Comment: Avengers Endgame - An End Of An Era

There was an idea, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to fight the battles we never could.

There was also an idea, called the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The idea was to bring together a diverse (or at least getting there) group of remarkable cast and crew, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when Hollywood needed them to create a film franchise we never could on our own. And after 22 films and just under 11 years, we're in the Endgame now.

Film Review No. 43 Ant-Man and The Wasp (12+)

Strong Points:

More fun and interesting uses of the Pym Particle powers

A great script

Some brilliant one-liners

Interesting villain powers

More Luis lip-syncing

A better look at the Quantum Realm

Some great costumes

Mid-credit scene

Explains the repercussions of Captain America: Civil War and why Ant-Man wasn’t in Infinity War

Paul Rudd as Michelle Pfeiffer

A nice pallet-cleanser after Infinity War

Weak Points:

Felt like a filler episode before Avengers 4

Very quick pacing – because it has to take place in the same time-frame as Infinity War

Perhaps not to do with Ant-Man and The Wasp enough to justify the title

Some comedic breaks in tension fell flat

Spoiler warning for Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War

Film Review No. 39 Avengers: Infinity War (12+)

Strong Points:
One of the best Marvel scripts
Balances humour and drama
Great acting from all
Humanising Thanos
The ending
Slick battle sequences
Great cinematography
Superb CGI
Successfully balances cast of characters
New interactions between well-known characters
Doesn't get bogged down
Risk-taking

Weak Points:
Some sound issues - missing one-liners etc.
Some romantic pairings suffered from pacing issues
Other villains don't have the impact - should have been introduced before hand
Mark Ruffalo in the Hulk Buster Armour had some visual effects tearing

Spoilers ahead:

Comment: TV Reviews

As you've probably noticed, Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reviews haven't been appearing as and when they should be i.e. before the next episode is released.

Because of time restraints due to exams, getting ready for university and other commitments, I haven't had the time to complete a TV review a week, especially up to a standard I feel comfortable with releasing. Therefore, I've decided to halt the Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reviews for the time being. Instead, I will be doing a review round-up when the series finishes, either focusing on each episode with a mini review or focusing on characters/arcs/something else as I have been for the last two seasons.

Hopefully this will allow posts here at GamesAppsandReviews to maintain a high quality throughout. Once the summer's in, posts will be hopefully going back to normal.

Many thanks to everyone for their continued support.

Satamer.

TV Review No. 67 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Orientation (S5, Ep1&2)

Strong Points:
A reinvention of the classic AoS formula
References to the past seasons
Some classic Mack lines
A life spent, a life earned - for tension
Great CGI
Action sequences
May can take some hits
Daisy's entrance

Weak Points:
Virgil wasn't in it nearly enough to give the depth of emotion they wanted
If people could just get to the point...
A life spent, a life earned - meaning
Some plot twists were given away before and then repeated

Spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 37 Black Panther (12+)

Strong Points:
A refreshing new type of Marvel movie
The gadgets
Colour palette - etheral
Great acting from all
Told its own story outside of political and cultural pressures...
...Although treats them with sensitivity as well
The right amount of humour
Wide open fight scenes and small, intimate duels
No CGI army to fight
Impressive CGI
Twists and turns

Weak Points:
Some of Michael B Jordan's lines fell flat
Took me a while to remember the opening was set in the past
Did they fight to kill sometimes?

Some spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 32 Thor: Ragnarok (12+)

Strong Points:
Great comedic moments
Amazing special effects
Superb fight scenes
Korg
Ties up a load of loose plot threads
Back-references galor
Sets up for Infinity War
The Valkyrie
Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster
Hulk’s Toddler-esque speech
Anthony Hopkins as "Loki"
Chris Hemsworth has been allowed some freedom
Luke Hemsworth and Matt Damon’s cameo
Thor’s lighting powers
Dr. Strange

Weak Points:
Some of the jokes are only going to be funny once or twice - rewatch-ers will miss the tension
Lack of tension due to continuous wisecracks
The whole ‘Hulk being all powerful’ scenario is becoming a bit unbelievable as he keeps losing
Are we supporting Loki now or...?
Where’s Jane Foster (and, for that matter, Lady Sif)?
The Warriors Three's end

Spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 28 Spider-Man: Homecoming (12+)

Strong Points:
Some great action sequences
Tom Holland works great as both Spider-Man and Peter Parker
Humorous
Strong supporting cast
Returning cast members
Home-video opening
Trusting the audience to know the origin story
Cameos from other superheroes

Weak Points:
Could come across as whiny
Lacks the scope of other MCU films
Lacking focus

Spoilers ahead:

TV Review No. 62 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Series 4

Strong Points:
Great character development and payoffs of previous seasons
Three excellent arcs/pods which joined together
Great pacing
The Framework allowing for previous characters to return
What If? scenarios - showed how easy it could've gone the other way
Surprising twists and reveals
Aida/Agnes/Ophelia/Madame Hydra
Radcliffe's moral grey area
Humorous
Good references to the MCU films
Ghost Rider got better...
Sharp focus...
Superb emotion and tension
Excellent acting
AI questions but with a twist
Pop culture references
Just more of what makes AoS great

Weak Points:
Some villains were underdeveloped
Arc 1 didn't quite live up to the other two
Difficult to keep track of LMD
Some character traits were thrown in randomly for later e.g. Hope
...After lacking some fire in the early seasons
...In the later episodes
No new Inhumans (or mention of Joey)

Note: as with last season, my rating may seem higher than the individual episode's ratings. This is due to AoS being a show where the sum of all parts is a lot greater than the individual stories given the huge story arcs. Also, I'm going to rate each pod as well as the season as a whole, as Season 4 definitely felt more like a collection of mini-series compared to the previous seasons (which had two major arcs each).

TV Review No. 61 Marvel: Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.: World's End (S4, Ep22)

As this is the season finale, everything a spoiler!

TV Review No. 60 Marvel: Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.: The Return (S4, Ep21)

Strong Points:
Mallory Jensen
Iain de Caestecker
Some good uses of CGI...
Great action sequences
Mack's still being mentioned
A certain character's back
Mix of genres

Weak Points:
...Some slightly funny looking bits of CGI
Some cheesy dialogue
Slightly changed their own logic with the Framework machines
Took a while to remember what everyone actually knows

TV Review No. 58 Marvel: Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.: Farewell, Cruel World (S4, Ep20)

Strong Points:
Excellent character moments
Tension
The hope of more to come from The Framework
The effects of the framework

Weak Points:
Being thrown back into the real world, to begin with, was a bit disconcerting
Villain's logic when it comes to disposing of someone
We were set up to react in a different way to what might be logical if we knew nothing

TV Review No. 57 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: All The Madame's Men (S4, Ep19)

Strong Points:
Matrix style fight scene
Swift use of Daisy's powers
Finally got to see the true nature of Fitz's father
Fitz is really good as a bad guy
Coulson back to being a leader
Bakshi's cameo
Connection to the Ghost Rider storyline

Weak Points:
Fitz is really good as a bad guy
More of a 'setting up' episode
Main bad guys getting the 'special' treatment in fights

TV Review No. 54 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: No Regrets (S4, Ep18)

Strong Points:
Old characters are back
Some great acting ranges
Meaningful deaths
Tension
Radcliffe's reactions

Weak Points:
Simmon's constantly breaking the immersion with 'this isn't real' is starting to get annoying - let me get sucked in!
Fitz's father could've been even worse
Starting to get confusing again

TV Review No. 53 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Identity and Change (S4, Ep17)

Strong Points:
Coulson as a clueless teacher works!
Madame Hydra
Everyone's gotten into their new characters well
References to past seasons used but twisted
Political commentary

Weak Points:
Tension wasn't quite there all the time
Fitz's actions could be seen as predictable

TV Review No. 50 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: What If... (S4, Ep16)

Strong Points:
Great remixes of characters
Atmosphere of unease
Inventive repercussions of removing 'regrets'
Interesting colour correction
Great acting from all
References to the first season - Dwarfs

Weak Points:
Can be difficult to invest in characters when they don't exist (which is ironic for a TV show). Or do they?
Can be confusing
Where do The Avengers and the other superhero's fit into this?

TV Review No. 49 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Self-Control (S4, Ep15)

Strong Points:
The ending montage
Twists and turns
Great emotion
Rewards for investing in characters
Used character development well - odd ties tied up
Paradox fixing
Great CGI

Weak Points:
Difficult to get your head around parts
They can really mass produce them things can't they
LMD Coulson was a bit robotic - ironically

Some spoilers ahead:

Film Review No. 24 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (12+)

Strong Points:
Develops the characters
The opening sequence
Easter eggs and 80's references
Very funny
Twists and turns
Stan Lee's cameos
Unexpected emotional depth and development...

Weak Points:
The sheer amount of jokes launched at you can be overwhelming
Sylvester Stallone is underused
Less focused than the original
The Sovereign become annoying
...with some working better than others
Some bits were slightly too gory

Some spoilers ahead:

Top 5: Video Game Franchises That Deserve The 'Marvel Treatment'

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the greatest cultural phenomena of recent times and is one of the main contributors to the rise of the 'shared universe' template for franchises that consists of many stories told through various mediums such as film, books and TV shows. In order to survive and thrive, the franchise has to have a cast of colourful, interesting and relatable characters and an in-depth setting as well as an enjoyable story arch that can be fleshed out by those who are interested by hidden Easter Eggs and sub-plots while still being basic enough to be glanced over by casual fans. Another important aspect of shared universes, at least to get them off the ground, is to have a well-established bank of lore and fans to provide inspiration for the massive story undertaking that is to take place. This is why shared universes based off of comic books, novels, toys and films have succeeded so well. However, there is one medium that has yet to have the 'Marvel Treatment': video games (Activision's attempts at Call of Duty and Warcraft aside). And, while there is a good reason for this (just think about the quality of video game films over the years) I still think that we should give it another go and make the shared universes of our video game dreams.
And, so, without further ado, welcome to my list of the top five video game franchises that deserve the 'Marvel Treatment':

TV Review No. 47 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Man Behind The Shield (S4, Ep14)

Strong Points:
Twists and turns
Pre-Bahrain Coulson and May
Coulson speaking 'Russian'
Mace and Jason O'Mara
The Superior's origins
LMDs

Weak Points:
The Superior
Is Aida still mimicking?
Lots of LMDs