30 August 2020

Movie Moments XLIV: August 2020 (MCU Phase 3B Edition)

ICYMI: My thoughts on the first half of Phase 3. Five more to go!

ALL RIGHT LET’S DO THIS.



Black Panther, 25 August 2020, streamed via Disney+
  • This opening montage is super-cool. I like the aesthetic of it--like those little magnetic beads in an Etch-a-Sketch. Also: Vibranium is a finite source? Hm.
  • The ethical tensions of the narrative are excellent: Wakanda is a nation that was never colonized, and as such, a clear utopia. But then, they ask, to what extent do they have responsibility towards the world--particularly descendants of folks from other African nations, who Wakanda could arguably have protected, but didn’t. Or: If we’re uncannily blessed, what do we owe to those who haven’t been? There aren’t that many movies where the villain’s philosophy is clearly the moral one (despite the means by which he pursues his agenda). This movie is SO GOOD. (Okay, and Killmonger also bought into the imperialist impulse of “benevolent” rule or whatever. That was also not a great idea.)
  • I’d really like to know more about Nakia’s organization--we don’t see any of the spy network, but what exactly is their objective? Nakia’s busting up some human trafficking, which sort of seems out of the purview of a “spy.” (Like, N’Jobu apparently went TOTALLY off-mission when he moved out to Oakland. I mean, he was a War Dog, but...how is that different?)
  • How wonderful is it that all the women in T’Challa’s life are fully aware of his foibles? He’s a good dude with a daunting skillset, but also a little too concerned about his dignity and apparently complete trash at romantic relationships.
  • Shuri and T’Challa have some spectacular sibling jostling going on.
  • Killmonger providing us with an important PSA: Museums are warehouses for colonialist thieves.
  • Merchant, Border, River, Mining, and...Jabari? Or are they the only ones who used their proper name rather than their position in the economy/geography? If they were part of the ceremony from the beginning, would they just have called themselves the Mountain tribe?
  • M’Baku is, obvs, an arrogant dick, but the Jabari complaint is an intriguing one: Wakanda’s economy is getting way, way too dependent on Shuri churning out tech innovations by the bucketful. (Side note: We see one Jabari woman in the end battle, but that’s it, in terms of the ladies of that tribe.)
  • ”It’s hard for a good man to be king.” True enough, my dude: The leader of pretty much any nation gets saddled with the sins, often unknown, of all their predecessors.
  • I’d be down for some Nakia/Killmonger, now that I’m thinking about it.
  • ”You have my word. I will bring him back.” Oh, T’Challa. Didn’t your father tell you that you can’t make those kinds of promises anymore?
  • Okoye, queen of my heart, spear of the faithful, never leave me.

  • Klaue yelling, “THAT WAS AWESOME” as he fled the casino makes me sad that he gets killed off later.
  • Like, I get that vibranium is a nigh-magical substance, but how exactly is shoving a chunk of it into an open gunshot wound supposed to help?
  • Poor Killmonger’s girlfriend. Dispatched summarily, and I’m not even sure if she got a name.
  • ”Don’t scare me like that, colonizer” is both the funniest and truest statement made in this entire movie. Because you know who you definitely don’t want entering the stronghold of your heretofore sovereign nation? A dude from the CIA.
  • ”Hey, Auntie.” Oh daaaaaaaaaang.
  • Listen, friends, if you don’t want to see your leadership killed in sudden and violent coups, you should probably remove the whole “trial by combat” thing from your coronation rituals.
  • How heartbreaking is Killmonger’s vision? And I’m glad that it brought him to Oakland, rather than the pridelands (I don’t know what else to call it, honestly).

  • ”Another king? Yeah, go ahead and burn all that.” Uh, Erik. It’s not like you’re immortal or anything. Also, the Wakandan botanists are gonna be SO PISSED.
  • The shot of Killmonger taking the throne is amaaaazing.

