Is Marvel Mid?

Hello movie and superhero lovers,

A friend posted this meme:

Two panels one on top of the other. First panel says, “You thinking the MCU is dead after Endgame and hating everything.” with a ninja turtle drinking a soda and looking sad. Second panel says, “Me knowing the MCU has always been mid and still enjoying it.” with the same ninja turtle looking smug.

It got me thinking, and I realized I class Marvel movies (all superhero movies really) into 5 categories: Excellent, Okay, Forgettable, Didn’t Age Well, and Bad. I’m adding Didn’t See Yet as a category too.

So here is my non-definitive ranking of Marvel MCU movies. Note that within the categories, they’re by release date not preference.

Excellent

These are the movies that balance fun, character growth, and a good story.

Fun

These movies aren’t great but they certainly are a lot of fun to watch.

Forgettable

These are the movies that didn’t do anything terrible, but didn’t do anything memorable either.

Didn’t Age Well

Both of these were in my top tier for a long time, but rewatching them made me very uncomfortable. They have some great moments, but the jokes and treatment of women and minorities is not great.

Bad

Some of these movies are good except for something that really brings down their quality, and others are hot messes all the way through.

Didn’t See Yet

Not much explanation needed. I’m not a big fan of the Guardians and haven’t seen the third. Everything I’ve heard leads me to think it’s a little too heavy and dark for my taste. The Marvels just came out, but I’m hoping to see it soon.

Obviously, tastes are subjective.

What do you think?

Éric

Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie.

Note: I watched the English dub and have been a long time fan of the TV show.

Story

This was a simplified version of the show’s story with minor changes to make it fit in a movie format. Best to think of it as a alternate reality from the show if you’re a fan.

The descriptions and explanations seem fairly straightforward for those who don’t know the show.

The story, however, was very reductive and about the same as any other teen superhero story.

It did flow well and end well so I’ll give it credit for that.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The characters were fun but unfortunately fairly shallow. Marinette was well developed and definitely the star, but Adrien was underdeveloped and bland.

The secondary characters felt underused and I’m not sure a casual audience would care about them.

The changes to Marinette and Gabriel were effective in making the story more believable.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue was quippy and funny, showing that despite the changes, the writers and actors were comfortable with the characters.

There are a few deep lines and what dialogue there is it’s well used.

I feel like the movie could have used more dialogue and less singing.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The movie was colourful, well animated, and pretty. The action was engaging and often well balanced with humour.

The music was lovely, although the transition from voice actor to singing voice was a little jarring with Marinette and Adrien.

Music, like action scenes, should be developing character and plot in a way that can’t be done otherwise. The songs need to be catchy and do all that. The song were catchy, but only did minor developments. The time could have been better used to develop the characters with dialogue.

Score: 0.5

Fun

We’ve now watched all four seasons available in Canada and we warned the kids in advance that this was a different story. They’ve seen enough Cinderella versions to get that idea. There were a few moments where they would ask why the characters weren’t doing what they would do in the show, but overall they seemed to love it. Lots of giggles in the opening scene with the gargoyle.

The adults enjoyed it as well. This was fun and low angst.

Score: 1

Overall

A fun movie which suffers from watering down the world for a new audience and trying to force the story into a standard superhero format. Despite being an easy watch, its secondary characters are as forgettable as the songs.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

Kim Possible – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2019 film Kim Possible.

Story

Kim Possible isn’t and hasn’t ever been a spy but the stories follow all the spy tropes with a few superhero ones thrown in. The movie does a great job of being faithful to the spirit of the original while updating it to modern audiences. (It’s shocking how much changed between 2007 and 2019.)

The story is mostly nostalgic for older audiences and the story is quite simple. Perfect spy/superhero intro for kids. There is some cartoony ridiculousness that is a little annoying but overall good.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Kim is great and it was nice to see her going through the awkwardness of change.

Ron was portrayed perfectly, one of those super awkward kids with a giant heart. I always cringe at Ron to start and then he quickly becomes my favourite character.

