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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of Spidey And His Amazing Friends, Star Trek: Picard, Young Justice: Phantoms, The Flash, and The Blacklist.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
I very much loved most of the film. But I actually hated the ending. I'm deducting half a star from my final grade. I'll talk about the ending a little more later. But we have good stuff to get to.
I felt Aunt May's death was pretty well earned, and it was cool to give her the Uncle Ben role. Her saying the words meant something if this Peter had never gotten them before.
I am very glad I saw this at home. I could not have sat still for 2 and a half hours in a theater for this. I will admit some stuff was spoiled for me. But I was able to sit back and enjoy Andrew Garfield saying he's loves Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire with a big dopey grin on my face, instead of praying for the movie to end so I could use the bathroom. I knew Maguire and Garfield were coming (and I didn't want to). And even still I prefer that I saw it at home. It is no question I will never go to another theater again.
Matt Murdock's cameo was fun. He is able to catch the brick because his superpower is being a great lawyer. But they better not make those awful Netflix shows MCU canon. They need to start over from scratch with both him and Kingpin.
I want to talk a bit about the secrecy of the movie. I think Marvel hiding Maguire and Garfield's involvement is rather silly after seeing the movie. It's a selling point, not a surprise. In fact, since it's an expectation, you might as well hype it. I think Marvel is too secretive for its own good. If these were cameos it would make sense. Both both Maguire AND Garfield got shockingly big roles. There is no point in hiding that.
I mentioned I didn't like the ending, but one of the things I didn't like is that we didn't see the fall-out of the villains returning to their Universes after being cured. Does Doc Ock still need to make the grand sacrifice? Will Flint Marko be reunited with his daughter? I think a tag sort of wrapping those things up via a two minute montage would have been cooler than the Doctor Strange trailer, especially because in THIS teaser we don't get any hints of the previous franchises the Multiverse is exploring.
A lot of this movie was a bit of redemption for some of Sony's previous failings. Maguire endured fewer of them, but I very much feel Andrew Garfield was mistreated by both Sony and Marc Webb. I no longer resent the Amazing Spider-Man movies existing, which an neat, unheard-of trick. Jamie Foxx also got a bit of redemption after the botched version of Electro from Amazing Spider-Man 2. This Electro is as cool as Foxx is in real life, and knows it. It's no wonder he neither wants to be cured or to go back to his Universe.
I loved Venom in the tag. Very good things for Sony can occur if they play ball with Feige. I'm very much looking forward to Venom 3 now, and hope it also stars Garfield (as rumored). And giving Feige an MCU version of Venom is why it's good for Marvel Studios to play ball with Sony too.
I don't understand why Eddie was pulled into our Universe in the first place though. He most assuredly did not know Peter Parker was Spider-Man.
There was one other thing I disliked besides the ending, but the truth is this was a problem for the last film too. This version of J. Jonah Jameson sucks butt. Before the second movie came out it was my loud opinion that Marvel Studios should just say "Screw continuity!" and cast J.K. Simmons as Jameson. Simmons was truly a remarkable Jameson in the Sam Raimi films and there was no reason to not use what already worked. Stan Lee went out of his way to make the reader hate the character unreservedly in the beginning of the comics' run. And as the comics went along they started giving Jameson understandable reasons for his behavior, and properly exploring the controversy. Raimi's take was so unique and great because he's the only version I don't hate. I would argue he's actually the best character in the Raimi films. When Goblin breaks into his office and he denies knowing Peter and where he was, despite his life being in danger, and him owing Peter nothing, the character was endeared to me right off the bat in a way no other interpretation bothered to do before that.
And when Simmons popped up with his bald-ass head in the last film's tag, people cheered, but I scowled. His smear campaign on Spider-Man starts right off the bat with him revealing his identity. Maybe that wouldn't be a huge deal if Jameson had been a thorn and a nuisance throughout the first two movies.. But he basically shows up in a tag to break the most sacred of superhero codes on a guy he doesn't even know, and he's someone PETER doesn't know either. It doesn't just feel unearned, it feels dirty. And personal. How dare he? And nothing about that changes with the best Jameson actor ever turning in the most loathsome Jameson performance ever. And I'll complain about the ending because it was a specific problem about this movie. But the MCU Jameson is an ongoing problem that started with the last film.