  • WHAT IF NAKIA HAD TAKEN THE HERB. What if Shuri had? Or Ramonda? Actually, why didn’t Shuri get the offer? She’s technically next in line, if they’re going to stick to the monarchial line. (Shuri actually rules for a while in the comics, IIRC.)
  • Reasons to love M’Baku: 1) Pointing out T’Challa was rightfully defeated, 2) Silencing the colonizer, 3) “I’m kidding, we are vegetarians,” 4) The giggling after his vegetarian joke, 5) He didn’t have to save T’Challa, 6) He didn’t have to tell them T’Challa was alive. Like, dude, he could have taken the herb himself. He wanted to be king--but he honored the fact that T’Challa beat him fair and square. (And, as Okoye notes later on, since T’Challa survived the fall, he’s technically still the king.)
  • Would T’Challa have abandoned the isolationist view if Erik hadn’t revealed himself? Like, here is a serious, tangible result of adhering to staying a secret without any bend.
  • Oh man, W’Kabi, you are 100% dumped after this battle.
  • So, like, the Border tribe supported the coup (which is what it became when it was established T’Challa hadn’t died), so are they still, like, guarding the border? I feel like there should be some concern about this.
  • Uh, Killmonger’s injury was not fatal at all. Not only do folks in action movies survive gut wounds ALL THE TIME, apparently vibranium can stabilize wounds as bad as that. I call foul, T’Challa.
  • It would also have been a pretty cool story if they had brought Erik back to Wakanda, but he only found out his dad was killed when T’Challa took the throne. Then Erik (or, I guess, N’Jadaka) would have grown up buddies with T’Challa, plus the line of succession would have been even muddier.
  • So, like, what kind of hidden economy does Wakanda have, that the entire world thinks they’re impoverished, but then suddenly they spring onto the scene with ALL THE VIBRANIUM. Like, what does that do to the market?




Avengers: Infinity War, 26 August 2020, streamed via Disney+
  • Hey, remember in Thor: Ragnarok when he realized that Asgard is its people, not the place, and then he saved all of them via a giant spaceship? Yeah, all those people are dead now. INCLUDING HEIMDALL, YOU MONSTERS.
  • On the other hand, as soon as Loki got himself stabbed whilst trying to save Thor and stop Thanos, I was like, Yeah, resurrections are a-comin’ eventually. One does not carelessly throw away fangirl-bait. (I mean, if the business folks successfully wrangle the creatives--marketers know the ladies have been funding the comics industry for longer than the comics industry has acknowledged that ladies exist.)
  • There is something to Tony carrying his Steve Rogers phone around everywhere, y’all.
  • ”Dude, you’re embarrassing me in front of the wizards.” Snerk. I do love me some Tony when he’s not on a self-righteous mission.
  • Given this and Endgame, I legit do not understand the purpose behind Banner’s, uh, failure to perform, aside from sidelining their one indestructible dude.
  • It’s staggering how much the tone of the movie changes once the Guardians appear. And how completely Thor is clearly on an entirely different, like, scale of dudeness. “It’s like a pirate had a baby with an angel.”
  • Oh man, all of XANDAR is gone, too? After they saved the planet in the first Guardians movie? C’mon, dudes, is this a frickin’ Star Wars movie or something? Just exploding planets willy-nilly.
  • I dig Wanda/Vision in many ways, but I cannot stop considering the age gap between Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen. (Twenty years. It’s twenty years, guys.) (Although yes, I do acknowledge they had to de-age her somewhat, given that otherwise there would be no denying her world-breaker status. Because for real, friends, I dig Widow, but no way no how could she beat an alien powerhouse if Wanda couldn’t.)
  • Oof, tiny Gamora. That Gamora is Thanos’s weak spot is evident, but also, oof. In any case, GIRL, of all the teammates you could have asked to fulfill your “kill me if he catches me” request, Peter is the only one who wouldn’t, YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS.
  • For real, though, does Thanos need anything else if he’s already got the reality stone? Does it just not have a large enough area-of-effect?
  • ”Earth just lost her best defender, so we’re here to fight.” Uh, Cap, you can’t possibly be talking about Tony, can you? Because there are WAY better defenders of Earth than that dude, smart as he is.
  • WAKANDA FOREVER.
  • ”And the Border tribe?” “Those that are left.” Wait, did dudes just scamper after they lost? Also, nice work having Okoye’s face go blank at that. The break-up with W’Kabi must have been rough.
  • Man, Peter is a total failure at sassing his elders.