The villains are wonderfully portrayed with the perfect level of overacting.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue is cheesy and irreverent. Lots of good lines but I found the mixture of mid 2000’s slang and late 2010’s a little weird. Hearing Lit and Fam followed by Booya, felt wrong.

The scene between Kim and her Grandmother was one of the best training dialogues I’ve heard.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The action sequences are very Disney Channel but overall they did a great job with the visuals and the music was acceptable.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The kids loved it. The adults, who watched the original in university also loved it.

It was fun and struck a great balance.

As an adult it was nice to see the kids and family talking instead of hiding things.

Score: 1

Overall

Cheesy, fun, and angst free. The story might be a little young and cartoony but they commit and there are some genius scenes.

Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5

Secret Headquarters – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Secret Headquarters.

Story

A very simple and effecient story that uses everything that it sets up. It’s not groundbreaking writing but it is solid and well thought out.

Score: 1

Characters

An impressive young cast that balances comedy, action, and drama extremely well. I really enjoyed the evolution of the soldier. I liked the pseudo villain being a rich dude with too much greed. Although the Kill a Minion to show I’m a Jerk trope was a little overdone.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The movie leaned heavily into comedy and has a lot of great lines. The comedy was balanced well with beleivability.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The special effects were amazing and the locations suitibly YA. I found the camera work excellent and it emullated other hero movies excellently.

The music was significantly better than I had expected.

Score: 1

Fun

Despite a few awkward moments the movie is fun from start to finish. Everyone in the family loved it and the kids forgot to ask for snacks.

Score: 1

Overall

A light YA movie that meshes the humour of 80’s kids movies with the action and special effects of modern superhero films. A lot of fun with some amazing kid actors.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Eternals – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2021 film Eternals.

Story

The epic scale and complexity of characters wasn’t well served in the format of a movie. I think it would have worked better as a miniseries. I think some of the characters didn’t get enough screen time to show their motivations and evolution. That being said, I really enjoyed the non-linear aspects combined with the fascinating weaving into history.

Score: 0.5

Characters

There wasn’t enough time for all the characters and because of that, they seemed underdeveloped. They were very well acted and directed.

I think you were supposed to sympathise with all of them, but there were three that I didn’t like even before the twist. Maybe that’s a sign of a complex character.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The humour was extremely well-placed to balance the epic drama that was unfolding and even the info-dumps were very well placed.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

Even with our state of the art 4K television, there were a lot of very dark scenes. It ruined the beautiful scenery and shots by forcing us to squint for no reason.

Beyond that, the cinematography was absolutely amazing and the amount of background detail is completely worth a rewatch.

The music was suitably epic and felt coherent with the MCU.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I’m surprised that the kids sat through the entire movie. It was fascinating, but not always action packed or accessible for kids.

I enjoyed it, but it was long. Oddly enough, I do think it would hold up better as 6 episodes. I was never bored though.

Score: 1

Overall

An extremely strong attempt at bringing the epicness of Lord of the Rings to the Marvel Universe. Too many characters and too little time for them to shine hurts the movie, but a brilliant script and excellent acting make it more than worth watching.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Barbie in Princess Power – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2015 film Barbie in Princess Power.

Story

They tried really hard to mush together a superhero plot and a fantasy plot. Both are derivative with little of interest beyond a forced moral of cooperation. There were some pretty major plot holes that made the whole movie not make sense.

Score: 0

Character

A princess, her cousin, and her personal inventors? an evil adviser to the king, overbearing parents, and adorable kids. Every character in this movie is a cliché. I’d also say that the Rube-Goldberg physics of the world are practically a character.

Mostly it’s a bunch of really whiny privileged people whining.

Score: 0

Dialogue

The best part of the movie was dialogue borrowed from superhero movies. There were some nice nods to Christopher Reeves and other movies.

Other than that, it was pretty clipped and shallow.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

I’ve watched about six of the Barbie movies at this point and I understand they are supposed to be dolls and that the animation isn’t fantastic. I’m willing to forgive that mostly, but the physics in this are pretty bad, clothing doesn’t move, hair does odd things, and jewellery looks painted on. Worst was their faces, every female character looked like they’re faces were collapsing in on themselves. It was disconcertingly like the late stages of an eating disorder.

