Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 25, 2019 22:18:19 GMT -5
It sucked.
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Post by Torgo on Apr 25, 2019 14:45:59 GMT -5
Day of Endgame update.
I have time to kill before Endgame tonight. After three weeks of Marvel movies I feel like I should be moving on to something else. What's the first thing I do?
Watch Infinity War again. I need help.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 25, 2019 13:50:42 GMT -5
I'm not familiar with City of Heroes. Mind giving me a rundown? Edit: nvm Looked it up on Wiki. I have heard of this. It sounds like fun, but I'm not an MMO guy. But it's cool it's coming back.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 24, 2019 22:50:42 GMT -5
But that's probably cheating. If I were to pick a moment in the movie, I'd point to the final scene between Yon-Rogg and Carol, where Yon-Rogg tries to get her to put away her powers and prove to him that she can take him in a fair fight. What does Carol do? It's touches like this that prove your posting game is exceptionally strong, Torgo. These recaps have been fun to read, awesome work doing the legwork. I still stand by the scene where Fury learns Danvers' call sign as my preferred highlight, but to each their own, right? You're too kind. I just try to keep my thoughts coherent, if nothing else. And I got MJ out of the woodwork too, so yay! Though I did reach my low point when I did my Ant-Man and the Wasp write-up and had almost finished it, then accidentally deleted it with no chance of recovery. Took me about three hours to convince myself to write that f'ing thing again, as I was like "I'm twenty in, I'm not stopping now." Now I hate Ant-Man and the Wasp more than ever! I do love the call sign moment too. It could have felt tacked on, but it actually felt neat and organic. If I had a number three moment, that might have been it. While we're on Captain Marvel, I belong to a few other forums and Endgame anticipation does come up. I've heard a few disgruntled posters claim Disney bought tickets to CM just to boost revenue numbers. Those posters also, usually, delve into claims the movie has a "feminist" agenda and that they're not down with that. I don't get involved with those discussions much, but it's not about the feminist position. I feel confident I can discuss that point with anyone. But I'm curious if the falsely boosting ticket sales argument has any weight out there (not just on CM - I assume this has been claimed with other MCU movies as well). I don't buy it myself, but I don't have a really knowledgeable position to start from. It can be a jungle of conspiracy theories out there, even if your Google skills are up to snuff. Just curious. Studios fudging the numbers is not unheard of. One of the earliest times I've heard of it was 2014 during the opening weekend of Transformers: Age of Extinction. Apparently Paramount had threatened layoffs if it didn't break 100 mil on opening weekend, and when the final numbers came dangerously close at over 99, but not quite there, someone changed the number so the layoffs wouldn't happen. I'm not sure whether the story I read was true or not, but if it was, at least people had job security. Disney has been accused of it too, though to a smaller degree. There was a push by Disney to get Black Panther past 700 million domestic, which had the film playing in theaters months after the film had already hit home media and streaming. For a while it was just inching closer, but still wouldn't have made it for months. Then suddenly there was a weekend influx of about 40 grand in a single weekend, which it hadn't made for about two months, and it finally passed the mark, so theaters could finally pull it. Unless a bunch of fans decided to have a Black Panther weekend that week, it's probably very evident that Disney did something dirty there. On another board someone said that money actually came from the opening weekend of Christopher Robin, and they just subtracted it from that total, so it was still money earned from theaters on a Disney movie, it was just a different Disney movie than the one that took credit for it. That's an unsubstantiated accusation, but I think it sounds like it might be true. But fudging the numbers that much to get a movie well past a billion dollars is a huge stretch. If it were that easy, then Disney would have found a way to save face on Solo: A Star Wars story last year. Hell, Warner wouldn't have egg on their face after Justice League floundered either. They can maybe do some "creative accounting" here and there for a few thousand dollars, but there is no arguing that people were seeing Captain Marvel in droves. BTW, do people here already have tickets for Endgame? I don't, but like I said I'm aiming for maybe, hopefully, Tuesday. I've had my tickets for weeks. When I picked them up, they already had three showings on opening night sold out. Luckily the earliest showing still had seats, so I'm getting in at 6 PM tomorrow. Then my sister asked if I wanted to go on Friday when she was looking into times last week. I told her I was already going Thursday, and she seemed shocked because she looked at the theater showings on Thursday and every screen was sold out. I was all "You snooze, you lose!"