I love all the Spider-Mans comparing their powers and backstories. It feels sort of funny that the Marvel Universe at large for both Maguire and Garfield probably only consists of characters Sony exclusively owns, and they are both as impressed and unbelieving over the aliens and superhero scenarios as Eddie Brock is.
I am very glad they let Garfield be the one to catch MJ. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a startlingly bad movie simply because they killed off Gwen Stacy. I think Marc Webb needed his head examined for doing it. Firing him and starting over was the only feasible thing to do after the worst scene in any Spider-Man film ever. I'm glad Garfield was given that redemption. Webb says he wanted to do a tribute to the death of Gwen Stacy in the comics and he was too dumb to understand how attached the audience was to Emma Stone. Her and Garfield had more legit chemistry than Maguire and Kirsten Dunst ever did. And this Gwen was delightfully in on the secret, so unlike the comics she's fun instead of a nag always worrying Peter is absent due to a drug problem or seeing another girl behind her back. While Garfield and Stone had the chemistry they did, Gwen NEVER should have been killed off. Frankly, I think the studio should have stepped in at some point. If Webb had refused to back down, he should have just been fired. That's how damaging that moment was. And the worst part for me is I think on some level the audience knew it was coming. Webb did not try to hide it very hard, and expressed a deep admiration for the comic arc. We just hoped he wasn't as bad a filmmaker as someone dumb enough to do that was. But he was. And I spent the entire time in the theater praying that Webb wouldn't let me down, and when he did I was like, "Oh, great the entire franchise is ruined." Thanks a lot, Marc Webb. And thank you Kevin Feige for giving Andrew Garfield some of his dignity back.
Here's another selling point for the movie: Maguire is funny as Peter for the first time ever. The lack of wisecracks in Raimi's films has always been their biggest point of contention. Him clowning around with Garfield here is quite delightful
Here's an opinion: Flash Thompson may in fact be Peter Parker's best friend. That guy has been defending Spider-Man day and night in a way nobody else not in on the secret has been. Yeah, he treated Peter shabbily beforehand, and he's kinda weaselly here, but he has a legit claim to being part of Spidey's main defenders.
Wong is now the Sorcerer Supreme. Sort of makes his cameo at the end of Shang-Chi have more resonance in hindsight, doesn't it?
I like Max saying he's disappointed Spider-Man isn't black. That's another Multiverse, Electro.
I like the meta moment of the film noting that villains disproportionately get their starts by falling into something. They've noticed that too, huh?
Part of me feels Maguire wasn't specific enough about Harry's death to Ben. And another part is reminded who Ben is in the comics, and thinks it's a warning he needs to hear.
I like that it's Maguire who stops Holland from killing Osbourne. What I don't like is Osbourne stabbing Maguire. If they were gonna kill Maguire in that moment, that would be one thing. Instead, it was the first real misstep of the ending, and when things started to go wrong a bit.
Now to talk about the crappy ending. "But Matt, don't you understand they'll undo it in a future movie?" Yeah, that's if the contracts can actually be signed for the actors and the studios. And even if they are, it doesn't excuse the ending here. I go to a movie and expect a beginning, middle, and end. It's okay to add a surprise twist to a tag to set something else up, but for the main movie itself, the writers, directors, and producers should just tell their damn story, and not leave us hanging from movie to movie. Another reason Gwen's death didn't work is because it landed entirely differently in a movie than in an ongoing monthly comic where we don't spend any real time waiting to find out what happened next. This ending sucked because it was utterly unsatisfying. I heard a blurb calling this movie the best Marvel movie ever. But while I think that this movie is probably just as rewarding for long-term fans of Spider-Man movies as Avengers: Endgame was for long-term fans of MCU movies, the truth is Endgame was satisfying and this was not. And I'm allowed to be mad about that. You want my honest opinion. Empire Strikes Back is overrated because it suffers the same damn problem. And you can check my earlier review if you must, but I also had a similar negative reaction to the ending of Avengers: Infinity War, so I'm not saying anything I've never said before.
It's a shame because I definitely enjoyed the movie far more than I thought I would. Seeing the trailers for Morbius led me to believe the movie would be about Spider-Man on the lam, wanted for a murder he didn't commit. Instead the movie takes the far more interesting (and fun) tack in exploring how it blows open Peter's life, even if the legal consequences aren't something he has to really deal with. It's a FUN movie, and when Doctor Strange is super pissed at Peter when he reveals he didn't bother pleading his case to the college board and thought that brainwashing the entire world was the correct first option, I love Doctor Strange more than I ever have. He can call him "Sir" after that. Has Peter never questioned that somebody as dumb as him doesn't belong in MIT? Just asking.
