Dark Phoenix (2019) review

In the early 2000s, the superhero film genre experienced a major resurgence thanks to three films that were all based on Marvel properties, which were also notably the first majorly successful live-action films that the company had ever produced after most of their previous efforts were underwhelming, to say the least. In fact, some of them were so disastrous that they didn’t even get a proper theatrical release (i.e. the infamous 1994 adaptation of The Fantastic Four). But then there was the trio of 1998’s Blade, Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man in 2002, and the film that paved the way for today’s topic, X-Men, released in 2000 and directed by Bryan Singer. Despite both Singer and several of the film’s cast members admitting that they weren’t too familiar with the source material going in, the original X-Men was a solid critical and commercial success and helped the superhero genre evolve into the powerhouse that it still is today. Thus, the cast and crew returned for a sequel in 2003, X2: X-Men United, which was an even bigger hit and touted by many as a superior sequel. Not only that, but it ended on a note that teased a follow-up that would adapt one of the most famous X-Men storylines from the comics, The Dark Phoenix Saga, where X-Men member Jean Grey is corrupted by the full extent of her telepathic powers. However, as most of you know, this first adaptation turned out to be a bit of a disaster, mainly due to Singer backing out of the project to direct Superman Returns. Brett Ratner was hired in his place and the film that followed, 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, received a far more polarizing reaction from critics while being outright despised by fans for its handling of the Dark Phoenix storyline. This and the equally disastrous 2009 spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine effectively put the X-Men film franchise in a very rough spot for quite a few years.  

It wasn’t until 2011 when the series officially saw a comeback thanks to X-Men: First Class, a prequel/soft reboot directed by Matthew Vaughn that featured a cast of newcomers playing younger versions of the series’ established characters. And despite some initial skepticism from audiences, the film was a surprise critical and financial hit upon its release. This then paved the way for 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which saw Bryan Singer return to the franchise for the first time since X2 and combined the ensembles of both the original trilogy and First Class in a loose adaptation of the popular Days of Future Past storyline from the comics. The film also notably established a major bit of retconning by setting up an alternate continuity that ignored the events of The Last Stand. Because of this, writer/producer Simon Kinberg (who also wrote The Last Stand) hoped that this would pave the way for a more faithful Dark Phoenix adaptation in the future. And despite the generally mixed reaction towards the next installment of the franchise, 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse, plans were officially set into motion for a new adaptation of the Dark Phoenix storyline. Not only that, but the film would also end up serving as Kinberg’s directorial debut after it was made clear that Apocalypse would be Singer’s last entry in the series. Thus, here we are now with the latest X-Men film, simply titled Dark Phoenix, and by all accounts, this will be the final installment of the main series (not counting the long-delayed New Mutants film that’s currently set for a 2020 release) following Disney’s purchase of 20^th Century Fox earlier this year. And yet, despite this, reports of some extensive production issues, and an overall chilly reception, Dark Phoenix is ultimately another solid entry in the franchise even though I do agree that it still isn’t the proper Dark Phoenix Saga adaptation that it could’ve been.

It is 1992 and the relationship between humans and mutants has started to prosper thanks to the continued heroic efforts of telepath Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and the X-Men. However, during a mission where the group rescues the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, team member/telepath Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) endures the full force of a mysterious solar flare. Against all odds, Jean survives this event but her telepathic abilities end up getting amplified in the process, and to make matters worse, it also allows her to break a mental block that Charles had placed on her when she was younger to hide her memories of a car crash that she accidentally caused that resulted in the death of her mother. Thus, having realized that some of her most trusted allies have been keeping secrets from her, the more volatile aspects of Jean’s powers begin to take effect. This is then complicated further by the arrival of an alien race known as the D’Bari, led by the mysterious Vuk (Jessica Chastain), who seeks to harness Jean’s ‘Phoenix’ abilities for her own sinister purposes, resulting in the X-Men taking on their most perilous mission yet as they find themselves having to face one of their own. And if that wasn’t enough, Charles’ past efforts to ‘protect’ Jean end up causing a major divide amongst several members of the group, with the situation only being agitated further once the always unpredictable Erik Lehnsherr AKA Magneto (Michael Fassbender) gets involved.

As noted in the intro, one of the biggest issues that fans had with The Last Stand was its handling of the Dark Phoenix storyline, which was mainly due to it ultimately being a combination of two radically different storylines from the comics. The other storyline that was adapted for the film was Gifted, a six-part miniseries that was written by none other than Joss Whedon that focused on the introduction of a ‘mutant cure’, which meant that neither storyline got the proper attention that it should’ve since the film had to juggle them both at the same time. By comparison, this new film is technically a more faithful adaptation of the Dark Phoenix arc despite only having one major sequence that takes place in space and not including some of the storyline’s important characters. Namely, it doesn’t feature the Hellfire Club (although they did appear in First Class and were technically wiped out by the time Days of Future Past rolled around) and changes the prominently featured alien race from the Shi’ar to the D’Bari. However, a different issue then comes into play as the film doesn’t quite give this storyline the emotional poignancy that it could’ve had. It goes without saying that the transformation of Jean Grey from hero to villain proves to be devastating for the X-Men, especially her love interest Scott Summers AKA Cyclops (Tye Sheridan). But in the film, it’s treated like your standard hero/villain conflict, and thus, is quite lacking in terms of depth. At the very least, this film’s technical aspects fare a lot better. Despite this only being his first directorial effort, Simon Kinberg does a nice job with the action sequences and the whole film is backed by a suitably intense Hans Zimmer score.  

A lot has been said about how most of the main leads in this film who have been with the franchise for quite some time now are clearly not as enthusiastic about it as they were back then (that and a lot of jokes about how they still look as old as they did in First Class despite that being three films/in-universe decades ago). And yet, for what it’s worth, the returning leads of the franchise are still just as good as they’ve always been in these films, primarily because they continue to be the ones who get the most character development even though it does become a detriment to others. James McAvoy, for example, continues to shine as a more flawed Xavier compared to Patrick Stewart’s version of the character from the original trilogy, especially in this instance given that this whole plot is the result of his best intentions coming back to haunt him. Then there’s Michael Fassbender, who is still quite arguably the biggest standout of the First Class era ensemble as the emotionally charged Magneto. Jennifer Lawrence, meanwhile, continues to be solid as Mystique, who maintains the direction of her arc in Apocalypse by further embracing her leadership capabilities and being more protective of the younger members of the team. However, as some of this film’s trailers have implicated, her role in the plot is much smaller this time around. And finally, there’s Nicholas Hoult as Beast, who arguably gets the most prominent story arc that he’s ever had in this series due to his growing frustrations with Charles over his handling of Jean’s predicament and the devastating results that they yield.

Unfortunately, the newer members of the cast who had promising debuts in Apocalypse don’t get as much to work with this time around even though the First Class era films have done a lot better than the original trilogy when it comes to showing the X-Men working as a team. As alluded to earlier, Tye Sheridan doesn’t get any opportunities to truly delve into the emotional turmoil that Scott is going through over Jean’s actions even though he had one of the best emotional moments in Apocalypse when he learned about his brother Alex’s death. Alexandra Shipp also gets heavily underutilized as Storm, a fact that Shipp herself has openly acknowledged in recent interviews. Heck, we don’t even get a lot of fan-favorite Quicksilver (Evan Peters) this time around, which means that there’s sadly no new standout running sequence set to music like in the previous two films. At the very least, Sophie Turner does manage to do a solid job handling Jean’s psychological dilemma even if this film’s writing doesn’t exactly match her dedication to the role. But then we come to this film’s main antagonists, the D’Bari, who are, unfortunately, some of the weakest villains in the franchise’s history. Jessica Chastain does her best with what she’s given as their leader Vuk, but without much explanation of their backstory or their plans, they’re just a bunch of nameless thugs for the X-Men to fight. I will say, however, that the finale, where the X-Men fight the D’Bari on a train, is a solidly done action sequence, which is saying something considering that this was the biggest aspect of the film’s extensive reshoots due to the original ending supposedly being too similar to the likes of Captain Marvel and Captain America: Civil War.

At the time of this review’s publication, Dark Phoenix currently stands as the worst-received installment of the X-Men film franchise; yes, even more so than The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And with a lackluster turn at the box-office (to the point where it will apparently be out of most theaters very soon), it’s clear that most audiences are just waiting for the series’ inevitable reboot into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But is it really that bad? Well, not really. It’s competently made from a technical standpoint and everyone in it does a good job with the material that they’re given. However, while it’s far from being the disaster that many are saying it is, it’s still a sign that the X-Men franchise is running on fumes at this point. While it may technically be a more faithful adaptation of the Dark Phoenix Saga when compared to X-Men: The Last Stand, it never truly has the chance to delve into the psychological and emotional aspects of its storyline. In other words, as it is presented in this film, the conflict of Jean Grey going rogue has about as much urgency to it as Thor: The Dark World. With all this in mind, if this is truly meant to be the last installment of the X-Men film franchise as we’ve known it since the start of the new millennium, then I will openly admit that it’s probably for the best. And while I may be in the minority when it comes to liking this franchise, I do look forward to seeing how Kevin Feige and his team will incorporate these iconic characters into the MCU.

