even now), none were really A-list actors (although Mahershala Ali is getting close). While set in NY like the other Netflix shows, it tells its own story and has its own feel.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. The A/V quality is good, but the set is light on extras. It is a bit more than a MOD set, though, as it has a 22-minute roundtable discussion with some of the cast members with interview clips of the showrunners. It was not bad for what was included, but it was not a ton of material. If you are a fan of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, this is definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Daredevil Season 2

 

The 13-episode second season of Daredevil was released on Netflix in 2016. This season packs a lot in, but it really boils down to the two new characters, Frank Castle (AKA, The Punisher), played by John Bernthal, and Electra, played by Elodie Yung. The first part of the season was about Castle going off and killing members of various gangs involved in killing his family, and Daredevil trying to take him down. Mixed in was the storyline involving Elektra, an old flame of Matt Murdock, which ultimately becomes the focus of the last few episodes and leads into The Defenders series, which brings all the characters from the Netflix Marvel series together. Wilson Fisk also makes a couple of appearances from prison and makes clear he is not totally out of the picture. Of course, a key aspect of the story is Matt's balance of real life as a lawyer (made even more complicated by the fact that Foggy now knows his secret), his feelings for Karen (which become even more complicated because of Elektra), and his vigilante activities.

Like season 1, the show is very violent. There are many fight scenes and lots of blood, not to mention language and sex that you do not get in the MCU movies or Agents of Shield. So, it is definitely a more adult show. It continues to be well-written and acted, and with just 13 episodes the season goes by quickly. For those who get the blu-rays, it is just a MOD set. There are no extras or bonus material. So, really, the only reason to get the discs is if you have a collection of the other movies and TV shows and just want this to have it complete or are one of those who prefer physical media over streaming. But, if you only get discs with a lot of bonus material and extra features, you will probably just want to stream this.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Spiderman: Far from Home

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from Homecoming and Endgame, but no major Far From Home giveaways.+++

Spiderman: Far From Home is one of the 2019 films in the massive MCU slate of movies. It stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marissa Tomei, and Jon Favreau (reprising their roles as Peter Parker, MJ, Ned, May, and Happy). It also features MCU alumni Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders (in smaller roles) and brings in Jake Gyllenhaal as the film's antagonist, Quentin Beck/Mysterio. It picks up months after Endgame when the world knows Iron Man, Black Widow, and Vision (and thinks Captain America) are all dead. The snap is referred to in the movie as "the blip" because the people who were snapped out of existence came back to the same place they were instantaneously, as far as they were concerned. May (who, of course, learned Peter's secret at the end of Homecoming) and Peter are using his identity as Spiderman for charitable fundraising, and he is getting ready to go on a summer trip to Europe with his class and has an entire plan to tell MJ how he feels about her. In the process, Peter gets sucked into a mission from Nick Fury involving the character Mysterio, played by Jake Gyllenhall. I will not say too much about the movie itself to keep from giving too much away, even though the trailer gave away a lot, both with footage that ended up in the film and footage that was cut. However, I will say it strikes a good balance between mourning Endgame's events and the first movie's comedic elements. The writing and acting were again great, and it sets up a lot of what is to come.

The 4K set is a two-disc set that includes a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The AV quality of the movie in UHD is wonderful, and it looks and sounds great as you would expect. The extras include previews that play after the disc loads before the main menu pops up. There are some different previews on the 4k disc vs. the regular blu-ray disc, which has all the other extras on it. Then there are deleted/alternate scenes, a gag reel, and multiple behind-the-scenes and making-of clips. It amounts to a little over an hour's worth of material. Overall, it is an excellent continuation of the MCU storyline. Thankfully, the spat between Sony and Disney was resolved so Spiderman stays in the MCU because the movie was clearly setting up a direction for the character which would have had to be scrapped if Marvel lost the rights again. I definitely recommend it.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Avengers Endgame

 

Endgame is the 2019 MCU entry that was the direct sequel to Avengers: Infinity War and a conclusion to the first decade of Marvel movies, which started in 2008 with Iron Man. It stars the main Avengers cast members, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner, all of whom survived Thanos' snap in Infinity War. I will not spoil any specifics for any of the few who may not have seen it by now, but the basic plot is that the team tries to find a way to undo the effects of "the snap," which wiped out half of all life in the universe at the end of Infinity War. It is a great blend of action, dramatic moments, and comedy (mostly involving Thor), and finds a way to tie in many of the moments and characters that have been involved in the MCU throughout the course of the 23 movies. And, even finds a fun way to do a quick shout-out to one of the TV series.