The music was a nice surprise; the pop track was catchy and not too bad. I also liked the score, it had a lot of influences from superhero movies and made the scenes significantly better than they should have.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The movie wasn’t a lot of fun. It was frustrating and made me want to scream at the characters.

That being said, the silly physics and pratfalls were entertaining. Especially to my youngest, who just loved Bruce the Frog.

Score: 0.5

Overall

One of the weaker Barbie movies. It tries too hard to be cute and not hard enough to fun. The character development is as hollow and vapid as the characters themselves. The music was good and there were some ridiculous moments that weren’t bad.

Final Score: 1.5 Stars out of 5

Secret Society of Second-Born Royals – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2020 film Secret Society of Second-Born Royals.

Story

An interesting mix of Kingsman and Sky High with very little original content. It’s fun but neither complex or original. I called the twists way before I should have and felt disappointed rather than proud that I did.

It also suffered from excess world building, making it feel like a pilot episode rather than a movie.

Score: 0

Characters

The characters were pretty much a mixture of superhero and high school stereotypes but they were very well played. The actors made some awkward character arcs seem more believable than they should have.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Neither bad nor memorable, the dialogue was passable. There were a few standout moments between the kids and the narrator/teacher and a great scene between the main character and her future queen sister.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The special effects were okay, but the scenery was great. The camera angles and cinematography were good but not great.

The music was mostly pretty bland until there was someone playing on screen, then it was great. A weird mixture of styles and feels like they’d originally made this a musical and then changed their minds but couldn’t let go of some of the music.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I enjoyed myself and liked watching the characters develop, but it wasn’t gripping.

Score: 0.5

Overall

Bogged down by world building and a derivative script, the movie felt like its goal was to set up the characters and world for a TV show. Nothing about it was terrible, but it wasn’t very good. I’d watch it again for the rock music and impressive actors.

Final Score: 2 Stars out of 5

Point Zero – Chapter 8


Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12


Chapter 8: Shocked and grounded

The storm, once started, gained its own agency. Building on what Mel had drawn, the storm became self sustaining. As hard as Mel tried to draw or erase her way out of it, the storm raged beyond her control.

Lightning struck all over the city, mostly hitting the CN Tower, but also plenty of other places causing fires and the kind of destruction that only a major storm could.

The giant balls of faux-alien gelatin were forgotten as soon as the first droplets melted them away.

“Do I create a dome over the city? A giant fan to blow it away?” Mel was in a guilt induced panic.

“No. Concentrate on small things that will help people. Coordinate with the others.” I said it as I started to fly up.

“What are you going to do?” Mel’s question was punctuated by a hundred blasts of lightning hitting the city. 

I could hear sirens at a distance. This storm wasn’t going to give up until all its power had dissipated. I suddenly wished I had watched more weather documentaries or paid better attention in science class. “Something shockingly stupid,” was my reply and even the pun didn’t soften the worry lines on Mel’s face.

I flew up above the city in the centre of the storm and took a deep breath. When the first bolt of lightning struck me, it tickled, giving me a false sense of security. One tickled, ten itched, a hundred stung. I lost count of the strikes as every part of me started to sing with electricity. 

The storm was relentless and I couldn’t keep up with the energy. I had never channeled anything like this and It hurt deeply, like my cells were screaming in pain.

When I couldn‘t handle any more, I thought of Frank and all my friends and family that I had lost. They gave me the strength to carry on. When I lost that, I concentrated all that lightning into pure heat and shot it into the storm. 

I passed out. The last thing I remember was my own screaming.

I woke up tied to a bed with rubber restraints. My skin felt raw and was covered in some sort of jelly. I lay there staring at a white ceiling and institutional fluorescent light for what felt like ages but I had no way of knowing if it was. I heard the telltale beeps and other noises of an IV and heart monitor.

“Oh good. You’re awake,” A male voice said from out of my eyeline. I tried to turn and see who it was but my neck was held in some sort of brace. “No no. Don’t try to move, you seriously hurt your neck.” That didn’t sound very medical.