I loved the movie more than I thought I would, but the ending turned me off. Until then it was great. ****1/2.
Bloopers And Gag Reel:
It was fun seeing the casts from all three iterations goof off with each other. *****.
Alternate Reality Easter Eggs:
This was freaking handy. *****.
Spidey And His Amazing Friends "Freeze! It's Team Spidey / A Sticky Situation"
Freeze! It's Team Spidey:
Is it just me or is Rhino a real whiner? He should be called Whino. *1/2.
A Sticky Situation:
The villains acting like bratty toddlers has already gotten super old. *1/2.
Episode Overall: *1/2.
Star Trek: Picard "Monsters"
I loved this show last season, but I very much felt alone in that love. This season is vindicating that love. I don't think I'll be the only person who loves it now.
James Callis is absolute perfect casting as Picard's father. Literally could not think of a finer choice. He has both gravitas AND sci-fi clout.
I love Rios' "I'm from Chile, I only work in outer space." Huge pleasurable shout-out to Captain Kirk's similar line in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. That whole plotline is the real crowdpleaser of the season.
Raffi and Seven's mission to find Agnes is also very enjoyable.
The ending scene with Guinan was appreciated by me because the previous Guinan stuff broke continuity, and this both brings back her connection to Q, and sort of suggests and reveals the peace treaty between the El-Auriens and the Q Continuum. It's very interesting that Guinan refuses to call them Gods.
I think the ritual not working means the rest of the Continuum is extinct and Q is the last one left. No wonder he's cranky.
No way this episode deserved to be rated TV-MA. No reason whatsoever.
Friendly Romulans on Earth in the 21st Century. I love it.
The cliffhanger is very similar to the last episode's cliffhanger in that it's a wrinkle in the last place we needed it, which is what great drama can do. I thought it was great, especially because it surprised me as it was happening. But Rios' crew hasn't exactly been careful this season. It makes sense law enforcement found them out.
At first it felt like the episode was going to be a bit of a filler episode, but it didn't wind up that way at all. It was great. *****.
Young Justice: Phantoms "Beyond The Grip Of Gods!"
Now the subtitle of the season makes sense.
I'm gonna take a wait and see approach on the Zod and the Darkseid stuff. What I can say is Rocket's arc is crap.
I can totally picture Greg Weisman proudly touting via Twitter the child psychologist he must have consulted about Rocket's kid having autism. "There's nothing more real than that!" I don't think he deserves the slightest bit of credit for that portrayal. Weisman didn't decide to explore the problems autistic kids suffer. He's exploring the problems PARENTS of autistic kids suffer. Again, I didn't give him a LICK of credit for consulting psychologists about people going through depression instead of actual depressed people either. The reason the portrayal of the kid deserve zero kudos is because the kid is a total zero. It's mentioned he's intelligent, but that fact isn't shown once, and every single one of his behaviors is negative. His entire reason for being is to make the viewer feel sympathetic for what his poor mother has to put up with. I don't see any accolades forthcoming from any autism foundation. Again, Weisman apparently consulted the wrong experts. Even Julia from Sesame Street is less problematic than this kid.
And here is why I think Rocket sucks, and why I think Weisman sucks. After the traumatic incident and loss of control Orion goes through, she says he's a monster. How would she feel if someone said that about her kid who walks up to strangers and tells them they smell bad? And yes, I'm aware of how drama works. That's going to be the entire point, and Rocket is going to grow and learn to see Orion through the lens of her son's struggles. But a person like Raquel raising an autistic kid should already KNOW this specific lesson. Again, there is a difference between realistic and badly written. The former doesn't actually exist on this show, while the latter is overflowing from it.
It's the small things that can ruin otherwise competently made episodes. It's why overrated producers like Weisman need to be careful to portray those small things correctly. **1/2.
The Flash "Resurrection"
That was shockingly bad on every level I could mention. I think the thing that alarms me most is that an episode with this exact story and ending could have actually been GREAT if handled by writers who were remotely competent. They'd barely need to change ANY of the fundamentals and the episode would be great instead of terrible.
At some point when I start handing a series negative review after negative review I start to wonder if me deconstructing the mess I just witnessed is worth my time. Am I literally putting more time into the show than I'm getting out of it? It's a fair question, but I'm not quite there yet with this show. I don't feel like me going over everything wrong it did would be a total waste of my time. If the series were generally worse, and this bad every week, I'd feel differently. But let's talk about these failings for now. I feel comfortable doing so.
I think all of the characters in the episode are stupid and make bad decisions. Every last one of them. Chester for his part is so stupid I can't believe it. I don't actually think less of his character for his naivete regarding broadcasting how to build dangerous technology on his podcast. I blame the writers' stupidity for believing that's actually an example of naivete and not super dumbness. The only reason the characters on this show are as dumb as they are is because the writers are dumb and couldn't possibly have any sort of handle on smart characters.
There is a controversy worth exploring in this episode. But nobody is asking the right questions. Whether Deathstorm is Ronnie or not, nobody is exploring the actual ethics of the situation properly. Here are the important questions I would have asked were I in the room with Team Flash. The fact that it never occurs to the writers how necessary those questions would be says the writers are very bad at their jobs. Because even if these questions were asked they could have STILL done the Deathstorm resolution. The reason the questions SHOULD have been asked is not to improve the story itself. But to make the story more interesting.
Cecile is absolutely adamant that Ronnie wants to die. Let's humor her and pretend like we don't know the actual truth. Does Ronnie want his suffering to end through nonexistence because he believes that's his only option? Or would he have preferred to be made into a human body if he was aware it was possible? Why doesn't it occur to Team Flash to try and contact the entity and figure out how wedded to the idea of ending his pain he really was? Nobody even thought to bring the idea up.
Nobody also thought to ask if Ronnie even DESERVED the chance to live again. "Ronnie" as that entity, before revealing he wasn't really Ronnie, killed a TON of people. Who says he and Caitlin get to have their romantic happy ending as if that shouldn't be addressed? Nobody on Team Flash ONCE posited the idea that Ronnie might have to answer for his crimes. And that wouldn't have changed anything about the ending. But it would have been properly exploring the controversy.
Barry using Flashpoint as an example of him messing up by not using his head is a false equivalence. Even if he's right that Caitlin's view is wrong, his example of the stakes and repercussions are nowhere NEAR equal. Not remotely.
I was also annoyed by Iris and Sue. I was annoyed that they believed they could shunt aside the girl whose mother Iris appears to have killed, because supposedly poor Iris needs her rest and some space, are again people not thinking clearly or realistically. I'd look down on Sue and Iris for it, but the truth is they didn't show that level of empathy towards that girl, because the writers weren't smart enough to have them do it. Or worse, they knew they should have, but wrote them out of character so they could have that far-fetched revenge scene at the end. Either way, the writers are bad writers, and stupid writers to boot.
I guess that's all I need to say about this disaster of an episode. It could have actually been decent if The Arrowverse actually had remotely competent writers. But it doesn't. 1/2.
The Blacklist "Helen Maghi"
I found Red's conversation at the end with Helen absolutely riveting. Because it turned shockingly personal. And knowing that her lying to him is the stickler for him makes me understand why he is ready to leave the Task Force because of Aram. And I think he's right. Aram is painting what he did as a moral victory. But he had to lie and break a promise to get that outcome. There's nothing moral about that.
I like Panabaker calling Red a son of a b-word and him conceding, "Yes, but you never met my father." That was great. I also like that when she's outraged at the recording and says she thought he was helping her, he correctly points out he DID help her. The recording doesn't change that. It just means she has to help him now. I feel like the agents in this episode are moralizing against Red without possessing the high ground. In fact, the reason I thought Aram should have gotten the job is because he was the only agent of the Task Force who wasn't ethically compromised. But that doesn't matter if he's untrustworthy to Red. I enjoyed the controversies explored in the episode.
I like Harold pointing out to Lou that most of the illegal stuff was done at Lou's own initiative, and not something Harold would have thought of or sanctioned himself. While I get that Lou has a kid, I think a very good lawyer could easily point that out on the stand. Frankly, I'm shocked the Feds gave him the deal at all. He was the more guilty one in that endeavor. If they actually had him dead to rights they should have taken him to trial.
I think the biggest failing of the episode is getting me to believe the agents would have fallen for Red's trick at the end. How long have they been at this and worked with this guy? It's not remotely credible.
Very interesting week with no good guys. ****.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
I very much loved most of the film. But I actually hated the ending. I'm deducting half a star from my final grade. I'll talk about the ending a little more later. But we have good stuff to get to.