The 4K set is a three-disc set with a UHD disc and two regular Blu-Ray discs. The UHD disc only includes the movie, which looks and sounds outstanding in the UHD format. One of the regular Blu-Rays has the movie with an intro by the directors and can be played with a commentary track featuring the directors and writers of the film. The other regular Blu-Ray disc has all of the extras. There are seven different featurettes, the longest of which is a featurette on Captain America, and the shortest of which is about Thor. Then, there are about five minutes of deleted scenes and a short gag reel. If you are a fan of the other movies, this is a must-get. It is one of the best (if not the best) of the entire group of 23 movies. It is well-written and acted that is funny at times, emotional at times, and action-packed from start to finish.  It is a good send-off for some characters and a good reset point for others. I will not spoil which characters fit into which category, but chances are anyone who has read about the future plans (or attended comic-con) will know.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Venom

 

Venom is a 2018 Sci-Fi action movie starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, and Jenny Slate. It is an MCU-adjacent movie that exists in the world of Spiderman, but the decision was to use it as a stand-alone movie without using the black suit version of Spiderman to introduce Venom (as was done in Spiderman 3). Therefore, in this version, multiple symbionts were brought to Earth from a space mission that killed all but one of the astronauts. They were discovered by the head of the company that funded the mission called Life Sciences (played by Ahmed), who then began experimenting with bonding the symbionts with homeless and drug-addicted humans. Tom Hardy plays Eddie Brock, a former reporter who was fired and now doing freelance work. Of course, one of the symbionts joins with him to form Venom.

The movie is a great blend of action and very dark humor. Because they did not use Spiderman, Venom is introduced as the anti-hero version of the character, doing bad things (mainly eating) bad guys. Michelle Williams plays the ex-wife of Eddie Brock. She does a really great job playing off Tom Hardy and brings a lot of comedy to the movie, which is outside her usual acting roles. The best part of the movie is the discussions/arguments/bickering that goes on between Brock and Venom, mostly in Brock's mind which makes it look to everyone else like he is talking to himself. It also requires Hardy to do a lot of physical comedy, which he turns out to be great at.

The 4K set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. On the UHD disc, there is only the movie and a preview of the movie Into the Spiderverse. All the other extras are on the regular Blu-ray. Those include several deleted scenes, including an extended version of the end credits scene which teases where the next movie will go, assuming it gets made, then about an hour's worth of making of and behind-the-scenes material mixed with some featurettes on the history of the Venom character. So there are a lot of good extras.

I cannot say everyone will like the movie, and it definitely pushes the PG-13 rating to the limit, mostly because of the language. There is a lot of swearing and some sexually suggestive jokes. It is closer to Deadpool than it is to, say, Avengers. But it puts a different twist on the MCU movies and sets up a good possible franchise to exist in that universe. It is worth checking out.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Ant Man and the Wasp

 

Ant-Man and the Wasp is one of the 2018 entries in the MCU slate of movies. It was directed by Peyton Reed. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michael Pena all reprise their roles from the first movie. Walton Goggins, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hannah John-Kamen, and Randall Park are all newly added cast members for this movie. The story is mostly a sequel to Ant-Man, focusing on rescuing Hank's wife (Pfeiffer) from the quantum realm. It is set in the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War with Scott being near the end of a two-year-long house arrest for his violation of the Sokovia accords. He has a dream about Hope's mother/Hank's wife the original wasp Janet Van Dyn, with Hope and Hank springing him from house arrest (in a pretty hilarious manner). I will not give too much away, but it basically becomes a game of keep-away with Hank's tech from the various people after it, including a shady tech dealer, played by Walton Goggins, and Ghost, played by Hannah John-Kamen. Scott also has to keep ahead of the FBI. The events of Infinity War are tied in during the mid-credits scene. I will not give away exactly what happens, but we do see the consequences of Thanos' snap play out, and it sets out where the characters are going into Avengers 4.

The 4K set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format, especially if you have a large screen. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and all of the bonus content is on the regular Blu-ray. There are about 22 minutes worth of behind-the-scenes and making-of features, a short gag reel, and a few deleted scenes. The bonus features probably amount to between 30 and 40 minutes in total. Ultimately, the movie is one of more than 20 in the overall MCU story arc. It is written so you do not have to have seen the others to follow most of it, but it will definitely help if you are up to date with the overall story arc that has played out throughout the other movies. The entire cast, from the stars to the supporting characters, are all great in their roles. Evangeline Lilly does a great job as the Wasp and really seemed to be having fun with her more expanded role. As long as you do not have superhero movie fatigue, this is definitely worth checking out.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Avengers Infinity War

 

Avengers: Infinity War is the first of the epic two-movie crescendo to tie up the initial run of MCU films. The movie was directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and brings back the entire slate of MCU characters and actors, including Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anthony Mackie, Tom Hiddleston, Don Cheadle, Chris Pratt, Sebastian Stan, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Chadwick Boseman, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, and Karen Gilian. It also, finally, sees the arrival of Josh Brolin's Thanos after multiple teases in various movies or end-credit sequences.