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 24, 2019 18:36:11 GMT -5
Forecasts are coming in for Endgame: Box Office Mojo is predicting that there is a good possibility that it may hit the $300 million mark this weekend. Other analysts aren't as optimistic. Most agree that it will run away with Infinity War's opening weekend record and The Force Awakens's opening day and preview record. But speaking of flying high... Day Twenty-One - Captain Marvel I've made it through three weeks of watching these movies then typing up posts about them. Tomorrow it will be all over. I love these movies, and the last eleven years/three weeks have been an incredible ride. In the last month, some days I was so into it and got it done first thing in the morning, others I had to make whatever time I could to get that particular film done. There were days where I felt I could type endlessly about the movie I watched, and others where I was just tired and wanted to get it over with (look at how short my Guardians 2 post is, if you can't tell I was exhausted then I hid it better than I thought). These later MCU films are challenging to find something new about since I've written stuff about them so recently. I didn't really cover anything on Thor: Ragnarok that I didn't already bitch about opening weekend, for example. I wrote about Captain Marvel not even two months ago, and to be honest I don't have a lot new to add. I still stand by Larson and Jackson's interplay being the highlight of the film and my comment that Marvel was schooling DC on how to make a Green Lantern movie that doesn't suck, since this movie is basically Green Lantern but it doesn't suck. A few minor things: I think I liked the movie better on a second viewing. It's not an MCU highlight or anything, but it's fun. I don't even think I was considering a second viewing of it in a theater, what with Endgame on the horizon. The only MCU films I've only seen once in a theater were Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World (I was content with leaving Ragnarok at one viewing also, but a friend of mine really wanted to see it). Most of the films I saw twice, Age of Ultron I saw three times (the third time was because I was at the dollar theater and needed to wash the rancid taste of San Andreas out of my mouth), Civil War I saw four times, and Infinity War is my current viewing champion of all time with five. I also liked Brie Larsen a bit more this time around and started getting into her performance a little more. I'd also add that the saturated blacks bothered me a bit more this time around and really make me feel like I need to have an eye examination when the movie is over, because it always felt to me like facial features were hard to make out. In the weeks since I wrote this post, Captain Marvel was "boycotted" all the way to the billion dollar mark at the box office (would have made a trillion if the chauvinists were happy with it). Like Black Panther, this was a symbol of a undernourished demographic telling Hollywood not that they're "ready" for a representative lead of one's race/gender in a superhero film, they've been ready since the beginning of film, but rather that they were done being neglected, and now that they have a product of quality to rally behind, they're going to support it. My only thing about this is that Wonder Woman was a better movie than Captain Marvel, and probably deserved that billion dollar mark more. Why didn't Wonder Woman reach that point? I think it's because Marvel has become one of the largest brands in Hollywood in Phase Three, and having a film made by them and steered by a female lead was more enticing than Warner's DC label. People responded well to Wonder Woman, but it was coming off the heels of both Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad making bank and only a small percentage of that audience being pleased with the final result. Captain Marvel was catapulted by being in better company (and probably because it was a perkier sense of fun too). Being the last film before Endgame probably helped too. Whether I think it's one of the better Marvel movies or not, seeing Captain Marvel soar as high as she is currently flying has been an immensely satisfying experience. For years I kept myself insistent that the female superhero corners weren't being tapped, and I've been a potential Wonder Woman movie's biggest supporter. But alas, I kept hearing from studios "Women superheroes don't make money," pointing at Supergirl, Elektra, and Catwoman. They learned the worst possible lesson from those failures in that they made female led superhero films that were garbage and the public said "No thanks." They looked at that and thought to themselves "The problem is women?" F*** that. There's a reason why that meme of "DC: The world isn't ready for a Wonder Woman movie. Marvel: Here's a raccoon with a machine gun." took off in 2014, and that's because there was total truth to it. I'm very excited about where we are now. Wonder Woman's franchise is blooming, Captain Marvel is a massive hit. Next year we get Birds of Prey, with one of my favorites, Black Canary, as a lead. Black Widow is getting a solo movie after years of sharing the spotlight with males. If there is anything post-Endgame that's making me jazzed, it's seeing this untapped well finally giving us oil. The superhero glass ceiling has been broken. Like the woman said... HIGHERFURTHERFASTERBABYFavorite Moment - Thank you Stan. But that's probably cheating. If I were to pick a moment in the movie, I'd point to the final scene between Yon-Rogg and Carol, where Yon-Rogg tries to get her to put away her powers and prove to him that she can take him in a fair fight. What does Carol do? End Credit Scenes - We get our first peek into Endgame with this movie, as it is revealed that Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine, and Bruce Banner are in possession of Nick Fury's pager from the end of Infinity War. They wonder who is receiving the signal, when Captain Marvel appears behind them and says "Where's Fury?" Chills down my spine. The second is painfully familiar to anyone who has ever owned a cat, as Goose coughs up the Tesseract on Fury's desk like it was a hairball. Stan Lee Cameo - Besides an incredible opening logo sequence, Stan appears on the train while Carol is looking for Skrulls. He is practicing his lines while reading the script to Mallrats, a 1995 Kevin Smith directed comedy in which Stan had a supporting role. It's a really fun moment for Smith fans like myself! Thoughts Going Into Endgame - Wow. I can't believe I'm now down to the last movie. What is on my mind right now? I'm a little lost. In many ways I feel that Endgame may be the end of an era for me. I've had major anticipation for superhero films before: Spider-Man, The Dark Knight, The Avengers, just to name a few. It feels like this might be the last time I feel this level of excitement for one in my life. There will certainly be other superhero movies, and the prior mentioned women heroes will be worth sticking around for, but well...it feels like the top of the mountain. Superhero cinema may very well peak tomorrow, and it will slope downward until the audience finally loses interest. I'll always have an interest in these films, because that's how I'm built, but boy, I don't know how to feel right now. I want this movie, but at the same time it feels like the last glimmer of that childlike glee inside me. I will clutch onto that as long as humanly possible however, and the fun of going to these movies will always be a part of me. Who knows? Maybe DC will get their sh*t together and I'll be this excited for a Justice League movie done right.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 24, 2019 3:23:31 GMT -5
Endgame reviews are out. The consensus seems to be that Marvel fans will love it, though its runtime is drawing criticism. But as we all know, the only review that counts is the one by Mr. goddamn Sunday, who reviewed the movie with his Weekly Planet co-host Nick Mason. They both liked it, but were overwhelmed by it.
Wait a moment, they both liked Hellboy also. CONCLUSIVE PROOF THAT ENDGAME IS AWFUL!
They do state one plot element spoiler in the video, but it's barely anything. But if you want to go in blind, don't watch it.
Chris Stuckmann's spoiler free review: "I saw stuff. And it was good."
One last thing, before you go to Endgame it has been confirmed that THERE IS NO END CREDIT SCENE! There is apparently something cool done with the credits, but if you really have to pee, you don't have to sit and wait for anything.
Day Twenty - Ant-Man and the Wasp
Kevin Feige once stated that releasing the film slate to Phase Three as early as he did may have been a mistake, but boy that was a magical day from a fan perspective. So many exciting things being announced, it was like Christmas! For the most part they delivered on all of it, but dates were shifted around to accommodate the Sony deal that brought us Spider-Man: Homecoming, but there was one film on that slate that never came to be, and that was Inhumans. Well, if we're being honest, technically Inhumans happened and technically it also played in theaters, but it was redeveloped for TV as an eight episode TV show that bombed straight out the gate. I'm not sure whose idea that was, but I'm fairly sure they got a good firing. Inhumans was a concept that demanded a feature budget to work with, and if you have to nerf your characters powers to make it filmable for a small budget (ala Medusa's hair), then you're not doing it justice. But then again, who's to say that a movie about human-alien hybrids living in a kingdom on the moon was a story we would have responded to on the big screen either?