The man stepped into my sightline and I asked in a hoarse voice, “What happened?”

“You were hit by a lot of lightning. You broke your neck, back, legs, and most of your ribs.” That explained why it hurt to breathe. “You also have burns over 90% of your body. When you came in, you fried every piece of equipment in the hospital.”

“Sounds bad,” I croaked, feeling a little stronger.

“That’s the thing, Electric Knight, you’re going to be fine. You’re healing faster than humanly possible. You’ll be as good as new by the end of the week.”

“How—” My question was interrupted by a horrible sounding and feeling cough. “Long,” I managed to croak out.

Bringing me water and putting a straw to my lips, he answered, “You’ve been here for a month.”

I spit some water out, my surprise turning into another bout of coughing. When I finally recovered, I tried to sit up. The restraints around my chest and arms stopped me. “I need to see my friends. Why am I tied down?”

“No one could touch you and you were thrashing. We had to insulate you and ground the room.” 

“Okay… Can you release me?”

“Um. I’ll go ask the doctor.”

I was left alone again. Something about him bothered me. Didn’t nurses or orderlies usually use more medical jargon? If they couldn’t touch me, how had they managed to tie the restraints?

I sneezed; like all sneezes it was sudden. It was also violent but it didn’t hurt as bad as I’d expected. It felt more like I was bruised than broken. My nose tickled and I tried to place the smell that was now assaulting my nose.

In a hospital, or any public building, I should be smelling cleaning products. But this wasn’t that, it reminded me of something. 

Before I had the chance to place it, the doctor came in and he looked familiar. I couldn’t place it until he started to speak, he had a deep melodic imitation of a theatre voice. “Ah. The patient is awake. How nice to have you with us again Electric Knight.” 

“Why do you keep calling me Electric Knight?” I asked.

“Your face was burned and we had no other way to identify you.”

“Can I be untied?”

The doctor made a tsking noise and said, “Until we’re sure you’re not going to electrocute the building, we’re going to keep you as you are.” I was going to object, but he didn’t give me a chance instead he continued, “Do you have any idea who created the storm or those things that attacked the city?”

If the smell and the weird voice hadn’t been enough to make me suspicious, that question raised a red flag. The police would want to know, but a doctor? He hadn’t even asked me if I was feeling okay.

“I assumed it was the Puppeteer that sent those things.” I was lying.

The doctor’s eyes bulged and he said with forced calm, “That’s not possible, these things had cameras inside. They were crude and in no way up to the standards of the Puppeteer.”

“I don’t know, these things were pretty high tech. I mean they had quadcopters and gelatin controlled by radio waves.”

The doctor turned red and shouted, “High tech for the early two-thousands maybe, but it lacks artistry, nothing like—” he cut off and then smiled. “I’m impressed, you got me monologuing. How did you know?” asked the Puppeteer pretending to be a doctor.

Read Chapter 9


While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

Stargirl – Recommendation Monday

Hello My Imaginary Friends,

It must seem really strange that I’m recommending Stargirl after my scathing review. I’m not, I still dislike that movie.

No, I’m recommending the TV show DC’s Stargirl.

This isn’t a review, I’ve only seen 12 of the 14 episodes. What I have seen is wonderful. It’s highly dramatic, like most modern superhero shows but it also doesn’t fear going into the cheesy.

It’s a superhero in small town high school type of show. The show could have easily devolved into angst, but the show avoids the usual tropes. The cast is really good and the mysteries are interesting.

The action in it is also top notch and makes me believe we could easily see them crossover with the other DC shows.

Today the first of the two part season finale comes out. I’ll be watching it next week as one long episode.

Have you seen Stargirl? What did you think?

Éric

Point Zero – Chapter 7


Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12


Chapter 7: Great Balls of Slime 

The thing that crashed into our living room looked like a two metre ball of gelatine; dark green, wobbly, and smelling vaguely of lime. The differences were the giant eyes and the mouth. 

“Oh, you picked the wrong apartment,” I said, happy to have a problem I could punch or electrocute. 