I felt Aunt May's death was pretty well earned, and it was cool to give her the Uncle Ben role. Her saying the words meant something if this Peter had never gotten them before.
I am very glad I saw this at home. I could not have sat still for 2 and a half hours in a theater for this. I will admit some stuff was spoiled for me. But I was able to sit back and enjoy Andrew Garfield saying he's loves Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire with a big dopey grin on my face, instead of praying for the movie to end so I could use the bathroom. I knew Maguire and Garfield were coming (and I didn't want to). And even still I prefer that I saw it at home. It is no question I will never go to another theater again.
Matt Murdock's cameo was fun. He is able to catch the brick because his superpower is being a great lawyer. But they better not make those awful Netflix shows MCU canon. They need to start over from scratch with both him and Kingpin.
I want to talk a bit about the secrecy of the movie. I think Marvel hiding Maguire and Garfield's involvement is rather silly after seeing the movie. It's a selling point, not a surprise. In fact, since it's an expectation, you might as well hype it. I think Marvel is too secretive for its own good. If these were cameos it would make sense. Both both Maguire AND Garfield got shockingly big roles. There is no point in hiding that.
I mentioned I didn't like the ending, but one of the things I didn't like is that we didn't see the fall-out of the villains returning to their Universes after being cured. Does Doc Ock still need to make the grand sacrifice? Will Flint Marko be reunited with his daughter? I think a tag sort of wrapping those things up via a two minute montage would have been cooler than the Doctor Strange trailer, especially because in THIS teaser we don't get any hints of the previous franchises the Multiverse is exploring.
A lot of this movie was a bit of redemption for some of Sony's previous failings. Maguire endured fewer of them, but I very much feel Andrew Garfield was mistreated by both Sony and Marc Webb. I no longer resent the Amazing Spider-Man movies existing, which an neat, unheard-of trick. Jamie Foxx also got a bit of redemption after the botched version of Electro from Amazing Spider-Man 2. This Electro is as cool as Foxx is in real life, and knows it. It's no wonder he neither wants to be cured or to go back to his Universe.
I loved Venom in the tag. Very good things for Sony can occur if they play ball with Feige. I'm very much looking forward to Venom 3 now, and hope it also stars Garfield (as rumored). And giving Feige an MCU version of Venom is why it's good for Marvel Studios to play ball with Sony too.
I don't understand why Eddie was pulled into our Universe in the first place though. He most assuredly did not know Peter Parker was Spider-Man.
There was one other thing I disliked besides the ending, but the truth is this was a problem for the last film too. This version of J. Jonah Jameson sucks butt. Before the second movie came out it was my loud opinion that Marvel Studios should just say "Screw continuity!" and cast J.K. Simmons as Jameson. Simmons was truly a remarkable Jameson in the Sam Raimi films and there was no reason to not use what already worked. Stan Lee went out of his way to make the reader hate the character unreservedly in the beginning of the comics' run. And as the comics went along they started giving Jameson understandable reasons for his behavior, and properly exploring the controversy. Raimi's take was so unique and great because he's the only version I don't hate. I would argue he's actually the best character in the Raimi films. When Goblin breaks into his office and he denies knowing Peter and where he was, despite his life being in danger, and him owing Peter nothing, the character was endeared to me right off the bat in a way no other interpretation bothered to do before that.
And when Simmons popped up with his bald-ass head in the last film's tag, people cheered, but I scowled. His smear campaign on Spider-Man starts right off the bat with him revealing his identity. Maybe that wouldn't be a huge deal if Jameson had been a thorn and a nuisance throughout the first two movies.. But he basically shows up in a tag to break the most sacred of superhero codes on a guy he doesn't even know, and he's someone PETER doesn't know either. It doesn't just feel unearned, it feels dirty. And personal. How dare he? And nothing about that changes with the best Jameson actor ever turning in the most loathsome Jameson performance ever. And I'll complain about the ending because it was a specific problem about this movie. But the MCU Jameson is an ongoing problem that started with the last film.
I love all the Spider-Mans comparing their powers and backstories. It feels sort of funny that the Marvel Universe at large for both Maguire and Garfield probably only consists of characters Sony exclusively owns, and they are both as impressed and unbelieving over the aliens and superhero scenarios as Eddie Brock is.