This, as most are aware, is the movie that the entire MCU slate of movies has been building up to. As I said above, Thanos finally arrives, making good on his threat in the post-credits scene in Age of Ultron to do things himself. It starts where the end-credits scene in Thor: Ragnarok left off, with Thanos attacking the Asgardian ship. The movie then finds a way to weave in most, but not all, of the characters from the other movies in an attempt to keep the various infinity stones away from Thanos. The "main" Avengers lineup get the most screen time, while the amount of time the other characters are in the movie varies. I won't spoil anything for those who may not know how it turns out, but it has massive repercussions for the MCU storylines going forward.

The 4k set is a two-disc set. The UHD disc has just the movie itself, which looks and sounds great, as you would expect. The extras are on a regular blu-ray, with about 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and a commentary track on the movie. It is definitely one of the best movies in the group 19 or so movies in the MCU that had been released up to that point. Even if you have a bit of superhero movie burnout, it is worth checking out to see all the stories finally tied together.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Doctor Strange

 

Doctor Strange is one of the 2016 entries into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The movie tells the origin story of Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) and, in turn, brings sorcery and magic into the MCU/Avengers universe. It is the most different and unique movie of the movies and TV shows that Marvel has put out to this point (which tells one very long interweaved story). It also provides insight into how the settings of Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor, and The Avengers will all connect together. Granted, Thor can come to Earth on his own, but this movie provides another way for other characters to go to Asgard.

The story itself is fairly basic and tells the story of an egotistical doctor who loses the ability to operate after an accident and, while trying to heal himself, ends up in the world of magic. It is part a movie about him training and learning to use his powers and part battling the forces of darkness and the story's main villain (played by Mads Mikkelsen). The supporting cast comprises Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, and Benedict Wong. They all do very well in their respective roles. There are end-credit sequences, as you would expect. One that sets up one of the next MCU movies and one that is likely the beginning of the storyline for the Doctor Strange sequel.

For those who get the blu-ray, it looks and sounds great. It has the best visual effects of all the Marvel Movies so far, and they come out on blu-ray. For extras, there are about an hour of various making-of and behind-the-scenes features, a gag reel, a short comedy feature with Thor, and a commentary track from the director. Very good for what is there.

All in all, the movie is well-written and acted. It does not do too much, just setting up the character and giving him a good introductory storyline to work with. It is visually stunning but tells a good enough story that the special effects do not dominate the entire film. If you have collected the other movies and/or shows up to this point, chances are you will buy this anyway, but if you only have some of them, this is definitely worth adding to your collection.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Captain America Civil War

 

Civil War is one of the 2016 entries into the MCU. It was directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and brought back nearly all of the MCU main characters/actors. This movie was really a sequel to all the various movies that have come before and was as much an Ironman sequel as it was a Captain America sequel. I will not go too much into the story because to do so would be to give too much away. But there are elements of revenge, misdirection, and, most of all, consequences for the things that came before. It is really the first attempt in the movies to deal with the collateral damage done to the ordinary public after the big climactic battles like those of the two Avengers movies, the second Thor movie, etc. The fallout of that collateral damage leads some characters to agree to let the United Nations decide when and where to deploy the superheroes, which begins to fracture the team. What ultimately causes the biggest rift is a much larger storyline involving Captain America (Chris Evans), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).

This transition movie is bridging what has come before with what we know is coming, specifically the Infinity Wars movie. This movie leaves the Avengers team very much tattered, with Thor and Hulk conspicuously absent. It leaves a question about where those characters will fall when they are brought back into the storyline. As most know, this movie also introduces Black Panther, which I think is very well played by Chadwick Boseman, and yet another incarnation of Spider-Man, this time played by Tom Holland. In the main battle between the two teams, Spider-Man and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) very much steal the scenes, both in terms of comedy and with what they bring to the fight.

For those who get the discs, the movie looks and sounds great on Blu-ray. For extras, there is a commentary track on the film by the filmmakers (none of the cast), about an hour plus of making-of and behind-the-scenes material, and a gag reel. There is also a short feature introducing the Doctor Strange movie. Ultimately, this movie is not so complex that you would have no idea what is going on if you have not seen the other movies, but given the movies and, to a smaller extent, the various TV series are all telling a large overarching story, the events of this movie will be easier to follow the more you have seen what has come before. The acting is very good, and the special effects are top-notch. If you have superhero fatigue with all the various movies or are just lukewarm to them in general, then this will probably not be for you. For everybody else, while liking it or not will be subjective, most will find it enjoyable.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Ant Man

 

Ant-Man is one of the 2015 entries into the MCU slate of movies. It continues the MCU storyline and is set after the events of The Age of Ultron. It even ties back somewhat to the Agent Carter TV series, with Hailey Atwell and John Slattery appearing as aged versions of Peggy Carter and Howard Stark at the beginning of the movie as a setup for the rest of the plot. There are even tie-ins to the next Captain America movie (with a post-credits scene) and, ultimately, to the Avengers Infinity Wars movies (which will include Ant-Man). Without giving too much away, Michael Douglas's character Hank Prym, one of the original S.H.E. I. L.D. agents and inventor of the ant man suit, a technology that allows humans to shrink to the size of an ant, and gain the equivalent of an ant's strength to its size hires burglar Scott Lang, played by Paul Rudd to break into his former company and steal a second suit being developed by Prym's one time protege now rival Darren Cross (played by House of Cards' Cory Stoll). Evangeline Lilly plays Hope van Dyne, Prym's daughter, who reluctantly helps Lang train to become Ant-Man.