“Wait!” yelled Mel. “We should get out of here and let the police or superheroes deal with this. I gave her a confused look and she pointed at her eyes. We all decided it was best to not argue with her as the ball started to slowly move towards us.

We made our way into the stairwell and Mel said, “If those things have eyes and if the Puppeteer sent them then he can probably see everything they do.”

“That’s a lot of if’s,” Jane started, “But I guess we need to be careful. Let’s suit up. I’ll take James and we’ll come in from the roof to throw off suspicions. You two, go this way.”

Mel drew on our suits and we moved back towards the apartment. The large gelatin Pac-man was stil there and still moving slowly towards the door. I looked at it and then looked at Mel. “What do we do to fight this thing?”

“Why would you fight me,” boomed the deep accented voice of the gelatin.

“You crashed into our—” I cut myself off and paused before continuing, “city and your friends seem to be eating parts of it.”

“We are peaceful creatures from Alpha Centauri. We’re here to establish peaceful relations with your people.” It sounded like a slow speaking movie trailer voice.

“I can see your peaceful people eating our people outside.” Mel stuck out her hip and gave him her best unimpressed voice.

“Those are not your people. We’re here for those you call superheroes. They are the superior species. The rest are only good for food.”

“Thank you for making this an easy decision,” I said and threw a bolt of electricity at the thing. It absorbed the electricity and started to move faster.

I formed a sword and got ready to attack it when James arrived and started shooting it with water. Every jet of water shrunk the gelatinous mass until there was nothing left but the eyes.

“Aliens that are taken out by water. Now that’s just silly.” Jane sounded amused.

I walked over to one of the eyes and sliced it in half. It was hollow inside with complex looking electronic parts. I looked them over and saw that they were a combination speaker, microphone, camera, and control chip to move the eyes.

Before I could inspect it more Jane said, “We should really get out there and stop this.”

I looked out the hole in our wall and saw the destruction this was causing. The ships were still shooting out gelatinous creatures and the creatures were eating people and things but mostly causing property damage. “Plati-Power and Tele-Porter, get out there and splash those things into oblivion. Animator and I are going to go visit those ships.

When they’d left Mel asked, “How do you plan to get to the ships? Should I draw us some jet packs?”

“Nope. I’ve been working on something. Hold on.” I motioned to my back. Mel held on in a piggy back ride style. I concentrated my power on my hands and feet and pushed. We took off a lot faster than I’d expected.

“You can fly?” Mel sounded excited and amazed.

“I’ve been reading a lot of science fiction and I thought maybe I could use electromagnetism to fly and it worked, but the more I think about it the more I think I’m actually generating ion thrust.”

“I have no idea what that means but yay.”

We flew towards the first ship and it started firing gelatinous balls at us. I was more maneuverable than they could shoot and we made it to the ship without being slimed. 

The ship felt like cheap plastic and I could hear the whirring of some sort of fan. It was probably just a really large drone.

I touched my helmet and changed what I could see. It wasn’t X-ray, but it let me see into the electric workings of the ship. I had been right, it was just a giant version of a quadcopter with a rotating gun that shot out gelatinous balls with eyes.

“Do you know of any way to trace these things? They are being remote controlled.” Mel asked.

“That’s radio or light waves, not electricity. I wonder why the Puppeteer would go to this much trouble.”

 “And why hasn’t he demanded his pile of gold?”

We both shrugged and I started shooting powerful blasts of energy at the other ships. The first exploded and released all of it’s balls at once. I gave it more power and the next was disintegrated but we still had the problem with the gelatin.

Mel started sketching something and suddenly the sky above us was filled with clouds. The air smelled of dust and pepper. The wind started out feeling warm but quickly turned to biting cold. I could feel the energy in the air before I saw the first lightning. The thunder struck as soon as I saw it and the city trembled. 

As the rain started to fall in large droplets, I saw Mel desperately trying to erase her paper. The sky was filled with light, water, and sound. Over the now deafening roar of wind and constant thrum of thunder Mel tried to say but only managed to mouth, “I can’t stop it.”

Read Chapter 8


While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories: