Category Archives: Avengers
My Soul is Crushed – Director Edgar Wright Has Stepped Away From Ant-Man
I don’t even know how to process this news. It’s heart-breaking. It’s disastrous. It’s apocalyptic! Edgar Wright, director of some of my most favorite films, like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, has stepped away from directing Ant-Man for Marvel Studios! I just…I’m speechless! I was looking forward to Wright’s Ant-Man more than Avengers: Age of Ultron! This is the worst news in the pop culture world!
I had a dream, once…
This was the statement released by Marvel today:
Marvel and Edgar Wright jointly announced today that the studio and director have parted ways on ANT-MAN due to differences in their vision of the film. The decision to move on is amicable and does not impact the release date on July 17, 2015. A new director will be announced shortly.
Ugh. I just don’t know what to think. Ant-Man was going to be legendary. It was going to be the best Marvel film. Everything was lined up perfectly. Wright has been attached to the film since 2006!
What the heck went wrong?!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/12/14
I am not often someone who toots his own horn – usually – but I think it’s time to share with you all that I’ve been picking up some other blog duties on the side of Henchman-4-Hire. I volunteered a few months ago to write additional comic book reviews for the website Word of the Nerd. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? I write a different style of review for them, adding to my already big workload here.
So just in case you’d like to read some additional reviews of mine, you can check out my takes on Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #1 and Nightcrawler #1 this week. Sometimes my reviews have overlapped between the two sites, but why do that when I can just share with you lot some other reviews I’ve written around the webs!
And no way am I going to abandon the weekly Hench-Sized reviews! This week sees the return of the All-New Ghost Rider, Captain Marvel and Secret Avengers, with the debut issue of Batman Eternal, DC Comics’ big new weekly Batman series. Does it live up to the hype?
No, no it doesn’t.
The second issue of Secret Avengers wins Comic Book of the Week for its playful style and strong characters. But Captain Marvel wins moment of the week with a guest appearance by Carol’s cat Chewie! Cats in comics are my kryptonite. I’m not ashamed to admit that.
Both ‘Carol’ and ‘Captain Marvel’ would be good names for cats, I think. Or maybe just ‘The Captain’. Or even ‘Captain Cat’. I could do this all day.
Comic Reviews: All-New Ghost Rider #2, Batman Eternal #1, Captain Marvel #2, Secret Avengers #2 and Superman/Wonder Woman #7.
Everything Wrong With Thor: The Dark World!
I love’em, you love’em, let’s check out Everything Wrong with Thor: The Dark World!
I hope this means we’ll be getting the EWW for Captain America: The Winter Soldier soon. Probably in time for the DVD release. This was another solid, silly entry. Though if I’m being completely honest, I think the guys at Cinema Sins have really started reaching with the past few episodes. I think success is going to their head, and they feel compelled to really stretch these things out and mock as much as they can, even when its not really mockable. That “Next time, let’s start with the big one” line was just a joke from Fandrell, not a legitimate suggestion in military tactics.
It took more than 10 minutes to cover more than 100 things they thought were wrong with Thor: The Dark World. When they started, there were only a few dozen things wrong with The Avengers, and they did that under three minutes.
They’re getting too big!
Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
You can’t see it right now, what with the computers in the way, but I am saluting the flag. I feel an overwhelming swell of patriotism growing inside me, having taken in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This is a damn fine country and it produces some damn fine movies about damn fine superheroes. How many does this make for Marvel? How many amazing action movies have they produced so far? The Avengers was one of the biggest movies of all time, and all three superhero follow-ups have been dynamite, with Captain America 2 probably the best of the bunch. This movie has everything. This movie is everything.
It makes me proud to be an American.
Movie Rating: 9/10 – Great.
Not that American patriotism is the driving factor of The Winter Soldier, I just needed a good opening. This movie is actually about SHIELD and the secrets it keeps, and how Steve Rogers may be the only honest man left who can get to the bottom of the mysteries that lie at the heart of the organization. SHIELD has been the glue that binds all of the Marvel movies so far. Heck, Marvel went ahead and based a whole TV show around them. But something inside SHIELD is starting to crack, and Captain America is just the sort of hero we need to save the day. He’s not flashy like Iron Man or Thor. He’s not at war with himself like the Hulk. Steve Rogers is just a man, for the most part. He’s determined and honest, and a lot tougher than most. But he’s a man who wants to do the right thing, and has the strength to stick with it when the odds seem overwhelming.
Plus he’s brought along a bunch of neat friends. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is almost as much of an ensemble film as The Avengers, and it works just as good.
In terms of sheer spectacle and excitement, The Avengers is still the best. But The Winter Soldier is of the same caliber and quality. The action and danger are very real, with ties to both The Avengers and Captain America’s first film. The characters are true to themselves, and grow beyond what we’ve seen before. And, as always, that signature Marvel wit just saturates the film. The dialogue is delightful, the banter is beautiful, and the film knows exactly when to sprinkle in the humor.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is everything we’ve come to expect from the Marvel Movie Machine. Once again, Marvel raises the bar for action movies and superhero movies everywhere.
Join me after the jump for the full review. I’m going to try to keep SPOILERS to a minimum.
Everything Wrong with the Honest Trailer of Captain America: The First Avenger!
I’m going to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier at the theater tonight, so to celebrate, I cobbled together all of my favorite movie critiquing Internet videos for you to enjoy! We’ve got Honest Trailers and Everything Wrong With, both of which came out in the past week. Plus I dug out the How It Should Have Ended as well, because I love you guys.
Let’s start with EWW by Cinema Sins!
Then we’ve got the Honest Trailer by the Screen Junkies!
And finally, How It Should Have Ended!
Hopefully I”ll have my review of The Winter Soldier up tomorrow morning!
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Henchman-4-Hire 