There are multiple physical media releases of the movie now. The Blu-ray's A/V quality is very good, as has been the case with the other MCU movies, especially the more recent ones. For extras, the single-disc version includes a few short behind-the-scenes and making-of features, about 10 minutes worth of "news" footage that helps flesh out some of the characters' backgrounds, some deleted scenes, and a gag reel. While the extras that were included are good, they are not as extensive as the releases of some of the other movies have received.

I think those who are fans of the Marvel Universe movies and TV shows will enjoy this. The tone of the movie is different enough that if you are having superhero movie fatigue, you can find it enjoyable because it is definitely not like any of the ones that have come before it. While some of it is a bit silly, to be sure (but really, all the superhero movies are to some extent), this movie embraces and even plays on the silliness in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The acting is very good, and the movie does well staying on the fringes of the larger MCU storyline while telling its own story. At its core, the film is a heist movie wrapped up in a superhero movie. It is like Oceans 11 meets The Avengers. It does very well as the origin story for the various stand-alone characters yet blends into the existing Marvel Universe, with the biggest cross-over being the meeting between Ant-Man and Falcon about halfway into the movie. Paul Rudd does a great job of being a hero who is willing to break the rules or the law to do the right thing. He also brings an air of every man (he did not have to get ripped for the movie like Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth did for their roles) and brings the smart-ass quality that he is known for from his other work. The movie has a good blend of action and humor (probably more humor than the other MCU movies combined) and is absolutely worth the time to watch.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

 

Avengers: Age of Ultron is one of the 2015 entries into the MCU. It brings back cast members Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Chris Hemsworth as Iron Man, Captain America, Bruce Banner/Hulk, Black Widow, Hawke, and Thor, respectively. The additions to the cast in this movie are Aaron Taylor Johson and Elizabeth Olson, playing Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, and James Spader voicing Ultron. Paul Bettany is used in live-action as Vision as well as continuing to voice Jarvis, Tony Stark's AI assistant. 

This movie continues the storylines that played out in the first Avengers Movie and Captain America Winter Soldier. It starts out with them mopping up the Hydra forces and trying to find Loki's scepter. In the process, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner start messing around with Artificial Intelligence in the hope of creating a force that can replace the team of Avengers, and end up creating Ultron, who is played brilliantly by James Spader. As noted above, the other main additions to the cast are Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, played by Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olson. They were in the teaser scene at the end of The Winter Soldier's credits, and while most probably already know the role they play in the movie, I will not spoil it for those who have not yet seen the film. But they both do a very good job playing what are ultimately conflicted characters.

As most know, everything in the Marvel Universe (aside from the X-Men and Fantastic 4 franchises and the previous Spider-Man movies) tells one long, continuous, intricate story leading up to the Avengers Infinity Wars movies. The movies tell the main story, and TV Shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, and Daredevil are either filling in some of the gaps or are just on the fringe of the larger story. One thing I really liked about this movie is it gave Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye a storyline and more to do. Instead of being the "other one" like he was for much of the first movie, he plays a large part in this one and has some great sarcastic one-liners. It also sets up a transition in the Avengers lineup with some characters taking a back seat by the end of the movie (seemingly anyway) and is definitely setting up the movies that are yet to come.

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is again outstanding. The bonus material includes deleted scenes, a few behind-the-scenes features, a blooper reel, and a director's commentary track. Given what has come out about what a jackass Joss Whedon was, I did not bother listening to it, but it is there for anyone who wants to. There is also a code included for more web-based extras, should you want to look at those. There is not a ton, but it is good for what is there for those who like to go through the bonus material.

All in all, you pretty much know what you are getting with these movies. If you are into the story and do not have superhero fatigue, then you will likely enjoy this. If you are not all that into action/superhero movies then this one is not really going to do anything to change your mind. While all of the actors did a great job in their respective roles, Spader and Olson were the standouts in the movie to me, dominating most of the scenes they were in. So, if you have liked the MCU movies up to this point, this one is worth the time to watch. It advances the overall storyline very well and tells a good self-contained story.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

 

Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the MCU movies released in 2014. It was directed by James Gunn and starred Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillian, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, and Lee Pace. This movie could have been very good or very bad, depending on whether it was done right. Fortunately, it was, and the result was a very fun and funny action movie.
The story involves the formation of Marvel's "B Team" of heroes, or as the Honest Trailer calls them, Space Avengers. It is set in the Marvel Universe, so while superheroes exist, none of the guardians have powers. The closest is Groot, who is a 7-foot-plus tall tree-looking thing. There is some cross-over with the other films as well. Thanos, who was last seen in the end credits to Avengers, plays another background bad guy in this one, and the collector who was in Thor 2 also makes an appearance.