Rating: 4/5

Red Sparrow (2018) review

For Jennifer Lawrence, 2011 was very much a breakout year for her. First, she earned an Oscar nomination for her role in the rural drama Winter’s Bone. After that, she appeared as Mystique in the surprisingly successful reboot of the X-Men franchise, X-Men: First Class. And then, that same year, she was cast in the lead role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. The first adaptation of author Suzanne Collins’ best-selling book series hit theaters the following year and was a major critical and commercial success. This success for both Lawrence and the Hunger Games franchise continued the following year with the even more critically/commercially successful Catching Fire, which was the first of the series to be directed by Francis Lawrence (who, for the record, is unrelated to his lead actress). At the time, Lawrence was mainly known for his work in music videos. Some of his most famous videos included Aerosmith’s theme from Armageddon ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’, Shakira’s first big hit in the United States ‘Whenever, Wherever’, and the iconic video for Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’. Alongside that, he also directed the 2007 blockbuster hit I Am Legend and the 2005 film adaptation of DC Comics’ demon-hunting anti-hero, Constantine. And as for The Hunger Games, his work on Catching Fire led to him being brought back to direct the franchise’s two-part finale, Mockingjay. But now the two Lawrence’s are back for a new film, Red Sparrow. Based on the 2013 novel of the same name by former CIA operative Jason Matthews, the film sees Lawrence star as a seductive Russian agent. And while both Lawrence’s do their best with the material, it ultimately isn’t enough to make up for the film’s lackluster narrative and sluggish pacing.

As the film begins, Russian ballerina Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) suffers a devastating career-ending leg injury during her latest performance. With no way of supporting herself and her sick mother Nina (Joely Richardson), Dominika agrees to a job offered to her by her uncle Ivan (Matthias Schoenaerts), who’s a top-ranking member of Russian Intelligence. Dominika is tasked with seducing a corrupt Russian politician to extort information from him; however, the job ends up going south when the politician is murdered by an assassin. After learning that this was part of Ivan’s plan all along, Dominika is then coerced into a new proposition; be executed so that there are no witnesses to the murder or become a member of Russian intelligence. Dominika agrees to the offer and is sent to a remote school where she is trained to become a ‘Sparrow’, agents capable of extracting information from their targets through seduction. When Dominika proves to generally excel in her training, she is sent to Budapest to investigate into a suspected Russian mole codenamed ‘Marble’. To figure out the mole’s identity, Dominika must meet and earn the trust of a CIA operative named Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) who is also stationed there who was reportedly the last known person to work with ‘Marble’. But as Dominika begins to find ‘Marble’, she also finds herself locked into a game of cat and mouse where the threat of execution from her superiors is always imminent.

To the film’s credit, it starts off on a solid note. After a tension-filled intro that effectively sets up its two main leads, the build-up in this film is quite excellent in terms of the situation that Dominika ends up getting into. In other words, this film does have a legitimately engaging story at first. However, this ultimately ends up getting ruined by two things. The first is the film’s hefty runtime of nearly two and a half hours. Now, to be clear, this is very much one of those ‘slow burn’ kind of stories AKA the ones that are more dialogue-driven than action-driven. Despite this, though, it does feel like a half hour or so of the film could’ve been trimmed out without even losing anything important from the story. The other thing that hurts this film is that the story itself, unfortunately, falls apart by the end. Despite a few reports that stated that the ending of the film was changed from what occurred in the novel to give it a stronger feminist tone, the ending ends up being incredibly banal. Without even spoiling anything about what happens at the end, let me just say that you’ve seen how this one is going to play out before in other films. You know, the kind of ending where the main protagonist makes a critical power move that ensures her the best option for survival? That is exactly what happens at the end of this film. I mean, at the very least, the film itself isn’t poorly made on a technical level. Francis Lawrence reteamed with a lot of his Hunger Games collaborators for this film and they once again produce a film that’s well-shot and features some solid fight sequences.

And as far as the film’s cast is concerned, they’re all solid in their respective roles. It all begins, of course, with Jennifer Lawrence who, as always, is giving it her all here. She does do an excellent job in terms of conveying her character’s ability to seduce her targets while also showing her vulnerable side when put through the story’s most emotionally taxing moments (which, to be perfectly frank, are quite frequent in this film). In other words, she possesses an effective magnetic screen presence in this film despite all its narrative issues. Her role in the film is also very well-balanced with Joel Edgerton’s character; obviously, Dominika is still the focus of the story, but the film does just enough to set up the character of Nate Nash without having Edgerton overshadow Lawrence at any point. Plus, it also helps that the two have solid enough chemistry when it comes to their romantic scenes. But as for everyone else in the film, while they all do fine in their roles, these roles are quite limited when compared to Dominika and Nate. Jeremy Irons is great as always as enigmatic Russian general Vladimir Korchnoi as is Charlotte Rampling as ‘Matron’, the imposing headmistress of the school that Dominika goes to as part of her ‘Sparrow’ training’. Matthias Schoenaerts walks a fine line between charismatic and sinister as Dominika’s uncle Ivan while Mary Louise Parker manages to slip in a few humorous jokes into this generally solemn narrative as an American chief of state that Dominika interrogates as part of her investigation. Ultimately, though, a lot of these side characters end up being incredibly one-note, often getting sidelined in favor of our main protagonists.

It’s a shame, really. I really wanted to like this film as much as I did Francis Lawrence’s three Hunger Games films (I even warmed up to Mockingjay Part 2 a bit more upon my most recent re-watch of it). Ultimately, though, Red Sparrow is unfortunately waylaid by its incredibly bland narrative. While it does start off solid enough, it then loses steam at the end with a ‘been there, done that’ ending that serves as a mediocre conclusion to a story that has been going on for way too long. Thus, as much as I don’t like to compare films that boast similar plots in my reviews, this film does feel like a weaker clone of what we got last summer in David Leitch’s action-thriller Atomic Blonde. But while Atomic Blonde also had an admittedly simple plot, it just had a lot more ‘oomph’ to it compared to Red Sparrow. Sure, the film is decently shot, and Jennifer Lawrence is great as always in the lead role, but that doesn’t really make up for this film ultimately leaving not that much of an impression. It legitimately makes me curious as to how the ending played out in the novel. Heck, I bet that even if that ending was just as conventional as the one that they went with for this film, it still would’ve been a lot more substantial than what we ultimately ended up getting. Thus, while far from being the worst film that Jennifer Lawrence has been in (and no, I’m not going to mention that ‘other’ film here; let’s be honest, folks, you know exactly which one I’m talking about…), Red Sparrow is an unfortunately disappointing outing for this talented director-actress duo.

Rating: 2/5

mother! (2017) review

Director Darren Aronofsky has become well-known for his work on psychological dramas that delve into the psyches of their main protagonists. However, while several of his films have done excellently with critics, they’ve also attracted tons of controversy for various reasons, usually because of how insane some of them get. His sophomore directorial effort, 2000’s Requiem for a Dream, was deemed too intense for audiences, thus initially earning an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. Aronofsky refuted the decision, but his appeal was denied and the film was instead released unrated by its distributor. While his 2010 effort, Black Swan, did earn Natalie Portman an Oscar for Best Actress, it also led to some debate over how much of the ballet dancing in the film was done by Portman herself. And as for his most recent film, 2014’s Noah, it ended up being banned in several countries due to Aronofsky’s radical take on the story of Noah’s Ark, while also turning out to be his most commercially successful film to date. And from the looks of it, this trend of Aronofsky’s polarizing output continues with his latest film, Mother. Headlined by the ensemble of Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer, Mother is a psychological ‘horror’ film that’s steeped in biblical allegories. However, that hasn’t stopped the film from attracting an extremely polarizing response from critics, and given that it was handed the worst rating possible from the marketing research firm CinemaScore, an F, it’s also proven to be quite divisive amongst audiences as well. As for me? Well, unfortunately, I find that I lean heavily towards the side that gave this film an ‘F’.

In a quaint, little-secluded area, a young woman (Jennifer Lawrence) lives with her husband (Javier Bardem), who’s a poet, in their newly renovated home. The young woman has spent much of her time working on the remodeling so that they can have a perfect home, even though it becomes clear that this isolation has had a negative effect on her husband’s work. However, their idyllic home life is soon threatened by the arrival of some unwanted guests. First, a doctor (Ed Harris) arrives at the house, having been led to assume that it was a bed and breakfast. He also mentions that he’s a big fan of the husband’s work. Later, the doctor’s wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) arrives as well, and while there, she begins to question the young woman about why she and her husband have yet to have kids. This, obviously, begins to freak the young woman out but, to both her surprise and dismay, her husband is extremely welcoming of their new guests. And soon enough, more people start to arrive on the premises just so that they can meet with the husband. Thus, as the young woman begins to become more and more stressed due to all the unwelcome guests in her home, it also starts to have quite an effect on her relationship with her husband, especially after she does indeed become pregnant.