I am very glad they let Garfield be the one to catch MJ. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a startlingly bad movie simply because they killed off Gwen Stacy. I think Marc Webb needed his head examined for doing it. Firing him and starting over was the only feasible thing to do after the worst scene in any Spider-Man film ever. I'm glad Garfield was given that redemption. Webb says he wanted to do a tribute to the death of Gwen Stacy in the comics and he was too dumb to understand how attached the audience was to Emma Stone. Her and Garfield had more legit chemistry than Maguire and Kirsten Dunst ever did. And this Gwen was delightfully in on the secret, so unlike the comics she's fun instead of a nag always worrying Peter is absent due to a drug problem or seeing another girl behind her back. While Garfield and Stone had the chemistry they did, Gwen NEVER should have been killed off. Frankly, I think the studio should have stepped in at some point. If Webb had refused to back down, he should have just been fired. That's how damaging that moment was. And the worst part for me is I think on some level the audience knew it was coming. Webb did not try to hide it very hard, and expressed a deep admiration for the comic arc. We just hoped he wasn't as bad a filmmaker as someone dumb enough to do that was. But he was. And I spent the entire time in the theater praying that Webb wouldn't let me down, and when he did I was like, "Oh, great the entire franchise is ruined." Thanks a lot, Marc Webb. And thank you Kevin Feige for giving Andrew Garfield some of his dignity back.
Here's another selling point for the movie: Maguire is funny as Peter for the first time ever. The lack of wisecracks in Raimi's films has always been their biggest point of contention. Him clowning around with Garfield here is quite delightful
Here's an opinion: Flash Thompson may in fact be Peter Parker's best friend. That guy has been defending Spider-Man day and night in a way nobody else not in on the secret has been. Yeah, he treated Peter shabbily beforehand, and he's kinda weaselly here, but he has a legit claim to being part of Spidey's main defenders.
Wong is now the Sorcerer Supreme. Sort of makes his cameo at the end of Shang-Chi have more resonance in hindsight, doesn't it?
I like Max saying he's disappointed Spider-Man isn't black. That's another Multiverse, Electro.
I like the meta moment of the film noting that villains disproportionately get their starts by falling into something. They've noticed that too, huh?
Part of me feels Maguire wasn't specific enough about Harry's death to Ben. And another part is reminded who Ben is in the comics, and thinks it's a warning he needs to hear.
I like that it's Maguire who stops Holland from killing Osbourne. What I don't like is Osbourne stabbing Maguire. If they were gonna kill Maguire in that moment, that would be one thing. Instead, it was the first real misstep of the ending, and when things started to go wrong a bit.
Now to talk about the crappy ending. "But Matt, don't you understand they'll undo it in a future movie?" Yeah, that's if the contracts can actually be signed for the actors and the studios. And even if they are, it doesn't excuse the ending here. I go to a movie and expect a beginning, middle, and end. It's okay to add a surprise twist to a tag to set something else up, but for the main movie itself, the writers, directors, and producers should just tell their damn story, and not leave us hanging from movie to movie. Another reason Gwen's death didn't work is because it landed entirely differently in a movie than in an ongoing monthly comic where we don't spend any real time waiting to find out what happened next. This ending sucked because it was utterly unsatisfying. I heard a blurb calling this movie the best Marvel movie ever. But while I think that this movie is probably just as rewarding for long-term fans of Spider-Man movies as Avengers: Endgame was for long-term fans of MCU movies, the truth is Endgame was satisfying and this was not. And I'm allowed to be mad about that. You want my honest opinion. Empire Strikes Back is overrated because it suffers the same damn problem. And you can check my earlier review if you must, but I also had a similar negative reaction to the ending of Avengers: Infinity War, so I'm not saying anything I've never said before.
It's a shame because I definitely enjoyed the movie far more than I thought I would. Seeing the trailers for Morbius led me to believe the movie would be about Spider-Man on the lam, wanted for a murder he didn't commit. Instead the movie takes the far more interesting (and fun) tack in exploring how it blows open Peter's life, even if the legal consequences aren't something he has to really deal with. It's a FUN movie, and when Doctor Strange is super pissed at Peter when he reveals he didn't bother pleading his case to the college board and thought that brainwashing the entire world was the correct first option, I love Doctor Strange more than I ever have. He can call him "Sir" after that. Has Peter never questioned that somebody as dumb as him doesn't belong in MIT? Just asking.
I loved the movie more than I thought I would, but the ending turned me off. Until then it was great. ****1/2.