The main plot involves an orb that is more powerful than most know. It is, in fact, another infinity stone that can destroy almost anything (or anyone) who touches it. Chris Pratt's character, Star-Lord/Peter Quill, is a thief hired to steal the orb. This sets off a huge galactic chase leading to the end battle with Ronan the Accuser, played by Lee Pace. Quill ends up becoming the leader of the group the group of misfit heroes. What makes these characters interesting is that even the good guys are not all good. And they all have very different motives. Drax is after Ronan on a mission of revenge, Gamora (Saldana) is an assassin for Thanos wanting to get away from him, and Rocket, Groot, and Quill are basically all bounty hunters who will do almost anything for money. But what separates them from everyone else is when they need to do the right thing to save each other and stop the bad guy, they do.

Like I said in the beginning, this was totally a movie that could have bombed. Considering 2 of the main characters were totally CGI, and one was an ex-wrestler who was never known to have what passes for good acting skills even in the world of pro wrestling, it could have gone bad quickly. Luckily they wrote Drax's lines totally deadpan and made his character so monotone and serious that Bautista really did not have to do much other than be big and scary. And the animators did so well with the CGI characters that, unlike how they would have looked back at the beginning of the CGI craze, they did not look fake or out of place at all. Bradley Cooper brought great life to a wisecracking smart-a** raccoon and the animators did such a great job giving Groot a personality, it ended up being Vin Diesel's best acting performance yet despite him only repeating the same line over and over.

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is outstanding and the movie looks and sounds great, especially if you have a big screen and even a decent sound system. I did not watch the 3D version of the movie, but the regular version was flawless (at least to someone who is not an A/V wonk). As far as extras go, they pretty well mirror what was on Thor 2 and Captain America 2 releases. There are a couple behind-the-scenes and making-of features, deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, and a short look at the making of Avengers 2.

The movie does have a Star Wars meets Marvel Universe feel to it—or, more appropriately, a Spaceballs meets Marvel Universe feel. It is as much a comedy as it is an action/adventure movie, and both aspects work very well. If you are a fan of the other Marvel movies and are in any way on the fence about this one, I definitely think it is worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the 2014 entries in the MCU collection of movies. It stars Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson, Emily VanCamp, Samuel L. Jackson, and Robert Redford. It is both a follow-up to The original Avengers movie (the events of which are lightly touched on in this movie) and to the first Captain America movie, The First Avenger. It is, not surprisingly, more of a follow-up to the latter than the former. In the movie, Steve Rodgers (played by Evans) is still trying to adjust to living in this century after having "died" in the 1940s. It also continues the S.H.E.I.L.D/Hydra battle that started during the events of the first movie when it was assumed Hydra was defeated. To say much more would be to give away too much of the plot, but Hydra uses their own super soldier (The Winter Soldier) who ties back to the first movie as well. And, of course, for those who follow The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D series, the fallout from the events of this movie is also continued there.

There are multiple physical media releases for the movie now. The single-disc blu-ray includes a few short featurettes, some deleted scenes, and a gag reel. There is also a commentary track for the film by directors Anthony and Joe Russo. It's not a ton of material, but it's fine for what there is. Of course, the movie looks and sounds great on blu-ray.

The movie is very well written and acted. Some of the familiar notables (Black Widow, Agent Hill, Nick Fury), all play roles in the movie. It also introduces the character of Falcon (Mackie) into the movie. Scarlett Johansson probably has the biggest supporting role in the movie as Black Widow, and she and Evans have pretty good chemistry playing the straight-laced Rodgers against the not-so-straight-laced Black Widow. There are 2 scenes after the movie, one mid-credits scene and one post-credits that will set up the inevitable Captain America 3. All in all, if you are a fan of the Marvel movies, this one is one of the better stand-alone movies and sets up some of the larger storylines. If you liked the first Captain America movie then you will probably like this one as well.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Iron Man 3

 

Iron Man 3 was the 2013 sequel to the two stand-alone Iron Man movies and, of course, was a part of the larger MCU. The movie was directed by Shane Black and brought back Robert Downey Jr., Gweneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Jon Favreau to reprise their roles from the earlier films. The major additions to the cast for this movie are Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce, and the movie was also Jenna Ortega's first film role (albeit a minor one). 