As noted in the intro (and without giving anything major away from the plot), this film’s story is basically one big biblical allegory. If you’re familiar with some of the most famous stories from the bible, then you’ll probably recognize them here by way of how they’re represented in the film’s characters. This includes everyone from the older couple that comes to visit the main characters’ home to their two sons (played by real-life brothers Domhnall and Brian Gleeson) and, of course, the titular ‘mother’ and her husband. And to this film’s credit, I do think that it’s an interesting way in going about telling a Bible-influenced story in a modern context. However, the way in which Aronofsky goes about it is what ultimately ruins it. Part of this is due to the often-temperamental cinematography by Aronofsky regular Matthew Libatique. Said cinematography involves tons of close-up shots and quite a bit of erratic/shaky camera movement, the latter of which becomes a huge problem when things get nuts in this film. And believe me, this film gets nuts, mainly during its second half where to be perfectly frank, it goes off the frigging wall… which, as you might have guessed, is not a good thing in this case. This film also utilizes Aronofsky’s quick-cut style of editing that was apparent in Requiem for a Dream, though it mostly comes into play during the more chaotic moments of the narrative. So, in other words, pair rapidly cutting editing with erratic cinematography and you have a film that can make you feel quite nauseous at times because it’s moving around so much, thereby giving you barely any time to try and grasp just what the heck is happening onscreen. 

It’s a shame, really, that this film is the disaster that it is because everyone in the cast is solid in their respective roles. At the very least, they all do a fine enough job at conveying the traits of the biblical characters that they’re meant to be representing. While not necessarily the best performance of her career, Jennifer Lawrence does do a fine job in the ‘title role’. She holds her own for sure, especially given that the film mainly revolves around her, but she’s also quite good whenever she’s working off one of her co-stars, like the always charismatic Javier Bardem. With that said, though, prior to its release, there was some controversy over the fact that Lawrence’s main romantic lead in this film is 21 years her senior. However, if anything, the film does sort of address this and, again, without giving anything away, it ends up making a bit more sense once you realize who Bardem’s character is meant to be. The other couple in this film, played by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer, provide an interesting contrast to the main couple given their overall characterizations. Harris’ character is more of a charming stranger while Pfeiffer’s character is far colder, the latter of which is seen whenever Pfeiffer interacts with Lawrence. Both Harris and Pfeiffer are great in their respective roles, with Harris providing some nice charisma while Pfeiffer is great at conveying an incredibly uncomfortable, steely persona. Ultimately, though, these solid performances aren’t enough to save this dreadful material.

Now, to be fair, I can at least see why some have reacted positively towards this film. I can see why they’ve found it to be an artistically fascinating and refreshingly original film in today’s current market. Ultimately, though, I did not see ‘exactly’ what they saw with this film. Now, to be clear, this wasn’t a situation where I just didn’t get what was going on (for the most part…). I did, at least, understand all the biblical references that this film was conveying. However, it’s ultimately the overall execution of it all that just makes this an incredibly frustrating film to watch. Because while the cast does do a good job with what they’re given, Aronofsky’s direction and the erratic cinematography end up turning this film into a chaotic mess. I mean, for the record, I do think that this is an interesting way to do a modern take on a story that’s heavily influenced by the bible. However, as much as I hate to say it, this probably would’ve worked a hell of a lot better under a different director; say, David Fincher or someone similar. Because as is, this is just an incoherent and all-around ugly film that’s way too surreal for its own good to the point where it comes off as being extremely pretentious. Now, again, if you liked this film, then all the power to you. But as for me, though, this ended up being one of the most emotionally-draining films that I’ve ever had to sit through because of everything that I’ve covered in this review… ugh, thank god this comes out this Friday.

Rating: 0.5/5

Passengers (2016) review

Today, I’m looking at a film from last year that I didn’t end up seeing in theaters when it came out but was genuinely curious about it in the months leading up to its release. The film in question is Passengers and I’ll admit that the main reason why I was interested in seeing it mainly stemmed from who was involved. In the director’s chair was Morten Tyldum, who made it big in Hollywood a few years back with 2014’s Best Picture nominee (and one of my favorite films of that year), The Imitation Game. And taking on the lead roles were two of Hollywood’s biggest stars; Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. In short, this film’s crew had quite the pedigree, and while I’m sure that some may have viewed it as being nothing more than a ‘cash grab’ project made to bank on the success of its two leads, it was also an original sci-fi story, one that had been in the works ever since writer Jon Spaihts (who’s also worked on Prometheus and Doctor Strange) first wrote it in 2007. Upon release, the film did decently at the box-office with almost $300 million worldwide. However, it didn’t do as well with critics; it currently maintains a measly 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. Thus, because the film admittedly wasn’t one of my most ‘anticipated’ films of 2016, I didn’t see it in theaters because of this. However, in the months since, I’ve found that audiences have seemingly been more positive towards it. So, with that in mind, is Passengers an underrated gem from this past year? Well, despite a few narrative issues, I’d say it is.

In the future, a starship named Avalon embarks on a 120-year journey from Earth to the planet Homestead II, with over 5,000 passengers (consisting of both crew and future colonists of the planet) in tow. However, a run-in with an asteroid belt causes the ship to suffer various mechanical failures. This ends up resulting in one of the passengers, engineer Jim Preston (Chris Pratt), waking up early only 30 years into the trip. With no possible way of being put back into his hibernation pod, Jim languishes in the reality that he’ll be alone for the rest of his life onboard the Avalon, which is still 90 years away from Homestead II. However, one year after his awakening, he comes across another passenger, writer Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence). Jim, completely entranced by her, makes the bold decision to wake her up so that he wouldn’t be alone anymore, despite the morally damning implications that come with it. Once she’s woken up, she too begins to try and find a way to get back to sleep. But, once the situation turns hopeless, the two begin to bond and even start to get romantically attached. However, their blossoming romance soon starts to turn sour once Jim’s big secret is revealed. And if that wasn’t enough, the two find themselves having to save the ship and their fellow passengers when the mechanical failures from earlier start to become much more of a problem.

So, as I partially pointed out in the synopsis, the marketing for this film did not divulge one of its biggest plot-points. The primary trailer for the film implied that both Jim AND Aurora were woken up by accident. But, in the actual film, Jim is the only one of the two who gets woken up by accident. He then wakes Aurora up so that he can have a companion after already spending a whole year alone on the Avalon. This does lead to a fascinating moral dilemma; although it does give Jim someone to talk to (other than the ship’s robotic bartender Arthur (Michael Sheen)), it also means that he’s basically screwing up her life by dooming her to his exact same fate. In other words, what initially seemed to be a generally light-hearted sci-fi romance story ultimately has a rather dark edge to it. But, with that said, many felt that the film’s biggest problem is that, near the end, it deviates from this plotline and switches over to a generic ‘save the ship from destruction’ conflict. And I’ll admit that I do agree with this sentiment; this change in the plot does take away from the consequences that come from Jim’s big decision. Not only that, it also results in that storyline getting a rather iffy/rushed conclusion. But, despite this, the film is still engaging from beginning to end and is well-made on a technical level. The futuristic production/visual design is excellent, as is the score by the always reliable Thomas Newman. I can see why they were ultimately the two primary elements of the film that were recognized during awards season despite its generally mixed reception.    

Ultimately, though, one of the most important aspects of the film is the romance that forms between Jim and Aurora. Despite that ‘big secret’ of the former’s that is always ominously looming in the background, as well as the devastating consequences that come with it once it becomes known to the latter, these two do prove to have solid chemistry throughout. A lot of this, of course, is thanks to Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. The two of them are both excellent in their respective roles and are also generally likable protagonists. Now, of course, I know that I’m saying this despite the whole thing about Jim being the one who wakes Aurora up (let me be clear; I’m not saying that this decision is a ‘good idea’). But, aside from that red flag, Pratt is, for the most part, still just as charismatic as he usually is in his other big roles and his character does go through some redemptive moments over the course of the film, even if they don’t entirely make up for his big decision. Of course, this does mean that Aurora (and, therefore, Lawrence) is ultimately the more likable of the two. The two of them do manage to carry the film on their own; after all, it is primarily just them for most of the runtime. There are a few minor supporting characters here and there, including Michael Sheen as the ship’s robotic bartender Arthur, who gets some of the film’s best bits of comic relief, and Laurence Fishburne as one of the Avalon’s primary crew members who also ends up getting woken up early. In the end, though, it’s all about Pratt and Lawrence and they are arguably the film’s greatest highlight.

So, in conclusion, while Passengers didn’t get much praise from critics upon release, it seems like audiences have been a bit more positive towards it. And, overall, for a film that I didn’t see until after it was already out of theaters, I quite enjoyed it. Now, admittedly, it does have some major flaws, specifically the change in plot that takes away from what should be the primary focus of the story; Jim’s decision that ultimately affects both him and Aurora. But, despite this, it’s still a solid original sci-fi story with a fascinating moral dilemma and some excellent futuristic imagery. Perhaps it was a good thing that the trailers didn’t give away the big ‘twist’ regarding the big catalyst that sets the main plot into motion. Still, it would’ve been better had it not deviated over to the ‘save the ship’ storyline near the end. Instead, it should have been based entirely on Jim and Aurora’s relationship and the consequences that come from what Jim does to set it all up. On that note, the other great thing about the film is its lead duo of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. These two work so well together and have such great chemistry that I totally wouldn’t mind seeing them star in another film together. Thus, you could say that they’re easily the main reason why this film is worth checking out. And despite its narrative flaws, Passengers is quite an interesting entry in the sci-fi genre that’s more than just a Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence vehicle.

Rating: 4/5

Top 10 Favorite Superhero Film/TV Casting Choices (Protagonists)

This weekend sees the release of the highly-anticipated superhero flick, Logan, the latest installment of the X-Men franchise. All the hype surrounding this film is due to it being the final appearance of Hugh Jackman in the title role of James ‘Logan’ Howlett AKA Wolverine, a role that he’s been occupying for almost two whole decades. He’s appeared in almost every X-Men film to date (possibly ‘every’ film if you somehow count Jackman’s photo cameo in Deadpool as a proper cameo, even though he’s not Wolverine in it), effectively making him one of the most iconic casting choices in the history of the superhero genre. So, with that in mind, today I’m going over one of the most important aspects of any great superhero film; casting. After all, it’s one of the primary decisions that goes into making any lead character in a superhero film or TV show work as well as they can and, for the most part, superhero films/TV shows have done a solid job with casting their main protagonists. Obviously, though, not every superhero film casting is going to be a success; there have been some disastrous casting choices in this genre over the years (e.g. George Clooney as Batman in Batman and Robin). That, and it’s undeniable that every superhero casting is going to subjected to a lot of premature backlash from fans who just don’t see that actor/actress in the role. Just look at what happened when Ben Affleck got cast as Batman. But, thankfully, a lot of these superhero films/TV shows have been much more successful in the past few years in terms of casting their protagonists. Thus, in honor of Logan’s release, I’m listing 10 of my personal favorite superhero portrayals from film and TV. Though I just want to note that, for this list, I’m only focusing on main protagonists of superhero films and TV shows, not the villains. Don’t worry, though, as I will do a ‘Top 10 Superhero Villain Performances’ post in the future; maybe even one on the best supporting characters from these films. Also, I’m not going to be doing this in any specific order aside from alternating between actors and actresses, as I wanted to split this up evenly amongst male and female leads, and the occasional connection between franchises. With that said, here are my Top 10 casting choices in superhero films and TV shows.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Obviously, it was hard to narrow this down to 10 choices; thus, I’ve got quite a few Honorable Mentions to name. First up, we have my favorite Batman; Christian Bale from the Dark Knight trilogy. While many have given him flak for the infamous raspy voice that he uses while wearing the cowl, he’s probably gotten the most material to work with out of any Batman star to date. By comparison, Michael Keaton, who for the record was great in the role in the Tim Burton-directed films, was often underplayed in favor of the villains. And as for the voice, I don’t mind it; if it’s fun to imitate, then it’s all right by me (“SWEAR TO ME!!”). Then, there’s Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk in the recent MCU films, specifically the Avengers films. Ruffalo is the third actor to portray the character, after Eric Bana in the oft-forgotten Hulk film directed by Ang Lee from 2003 and Edward Norton, whom Ruffalo directly replaced in the role, in the also oft-forgotten MCU film The Incredible Hulk. And while both Bana and Norton did do solid jobs in the role, Ruffalo has easily been the best Bruce Banner to date, particularly due to his strong camaraderie with his co-stars. Going over into the X-Men franchise, you can’t forget about the ‘Merc with the Mouth’, Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds is arguably one of the most pitch-perfect superhero castings to date; heck, the comics directly referred to him when describing the character. And while, obviously, his first turn in the role, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was marred by major deviations from the source material, he got the chance to do the character justice in 2016’s smash hit Deadpool. Finally, we have one of the more ‘recent’ additions to the superhero genre; Tom Holland’s iteration of everyone’s favorite web-slinger, Peter Parker. While I’ll admit that I’m still a big fan of Andrew Garfield and am a bit disappointed that he didn’t get the chance to join the MCU once Marvel Studios struck a deal with Sony, Holland proved to be an excellent Spidey in Captain America: Civil War, nailing all the character’s defining traits.

And now, onto the main list…

MELISSA BENOIST – SUPERGIRL (SUPERGIRL)

To start things off, we have one of the newest shining stars of the superhero genre. In 2015, Melissa Benoist, fresh off her leading role on the show Glee as well as a memorable supporting role in the film Whiplash, took on the role of Kara Danvers AKA Kara Zor-El, cousin of Kal-El AKA Superman, in the TV adaptation of Supergirl. Originally premiering on CBS, the show has since moved over to ‘The CW’, where it is a much more natural fit with the other superhero shows that have been developed for the network by Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg. As for Supergirl, like I said in my review of Season 1 this past April, while the show’s light-hearted nature does result in some extremely cheesy moments from time to time, its heart is always in the right place and, as such, represents a lot of the best parts of the superhero genre. And, of course, one of the best aspects of this series, in general, has been Benoist in the lead role. When she’s in her ‘civilian identity’, Kara Danvers, she absolutely lights up the screen with her charisma, as well as the adorable awkwardness that sometimes comes from her trying to act normal when working off those who don’t know that she’s Supergirl. But, once she puts on the suit and cape, that awkwardness melts away and she conveys such great strength and passion as National City’s beloved heroine. And even as Season 2 of Supergirl has been introducing new characters, as well as new plotlines for returning characters, Kara has still been the main focal point of the entire show, hence why she’s very much become one of the genre’s best protagonists.

CHRISTOPHER REEVE – SUPERMAN (SUPERMAN I-IV)

Next up, we have the classic superhero film casting choice that started it all; Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel himself, Superman. But it’s interesting to note that, at first, he wasn’t the original choice for the role. Initially, A-listers like Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, and Paul Newman were considered for the part. But, when Richard Donner was brought in to direct the first Superman film in 1978, the filmmakers then switched gears and began searching for unknown actors. Reeve was in the running but was initially ignored for being too skinny. But, after going through a strict workout regime with David Prowse (AKA the original in-suit performer for Darth Vader in the Star Wars films) to gain the proper physique, Reeve finally got cast and, of course, absolutely killed it in the role. Simply put, he was the perfect embodiment of the beloved superhero; charismatic, good-looking, and noble in every way. And even when the series started to severely go downhill with the third and fourth films, with Reeve even having a story credit for the latter, he still always did a great job in the role. As such, his portrayal of Superman is so iconic that it is one that has admittedly been hard to top, though that’s not to say that there haven’t been other good portrayals of the character since Reeve. While he has been somewhat limited by certain narrative choices (e.g. a lack of given dialogue), I’d argue that Henry Cavill has done a good job so far as the character in the current-era DC Extended Universe films. However, like I said, sometimes he has been limited by the material that he’s been given, which is sad because his turn in 2015’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. shows that he does have the proper charisma for the role. And then there’s Tyler Hoechlin, who I’d argue was very Reeve-esque during his turn in the role in Season 2 of Supergirl. In fact, dare I say it, Hoechlin’s been the best Superman since Reeve.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE – MYSTIQUE (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, X-MEN: APOCALYPSE)

I’m aware that this choice may be a bit controversial (I’ll explain why in a little bit) but I think that Jennifer Lawrence has done an excellent job in the role of the shape-shifting femme fatale Mystique in the First Class-era X-Men films. She first appeared in the series’ 2011 ‘reboot’ X-Men: First Class, which pulled an interesting narrative retcon by having her become the foster sister of Charles Xavier AKA Professor X. I say ‘interesting’ because, obviously, this wasn’t brought up at all in the original X-Men trilogy, even though the next film in the series ended up wiping those films from the continuity. However, I do think that it was an interesting story route. Because once Magneto enters the picture, Mystique finds herself conflicted between the ideologies of him and Charles. Specifically, this was due to a fear of how people would react to her in her natural blue (and, well, naked (no other way around it)) form. While Charles urged her to keep her blue form hidden, Magneto encouraged her to embrace it. Thus, at the end of the film, she ends up leaving with Erik, though it should be noted that Charles did encourage her to go with him because he knew that ‘it’s what she wanted’. This then leads into Days of Future Past, in which she becomes the main focal point of the plot as it's established that her assassination of scientist Bolivar Trask was the catalyst for the events that resulted in the desolate, dystopian future that part of the film is set in. Like First Class, a lot of her character development comes in the form of her ties to both Charles and Magneto. While her time with Magneto has led her into becoming more like the cold-blooded femme fatale that we saw in the original trilogy (it’s noted in the film that killing Trask would’ve been the moment when she truly became ‘Mystique’), it’s also clear that there’s still some humanity left in her, which Xavier uses to convince her to not kill Trask, partially by admitting his mistake in trying to control her life all these years. The result is easily Lawrence’s best performance in the role...

…which then brings us to Apocalypse, and this is where that ‘controversy’ that I mentioned earlier comes into play. Because, of course, as many of us know. Apocalypse ended up attracting a mixed response from critics and audiences upon release. And one of the reasons why was due to Lawrence. Quite a lot of critics felt that Lawrence phoned it in for Apocalypse; a sign of her showing growing disinterest in the franchise, partially due to having to go through the elaborate makeup process to get into character even though that process had become more simplified after First Class. As for me, though, I didn’t think she phoned it in; maybe I’m just not good at sensing this sort of thing but I thought she was just as good as she was in the other films (though I will say DOFP is still her best turn in the role). Not only that, but Apocalypse is, in a way, kind of her story. After unintentionally becoming a ‘hero’ following the events in Washington D.C. at the end of DOFP, she is seen to be maintaining a low profile while trying to protect some of her fellow mutants all over the world. But, once the ‘god’ mutant Apocalypse reawakens, she begins to embrace her role as the leader of the next generation of X-Men as she leads them into battle against him. And at the end of the film, she and Beast are seen training the team’s new recruits. Right now, it’s unclear where the franchise will go from here. Are they going to continue from where they left off in Apocalypse with the new cast? If so, hopefully, they let the new cast become the main characters of future films. The First Class-era was primarily based around Xavier, Mystique, and Magneto and while I won’t mind if they come back for future films in supporting roles, I think it’s safe to say that their story arcs are done for the most part. Still, I think Lawrence was an excellent addition to the First Class-era as the second iteration of Mystique. In fact, I kind of prefer her version of the character over Rebecca Romjin’s from the original trilogy. I’m not saying that Romjin was bad as Mystique but, like Christian Bale compared to Michael Keaton as Batman, I think Lawrence has just had better material to work with. Speaking of her two main co-stars…  

MICHAEL FASSBENDER AND JAMES MCAVOY– MAGNETO AND PROFESSOR X (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, X-MEN: APOCALYPSE)

From one First Class-era star to another, now we have the duo of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy, who have been killing it in the roles of the metal-controlling mutant Erik Lehnsherr AKA Magneto and the world’s most powerful telepath, Charles Xavier AKA Professor X. In the original X-Men films, the characters were played by the legendary Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, respectively. Both did fantastic jobs in their roles but it’s come to the point where Fassbender and McAvoy have arguably outshined their predecessors thanks to the recent trilogy. First up, let’s talk about Fassbender as Magneto. In the three X-Men films that he’s appeared in, Fassbender has been the major standout of two of them. The first of these was First Class, which is fitting because, ultimately, First Class was Magneto’s story. While the film was solidly balanced in terms of the roles of him and Xavier, showing how the two first met, became friends, and were then divided on their views of humanity, a lot of the plot of First Class revolved around Magneto. The film opens with a re-do of the opening scene from the original X-Men film, in which a young Magneto is separated from his parents at Auschwitz and attracts attention by using his powers to bend a metal gate. This scene is then expanded upon by showing that this then led to Erik becoming a pawn of Nazi scientist and fellow mutant Sebastian Shaw. Shaw even kills Erik’s mother in his attempts to manipulate Erik into using his powers. Thus, most of the film sees Erik attempting to track down and kill Shaw, and despite Xavier’s attempts to dissuade him from this (“Killing Shaw will not bring you peace.”), Erik ignores the advice of his friend and kills Shaw, showing that while they may have been enemies, he did share his views on the divide between humans and mutants. And after accidentally causing Xavier to be paralyzed from the waist down, Magneto leaves to start his war against humanity for what they’ve done to him and his fellow mutants. 

Fassbender returned in Days of Future Past alongside Ian McKellen as the older Magneto. Sadly, the two never shared a scene together like James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart did in the film but it wasn’t a big loss and, seeing how the story takes place in two separate eras, you could say that it was much more plausible to have the two telepaths interact with each other instead of the two metal-benders. It’s also worth noting that, in this instance, Days of Future Past was more Xavier’s story than Magneto’s. Thus, Magneto was more of a supporting ‘protagonist’ (term used loosely because he is Magneto) this time around. Set primarily in the 70’s, he is first seen being held in prison for being the alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy as evident by the curvature of the bullet that killed him, although he later reveals that he was trying to save Kennedy because he learned that he too was a mutant. Wolverine, Xavier, and Beast (with the help of Quicksilver) break him out of prison so that they can acquire his help in preventing Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask. However, Magneto then betrays them by trying to kill Mystique instead, and once he learns about Trask’s newest invention, the Sentinels, he uses his powers to take control of them and, as usual, proceeds to go off against humanity. He tries to kill President Nixon and his Cabinet but Mystique prevents him from doing so, setting up the events of the sequel. In short, he may not have been the ‘main character’ this time around but Fassbender was still great in the role. And yes, I’m saying this even after he recently said in an interview that he feels like his performance in this film was mostly just him yelling at people (e.g. the scene where he gets hostile with Xavier while on a plane).   

Fassbender’s most recent appearance as Magneto in X-Men: Apocalypse saw him once again end up as the standout of the film, just like in First Class. And in this instance, it was by giving him the most emotional bits of character development in the film. Following the events of DOFP, it’s shown that Erik was forced to go on the run after the events in D.C. He ends up in Poland, where he takes on the name Henryk, gets a job, ironically as a metalworker, and starts up a family, with his wife, Magda, aware of his past and his daughter Nina being a mutant as well, with the ability to command animals. When he ends up inadvertently revealing his powers to his co-workers, he’s then ratted out to the police, who accidentally end up killing Magda and Nina when they confront him. As revenge, Erik kills them in the same manner that he killed Shaw in First Class; by forcing the Nazi coin that he was coerced into trying to manipulate right through them (literally). It’s easily the most emotional scene in the film and is the main reason why I completely disagree with the argument that Apocalypse lacked emotional depth. This then leads to him being approached by Apocalypse and persuaded into being the fourth member of the Horsemen. With enhanced powers (courtesy of Apocalypse) and a refueled hatred for humanity, Magneto works alongside Apocalypse in his plans to conquer the Earth but, after some convincing from Mystique and Quicksilver (who is revealed to be his son, though he doesn’t reveal that to Magneto just yet), Magneto comes to his senses to help the X-Men take down the god mutant. As the film ends, he heads out on his own once again after helping to rebuild the X-Mansion. Like I said earlier with Mystique, it’s unclear if this is the last time that we’ll be seeing Magneto for a while. But, if it is, at least we got a great trilogy-worth of performances from Michael Fassbender in the role.

And now let’s move onto James McAvoy as Xavier. I’ll admit that when First Class came out, I wasn’t exactly sure how I would feel about McAvoy in the role following Patrick Stewart’s excellent take on the character in the original X-Men trilogy. But, just like how the film ended up being a surprise success, he proved to be a great fit in the role. He had the ‘wise mentor’ persona down well but it was also kind of cool to see a young Xavier that, prior to the incident that cost him his legs, was a lot more high-spirited and even a bit of a party animal. That starts to change once he meets Magneto and becomes the leader of the first class of X-Men. But, of course, that friendship between Xavier and Magneto fades once their differing views on the human-mutant divide come into play, and the film ends with Xavier paralyzed from the waist down due to Magneto deflecting a bullet aimed at him. This, as well as the loss of his foster sister Mystique to Erik’s cause, affects him heavily, which we clearly see when he first appears in DOFP. 10 years after the events of First Class, it’s established that Xavier’s school for mutants was heavily shuttered by the Vietnam War. Thus, he’s become a bitter and pessimistic drunk due to the failure of his school. He’s also regained the use of his legs thanks to a serum made by Hank McCoy but this serum also suppresses his powers, which at this point he’s okay with so that he doesn’t have to endure the pain of listening to all the voices in his head anymore. But, when Wolverine comes into the picture to seek his help, Xavier ends up embarking on a journey to regain his faith in humanity. As I’ve said numerous times already, Xavier’s arc in this film is the reason why DOFP is ultimately his story and it results in McAvoy’s greatest performance in the role. That continues in Apocalypse, which sees Xavier finally adopt his definitive bald look. And of the trilogy’s three main leads, it seems like McAvoy is the most likely of them to return in a future film.  

CHLOE BENNET – QUAKE (MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD)

Going into the realm of superhero TV for my next pick, we’ve got the Inhuman agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. from Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, Daisy Johnson AKA Quake, played by Chloe Bennet. Daisy has easily had one of the biggest arcs in the entire show. At first, we knew her as the mysterious hacker Skye, who Agent Phil Coulson recruited to join his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents despite her ties to the rogue hacktivist group, the Rising Tide. Soon, though, she proved herself to be a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent as she helped Coulson and co. take down the growing threat of HYDRA within the organization. And then, in the show’s second season, things began to change once her real identity was revealed. In the Season 1 episode ‘Seeds’, we learn that Skye had been deemed as an 0-8-4 (S.H.I.E.L.D. code for ‘object of unknown origin’) when she was just a baby. Halfway through Season 2, in the episode ‘What They Become’, the truth behind her ‘unknown origin’ was revealed. A run-in with the mysterious substance known as Terrigen Mist revealed that she was a member of the race of powered beings known as Inhumans and that her real name was Daisy Johnson. Thus, the rest of Season 2 consisted of her struggling to embrace her newfound earthquake-causing powers. At one point, she ends up in the Inhuman paradise known as Afterlife, where she is reunited with her mother, Jiaying. However, when Jiaying’s intentions are shown to be quite sinister (e.g. planning to unleash the Terrigen Mist upon humanity), Daisy is forced to fight her own mother, reaffirming her loyalties to Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D in the process.

By Season 3, we see that Daisy has embraced a newfound confidence in her Inhuman identity, as she helps S.H.I.E.L.D. search for and protect her fellow Inhumans from enemy threats. Some of these Inhumans are even recruited into a special team, the ‘Secret Warriors’. However, this season ended up putting Daisy through the emotional wringer. In the episode ‘Spacetime’, she received a vision from another Inhuman foretelling the impending death of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, which haunted her for the rest of the season. And then, if that wasn’t enough, two episodes later in ‘The Team’, it was revealed that she had been brainwashed by the ancient Inhuman creature known as Hive, who at that point had taken over the body of S.H.I.E.L.D. traitor/Hydra agent Grant Ward, who happened to be Daisy’s love interest back in Season 1 prior to that reveal. While she does get brought back to normal by the season’s end, we see that this ordeal has severely affected her on a mental level. And then, to make matters worse, the agent whose death she foresaw ends up being her new love interest, fellow Inhuman Lincoln Campbell. Thus, as Season 4 begins, it’s revealed that she has left S.H.I.E.L.D. and has become a vigilante known as ‘Quake’. Since the show’s currently in the middle of the fourth season, I won’t get into any major details in regards to what happens in it just yet (that is, of course, until my inevitable review of Season 4). While I will say, though, is that it’s quite interesting to see Daisy go down a darker route than before, haunted by some of the recent tragedies in her life.  

As I’ve stated numerous times in my annual season reviews of AoS, Daisy has consistently been one of my favorite characters on the show. Performance-wise, Bennet has done a fantastic job in the role, especially when handling the trademark snappy dialogue that’s usually seen in a Joss Whedon-produced show. At the same time, like I said before, Daisy’s also arguably gotten the most material to work with out of any character in the entire series. From her starting out as the mysterious hacker with the equally mysterious past to becoming the initially scared but later confident superhero who constantly fights for the safety and rights of her fellow Inhumans, she’s very much been the catalyst for the introduction of the Inhumans into the MCU. On that note, a new Inhumans show is set to come out this fall on ABC, after debuting the first two episodes in IMAX theaters. Presumably, this is a replacement for the Inhumans film that was originally announced as a part of Phase 3 of the MCU films but was then taken off the studio’s schedule last year. On that note, though, some of the crew at Marvel (e.g. producer Kevin Feige) have stated that this doesn’t mean that the project is ‘fully canceled’. What does that mean? Well, if you ask me, I’m guessing that this was probably because they figured that a TV show was a better way to properly introduce the series’ mythos to audiences. Either way, it’s also been stated that the new show is more of its own thing than an Agents of SHIELD spin-off, so it’s uncertain if Daisy will appear in it at any point. However, I hope that they figure out a way for her to appear in some way, even if it’s just for a cameo; because after all, it was primarily thanks to her that the Inhumans managed to get a proper introduction in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. – IRON MAN (MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE)

Hands down, one of the most perfect casting choices in the history of the superhero genre. Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role and that’s because RDJ was such a perfect live-action representation of the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark. And sure, maybe part of it was due to his infamous legal troubles in the past but, at the same time, it’s undeniable that this was the role that helped relaunch Downey Jr’s career. A lot of this was thanks to the solid emotional arc that Tony went through in the first film. After an incident in which he’s captured by terrorists and forced to build weapons for them, he instead builds a suit of armor and uses it to become the superhero known as Iron Man. The rest is history, and through it all, Downey Jr. has consistently maintained the character’s slightly arrogant but still all-around likable persona. Tony Stark’s also been through a lot in the MCU from a story perspective. For example, in Iron Man 3, he found himself having to come to grips with the fact that he’s just one small part of a larger universe; that and having to deal with the PTSD that came from his near-death experience in the first Avengers. And then, in Age of Ultron, he’s the one responsible for the creation of Ultron, the sentient A.I. hell-bent on world domination. Thus, when he decides to agree with the signing of the Sokovia Accords in Captain America: Civil War, it’s easy to see why he went this route. As my good friend and fellow film critic Matthew Goudreau has pointed out, a lot of the MCU has been Tony trying to atone for his mistakes. Because even when Civil War forced him into being the opposition to Captain America’s ‘Pro-Superheroes’ side, there were still times where you could sympathize with Tony’s stance on the matter, like when he learns that Cap’s friend Bucky was the one who killed his parents. So, in short, thanks to this great series-long arc, it’s easy to see why Tony Stark has been one of the most popular protagonists of the entire franchise. Because, after all, without Robert Downey Jr. and the original Iron Man, there probably wouldn’t have been an MCU in the first place. 

SCARLETT JOHANSSON – BLACK WIDOW (MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE)

Next up, we have the MCU’s first major female lead; Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson. Black Widow’s come a long way since her first appearance in Iron Man 2, especially because, admittedly, it took a little while before Johansson really settled into the role. That’s not to say that she was bad in Iron Man 2 but it’s clear that she was hindered by the generally cluttered nature of that film’s plot. Thankfully, that changed once she returned for the first Avengers. Because even though that film obviously saw her become one of many main characters, Johansson was clearly more comfortable in the role this time around, while Black Widow also got some nice material to work with in the film. For example, when fellow agent Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye was brainwashed by Loki, Romanoff showed some noticeable concern, implying a personal connection between the two. And while the next Avengers film revealed that Hawkeye was married to someone else, it’s clear that the two had some history, which would probably explain the line in the first Avengers in which the two bring up an old mission in Budapest, with Hawkeye noting that he remembers Budapest a lot differently than her. Then there was also the growing relationship between her and Bruce Banner. This relationship is focused on more in the sequel but it’s there nevertheless, with Black Widow being the one who first approached Bruce to join the Avengers. In her next appearance, she teamed up with Captain America in The Winter Soldier, serving as an excellent foil to Cap while still being just as badass as she’s been in the other films, so much so that I’d say this was Johansson’s best performance in the role.

And now, it’s time to once again bring up the controversy surrounding her role in Age of Ultron, and no, I’m not referring to the lack of Black Widow merchandise during the film’s release. I’m referring more to her role in the film itself, namely through her relationship with Bruce. As I just stated earlier, I wasn’t bothered by them being linked romantically because you can at least see hints of it in the first Avengers film. The other major problem that many people had with her role in the film came during a scene between her and Bruce in which she admits that she yearns for a normal life after everything she’s done. They particularly got worked up over a line where she tells him that ‘he’s not the only monster’ on the team, a reference to her days training in the Black Widow program, where she lost the ability to have kids. In the first few days of the film’s release, Joss Whedon was hounded with the severe blowback that came from this. However, I honestly don’t see what’s so bad about it; it didn’t diminish Natasha’s value to the team or anything. It was just her expressing her desire for a normal life, something that’s been so hard for her as of late. It also perfectly sets up why she, to the surprise of many, sided with Iron Man in Civil War; clearly, she’s ashamed of a lot of things that happened in her past. In other words, the ‘red on her ledger’ that was mentioned in the first Avengers. And even though her allegiance is with Iron Man in that film, it’s clear that she’s still close to Cap, as evident in the scene where she talks to him after Peggy Carter’s funeral and notes that she’s there so that he wouldn’t be alone. This friendship then comes into play later when she lets Cap and Bucky escape via Quinjet during the airport battle so they can go after Zemo. Now, of course, a lot of the discussion regarding Black Widow’s role in the MCU has stemmed from all the demand for a Black Widow film, which has yet to happen. I hope that it does happen but at the same time, I’m not furiously demanding it either. I’m sure that it’ll happen soon, thereby affirming Black Widow’s status as a vital part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

(P.S. I hear Joss Whedon is being considered for it; if so, let him do it!)

CHRIS EVANS – CAPTAIN AMERICA (MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE)

When cast in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, Chris Evans took on the second major superhero role of his career as Steve Rogers AKA Captain America. He previously starred as Johnny Storm, AKA the Human Torch, in the 2005 Fantastic Four film and its 2007 sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer. And while both films received mixed to negative reactions from critics and audiences, many agreed that he was at least one of its best parts. However, this may have also led to some backlash from fans when he was cast as Captain America due to the major differences between the two characters. But, in the end, Evans absolutely nailed it. Just like RDJ as Iron Man, he conveyed all the great character traits of the good-natured weakling from Brooklyn who, through science, becomes the physically enhanced soldier, Captain America. Also like RDJ, Evans has consistently maintained this persona throughout the entire franchise, even after the character gets sucked into modern times at the end of First Avenger. This subsequent ‘fish out of water’ characterization especially comes into play in Winter Soldier, where he finds that his old-school, ‘black and white’ war ideologies don’t match up with the more uncertain and less compromising attitudes of present day society. As such, it’ll be interesting to see where his story arc goes from here after Civil War, especially after the Russo brothers stated in an interview that he stopped being ‘Captain America’ after the scene in which he leaves his iconic shield behind after the final battle against Tony. Either way, Evans is yet another valuable part of the Marvel Universe and, dare I say, it may have gotten to the point where he’s even outshined RDJ as perhaps the franchise’s best lead.

HAYLEY ATWELL – PEGGY CARTER (MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE)

Ok, this is the only instance in which I’m technically cheating here by having a character on this list that isn’t primarily a ‘superhero’. However, because Peggy ended up becoming the lead of her own show, Agent Carter, I think that she deserves some recognition. Because although Agent Carter was sadly canceled after Season 2, it’s clear that the character has had a major impact on the genre without ever having superpowers. Hayley Atwell’s first appearance as the Strategic Scientific Reserve agent turned co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. was in Captain America: The First Avenger and right out of the gate, she established herself as one of the best ‘love interests’ of the superhero genre by being a love interest who was more than capable of taking care of things herself. Literally, her first scene in the film sees her punch a soldier right in the face when he tries to hit on her. She soon befriends Steve Rogers prior to his transformation into Captain America, admiring his intelligence, honesty, and bravery despite his scrawny build. This friendship soon leads into a romance that sadly ends in tragedy. In what is easily the most emotional scene of the film, Steve sacrifices himself by crashing the Red Skull’s plane into the Arctic while Peggy talks to him over the radio, trying to figure out a way to get him out of the situation. Obviously, we know that this didn’t end up killing Steve; it’s just that it led to him being frozen in time for nearly 7 decades (Saddest line in the entire film? “I had a date…”). Thankfully, for Steve, he learns that Peggy is still alive by the time that he’s thawed out, resulting in an emotionally heartbreaking scene in Winter Soldier in which the two are reunited but, sadly, Peggy is starting to suffer from Alzheimer’s. She finally passes away in Civil War, as her niece, Sharon Carter, delivers a touching eulogy at her funeral that inspires Cap to stand by his stance on the controversial Sokovia Accords (“Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, ‘No, you move’”)

2 years after the release of First Avenger, Atwell reprised her role as Peggy in one of Marvel’s One-Shot short films, Agent Carter, which was released on home media alongside Iron Man 3. The critical success of that short immediately led to the development of a TV series based around everyone’s favorite SSR operative, Marvel’s Agent Carter. Aired during the midseason break of Marvel Studios’ other ABC show, Agents of SHIELD, the series gave Atwell a true chance to shine in the role of Peggy, who in the show, set one year after the events of the film, continued to work for the SSR while also struggling to cope with the sexism of the era. But, even though she frequently found herself being undervalued by other members of the SSR, she truly proves herself by being the one who is primarily responsible for taking down the organization’s enemies. Really, the moment that truly defined her as one of the best characters in the MCU occurs in the Season 1 finale, ‘Valediction’. After taking down the organization known as Leviathan, Peggy earns the respect of her colleagues but the media ends up giving fellow SSR agent Jack Thompson the credit instead for stopping them. However, Peggy assures fellow agent Daniel Sousa that it doesn’t matter to her if she gets credit for what she does because no matter what, she ‘knows her value’. And that, ultimately, is why Peggy is one of the brightest stars of the MCU; she’s a strong-willed, no-nonsense woman in a time when no one expected much out of her. And while it’s sad that Agent Carter ended up getting canceled after only two seasons, especially after Season 2 ended on an unresolved cliffhanger, Peggy’s impact as a role model to women is undeniable.           

HUGH JACKMAN – WOLVERINE (X-MEN FILMS)

And finally, we bring it all back to the one whose tenure in the role of his iconic character is coming to an end this weekend with Logan; Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Though it’s interesting to note that when the original X-Men film was being made, Jackman wasn’t the first one that director Bryan Singer cast in the role. Dougray Scott was initially cast in the part before turning it down due to scheduling conflicts with a different blockbuster from that year, Mission Impossible 2. And with no disrespect to Mr. Scott, I think we can all agree that this was ultimately for the best. Because even though there may have probably been some dissent from some comic book fans due to a 6’2’’ Broadway star playing a character that’s 5’3’’ in the comics, Jackman absolutely nailed it in the role, from the stubborn attitude to the moments in which he’s fueled with berserker rage. Now, obviously, as many have pointed out, the films’ overt focus on Wolverine and his story sometimes led to the underdevelopment of other characters, particularly Cyclops (James Marsden), who was mainly there to be part of the love triangle that Wolverine and Jean Grey were also involved in. Nevertheless, it was never too much of a big loss thanks to Jackman’s consistently excellent performances in the role. It’s easy to see why he became the definitive star of the franchise, appearing in almost every single film in the series up until Logan. And whenever he wasn’t in a lead role, he just made an awesome cameo, like in First Class, where he tersely rebuffs the offer of Xavier and Magneto to join them, and Apocalypse, where he’s unleashed in his Weapon X form upon the forces of Colonel William Stryker. That and his scene in Apocalypse ends with a hilariously meta quote from Cyclops (“Hope that’s the last we’ve seen of that guy…”).     

If I had to pick Jackman’s best performance in the role (pre-Logan, even though by the time this is posted, I’ll have already seen the new film), it would have to be in Days of Future Past. And the main reason why is because this could’ve just easily been another case of Wolverine hogging the spotlight, as the film sees him being the one that is sent back in time instead of Kitty Pryde like it was in the comics (or Bishop in the case of the 90’s animated series). However, the film does explain the logistical reasoning behind this as it’s established that Wolverine’s healing abilities make him the only one who’s capable of surviving a trip that far back into the past. Not only that, but it’s also fun to see the hot-tempered Wolverine try and be the ‘patient and peaceful’ time-traveler who must convince people that he’s from the future, which obviously doesn’t always go well (“Peaceful thoughts…”). But the coolest thing about Wolverine’s role in the overall story is that he’s ultimately not the main character. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a vital part of the story but in this instance, it’s a much more reserved role compared to the other films. Ultimately, Jackman ends up being the bridge between the original series and the First Class-era films and because the film basically serves as a send-off for the cast of the former, he lets the First Class-era stars like James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender lead the way. So, in short, while it may not have always been a smooth journey (*cough* Origins *cough*), Jackman will forever be known as one of the most iconic casting choices in the history of the superhero genre.

And those are 10 (technically 11 since I paired McAvoy and Fassbender together) of my personal favorite casting choices in the superhero film genre. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with some of your favorite superhero casting choices, especially if they’re ones that I didn’t mention here.

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) review

While the superhero genre has come a long way since then, the original X-Men, released on July 14, 2000, was very much the first ‘big-time’ superhero flick of the 21^st century. And while he (nor most of the film’s cast, for that matter) may not have been that familiar with the franchise when he first started working on it, Bryan Singer ultimately ended up becoming one of the pioneering directors when it came to modern-era superhero films, later paving the way for other directors like Joss Whedon and the Russo brothers to leave their own mark on the genre. Singer then followed his first X-Men film up with an even more successful sequel in the form of 2003’s X2: X-Men United. And of course as we all know, he then left the franchise to work on other projects (most notably another superhero project in 2006’s Superman Returns), which then led to the films starting to drop in quality with a highly disappointing ‘threequel’ in 2006 and an even more mediocre spin-off in 2009. Thankfully the series started to get back on track in 2011 with director Matthew Vaughn’s 1960’s-set prequel, X-Men: First Class. But while he may not have directed the film, part of the film’s success, if you ask me, came from the long-awaited return of Bryan Singer to the franchise, as he served as the film’s producer/co-writer. Three years later, Singer would finally return to the franchise full-time as he helmed X-Men: Days of Future Past, inspired by the iconic comic storyline of the same name. And to put it simply, the film proved to be not only the best X-Men film to date but also one of the best superhero films period. It also officially cemented the franchise’s overall road to redemption by pulling a much-appreciated continuity retcon that erased the events of the series’ weakest installments from its official canon.  

