pinemaples

I'll start off by saying that Thor: Ragnarok is one of my favorite movies of the whole MCU. I expected this one to be basically more of that, and in some ways it is, but it hits different. For a while, it's just goofy, and not always in a good way. The jokes largely don't land as well, and it takes a while before it really starts to get going. But when it does, boy it REALLY goes. It's a lot more serious than I expected it to be, and the vast majority of the comedy ends after the first 1/3 or so, after which it's just one fantastic scene after another. There's one part about halfway through where we are treated to probably the most visually unique scene in the entire series, and it blew me away. From that scene on, the movie just didn't stop for me and I loved everything from then on out. Christian Bale absolutely dominates and really shows Chris Hemsworth up in his own movie, which is saying a lot because Hemsworth is as good as always. But we've seen him before about a dozen times, while Bale brings a whole new energy to it. Speaking of energy, there's Natalie Portman's Mighty Thor. I'm so glad she decided to come back, because she was fantastic and in no way did she phone anything in, in the least. She absolutely sold every line and action, and same goes for Tessa Thompson. I loved her in Ragnarok, and I love her here too.

My only complaints about the movie: 1. It takes a bit to really pick up.

2. Overall, it strangely feels about 20 minutes too short.

3. Probably a result of complaint #2, but I thought I could've used just a bit more time with Valkyrie and Jane's Mighty Thor.

I'd give the movie an overall 8.5, but since IMDb doesn't do half-stars, I'll round that up to 9.

Despite the 1-hour, 44-minute runtime, Morbius feels short and incredibly small-scale. Not a lot seems to happen, and by the end it feels really anti-climactic. It's overall just really weak. Most of the dialogue feels like a placeholder for them to come it and rewrite it later for a final draft that never happened. On the whole, it felt unfinished, and like the first part of a series. Out of all MCU movies and MCU-tangential movies (like Venom and Let There Be Carnage) so far, I'd say this one was the weakest.

All that said, I didn't hate it. I didn't particularly like it that much, either, but I wouldn't be opposed to a rewatch later down the line. Even considering my complaints, I'd be lying if I said I didn't still have a good time watching it.

I don't know where these bad reviews are coming from. This movie was amazing. Definitely more of a slower, more introspective take from the MCU, and very refreshing because of it. I didn't care for Black Widow so much, and while Shang Chi was a lot of fun, it didn't exactly blow me away and leave me bursting with confidence. I was worried for the future of Phase 4, but Eternals has made me really excited to see what comes next in the future of the MCU.