Bloopers And Gag Reel:
It was fun seeing the casts from all three iterations goof off with each other. *****.
Alternate Reality Easter Eggs:
This was freaking handy. *****.
Spidey And His Amazing Friends "Freeze! It's Team Spidey / A Sticky Situation"
Freeze! It's Team Spidey:
Is it just me or is Rhino a real whiner? He should be called Whino. *1/2.
A Sticky Situation:
The villains acting like bratty toddlers has already gotten super old. *1/2.
Episode Overall: *1/2.
Star Trek: Picard "Monsters"
I loved this show last season, but I very much felt alone in that love. This season is vindicating that love. I don't think I'll be the only person who loves it now.
James Callis is absolute perfect casting as Picard's father. Literally could not think of a finer choice. He has both gravitas AND sci-fi clout.
I love Rios' "I'm from Chile, I only work in outer space." Huge pleasurable shout-out to Captain Kirk's similar line in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. That whole plotline is the real crowdpleaser of the season.
Raffi and Seven's mission to find Agnes is also very enjoyable.
The ending scene with Guinan was appreciated by me because the previous Guinan stuff broke continuity, and this both brings back her connection to Q, and sort of suggests and reveals the peace treaty between the El-Auriens and the Q Continuum. It's very interesting that Guinan refuses to call them Gods.
I think the ritual not working means the rest of the Continuum is extinct and Q is the last one left. No wonder he's cranky.
No way this episode deserved to be rated TV-MA. No reason whatsoever.
Friendly Romulans on Earth in the 21st Century. I love it.
The cliffhanger is very similar to the last episode's cliffhanger in that it's a wrinkle in the last place we needed it, which is what great drama can do. I thought it was great, especially because it surprised me as it was happening. But Rios' crew hasn't exactly been careful this season. It makes sense law enforcement found them out.
At first it felt like the episode was going to be a bit of a filler episode, but it didn't wind up that way at all. It was great. *****.
Young Justice: Phantoms "Beyond The Grip Of Gods!"
Now the subtitle of the season makes sense.
I'm gonna take a wait and see approach on the Zod and the Darkseid stuff. What I can say is Rocket's arc is crap.
I can totally picture Greg Weisman proudly touting via Twitter the child psychologist he must have consulted about Rocket's kid having autism. "There's nothing more real than that!" I don't think he deserves the slightest bit of credit for that portrayal. Weisman didn't decide to explore the problems autistic kids suffer. He's exploring the problems PARENTS of autistic kids suffer. Again, I didn't give him a LICK of credit for consulting psychologists about people going through depression instead of actual depressed people either. The reason the portrayal of the kid deserve zero kudos is because the kid is a total zero. It's mentioned he's intelligent, but that fact isn't shown once, and every single one of his behaviors is negative. His entire reason for being is to make the viewer feel sympathetic for what his poor mother has to put up with. I don't see any accolades forthcoming from any autism foundation. Again, Weisman apparently consulted the wrong experts. Even Julia from Sesame Street is less problematic than this kid.
And here is why I think Rocket sucks, and why I think Weisman sucks. After the traumatic incident and loss of control Orion goes through, she says he's a monster. How would she feel if someone said that about her kid who walks up to strangers and tells them they smell bad? And yes, I'm aware of how drama works. That's going to be the entire point, and Rocket is going to grow and learn to see Orion through the lens of her son's struggles. But a person like Raquel raising an autistic kid should already KNOW this specific lesson. Again, there is a difference between realistic and badly written. The former doesn't actually exist on this show, while the latter is overflowing from it.
It's the small things that can ruin otherwise competently made episodes. It's why overrated producers like Weisman need to be careful to portray those small things correctly. **1/2.
The Flash "Resurrection"
That was shockingly bad on every level I could mention. I think the thing that alarms me most is that an episode with this exact story and ending could have actually been GREAT if handled by writers who were remotely competent. They'd barely need to change ANY of the fundamentals and the episode would be great instead of terrible.
At some point when I start handing a series negative review after negative review I start to wonder if me deconstructing the mess I just witnessed is worth my time. Am I literally putting more time into the show than I'm getting out of it? It's a fair question, but I'm not quite there yet with this show. I don't feel like me going over everything wrong it did would be a total waste of my time. If the series were generally worse, and this bad every week, I'd feel differently. But let's talk about these failings for now. I feel comfortable doing so.