As Inhumans got retooled, a sequel to Ant-Man quietly replaced it. This might have been a smart move, as the first film was a modest hit on a modest budget, and I personally know quite a few people who love the movie (especially kids). The fact that an Ant-Man sequel wasn't on the slate to begin with was questionable, but the movie hadn't come out yet at the time, so they likely didn't want to presume (didn't stop them from making Guardians 2 the first dated Phase Three film before the first film came out).
This film introduces us to Ant-Man's partner, Wasp, reimagined as Evangeline Lilly's character of Hope Van Dyne. I've always liked Wasp more than Ant-Man personally, what with her blasters, her wings, and her spunk, so I welcome this character into the franchise. I also like Evangeline Lilly, so the retrofit for her is also very appealing to me. Wasp is brought to life quite well, with a lot of energy and fun moves, so I'm a happy camper in that department.
The movie itself is fine. Not an unwatchable movie by any stretch of imagination, but not as fun as it could be. There are a few things in this movie that I think somewhat highly of. I'm happy they didn't just use another shrinking villain in the film, allowing Ghost to seem fresh following Yellow Jacket (which is something they pussed out on with Whiplash in Iron Man 2 by just putting him in another iron suit at the end). I also like that she has a sympathetic backstory and that in the end defeating the villain wasn't a matter of beating them to a pulp, but rather calming her down enough to reason with her. There are also some fun setpieces and concept ideas in the film, though they admittedly pale in comparison to the first (possibly because Edgar Wright had no input on this film). Characters are still likable, though several new characters aren't as endearing.
But ultimately the film doesn't excite me that much. Even though the film doesn't break the two hour mark, it feels far too long, as if they could have cut a good ten to twenty minutes from it to make it breezier. And even though some of the setpieces and visuals are neat ideas, the film feels like it runs out of tricks halfway though and we have to relive a bunch of stuff we've already seen in the second half. The film is also a non-stop McGuffin chase, as it's story is about three parties playing keep away with a certain object that switches possession constantly, and at the end of it all I just feel tired from all the sameness. It also doesn't help that the movie is shot flatly and the movie doesn't have a lot of life in it.
Would Inhumans have been better? Honestly, the Inhumans kind of suck, so I'm not going to claim that. Ant-Man and the Wasp isn't a strong replacement for it though, and if it didn't squeeze itself into Phase Three I probably wouldn't have cared. Most reviews overused the phrase "palette cleanser" (usually misspelled) to describe this movie after Infinity War. I don't see it that way. Instead it feels like my palette has been sitting in a sink waiting for some other movie to clean it.
Favorite Moment - Usually my favorite moments in the Ant-Man movies are between Scott and his daughter Cassie. The moment that I cherish between these two happens at the end of act two when Cassie is trying to convince her dad to continue being a hero, and suggests what he really needs is a partner. Scott sighs and tries to explain that Hope is mad at him at the moment, but Cassie is very disappointed to hear him talk about Hope, because she was actually talking about herself. This is just so many levels of heartbreaking cute right here.
I also like the "not truth serum" scene, and Michael Pena gives a glorious "In his words" story here. But Cassie wins.
End Credit Scenes - Being released after that cliffhanger ending Infinity War offered, Ant-Man and the Wasp had to address it somehow. The film is actually ambiguous as to when it's set, but considering the world still seems overpopulated, it was always safe to assume that the film took place before the previous Avenger film. The first end credit scene takes place on a rooftop as Scott is sent back into the Quantum Realm to help with Ghost's treatments. Hope, Hank, and Janet stay behind, but suddenly communication is cut off, because SNAP. The trio disappear into ash as Scott is stranded in the Quantum realm. I'm still mad about this, because I wanted the original five comic Avengers of Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Wasp to unite in a scene in the next Avengers movie, but they wiped both Wasps out. F*** YOU MARVEL!
The second scene features a giant ant playing drums, as emergency broadcast signals are displayed. Eh.
Stan Lee Cameo - This one is a bit of a fourth wall break, as Stan is about to get into his car but it's hit with a shrinking disc, causing it to shrink. Stan says to himself/the audience "The 60's were fun, but now I'm paying for it!"
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 23, 2019 15:30:55 GMT -5
So...I just saw that Hellboy movie. You know, I'm more forgiving about movie sins than most, especially when it comes to genres that I love, and there are aome people I like to listen to about these types of movies that are saying "Oh it's not nearly as bad as your hearing." Hearing this word made me expect that maybe I'd get some trashy fun.
I'm here to say, if anyone says this to you, don't listen. It's EXACTLY as bad as you're hearing. I haven't witnessed a comic book movie this godawful since 2014's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Now mabye those behind the scenes tensions are what contributed to it being bad, maybe not. What I will say is that if the production was a disaster like the report says, it's not nearly as obvious onscreen as it was for Fantastic Four and Justice League. It's pretty consistent about how it presents itself, but it feels like this script wasn't hammered out properly and it was rushed through production, and then edited to hell in post. It's a choppy mess of undercooked nonsense.
David Harbour is pretty bad in this movie. Occasionally it feels like I'm getting a glimpse of "Oh I see how he could make a great Hellboy," but most of the time he chooses to play the character as a whiney, shrill fourteen-year-old. I got really tired of him really fast in this movie, and after ten minutes I felt "Ugh, paying for this was a mistake." Neil Marshall definitely could have made a great Hellboy movie, and at times his direction compliments the film well, but it seems like he's lacking the proper tools he needs to make the handsome, freaky production he wants too. The two people who really pay off in this film are Milla Jovovich and Thomas Haden Church, who are both a lot of fun and liven up any scene they're a part of.
