'Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings' (2021) Movie Review

On the surface, Shaun (Simu Liu) appears to drift through life, working a go-nowhere job and wasting time singing karaoke with his BFF Katy (Awkwafina). But Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a Marvel movie, so you know that’s all an illusion. Turns out, Shaun is really Shang-Chi, son of Wenwu (Tony Leung), a thousands-of-years-old crime lord and leader of the infamous Ten Rings gang. As one might expect, Shaun’s past comes a-calling and he must confront his own history as well as that of his family. 

'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Trailer: Peter Parker Returns With A Few Surprises And Poor Decisions

The other day the filmic corners of the internet were all a-flutter over a leaked version of the trailer for the next adventure from everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood wall-crawler, Spider-Man: No Way Home. As so often happens in these cases, the studio hauled ass to, ready or not, release a version of the trailer that doesn’t look like hot garbage. And here it is.

'Shang-Chi And The Legend Of Ten Rings' Trailer: Meet Marvel's Newest Badass

Marvel had big plans for 2020, as usual, but COVID-19 derailed most of those. While fans made due with their episodic Disney+ output, now that theaters are starting to open back up, prepare for the damn to burst. (The fourth quarter of 2021 is an insane glut of every big movie the pandemic delayed; it’s a bit overwhelming.) Though the release has been reshuffled a few times, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings arrives in September, and there’s this new trailer and poster to prove it. 

'Archenemy' (2020) Movie Review

Superhero films are massive at the moment. You probably noticed that. They’re so ubiquitous they’ve even spawned a veritable cottage industry of dark, gritty indie takes on the genre. Not necessarily a new phenomenon—this has been going on for some time—films like Boy Wonder, Freaks, Chronicle, and others put their own spin on the material, viewing heroes through different lenses, approaching the topic from unusual perspectives. The latest entry into this fray is Archenemy from director Adam Egypt Mortimer (Daniel isn’t Real).

'Freaks' (2018) Movie Review

With the glut of big-budget superhero blockbusters, there’s been a bit of a reactionary trend, a wave of smaller “superhero, but…” movies. Most recently think Brightburn, with its “Superman, but evil” concept. We can throw Glass, Fast Color, and more into this category of films that take common superhero tropes and tics, look at them from a different perspective, and filter them through an indie lens, usually grounding them in more reality-based circumstances. 

'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Trailer: The Wall Crawler Goes On Vacation

If you haven’t watched Avengers: Endgame yet, don’t watch this Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer, there are big, movie-ruining spoilers, like right out of the gate. But don’t worry, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Tom Holland, will also warn you. And wow, it’s been a busy weekend and I just looked at the box office numbers and, you know what, with a $2+ billion haul, there probably aren’t many of you who haven’t seen Endgame. Damn. Anyway, check out the trailer below.

'Avengers: Endgame' (2019) Movie Review

With Avengers: Endgame, Marvel manages to both take their expansive, episodic superhero saga in a direction I did not see coming, but also plays it out in entirely predictable, familiar fashion. At three hours, this movie is a lot, and it falls into some of the typical MCU pitfalls, but overall, it’s a blast, serves as an end point but also a beginning, and will more than satisfy fans who have devoted ten plus years and 20 plus chapters to these tales. At this point, Marvel knows their fans and what they want, and there’s going to be plenty of tears and cheers in the audience.

'Shazam!' (2019) Movie Review

Shazam! aims to say something about staying true to yourself, finding family where you can, and that you don’t need superpowers to be a hero and do extraordinary things, all wrapped in superhero origin story trappings. Those aims are all well and good, but the finished product is so saccharine and hollow, the emotion so manufactured and false, and the goofiness wears so thin so fast, it becomes insufferable and leaves a lingering bad taste.

This 'Avengers: Endgame' Trailer Does Whatever It Takes

Now that you’ve all seen Captain Marvel—at least according to the numbers, statistically speaking, most of you have, unless you’re a butthurt manbaby who’s upset Marvel invited girls to play, too—it’s high time to turn our attention to the next installment of the episodic saga that is the MCU: Avengers: Endgame. And surprise, surprise, the Marvel marketing machine released another new trailer. Check it out below.

Watch The First 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Trailer

Once Marvel snagged back the rights to Spider-Man (or at least worked out whatever back-alley deal they agreed upon with Sony), they turned in Spider-Man: Homecoming, easily the best Wall Crawler adventure since Sam Raimi took a swat at the character. (Admittedly, I haven’t seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is supposed to be fabulous—but I’m talking live-action here.) The Web Slinger is back once again in 2019 for Spider-Man: Far From Home, and you can watch the first teaser trailer now.