I think all of the characters in the episode are stupid and make bad decisions. Every last one of them. Chester for his part is so stupid I can't believe it. I don't actually think less of his character for his naivete regarding broadcasting how to build dangerous technology on his podcast. I blame the writers' stupidity for believing that's actually an example of naivete and not super dumbness. The only reason the characters on this show are as dumb as they are is because the writers are dumb and couldn't possibly have any sort of handle on smart characters.
There is a controversy worth exploring in this episode. But nobody is asking the right questions. Whether Deathstorm is Ronnie or not, nobody is exploring the actual ethics of the situation properly. Here are the important questions I would have asked were I in the room with Team Flash. The fact that it never occurs to the writers how necessary those questions would be says the writers are very bad at their jobs. Because even if these questions were asked they could have STILL done the Deathstorm resolution. The reason the questions SHOULD have been asked is not to improve the story itself. But to make the story more interesting.
Cecile is absolutely adamant that Ronnie wants to die. Let's humor her and pretend like we don't know the actual truth. Does Ronnie want his suffering to end through nonexistence because he believes that's his only option? Or would he have preferred to be made into a human body if he was aware it was possible? Why doesn't it occur to Team Flash to try and contact the entity and figure out how wedded to the idea of ending his pain he really was? Nobody even thought to bring the idea up.
Nobody also thought to ask if Ronnie even DESERVED the chance to live again. "Ronnie" as that entity, before revealing he wasn't really Ronnie, killed a TON of people. Who says he and Caitlin get to have their romantic happy ending as if that shouldn't be addressed? Nobody on Team Flash ONCE posited the idea that Ronnie might have to answer for his crimes. And that wouldn't have changed anything about the ending. But it would have been properly exploring the controversy.
Barry using Flashpoint as an example of him messing up by not using his head is a false equivalence. Even if he's right that Caitlin's view is wrong, his example of the stakes and repercussions are nowhere NEAR equal. Not remotely.
I was also annoyed by Iris and Sue. I was annoyed that they believed they could shunt aside the girl whose mother Iris appears to have killed, because supposedly poor Iris needs her rest and some space, are again people not thinking clearly or realistically. I'd look down on Sue and Iris for it, but the truth is they didn't show that level of empathy towards that girl, because the writers weren't smart enough to have them do it. Or worse, they knew they should have, but wrote them out of character so they could have that far-fetched revenge scene at the end. Either way, the writers are bad writers, and stupid writers to boot.
I guess that's all I need to say about this disaster of an episode. It could have actually been decent if The Arrowverse actually had remotely competent writers. But it doesn't. 1/2.
The Blacklist "Helen Maghi"
I found Red's conversation at the end with Helen absolutely riveting. Because it turned shockingly personal. And knowing that her lying to him is the stickler for him makes me understand why he is ready to leave the Task Force because of Aram. And I think he's right. Aram is painting what he did as a moral victory. But he had to lie and break a promise to get that outcome. There's nothing moral about that.
I like Panabaker calling Red a son of a b-word and him conceding, "Yes, but you never met my father." That was great. I also like that when she's outraged at the recording and says she thought he was helping her, he correctly points out he DID help her. The recording doesn't change that. It just means she has to help him now. I feel like the agents in this episode are moralizing against Red without possessing the high ground. In fact, the reason I thought Aram should have gotten the job is because he was the only agent of the Task Force who wasn't ethically compromised. But that doesn't matter if he's untrustworthy to Red. I enjoyed the controversies explored in the episode.
I like Harold pointing out to Lou that most of the illegal stuff was done at Lou's own initiative, and not something Harold would have thought of or sanctioned himself. While I get that Lou has a kid, I think a very good lawyer could easily point that out on the stand. Frankly, I'm shocked the Feds gave him the deal at all. He was the more guilty one in that endeavor. If they actually had him dead to rights they should have taken him to trial.
I think the biggest failing of the episode is getting me to believe the agents would have fallen for Red's trick at the end. How long have they been at this and worked with this guy? It's not remotely credible.
Very interesting week with no good guys. ****.
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Date: 2022-05-09 09:12 am (UTC)As for how Venom knows that Peter PArker is Spider-Man... well, who knows what went down in the Venomverse? Perhaps over there Peter Parker is a guy who makes YouTube videos about arachnids.
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Date: 2022-05-09 09:55 am (UTC)Good to see you here, man.
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Date: 2022-05-09 09:56 am (UTC)