It feels like they're trying to make Hellboy into one of those trashy January franchises that clicks with a certain demographic for whatever reason, like Resident Evil and Underworld. I felt like there are moments of fun in that idea, but most of the times it's missing its mark and not caring that it's missing it. Lionsgate has desperately wanted a superhero franchise for years, ranging from The Punisher to Power Rangers. If they really aren't going to put the effort they need to into it, they should really just stop.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 23, 2019 12:32:05 GMT -5
Just in case you love red carpet cringiness, here are clips from the Endgame world premiere. Hint: a lot of question dodging, Taika Waititi does a little dance, and Scarlett has some really neat Infinity bling.
BTW pre-review word of mouth is very positive. Kevin Smith was in attendence with his daughter and he loved it, of course.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 23, 2019 11:25:38 GMT -5
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Post by Torgo on Apr 22, 2019 23:53:25 GMT -5
Day Nineteen - Avengers: Infinity War
Not to open this post by rubbing salt in a fresh wound, but nowadays I can't think of Infinity War without thinking of Zack Snyder's proposed and failed Justice League trilogy, of which details have been coming to light about lately. After the relatively okayish success of Man of Steel, Warner Brothers decided to double down and say that Snyder was definitely the man to counter the Marvel formula and shepherd their DC cinematic universe, who apparently gave them a four film pitch that started with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and continued into a three-part Justice League narrative (we only knew about two ahead of time, but apparently they were hiding one from us). Dawn of Justice was going to see the heroes come out of the woodwork, the first Justice League was going to see the team form, Justice League 2 was to see Darkseid invade the Earth and win, and Justice League 3 was going to be based primarily in the aftermath of the Justice League's defeat seen in the Knightmare sequence of Dawn of Justice.
The plot arc of the last two sound familiar. Isn't that what Marvel presented in Infinity War and Endgame? Hell, it's alluded in Dawn of Justice that the Justice League would use time travel to change events for the better, which is something that has been rumored about Endgame since day one (but even if that's the plot of Endgame, X-Men: Days of Future Past did it first). I don't know who's copying who here, but somebody needs to stop. What I do know is that the resulting Justice League film featured a horned-helmeted alien leading an army to conquer Earth by using a magical cube, which is entirely different than the plot of Avengers, right?
Snyder's Justice League trilogy would have been interesting to see, but it feels like it was doomed to fail since the beginning. It's way too big of a gamble to greenlight four mega-budgeted films at once and tell a long term story in a theater, especially when the movies themselves might not stand all that well on their own. Sure, if it succeeds you get Lord of the Rings. More often than not you'll end up looking like an ass after you release your proposed franchise kickoff like Alita: Battle Angel (incidentally, I just watched Alita today. It's actually pretty decent. It likely won't get a sequel though, so my point stands). When he gave an audience a taste with Dawn of Justice (as well as teased too much with that nonsensical Knightmare sequence that has no place in the film) and the majority of the audience said "No," they were left with a Justice League production being hastily restructured, chewed up, and spit out. In a way, the resulting Justice League film was exactly what was always going to result from this.
Here's where Marvel played it smart. They gambled, but they rolled out slowly and carefully. They presented two movies to the audience in 2008 and let the audience speak. When the audience responded to Iron Man, they rightfully let him be the backbone of this crazy universe concept while they presented new proposed franchises along the way. If the audience didn't respond to Thor or Captain America (both of which did okay, not great) and the Avengers didn't really break the Iron Man ceiling, then there was a pretty good possibility that Iron Man 3 would have been the final film in the MCU. Once the audience said "Yes, this is a franchise we want," they escalated in turn and built up to a point where they felt comfortable in weaving the thread of the Infinity Stones and alluding to an epic two-film saga where the heroes lose and then seek retribution. They gained audience trust and then the audience followed them into more experimental territory and it got to the point where the audience trusted them enough to let them wipe out half of the entire universe and not raise a fuss over it.
Infinity War is by far the best of the Avengers films, though I consider it the weakest of the Russo Brothers' contributions to the MCU. Its a bit busier and has a less intimate storyline than the likes of Winter Soldier and Civil War. But I can't stress enough just what a feat Infinity War is, which is almost the perfect blend of heroes and nobody in this all-star roster feels lost or just thrown in. Some characters have more to do than others but everyone has a purpose in the story and nobody feels lost. Given just how many characters are on display, the more I think about this the more impressed I become with the screenplay.
Maybe the wisest move was the decision to lean so heavily on Thanos and make him the lead in the movie. The movie presents itself as his journey, while the Avengers are those who are pushing back. But saying it's a Thanos movie is simplifying it a bit too much. Tony Stark has an arc in this film. Vision does too. So does Thor. So do Starlord and Gamora, albeit a seemingly incomplete one. There is a lot of things coming to a head in this movie, and even when that dreaded cliffhanger hits, there is a sense of completeness to it. Very few other split productions have this feeling, like The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. When you're telling a story in multiple parts it's difficult to make the individuals a satisfying experience, and that's even when the films wind up being good at all. Back to the Future Part II is maybe the closest to being as satisfying as Infinity War in that regard, if I may say so.
When I came out of Infinity War, I wanted to see it again. I wound up seeing the film three times that weekend (usually being taken by other people, but I could have said no). I saw it two more times after that. I've watched maybe ten more times since it hit 4K. I wondered to myself if this was how Lord of the Rings fans felt way back in 2001. The more perspective I get, the more I find that Infinity War and Lord of the Rings have a lot in common. They tell a epic fantasy war story spread over more than one movie that covers multiple perspectives, and does so in a largely satisfying way. I've never considered myself much of a Rings fan, but can't help but feel the screenwriters and directors had to have been taking notes from Peter Jackson's trilogy in how to balance this without having it topple over.
I could complain about a few things in this movie. For one, the film starts with Thanos already in possession of the Power Stone, which was last seen in the care of the Nova Corps on Zandar in Guardians of the Galaxy. The fact that he has this stone means he invaded Zandar and took out the majority of the Novas. I understand that the budget was probably already too large as it was and including a sequence in the film probably would have made the film too long and too pricey, but this seems like a huge thing to just brush aside to me. I'm also kinda curious about how Thanos retrieved the Reality Stone, which was trapped in the Aether. It's not super important, but it's another thing that was unfortunately glossed over. I'd also say that the relationship between Thanos and both Nebula and Gamora would feel a bit more complete with more perspective as how their unit worked, which was alluded to but not shown in the Guardians films. The scenes between these characters feel they need more context. One last thing I'd point out is that while the structure of the film is brilliant, it does feel as if it's hard to tell where one act begins and another ends. But sometimes the rules must be bent and worked around to write a film like this.
