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the avengers

Movies

Joint movie review: Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame (ALL THE SPOILERS)

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame

Last year when Infinity War dropped, I put up the post that has my non-spoilery review. Y’all may have noticed that I never got around to posting a full review of the movie. Sorry about that!

But now Avengers: Endgame has dropped. And when my household along with long-time friend Mimi went to see it, Meems asked me whether I liked Infinity War better than Endgame. She preferred Infinity War and was a trifle stunned that I liked Endgame better, hands down.

I told her at the time that this was because for me, even though Marvel backed off of doing these two movies as a Part 1 and Part 2, they really do still function for me as one great big story. And Endgame delivered on concluding what Infinity War set up, beautifully.

So this post is going to be a combination of “review of Endgame” and “discussion of Infinity War and Endgame as a unit”.

Spoiler-free picoreview of Endgame first: I haven’t cried this hard at the tail end of a movie since Return of the King, you guys. There are parts of it that I like less than other parts, and some parts that I feel don’t stand up to close scrutiny, but by and large it was a very, very worthy conclusion to the entire MCU story arc.

Let it also be noted for the record, in case it isn’t obvious: if you haven’t seen Infinity War yet, rent it and get it watched before you see Endgame. And if you haven’t been keeping up with the MCU in general, BOY HOWDY is this not the place to come in.

And in order for this movie’s emotional beats to carry the proper weight, you really, really need to have been keeping up with the MCU. Hell, for a lot of the plot points to make general sense, you really need to have been keeping up with the MCU. I don’t think you absolutely need to have seen every single film in the Infinity Saga (as it’s now being called). But you’ll get the most out of Endgame if you’ve seen most of the saga already.

Now let’s get into the heart of this post, shall we? ALL THE SPOILERS will be behind the cut tag. If you’re reading this directly on angelahighland.com or on my Dreamwidth account, be advised that the comments are also spoiler-friendly territory.

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Movies

Sign me up for #WeWantWidow

Black Widow

Black Widow

I just spotted this report of Black Widow flash mobs all over the world today, all in the name of encouraging Marvel and Disney that yes, dammit, there is a market for female superhero merchandise, and that superheroes are not just for boys.

I’m not a cosplayer so I can’t really join the flash mobs–even though according to the Mary Sue’s report, there’s one right here in Seattle. To wit: AWESOME. But I love me some Natasha. She is the direct and specific reason that I started digitally subscribing to several of Marvel’s titles. And she’s also the reason that at least two different times, I’ve been complimented on a t-shirt choice–because I found this Black Widow t-shirt on WeLoveFine.com. About THE only place to date that I’ve been able to find any Black Widow shirts at all. And that’s a crying shame.

Because it’s insulting to young girls who might want a Black Widow toy to replace her with Iron Man or Captain America on her own motorcycle. Sure, Iron Man and Captain America are awesome, but y’know what? If you’re a young girl wanting a Widow toy, you want Black Widow.

And if you’re a girl–or a woman, or hell, a Marvel fan of any gender–who wants Natasha on a T-shirt, your money is just as good as the people who’re buying the shirts with the rest of the Avengers on ’em. So it boggles my mind that Marvel and Disney can’t see their way clear to releasing some official shirts. THIS IS NOT DIFFICULT.

In the meantime, WeLoveFine.com has our backs. And I may just have to go give them more of my money.

Movies

More on Black Widow in Avengers 2: Age of Ultron

Black Widow

Black Widow

I posted my review of the new Avengers movie yesterday, now that I’ve finally seen it–including some commentary on the Black Widow backstory reveal. However, I wanted to go into that on more detail in its own post. Because I have a lot of thoughts on it, in no small part prompted by this article on Salon that I spotted this morning.

This is going to be one of those “go not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes” kinds of posts, mind you. Because the thoughts I have are not necessarily in agreement with one another.

Also, obviously, there will be spoilers for the movie. So I’ll be putting the majority of this behind the fold. Do not clickie if you haven’t seen the movie yet, and are trying to avoid commentary about it!

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Movies

Movie review: Avengers 2: Age of Ultron

My household finally saw Age of Ultron last night, along with our pal Jenny. Which means I can finally start paying attention to my various feeds again, since several of the sites I follow have been all AGE OF ULTRON AGE OF ULTRON AGE OF ULTRON. Several of the other people I follow, too.

Picoreview: I enjoyed it, although it didn’t hit me with quite the same hammerstrike of Awesome that was the first Avengers movie, or the sleekly plotted tightness of Winter Soldier. There were bits of it I have issues with, and in places it felt rushed and crowded. Overall, I’m thinking B+ territory.

The spoilers cannot lift the hammer and are therefore clearly not Worthy!

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Movies

The Avengers: Glorious Symphony of Awesomeness

If you’ve known me or followed my posts on the Net for any length of time, you’ll know I’ve been a Joss Whedon fan for ages. Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, oh yeah, down with all of those. And I’ve also certainly enjoyed the Marvel superhero movies leading up to this one–both the Iron Man flicks, Thor, and Captain America being the ones I’ve seen. (I never caught Edward Norton as the Hulk.) So I was absolutely expecting to enjoy the hell out of the Avengers.

I was not disappointed. There was no moment of that movie that was not a GLORIOUS SYMPHONY OF AWESOMENESS. <3

This is going to be less 'review' and more 'fangirl squealing'! Look behind the fold for overall reactions!

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