  • Loki and Thor. Peter and Gamora. Gamora and Nebula. Wanda and, uh, everybody. Strange and Tony (not really, but they snuck themselves into the pattern). So many people, letting the universe end because they have no ability to emotionally distance themselves. Every single one of you: YOU HAD ONE JOB.
  • I wonder how Thanos decided to adopt Nebula? Apparently not because of some intrinsic affection.
  • ”If I’m wrong, then...what more could I lose?” Oh, Thor. Sweetie. Also, you’re 1500 years old? Man, these past handful of years have been extremely shitty ones for you, haven’t they? (Spectacular bit of acting from Hemsworth here, too.)

  • YAAAAAAAAAAS Peter Dinklage
  • I like the idea of a world where Nebula and Mantis are in regular correspondence.

  • What’s great about the space half of the team is that Tony and Peter are the goofballs on Earth, and yet when confronted with the Guardians, they’re complete flummoxed.


  • Has anyone successfully figured out why the Red Skull ended up guarding the soulstone?
  • I love that they almost never translate Xhosa, or any other language, into English. As with any movie that happens to have multilingual dialogue--if I don’t understand it, that’s kind of the point. (To demand everything be legible specifically to me is a privilege that nobody has actually earned.)
  • Groot providing the handle for Stormbreaker is perfect, and having it lead into Thor’s arrival in Wakanda with Rocket and Groot (and Bruce laughing maniacally) is extra-perfect.

  • MANTIS, GOD-QUELLER.
  • Goddamnit, Quill, you had ONE job.
  • ”Oh, by the way, this is a friend of mine, Tree.”

  • Why is it the lady heroes are always fighting the lady villains?
  • It’s not so much that Iron Man and Captain America are the best match to Ultron, given their band of gods and mystics, but who else are you gonna put up in front except your two most charismatic actors?
  • ”You could never hurt me. I just feel you.” We did not have nearly enough Wanda/Vision for this to land hard enough, but they did their damndest, for sure. Like, Wanda ripped her own heart out, and then saw it didn’t matter. UGH.
  • The entire (musicless) snapture is fucking chilling, but especially:

    YOU MONSTERS.
  • Leaving the movie the first time around, it was 100% obvious who was a comics reader and who wasn’t. The folks who weren’t familiar with the tropes were wrecked as the credits rolled. The comics folks? We strolled out like nothing had happened. Unlike in Star Wars, planets full of heroes always come back in the comics world.


Ant-Man and the Wasp, 27 August 2020, streamed via Disney+
  • I mean, the most exciting aspect of this movie is that Evangelline Lilly has normal hair again.
  • CLEARLY Hope should have been the first to suit up, but I like to pretend that Hank wasn’t sure he’d safely updated the technology, so he hired some dude to try it out, just in case everything went to hell.
  • Woo is a total square and I respect that.
  • I do really like that Scott’s hug-friends with Bobby Cannavale now. I dig me an unconventional but caring blended family.
  • I know it’s probably more realistic for filmmakers to use de-aging photoshop or whatever to show us younger versions of actors in the present day, but it’s still pretty uncanny valley to me. I mean, seeing younger actors trying to imitate the stars triggers disbelief, but at least it doesn’t give me nightmares.
  • Seriously, though they couldn’t have waited three days for Scott to finish up his house arrest? Janet’s been in the quantum realm for decades, friends.
  • OH MY GOD IT’S WALTON GOGGINS HI BOYD I MISS YOU
  • I dig Ghost’s CGI. Also, how cool would it be to see her spar with Vision? Intangibility is such an interesting power.
  • BABA YAGA.
  • ”Do you guys just put the word quantum in front of everything?” Yes, Scott. Yes, they do.
  • Wait, if they’ve made their complete building portable, do they have any functional bathrooms in there?
  • Michael Pena’s hyper-verbal retellings are my favorite parts of these movies. It must be hilarious getting these scenes put together.