I've been trying to temper my anticipation to Endgame since this film came out, but the closer we get the faster my heart beats. I've reached a boiling point and watching Infinity War again is gearing me up to explode. If I may recall my comparison to Lord of the Rings, I'd say that Endgame will be our Return of the King.
To call back to the original Avengers, Tony says to Loki "If we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn sure that we'll avenge it." That day has finally come.
Favorite Moment - Most people who didn't see Infinity War opening night have no real sense of just how much of a rock concert this bloody movie was. Cheers all around, with every moment more exciting than the last. The biggest moment of the movie in that theater was "BRING ME THANOS!" which apparently got screams all over the world. It saddens me to know that I can only relive that moment in a crappy YouTube format for the rest of my life.
Is it my favorite moment? It's my favorite memory, that's for damn sure. If I were to judge the film in of itself, I'd say my favorite moment is Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon coming to Vision and Scarlet Witch's rescue in Scotland. I'm a sucker for a good Cap scene.
End Credit Scene - This is the first Marvel movie to only feature one credit scene since Age of Ultron, and it's probably for the best. There's a sense of horror at the end of the movie that continues through the credits, which is fueled with the most foreboding music of the movie. There was no happy ending to the movie, so there was no sense in pretending there was. When we reach the very end we see Nick Fury and Maria Hill watching in horror as half the populace vanishes into dust. Hill then begins to vanish and Fury runs to his van and retrieves a pager. Just as he activates it, he dissolves as well, almost saying Sam Jackson's famous obscenity "Motherf***er" in the process. We then zoom in on his pager and a little star logo appears. This is, of course, is the logo of Captain Marvel. When the people I watched this movie with saw that they turned to me and asked "What does that mean?" I told them "That means that help is on the way." That's the happy ending.
Stan Lee Cameo - Peter Parker is on a field trip with the Children of Thanos invade New York. When he sees the giant space ship, he knows it's Spidey time. He asks his friend Ned to create a distraction, Ned takes one look at the spaceship and screams "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" This causes all the kids to panic while Peter jumps out of the bus and to the rescue. Meanwhile Stan is the bus driver who tries to calm the kids down: "Haven't you ever seen a spaceship before?"
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 22, 2019 0:57:45 GMT -5
Day Eighteen - Black Panther Marvel needed this win. It may be hard to even fathom that this franchise needed yet another billion dollars, but longevity beyond the original cast of Avengers was always a question mark as we entered Phase Three. Could the general audience embrace a rotating roster of Avengers? There isn't complete certainty at this point, but signs are showing that switching out Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor with Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Doctor Strange is no cause for concern. Add in to the fact that Black Panther became Marvel Studios first not just Oscar winner, but multi-Oscar winner, as well as the first superhero film to ever be nominated for Best Picture, Black Panther cemented the fact that these films have become something special for moviegoers. It didn't need to win that top prize, and it was never going to. Bohemian Rhapsody had a better shot at that statue, despite being much worse than Black Panther (this coming from someone who enjoys Bohemian Rhapsody more than he doesn't). The nomination was more or less a gesture to shut the populace that made the film a cultural event up, but it was appreciated and we hold it to be a symbol of acceptance for our nerdy little power movies. I have no insight on how important Black Panther was to black audiences, just as I have no insight on why Wonder Woman was important to female audiences. I'm a heterosexual Caucasian male, and the film being a cultural touchstone is a little beyond what I feel informed enough about to comment on. I just look for good stories, likable characters, and just good old fun. In these departments, both Black Panther and Wonder Woman knocked my socks off and became two of my favorites in the saturated genre. Neither topped Spider-Man 2 as my favorite superhero film, but both came close yet missed out for minuscule, nitpicky reasons. Black Panther gets the edge on Wonder Woman in my book though, simply because it introduces the greatest Avenger of them all. I'm of course talking about M'Baku. Fatman Beyond co-host Marc Bernardin hosted a roundtable on this movie with other black writers last year. It was a pretty interesting watch. Check it out if you haven't. One thing Bernardin comments on about the structure to this movie that I find interesting to think about is that he thinks it would have been more interesting if T'Challa weren't king until the end of the movie, and had Killmonger been a contender to the throne that swiped it away during his inaugural ceremony, like M'Baku attempted to. He's not wrong, as that particular structure would have allowed T'Challa to earn the throne rather than inherit it. But, I think the film plays out as is for the best, as the ceremony fight concept probably needed to be demonstrated via M'Baku than to just throw T'Challa in the ring with Killmonger, but I won't deny Bernardin's storyline makes for a compelling narrative. Much like Doctor Strange, Black Panther is a character I'm only familiar with in snippets. When he does appear in something, his character nor his lore ever seemed to grab me. Also like Strange, it's very likely I wasn't being grabbed because the material I had been introduced to the character through was probably ass. Marvel Studios does what it does best and makes the character I didn't care about interesting, and in the case of Black Panther they hit a big enough home run that it became the top grossing superhero film of all time in the United States. Like Civil War, Black Panther has a lot of politics at heart. There are a lot of themes here about pride and country. T'Challa starts out wishing to carry on the royal traditions of Wakanda the way his ancestors have, but begins to question whether that is what the future of Wakanda truly needs. Other characters such as Shuri, Nakia, Okoye, and W'Kabi all face political conundrums when their country is taken over by Killmonger, and each find themselves picking a side either based on political opinion, fear, hate, or patriotism. Okoye has one of the more interesting stances in the film, as she states she is loyal to Wakanda, which in turn means she's loyal to her king. By the time the climax hits, Okoye finds herself in the situation where she must overthrow her king because she loves her