'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018) Movie Review

I have to give it to Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel decided to stop fucking around. One of the biggest criticisms of their expansive cinematic universe is that no one ever in any real danger and no one of significance ever truly dies. Well, the bodies start dropping a few minutes in and continue throughout. Some are relatively minor in the grand scheme, and not all of them are destined to remain corpses, but quite a few are permanent and substantial game changers. With that, more than any other Marvel movie in their ten-year history, this film carries a legitimate edge of peril most don’t have. Right away, they establish a scenario where death, for anyone, is a real possibility, and the film’s better for it.

Full 'Venom' Trailer Shows Off The Anti-Hero Symbiote

Spider-Man villain/anti-hero Venom has long been a fan favorite, but bringing him to the big screen has proven difficult. The last attempt, let’s just say it didn’t go well. But there’s a new incarnation on the way, and while the initial teaser a while back left people wondering if we’d actually see the iconic symbiote, the new full Tom Hardy-starring Venom trailer leaves no doubt in that realm.

'Deadpool 2' Trailer Has Poop Jokes And X-Force

I legitimately enjoyed Deadpool, more than I expected to. I wasn’t sure how it would translate, if they would go all in on the filth and violence, but they did. And the result is a fun, foul-mouthed superhero joint. Even so, I haven’t been able to work up one iota of enthusiasm for Deadpool 2. And I should. David Leitch directed John Wick, the best modern action movie, and Atomic Blonde, which is solid. It has Josh Brolin, who I’ve loved since Thrashin’; Zazie Beetz, who rules; Terry Crews; and the kid from Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Regardless of how I feel, the Merc with the Mouth is coming back, and there’s a new trailer, and it does little to get my juices flowing.

'Black Panther' (2018) Movie Review

Movies obviously had a substantial impact on my life. I was fortunate enough to grow up and see people who looked like me doing fantastic, incredible, even relatively normal and mundane things on screen. Looking back on it, at the films that spoke to me—Goonies, Stand by Me, Red Dawn, and countless others—almost everything I watched showed me a version of myself. I know what a presence that had, I know how much that meant, personally, and I know that wasn’t the case for everyone. But a lot of people, young people especially, are going to find a similar sensation, to feel a similar weight, when they watch Black Panther.

'Psychokinesis' Trailer: 'Train To Busan' Director Yeon Sang-Ho Takes On Superhero Movies

I dig Train to Busan. It’s one of those movies that comes out every once in a while and reminds us that there’s still life left in what appears to be a particularly drained subgenre, zombie movies in this case. Now, a short time later, South Korean director Yeon Sang-ho is back to put his stamp on superhero movies with Psychokinesis. Check out the latest trailer below.

'Avengers: Infinity War' Trailer: Everybody's Running!

Okay, this isn’t a bad way to wake up, going online to find out the first Avengers: Infinity War trailer has arrived. There’s a lot to dig into, but I’ll leave it at that for now. Check it out below. We can discuss it at our leisure later, but know that I’m here for Bearded Cap.

'Justice League' (2017) Movie Review

Justice League is clunky and messy. It’s jumbled and misshapen. The presence of multiple directors—Zack Snyder did the bulk of the heavy lifting, though Joss Whedon handled extensive reshoots and rewrites, and roughly 20% of the finished film belongs to him, according to reports—is readily apparent in the mishmash of tones and the fact that it watches like multiple movies shoehorned together. Cringe-worthy choices abound. The fight scenes all look like they’re lifted from a video game promo. And, of course, since this is a superhero movie, the plot revolves around an iconic group of comic book characters searching for CGI boxes powerful enough to destroy the world. But for all the bumps and bruises and problems, and they are legion, Justice League is a hell of a lot of fun.

'The New Mutants' Trailer Is More Horror Than Superhero

I’m not fully on board with those who argue we’re hitting a point of superhero fatigue. In general, I enjoy them and look forward to the next chapter. Just over the next two weeks we get Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League, though I’m more concerned (or at least I have more questions) about the latter than the former. Still, it’s hard to get too excited when there’s yet another superhero joint. Especially The New Mutants, mostly because I’m admittedly not hugely familiar with the title (though I love creator Chris Claremont), and the last Fox X-Men movie was so lackluster. But the first trailer is here, and I’m definitely changing my tune.

'Spider-Man: Homecoming' (2017) Movie Review

For everything there is to love about Spider-Man: Homecoming—and there’s a great deal in which to revel—my favorite element has to be that Marvel kicks off a new Spidey series, the third since 2001, without rehashing the Uncle Ben/with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility origin story. Thank god.

'Wonder Woman' (2017) Movie Review

Here’s the bad news: Wonder Woman is a flawed superhero origin story. Now that we have that out of the way, the good news is that it’s mostly awesome, finally brings one of the greatest comic book characters ever to the big screen after more than 75 years, breaks up just a little bit of the boys’ club that is contemporary superhero movies, and is easily the best thing the DC Extended Universe has produced thus far.