This movie follows up both on the previous stand-alone Iron Man films and shows the "post-Avengers" Tony Stark and the toll that the events of that movie had on him. There is a lot of misdirection in this movie, which even hinting about would give away too much. Some people hated the way that turned out, but I personally did not have much problem with it. Although the effect of the big twist did make the movie in a way similar (but not the same) as the plot in the second one. This film definitely ratchets up the action even more than Iron Man I and II. There are a lot more "big" action sequences in this movie, from Stark's house being blown up and a great mid-air rescue to the final battle. A lot is going on, and the effects are blended very well with live action shots so they look more "real" than in any of the other movies. The plot is somewhat convoluted and like I said above, has twists to it. Both the characters of Pepper and Rhodes have even more expanded roles in this movie. Robert Downey Jr continues to nail the Tony Stark role and mixes humor and intensity. Ben Kingsly is excellent in his role, he was very chilling as Mandarin, and is involved in one of the plot twists. There is also the usual after the credits scene involving a cameo by one of the Avengers.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is great. As far as extras go, there is about an hour of material from making of/behind-the-scenes features, a short film that reveals events after the end of Captain America, a short look at the next Thor movie, and a gag reel. In all enough to make those who like the bonus material happy. 

While an argument can be made that the superhero franchises are becoming over saturated, they do not seem to be slowing down over time. This movie definitely left open the possibility of further stand alone Iron Man movies, but also brought a sense of closure to the Tony Stark origin story. If you are a fan of the movies that have come before this one, then you will most likely like this as well.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

 

This is the 2008 reboot of the live-action Hulk starring Edward Norton, Tim Roth, William Hurt, and Liv Tyler. It was also the second entry into the MCU (which was not, at the point it came out, assured to be as long-lasting and prolific as it became). This is not a sequel to Ang Lee's version of The Hulk (which is pretty widely panned, and mostly for good reason). I think that Eric Bana and Jennifer Connely did a good job in their roles and were the only good things that movie had going for it, but the screenplay was weird, and the CGI Hulk looked very fake. This, thankfully, pretends that version never existed. The purpose of this movie is twofold. The first was to help establish the MCU and set up the eventual Avengers movie. The second was to bring a movie version that paid homage to the series and the comic. The movie included the requisite Lou Ferrigno cameo and a posthumous cameo of Bill Bixby via a clip played on TV.

I think Norton did a great job as Bruce Banner in this movie. It is unfortunate that he was replaced (although I do think Mark Ruffalo did a fine job as Banner in The Avengers), although if the rumors of Norton being difficult when it came to making this film are true I can see why he was. Norton did a great job portraying the conflicted nature of Banner and the frustration and fear that the character feels. I also think he has fairly good chemistry with Liv Tyler, who played Betty Ross, which was necessary given the role her character played in the story. The movie does set up a possibility of a sequel, but obviously, Marvel has put higher stock in the Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor franchises (and the Avengers team-up movies). Whether a sequel to this movie ever gets made, and if so whether it continues the story started here remains to be seen.

I think the CGI Hulk is far better in this movie than it was in the Ang Lee version. I think it was one of the things that detracted from that version of the movie, but the technological advancements in CGI have come a long way, and while the Hulk does not look totally realistic, it looked a lot better. Ferrigno has gone on record saying he thinks that Hulk should be played by a real person, but given that the Hulk is supposed to be 9 feet tall, that is just not practical. If you notice in the film, while Ferrigno is substantially bigger than Norton, he is not that much taller. And they would have had to go back to the tricks used to film the series, like cutaways and filming Ferrigno (or some other actor) from below to make him look taller. A CGI Hulk just works better. Especially for the battle scenes. There is just really no way they could have done any of the battles (especially the end battle with Abomination) without the CGI.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is outstanding. The special features consist of some behind-the-scenes material, making of documentaries, deleted scenes, and trailers. In all, if you are a fan of the Marvel series of movies, while this movie is not as strong as the first Iron Man or the Avengers movies, it is on par with most of the other MCU movies and is definitely worth the time to watch and adding to your physical media collection (if you have one).

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Spiderman Homecoming

 

Homecoming is the newest incarnation of Spiderman in the Marvel universe. Of course, the first live-action version of the character was played by Toby McGuire back in 2002 and arguably jumpstarted the superhero movie genre which had been on life support since Batman and Robin flopped in 1999. This version of Peter Parker/Spiderman, played by Tom Holland, was actually introduced during Captain America Civil War, fighting on the Iron Man side. This movie is mostly set after the events of Civil War, with Peter Parker going back to life as a high-school student, still being mentored by Stark (mostly from afar), and being watched over by Happy Hogan (played again by Jon Favreau). The movie also has ties to the first Avengers movie with the Chitauri technology playing a large role in the plot of the movie. Peter becomes more concerned with fighting crime than he is with school, which does not always work out well for him. The movie also sees the return of Michael Keaton to the superhero genre, this time in a much different role. The rest of the cast is very strong and includes Zendeya, Jacob Batalon, Donald Glover, and Marissa Tomei, as Aunt May.