country. After all, Killmonger has an understandable point of view, but it's full of rage. To him there is one thing worse than an oppressor, and that's the one who has the means to help but does nothing. Wakanda is the epitome of this idea to him. Once in control of Wakanda, he decides to take the country out of the shadows and into action by destroying all oppressors. It's also a beautifully filmed movie by a talented director, Ryan Coogler. I was disappointed that Coogler left the Creed series for this film, but I knew Black Panther was in safe hands with this talented man. Plus, Creed II was just fine without him, so it's all good. It's well crafted and well executed, full of breathtaking set design, dazzling action, and charismatic performances. Speaking of performances, Michael B. Jordon is the second Human Torch to join the MCU. And when the Human Torch finally gets cast in this universe, we need an all Human Torch Avengers movie. THIS IS MY COMMAND! One minor nitpick that bugs me about this movie: I don't like Black Panther's suit being nanotech. I understand why it happened, as Marvel is constantly toying with ways to make their superhero costumes instant access so they can spring to action at a moment's notice, and the Wakandan tech is a decent explanation for it. It just feels a bit too far for me, and it feels like they're doing it with too many heroes. I liked the Black Panther we saw in Civil War, with his honor armor and being up close and savage, as opposed to being able to blast some kinetic wave after being punched. However this doesn't detract from the film too much for me, and it's one I take great pleasure in watching. Favorite Moment - This movie houses what is probably the best car chase in superhero movie history, in which Black Panther, Nakia, Okoye, and Agent Ross chase Ulysses Klaue and his men into the streets of Busan. Shuri helps out from her lab in Wakanda by hacking into a car and driving it remotely, while Black Panther rides it on top. This is dazzling spectacle cinema. End Credit Scenes - Black Panther's are less substantial than most. The first features T'Challa addressing the United Nations and stating he is willing to share his country's resources with the world, to which other nations scoff at the idea, not knowing how advanced Wakanda is. It's a cheeky scene, but it's unnecessary. The second credit scene just serves as a reminder that Bucky is in Wakanda, as Shuri meets up with him. It's not really that interesting either. Stan Lee Cameo - While talking with Agent Ross at a Korean casino, T'Challa places a bet on a craps table, but walks away before his dice hit, making him a winner. Stan is a fellow gambler, and says he's going to keep T'Challa's chips for safekeeping.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 20, 2019 22:30:20 GMT -5
Day Seventeen - Thor: Ragnarok
My opinion hasn't changed much since I first saw this movie. I've watched it a fair amount of times since then, often because I like all the pretty colors on my TV. I also hope one of these times I might watch it and think to myself "I misjudged this," but that hasn't happened so far. It's a storytelling nightmare with uneven humor that stretches credibility just to tell a joke.
Here's my stupid theory on what happened with this movie: Taika Waititi came aboard on this third Thor movie and wanted to do his groovy space adventure, but he was stuck with unresolved plotlines and characters from the previous film and a promised storyline from the already announced title, and he doesn't want to do any of it. So we get a super crammed opening thirty minutes where he resolves as much as possible from the last few movies, tosses a bunch of other things in the garbage, and jumps into the movie he really wants to make. The worst scene in this movie is the scene where Thor and Loki find Odin, Odin monologues about how they found him just in time because he's going to die and then Hela will be set free, then he dies because of course he does, and then Hela appears because of course she does. This scene tries to present itself as a calm build toward tension, but it's too many plot points in a short period of time, and it absolutely does not work. This is objectively bad storytelling.
For a movie supposedly about Ragnarok, Thor: Ragnarok has barely anything to do with Ragnarok. The event of Ragnarok is a bookend to the movie, an excuse for an action scene at the beginning, and then an excuse to defeat the villain at the end. The premise of the film doesn't really revolve around it, which is disappointing for me because an event that big could use a storyline of its own. This film gets a pass because one of its main themes is that home isn't a location but it's people, which makes the destruction of Asgard purposeful. But it makes me grumpy as there is too big of a missed opportunity.
It's just that damn screenplay, and those damn jokes. It's not that I don't appreciate a cheeky Marvel film, it's that sometimes it can become overwhelming and unrelenting, and Ragnarok is probably the biggest offender. Guardians 2 probably did it quite a bit as well, but for the most part Guardians 2 was legitimately funny. A lot of Ragnarok's humor is misplaced and poorly delivered. Jokes like Thor's Loki snake story are exhaustively lengthy and irrelevant. Comments like Thor complimenting the idea of the Valkyries by saying "It's about time!" make no sense from a character standpoint, as Thor knows the Valkyrie have existed for thousands of years. If Bruce Banner had said this line it might have been funny, but coming from Thor it's just confusing.
I can rag on this movie hard when I want to, and that's because it deserves it, but it's not the worst of the MCU. I think both this film and Iron Man 2 have fundamental scripting issues, but the difference between the two is that Thor: Ragnarok soars far higher than Iron Man 2 in its best moments. The movie is beautiful to look at, with probably my favorite cinematography of Marvel's films (maybe challenged by Infinity War). The action scenes are breathtaking and downright artistic, and when people be fighting each other, this movie does kick ass. The opening between Thor and Surtur is incredible, as is the final battle at the Bifrost. Hulk vs. Thor is something I've been wanting in the MCU since it was announced, so I'm glad this movie fit it in. Tessa Thompson is the bomb as Valkyrie, Jeff Goldblum is a treat in any production, and Cate Blanchet is hella good as well (no pun intended, or was it? I guess we'll never know). I also like Korg, because Korg is impossible to hate ("Piss off, ghost!"). And as much as I'll say most of the humor in this movie is a colossal failure, there are a few moments of humor that make me laugh too, quite a bit of it during Doctor Strange's cameo. I'd actually point to Loki's line of "I HAVE BEEN FALLING FOR THIRTY MINUTES!" as an example of the right joke, at the right time, with the right execution.
On that note, even I have to admit that "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!" will never not be funny.