So now we come to what is, at the moment, seemingly set to be the final film of the franchise’s First Class era: X-Men: Apocalypse. The new film sees the X-Men take on their greatest enemy yet in the form of the ‘original’ mutant En Sabah Nur AKA Apocalypse. With Bryan Singer back to direct, most of the First Class era cast returning to reprise their roles, and some very promising new additions to the cast, who wouldn’t be excited for the latest film in this great series? Well, if you recall my previous post on this film… apparently most of the internet. Yes, while the franchise seemed to be in good standing following not only Days of Future Past but also this year’s highly successful spin-off Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, for various reasons, just didn’t get much positive attention online in the months leading up to its release, at least when compared to the other superhero film releases this year like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War. And it looks like the internet’s general undermining of the film has now translated to its current critical reception, as the film sports a measly 47% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time that I’m writing this, which actually makes it the lowest rated film of the main series not counting X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And yeah… I don’t get it. With great action, great characters, and the always great direction from the franchise’s best director, X-Men: Apocalypse is yet another highly entertaining and overall just straight-up awesome installment of the X-Men franchise.

10 years since the events of Days of Future Past, telepath Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) has reopened his school for Gifted Mutants in Westchester, New York while both Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) have gone into hiding since the incident with the Sentinels in Washington D.C, with Mystique actually now seen as a ‘hero’ to many young mutants all over the world for her ‘efforts’ in stopping Magneto during the event. While all of this is going on, an ancient mutant known as En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac) is awakened from a centuries-long slumber by the cults that view him as the world’s first ‘true’ mutant. Once awakened, Apocalypse begins recruiting his new lieutenants, known as the ‘Four Horsemen’, in order to help him cleanse the Earth and preserve it for the strongest. These Four Horsemen consist of the weather-controlling Storm (Alexandra Shipp), psychic-energy wielding Psylocke (Olivia Munn), the bird-like winged mutant Angel (Ben Hardy), and Magneto, whose seemingly peaceful new life in Poland is destroyed when his past comes back to haunt him. When Apocalypse kidnaps Xavier as part of his plan for world domination, Mystique and Dr. Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) AKA Beast are forced to lead a team of young mutants, including telepath Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), optical-blasting Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan) AKA Cyclops, and teleporter Kurt Wagner (Kodi Smit-McPhee) AKA Nightcrawler into a battle against Apocalypse and his four Horsemen with the fate of the whole world at stake.

I’m rather surprised that critics are taking issue with the film for being ‘overloaded’ with action. After all, this film is titled X-Men: Apocalypse, not X-Men: Minor Incident. If you ask me, the amount of action in this film is very suitable for this kind of story in which the X-Men take on an all-powerful god-like mutant. As a result, the action sequences in this film are excellent and are backed by some very impressive and obviously highly complex CGI work. And without giving too much away, this film’s Quicksilver scene somehow manages to top the equally terrific scene that came before it in Days of Future Past. In short, this is just yet another well-directed franchise effort courtesy of Bryan Singer. In keeping with the ‘time period’ theming of the past few films (e.g. the Bond-esque 60’s setting of First Class), this film’s 80’s setting is well-developed and the dialogue is punctuated with plenty of humorous lines that liven up the mood in just the right way, from Xavier’s failed attempts to hide the fact that he’s flirting with Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), who had previously appeared in First Class but had her memory wiped by Xavier at the end of it, to one hell of a joke about trilogies at the expense of the original Star Wars trilogy. But even with the film’s great use of humor in mind, the film still manages to have some highly effective emotional moments, mostly in the form of key story beats for a few of the main characters. I mean I wouldn’t say that the film carries the exact same amount of emotional depth as some of the other X-Men films but it’s not like the film is completely lacking of it either, as I’ve seen some critics argue.

James McAvoy is once again great as the young Charles Xavier and while he may not be the main protagonist this time around compared to Days of Future Past, he still plays a vital part in the overall story. He also finally adopts the bald look that has defined the character in the comics as well as in the films when he was played by Patrick Stewart. However, for the second time in the span of three films, Michael Fassbender is ultimately the biggest standout of the cast, primarily because Magneto gets a lot of the film’s best emotional moments as he is shown to have started a family in Poland while trying to stay ‘low-key’ following the events of the previous film. As for Mystique, some have argued that Jennifer Lawrence ‘phoned it in’ this time around as a sign of her not being that interested in returning to the franchise. However, I thought that she was just as good as she’s been in the previous two films. And like how First Class was Magneto’s story and Days of Future Past was Xavier’s story, Apocalypse is arguably Mystique’s story as she finds that since the Washington incident, she has actually become a ‘hero’ for many of the younger mutants, even though she herself doesn’t see herself as one. It should also be noted that the character doesn’t appear in her natural blue form as much this time around compared to previous films, which I can definitely tell will be a problem for some fans. But considering how uncomfortable the makeup process for the character has been throughout these films (which, according to Lawrence, has recently been made easier due to the fact that the filmmakers just have her wear a full bodysuit instead of having all of the elaborate body-paint applied to her), I don’t blame her for not wanting to be like that throughout the whole film.

As far as the new cast is concerned, Singer and company did a pretty great job in casting new actors/actresses to take on the classic character roles of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler, previously played by James Marsden, Famke Janssen, and Alan Cumming, respectively, in the franchise’s original film trilogy. Tye Sheridan gets quite a few really effective emotional scenes as Cyclops and fans of the character will be pleased to know he gets more to do this time around than he did in previous films. Also, as expected given their relationship in the comics, Sheridan forms a nice ‘chemistry’ with Sophie Turner as Jean Grey. I’ve seen a few articles online express criticism over her accent in the film but I personally didn’t really see anything wrong with it. Turner is excellent in the role and I’m certain that a few noteworthy scenes in this film will very much give X-Men fans hope that the character’s most iconic comic storyline will finally be done justice on the big-screen after the last attempt in doing so obviously didn’t turn out very well. Another character that makes a long-awaited return to the series is Nightcrawler, now played by Kodi-Smit McPhee. It might actually surprise some people that Nightcrawler ends up having quite a lot of humorous moments in the film and McPhee handles them quite well as the fact that this Nightcrawler is much younger than when he was played by Cumming in X2 shows that, at this point in his life, he can be rather socially awkward at times.

And finally, let’s talk about the film’s big baddie, Apocalypse, played by Oscar Isaac in a very unrecognizable turn due to the character’s great makeup design. Unfortunately, though, the character was continuously mocked online in the months leading up to the film’s release solely because of when the first photos of him were released, the internet made countless comparisons between him and Ivan Ooze, the villain from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers film, even though subsequent trailers made it clear that he would very much look exactly like the character does in the comics. So with all of those jokes at the character’s expense out of the way, how does this big baddie fare in the film? Well overall I think that he was a decent villain. I’m not saying that he’s the ‘greatest’ comic book film villain ever and, not being a big comic reader, I have the feeling that some fans may not entirely be pleased with how the character is portrayed in the film. Still, Isaac did manage to make Apocalypse a pretty intimidating villain thanks to his strong commanding presence, especially when he’s flanked by his Four Horsemen; Storm, Psylocke, Angel, and Magneto. Granted, none of them really get much to do in the film, other than Magneto of course, but at the very least they each get at least one memorable moment in the film. So in conclusion, while this version of the character may not entirely live up to expectations, he’s still a pretty solid antagonist in his own right.

While I usually try not to bring in notes from other critics’ reviews to use in my own reviews, I honestly don’t get some of the criticisms towards this film. The action is over-done? If you ask me this film has just the right amount of action for a story of this scale. The film is emotionless? There are plenty of great emotional scenes in this film, many of which come from characters like Magneto and Cyclops. I could go on and on but I think you get the idea. This is most definitely a film that is far better than what its current RT score suggests, which I’m now certain is yet another sign of how this film has been getting the shaft in terms of positive buzz compared to other superhero films like Batman v Superman and Captain America: Civil War. In short, X-Men: Apocalypse is yet another highly entertaining installment in the franchise that has redeemed itself over the past few years, primarily by erasing the events of its weakest installments from its canon. It’s well-directed, well-acted, and features some incredibly awesome action sequences. Now with all of that said, would I say that it is ‘better’ than Days of Future Past? No, not really but understandably that is a very tough act to follow and I didn’t go into this film expecting it to be better than its immediate predecessor. With that in mind, this film is simply yet another well-made installment of the franchise and one that is most certainly becoming a very, VERY underrated entry in the superhero genre. Needless to say, I’m very excited to see where the franchise goes from here considering that this film is supposedly the final installment of the First Class era series.   

Rating: 4.5/5