  • Paul Rudd’s Michelle Pfeiffer impression isn’t all that bad, really.
  • There’s just no way there’s enough open real estate in the Bay area for an entire building to randomly pop in and out.
  • So Michelle Pfeiffer has quantum energy powers now? I like it.
  • SNAPTURE.


Captain Marvel, 28 August 2020, streamed via Disney+
Immediately after watching the late night showing of Captain Marvel, I tweeted. The tweet got retweeted by Marvel’s account, and I only got TWO threats from comics bros!

  • I dig Captain Marvel, but I also keep hoping that young Rogue will show up to drain her of her powers and, like, become possessed by Carol’s personality for a while. (It now occurs to me that I’m not sure how Carol returned to the land of the conscious.)
  • Let’s not play: Midnight “fighting” with Jude Law is a thinly veiled metaphor. Yes, I am down with Carol Danvers: Queer Icon, but also, she doesn’t seem like she’d be less than pragmatic about thinly-veiled-metaphoring a convenient soldier-in-arms. That said, why couldn’t she be thinly-veiled-metaphoring Gemma Chan’s character?

  • The Skrull memory delving thing is pretty cool--I like the way they tinker to rewind and focus. Also: “Higher, further, faster baby.”

  • It’s AMAZING how the mere shot of a Blockbuster store immediately establishes the time period. And, for some reason, it’s inherently comedic?
  • As fun as it is to see young Coulson and young Fury, that uncanny valley thing is hella intense now.
  • This soundtrack, y’all. It’s like they polled all the local millennial ladies (IT ME) to ask what they danced to in high school.
  • Everyone calls him Fury? How come Maria Hill gets to call him “Nick” then? (I do like to see Fury hanging out with someone not located in the chain of command. He’s more fun than you’d think. Also: Cat lover.)
  • Oh, hey, Lee Pace! I totally forgot you were playing a Kree dude. (Although: Hard to take a dude seriously once you know he gets defeated in a dance-off a couple of decades in the future.)
  • I dig that Vers is fairly angst-free. She worries about her lost memory, but it’s not tearing her up inside most of the time. Rock on, my dude.
  • Maria Rambeau, queen of my heart, mother of spitfires, never leave me.
  • I am so happy they made Mar-vell a lady. I don’t know why it should matter, but it does.
  • Ugh, the goddamn Tesseract? How does that one single stone get around so much?
  • The scene when Carol finally takes control of her powers, framed by the series of scenes with her just getting back up, over and over again, is pretty intense, but they didn’t quiiiiite set it up enough to make it fully effective. We could have used, like, two more scenes of the Kree quashing her spirit or something.

  • It’s funny that they changed the flerken’s name from Chewie to Goose, but I get it.
  • Look, I dig “I’m Just a Girl” as much as any millennial, but they needed to remix it with more bass and a harder beat to really land that fight scene.
  • Wait, who has custody of Goose now? Also, how much did Fury keep in touch with the Rambeaus over the years? I bet Monica’s in SHIELD now.
  • Awwwww, Fury named the Avengers after Carol? Those two are the best of bros.



So the day before I watched this, Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer. Let it be known I cried about thrice as much as I usually do when I watch Endgame.