Maybe I wanted a proper Thor sequel instead of a new franchise altogether. If Waititi were to ever make a new Thor film, I'd have some optimism that it would be better. With a slate that he cleaned off and a story that he himself provided the foundation for, maybe him constructing a film that has no baggage might work out for the best? All I can say for certain is that this one doesn't work for me. I'll repeat what I said when this movie first came out: "It's going to take more than playing The Immigrant Song to make me forget what's bugging me about this movie."
Favorite Moment - The Valkyrie flashback is one of the most beautiful things ever filmed/created with visual effects. I can't do it justice by describing it, so I'm not even going to try.
End Credit Scenes - Following the destruction of Asgard, Thor decides to take his people to Earth to set up a colony. Loki questions whether it's wise to bring him back to Earth, especially after Doctor Strange warned him against it. Thor claims he isn't sure, but has a feeling everything will work out in the end. Suddenly a shadow looms as Thanos's ship dwarfs the ship of Asgardian refugees. TO BE CONTINUED! The final credit scene features the Grandmaster cornered by revolutionaries, and he tries to talk them down by congratulating them on a job well done. "It's a tie!"
Stan Lee Cameo - Just before Thor is flung into the gladiator ring, he needs to get all that pesky hair chopped off. Who else could play his barber except Stan the Man? He's the one man who could possibly bring the God of Thunder to tears!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 19, 2019 16:27:43 GMT -5
Rifftrax Live is back with the first of three live shows this year! Get ready for some killer calomari, as the mutant Octaman surfaces with his delicious, cheesy taste! The bar has been set with what I feel was the most fun Live show since Samurai Cop!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 19, 2019 14:46:09 GMT -5
Day Sixteen - Spider-Man: Homecoming
Despite not caring for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it was a little painful for me to lose Andrew Garfield as the webslinger, as he was hands down my favorite of the on-screen Spider-Men. But the Sony hack confirmed that Garfield was quietly fired from the franchise anyway, so giving the franchise to Marvel for a restart was probably the best possible scenario to happen after Sony f'ed it up. I certainly was more interested in seeing Spidey in the MCU than I was in seeing Sony's proposed Sinister Six solo movie, which was a bad idea from top to bottom. I'd love to see Spider-Man fight the Sinister Six, but the Six exists solely with the purpose to destroy Spider-Man, and if you turn them into a team of anti-heroes you lose the spirit of the group.
Drew Goddard's also a hack. You heard me. Cabin in the Woods sucks.
The premise of Homecoming isn't exactly one that I was entirely interested in, as the big selling point of it was "Bring him back to high school," but we had already seen that before. In fact, the last Spider-Man had just barely left high school so...this is a new idea? But director Jon Watts decides to go teenage comedy with the film, as opposed to the fantasy tall tales that Sam Raimi provided and the romanticized drama that Marc Webb did, which is pretty new. I'm not entirely sure that's the right approach to Spider-Man because while Spidey is a funny character, his life is more of a dramatic hardship than a comedic tragedy. But levity has been a big selling point of the MCU, so this type of Spider-Man film was inevitable I suppose.
Ultimately every time I watch Homecoming, I think to myself "This is cute, but it's not my Spider-Man." I like Tom Holland as the character quite a bit, and his quips come with the greatest of ease. Surprisingly one of the aspects of the film I find endearing is his talking JARVIS-type system in his suit, which he calls "Karen" (voiced by Jennifer Connelly, who played Betty Ross in Ang Lee's Hulk). It's not something that I feel Spider-Man should have, but it's a fun Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket dynamic that gives Peter someone to talk to. I actually hope Karen is in the sequel, you know as sort of a helping system to keep Spidey on his own two feet during his formative and maybe a system that could be abandoned when he leaves High School.
When Vulture was announced as the villain to the movie, I shrugged. He's not a great Spider-Man villain, if I'm being honest. He's an old guy with wings. Then they announced that former Batman Michael Keaton was going to play him and my ears perked up. Upon seeing what they did with the character in the film, I think they made quite possibly the best version of the Vulture in Spider-Man history. The tech scavenger take on the character compliments him real well, and it offers bit parts for lower key villains like Shocker and Tinkerer. The cameos by potential future Spidey villains also come natural and are not forced, including Better Call Saul's Michael Mando as Mac Gargan (future Scorpion) and Solo's Donald Glover as Aaron Davis (future Prowler).
But there are little things that bug me about the production. While I celebrate the diversity of the cast, I think they distance themselves a bit from character traits I feel define certain characters. While I understand the attempted updating of Flash Thompson as a preppy instead of a jock, one thing I like about the best portrayals of Flash is that he is a jerk that has something of a good heart, and he and Peter usually become friends. This Flash is too much of douchebag. What I understand even less is the connection between the traditional Mary Jane character from the comics and the character of Michelle from this film, who is a completely flipped personality, and yet for some reason the production wants these two characters linked by Michelle mentioning her nickname is "MJ." I don't know where this new Spider-Man series is going with this and while I'm mildly intrigued, this reveal doesn't work in this film. Michelle is hardly an entity in the story, as she's a quirky background character that just pipes up from time to time with a sarcastic, outsider remark. When she says that she wants to be called "MJ," I'm like "wait...what?" If the character were more in tune with Mary Jane I'd might have been fine with this reveal, but instead it's just...weird.
The small scale of the story feels like a step down from the high personal stakes of previous Spider-Man movies, including the lackluster Amazing 2. To an extent this movie feels like a refreshing breather, but barely much of anything. There's a good arc in this movie where Peter needs to prove to himself that he's worthy of being Spider-Man, though I think there could be more hardship in this theme in the film. This arc reaches its emotional conclusion in a scene recreation from one of the early Spidey comics where Spider-Man is trapped under rubble and has to push himself to his limit to break free. It works fine for the character arc of the film, but I'm a little disappointed in the dumbing down of this scene. In its original context, Spider-Man has to break free not because he's trying to prove something to himself nor that he could potentially be crushed, but rather because if he doesn't escape then his Aunt May will die. The scene is so heroic because it's partially a selfless act, but in this movie it's entirely for himself, and that robs it of any lasting effect.