For those who get the 4k-UHD set, there are two discs, the UHD disc, and a regular blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is great, and the movie looks and sounds wonderful in the format. The UHD disc has one extra, the Spidey Study Guide, that allows the movie to be played with pop-ups that have trivia and facts about the movie. The rest of the extras are on the regular blu-ray disc. Those include a short gag reel, about 16 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, eight different making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes that run about 45 minutes, give or take, all totaled, a photo gallery, the movie trailer, and trailers for other Sony titles.

Overall, the movie is very good. It has a nice blend of action and humor and is a bit more light-hearted than some of the other MCU movies. Of course, Sony actually owns the rights to the Spiderman character (because of some licensing deal made years ago) and they allow the character to appear in the MCU. Holland does a great job as the lead, and you can buy him as a teenager even though he was in his early 20s when the movie was made. Robert Downey Jr. is always entertaining as Tony Stark (especially when he was hitting on Aunt May), and both Batalon (playing Peter's best friend, Ned) and Zendaya (playing Michelle/MJ) were great in the younger roles. For me, however, Keaton really stole the show and seemed to really be enjoying his return to the superhero genre. It is a great movie that is definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Daredevil: The Complete First Season

 

Daredevil was the first of a series of more adult superhero shows that aired on Netflix starring Charlie Cox as Matt Murdoch/Daredevil, a blind lawyer by day and vigilante by night. Murdoch, while blind has enhanced senses that basically allow him to see something akin to radar pings. The season basically serves as an origin story for Daredevil, showing how Matt transitions to the guy in the suit. The crux of the season one storyline is Daredevil versus different criminal organizations which have exploited Hell's Kitchen in NYC since "the incident" which was the Battle of New York that occurred in the first Avengers movie, and ultimately pits Daredevil versus Wilson Fisk (AKA Kingpin) played wonderfully by Vincent D'Onofrio. The rest of the cast is made up of Elden Henson as Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Matt's best friend and law partner, Deborah Ann Woll (from True Blood) as Karen Page, a legal assistant at Matt and Foggy's firm, and Rosario Dawson as Claire, a nurse that patches up Daredevil and one of the few who know his identity.

The series is basically a serial storyline in which the events of one episode build on another. The writing and acting are both top-notch, and the show has a lot of twists. Charlie Cox does a great job as the series lead, playing Matt as a conflicted, morally grey character who is also trying to keep his loved ones safe while meeting out unsanctioned justice. The show is rated TV-MA and is much more violent than any of the MCU movies. The show generally has more adult content than the movies including some swearing and sexual content. So, it is definitely not as family-friendly as the other MCU projects.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, it is just a MOD set with the episodes but no other extras. So, the only reason to get this versus just streaming the series is to keep your MCU collection of physical media as complete as possible. That said, it is definitely worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season one, but no major season two spoilers+++

The second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a lot going on. One of the main arcs is the fallout from the reveal (In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which occurred at the end of the first season) that HYDRA had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and that Ward was a double agent. There are a bunch of really good recurring characters in the Hydra storyline including Reed Diamond (playing Werner Reinhardt / Daniel Whitehall) and Adrian Pasdar (from the series Heroes) as major Glenn Talbot.

Then, there is a major story arc involving Skye and her father (played by Twin Peaks' Kyle MacLachlan), which ties into the Inhumans storyline (and brings in many great recurring actors such as Dichen Lachman and Luke Mitchell. Then, there are the tie-ins to the movies that were released during the second season, primarily, Avenger's Age of Ultron, and a loose tie-in with Guardians of the Galaxy, which reveals the race of the blue-skinned alien that we saw in season one and again in season two. Jamie Alexander makes another appearance as Lady Sif, and Cobie Smulders makes an appearance as Maria Hill. The two main additions to the regular cast are Nick Blood as Lance Hunter and Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse. Hailey Atwell also reprises her role as Agent Carter for a cameo in the season premiere.

As far as the blu-ray set goes, it is a MOD set that is an Amazon exclusive. Thankfully, it is still priced reasonably well, so if you prefer physical media to streaming, you can get it on blu-ray. Just be aware, that after the second season, Amazon stopped the exclusive manufacturing, and to get the show on blu-ray you have to find an imported version. The final two seasons were not released on blu-ray or DVD in any mass format and so the only way to get them is to find a bootleg version (if you want one of those). So, it is not easy to keep a collection together, so if that is a big deal to you, then you may want to just stream it. The second-season blu-ray set is very light on extras. Just deleted scenes and a blooper reel.