I enjoy Spider-Man: Homecoming, but it doesn't really burst free and impress me. When somebody asks me about the film, I usually just say "I laughed a lot." That's really the only impression it leaves with me. It's a good comedy, and a fine Spider-Man movie. I just don't see myself returning to it when I already have better Spider-Man movies. I'm not saying I'd rather not have Spider-Man in the MCU, because I don't really trust Sony with the property because of how inconsistent they can be. Case in point, outside of their association with Marvel they whored out the library of Spidey characters and made Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Venom. One was a home run, the other...wasn't. What am I supposed to think? Yes, let's please share the character with the studio that has the better track record.
Favorite Moment - The big suspense highlight of the film happens around the beginning of the third act. Peter is going to the Homecoming dance with Liz, who we assume is the character of Liz Allen even though the film never confirms her last name. When Peter picks her up, we find out her father is Adrian Toomes, AKA the Vulture. Toomes chaperones Peter and Liz to the dance while Peter stares at Liz's dad with an utterly scared sh*tless look on his face. Toomes begins talking to the couple and Liz mentions off-handed how Peter used to intern with Tony Stark and how he vanishes when trouble happens. During this car ride, Toomes puts all the puzzle pieces together and figures out that Peter is Spider-Man. Michael Keaton absolutely kills it in this scene, as every facial expression he makes tells us exactly what he's thinking. This is pure cinema, right here.
End Credit Scenes - The first has Toomes in jail after Spider-Man saved his life in the climax. There he is cornered by Mac Gargan, who heard a rumor that Toomes knows who Spider-Man is. Toomes, keeping his cool, responds "If I knew, he'd already be dead." Whether it's a gesture of respect for Peter or whether he has plans for this information is up to interpretation. The second is one of the most hilarious after-credit scenes in the MCU, which is part of a running gag in the film in which Captain America has filmed a bunch of PSAs that the school uses throughout the film. At the very end of the credits, Cap walks onscreen and lectures the audience about patience, and how sometimes one can wait for something for so long for something so disappointing.
True story about this last part: When I went to see Homecoming in theaters I went with two gal pals. One of them doesn't like sitting through credits for the extra scenes, though she likes the scenes in general. Throughout Homecoming's credits she was really whiny about being there (she might have had to pee, I don't remember), and then finally when Cap came out and did his little PSA, me and my other friend just pointed at her an laughed because it was like he was talking directly at her. It's one of my favorite theater memories ever.
Stan Lee Cameo - Stan's cameo is pretty great here, as Spidey swings in to stop a potential car thief, but the guy screams back "It's my car!" A bunch of neighbors peek out of the windows and start yelling at Spider-Man, and Stan is one of them, who says "Don't make me come down there, you punks!"
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Apr 19, 2019 1:46:25 GMT -5
Day Fifteen - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Nebula is still hot.
The first Guardians was an MCU fan favorite, though I had my reservations about it. The second was considered a good but not great disappointment after the first, but I thought it was a sizable improvement. The first Guardians was a neat movie, though a lot of its efforts to be deeper went a little haywire. Vol. 2 has a more intimately personal story for all of the characters, and I feel more invested in the emotional stakes.
That said, complaints I had of the first film remain. James Gunn's sentimentality is still too on-the-nose, but the more personal story helps give them a little more oomph. The themes of family can be a bit more blatant in this one, but they all feel like a natural escalation of these characters arcs. I feel more for Quill's yearning for a parental figure through his scenes with Ego, while the scenes between him and Yondu explore a relationship that the first film felt like it was trying to hint at but wasn't portraying all that strongly. The sibling rivalry between Gamora and Nebula comes to a head in this movie, as the Daughters of Thanos weren't really given much time to explore their sisterhood in the previous film really at all.
In general it's just a smoother ride than the first film, with even crazier visuals. The introduction of Mantis to the Guardians is quite fun, and the softening of Yondu is mostly successful. Ego is a fairly exceptional villain and one of the more unique concepts the MCU has thrown forth. If Ego has any sort of flaw it's that his motivation for his plan doesn't really exist other than him being a dick. But the details of how his plan has been put forth are successfully disturbing enough to make him a strong antagonist.
I'm pretty sure I've linked it before, but it's worth linking again: Lindsay Ellis did an excellent video essay on this film back when it hit home video. And when you're done with it, check out her other work. She was nominated for a Hugo this year for her "three parts out of two" documentary on the Hobbit trilogy.
Favorite Moment - I love Mantis. She's just adorable. She has a wonderful scene that was in some of the earliest trailers, but still amuse me every time I watch this movie, where she demonstrates her empathic abilities by accidentally outing Quill's attraction to Gamora. Drax laughs hysterically at this, then shouts "Do me! Do me! Do me!" Mantis empaths on him as well and starts laughing cruelly and pointing at Quill, which is just the greatest thing ever.
End Credit Scenes - Guardians 2 currently has the record for most post-credit scenes with five. It's unlikely this is going to be topped anytime soon. The first is barely a post-credit scene at all, appearing just after "The Guardians of the Galaxy will return," features Kraglin trying to control Yondu's arrow, but accidentally sends it straight into Drax. Following this up is a cool nod to the original Guardians team from the comics, where Ravagers played by Sylvester Stallone, Ving Rhames, Michelle Yeoh, Michael Rosenbaum, and Miley Cirus, who claim it's time to get back together. Oh GOD how I want this movie. The third credit scene is a bit of sequel bait, as Ayesha begins creating Adam Warlock to send after the Guardians. The fourth scene goes back to comedy, as a teenage Groot sasses Quill. The final scene is an extra cameo by Stan Lee, which we'll get to in a moment.
Speaking of cameos, the end credits also feature a bonus cameo by Jeff Goldblum playing the Grandmaster, who we'll see more of in Thor: Ragnarok.
Stan Lee Cameo - In a true contender for greatest cameo ever, Stan Lee plays a man who is reporting back to the Watchers about all he has witnessed, which is f***ing brilliant. He continues this in the final scene in the credits where the Watchers simply walk away from him and he yells at them "You guys are my ride!"
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