Overall, the season is very good. While it does still have tie-ins to the MCU movies, the show really does start to stand on its own this season. Of course, as the seasons go on the show becomes less tied in with the movie, and is not "filler" to get from movie to movie as it seemed to be in season one. The acting and writing are both very good, and even though many of the cast members like Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge were still relatively new (at least in major TV roles), they do some of the best work in the show. And, Ming-Na Wen is always awesome. Of course, the Marvel Universe is basically one long (and large) intertwined story, and the show very much fits into that, but it also tells a good stand-alone story that is definitely worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Marvel's Agent Carter: Season 1

 

Agent Carter is set after the events of “Captain America: The First Avenger” and the 2013 “Agent Carter” Marvel One-Short short film. In the first season, Peggy (Hayley Atwell) works for the Strategic Scientific Reserve investigating Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper, also reprising his role from "Captain America"), who is accused of selling weapons to America’s enemies. He enlists Peggy to help prove his innocence. She teams with Stark’s butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy) to track a secret organization called Leviathan that is trying to steal Stark’s more dangerous inventions. Peggy often butts heads with the other members of the SSR, especially her boss Roger (played by Shea Whigham) and agent Jack Thompson (played by Chad Michael Murray). She has to fight against the blatant misogyny at the SSR where her only real ally is another agent named Daniel Sousa (played by Dollhouse's Enver Gjokaj). Her best friend outside of the SSR is played by Lyndsy Fonseca (from the Kick-Ass movies and Nikita TV Series).

This is more like a mini-series, with the season lasting just eight episodes. It has a good blend of action and comedy, especially in the scenes between Atwell, Cooper, and D’Arcy. There are definitely some tie-ins with the Captain America movie, as you would expect, but the show really tells its own story apart from the larger MCU franchise. Atwell does a great job as the series lead, as does the entire cast. Bridget Regan plays a great foil for Peggy as a Russian sleeper agent from the program that preceded the Black Widow program.

The Blu-Ray set is a MOD Amazon exclusive. The only bonus content is a short blooper reel. Otherwise, the is no behind-the-scenes material, commentary tracks, etc. It is worth picking up if you can find the blu-ray set at a reasonable price. But, given it is just eight episodes and there is not really any extra content to speak of if you cannot get it at a reasonable price, streaming it is probably the better option.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Thor: The Dark World

 

Thor: The Dark World is a sequel to both the original Thor movie and The Avengers. It is set a couple of years after the events of the original Thor movie and sees Thor going through the nine realms cleaning up Loki's mess, which is also taking a lot longer because of the Bifrost having been destroyed in the first movie. Thor keeps track of Jane (mostly via Heimdall) but has not seen her in all that time, which makes for an awkward reunion, to say the least. Loki is imprisoned on Asgard, visited only by Frigga.

This movie sees the threat of Dark Elves, with the main antagonist being Makliketh (played by Christopher Eccleston), the leader of the Dark Elves who was defeated by Thor's grandfather. He is trying to capture a substance called The Ether, which can basically undo the Big Bang and bring the universe back into darkness. I will not spoil the movie for the handful of people reading this by now who have not seen the movie, but the plot requires Thor to return to Earth after Jane is put in danger and team up with Loki to take down the Dark Elves. It also sets up the concept of the Infinity Stones, which, of course, play a larger role in the following movies.

For those who get the 4k Disc set, the movie looks and sounds great in UHD. Not a huge jump from the blu-ray version of the movie, but noticeable enough that if you have a 4k TV and blu-ray player, it is worth the double-dip. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and then the extras are included on the second disc which is a regular blu-ray. The extras include a commentary track on the movie by the director Alan Taylor, Marvel's head honcho, Kevin Feige, and Tom Hiddleston, who, of course, plays Loki. The commentary track provides some good insight into the process of making the film with some good behind-the-scenes details from Hiddleston. Then there is another Marvel's One Shot titled All Hail the King, which is a documentary about Trevor Slattery, the "bad guy" from Iron Man 3, showing what is life is like in prison and setting up the 10-rings storyline. Then there are deleted and extended scenes, a handful of making-of featurettes that can be viewed one at a time or all at once, and then a gag reel. So, a lot of material if you like to look at the bonus material.

Most of the supporting cast from the original movie, including Jamie Alexander, Renee Russo, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Stevenson, and Kat Dennings, appear. Zachary Levi replaced Joshua Dallas as Fandral, one of the Warrior's Three in Asgard, because of a scheduling conflict. The other notable addition to the cast is Jonathan Howard, who plays Ian, Darcy's intern, who is basically a lacky she "hires" to do the stuff she does not want to do as Jane's intern. The movie gets ragged on, but it is definitely not as bad as some make it out to be. It is definitely a filler story, but it does set up a lot of what is to come down the line, so it is essential to what is going to play out in the later movies. The acting is great from the entire cast. I would say that the supporting characters all kind of took a back seat in this movie and were not as involved as they were in the first one, but all of them made the most of their screen time. Kat Dennings stole pretty much every scene she was in, as did Stellan Skarsgård, who had to play Erik as stark-raving mad (with lucid intervals) because of Loki taking over his mind in The Avengers. There are some cameos, including the usual Stan Lee cameo, but also a pretty hilarious one by Chris Evans. The movie continues the mid-credits and post-credits scene tradition. The mid-credits scene set up the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the post-credits scene was a more humorous wrap-up of the movie. While it is not the best MCU movie, it is not as bad as some make it out to be, and is definitely worth watching.