Avengers: Endgame, 29 August 2020, streamed via Disney+
  • Starting the movie with Clint, Least Popular Avenger™, is a bold move. Given he’s also, arguably, the most mundane member of the team--no powers, snarky instead of witty, and possessing of an actual, real, lovely family--this actually made it more intense, too. Like, we start out feeling awful for Clint? How much worse will this get? (A lot.)
  • Tony and Nebula are an excellent comedic duo. Their levels of intensity are in entirely different galaxies.
  • Why, Steve? Why would you shave off your on-the-lam beard?
  • Fifty percent of all living creatures is a lot of biomass. So fifty percent of all crops on Earth are about to rot, right? Like, yes, the world (universe, I guess) is overpopulated, but there’s a lot of infrastructure that’s going to collapse within days.
  • The "five years later" tag was the point that I realized, as with so few movies, that I had no idea what happened after that point. (I think Unbreakable was the only other movie that managed that--for me, at least.)
  • The memorial stones in San Francisco are a fair mash-up between the Vietnam wall in DC and the Holocaust memorial in Berlin.
  • Cassie got WAY tall in five years, dang.
  • Widow letting her hair grow out the way she does is probably the most unremarked and intense signal of somebody no longer giving a fuck that I’ve seen.

  • Scott thinking about quantum mechanics feels like a bit of a stretch compared to his previous flights of fancy. But I guess he had a while to contemplate it? BUT ALSO, Tony’s an engineer, too. WTF are they doing with him solving time travel?
  • I really, really dislike Smart Hulk.
  • "It’s outside my area of expertise.” Really, Bruce? With your SEVEN PHDS?
  • Just let Scott eat his tacos, people, damn.
  • Everyone’s trauma is horrifying, but that they play Thor’s intense PTSD for laughs is, as many have noticed, pretty fucked up. (The fat suit is excessive. Like, letting Chris Hemsworth eat more than chicken breasts and broccoli for six months would have brought him to regular-human-body size, which would be sufficient to establish he’s not in top fighting form.)
  • I have no idea how to deal with this nonsense with Clint. First of all: You’re an archer, dude. What’s with the katana? Second of all: Do I have to give YOU a lecture on extrajudicial vengeance killing, too? Third of all: What the heck is up with your hair? Fourth of all: You decided that, between losing your entire family and embarking on a murder spree, you needed a sleeve of tattoos?
  • Wait, they solved time travel, but can’t figure out how to manufacture Pym particles? Sigh.
  • They sent you to a wizard, Bruce, and you thought you could just grab the Time stone, no explanation?
  • Nebula being on the same radio wavelength (essentially) of her past self is a nice twist
  • "Hail Hydra” was such an excellent callback to Winter Soldier, and also a poke at a contemporaneous-ish storyline in the comics that tried to pass Cap off as actually Hydra.

  • So this Loki that escapes with the Tesseract is our future TV show Loki, right? Like, Loki at his most villainous? Hoo boy.
  • I didn’t think it possible, but Endgame Cap is pretty salty compared to Avengers Cap. “That is America’s ass.”
  • "I was raised by witches, boy. I see with more than eyes, you know that.” Okay, we were robbed of some quality Frigga and I demand justice. “Everyone fails at who they’re supposed to be, Thor. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are.”
  • Hey, so if Thor grabbed past Mjolnir and brought it to the future...does past Thor not have Mjolnir? Or, wait, no--when Cap returns all the stones, then the old time is put back in place, so now-Mjolnir is, like, a paradoxical fragment?
  • "So he’s an idiot.” “Yeah.” Peter Quill owes much to his ever-present soundtrack, for sure.
  • Between Danny Pudi in Winter Soldier and Yvette Nicole Brown here, clearly SOMEONE in casting is a Community fan.
  • PEGGY.
  • It’s pretty weird to hear Nebula call the year “2014.” Like, I’m pretty sure she’s not on the Gregorian calendar.
  • How lucky (I guess) that two people who genuinely love each other were sent to retrieve the Soul stone, ouch. Also, Nat and Clint fighting about who gets to sacrifice themselves is both sweet and idiotic. (On one hand, losing Nat before the final battle establishes there’ll actually be real stakes to this thing, but on the other hand, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.)
  • Everyone shielding up before Bruce snaps is funny, largely because y’all could just back the hell out of the room, geez.
  • I like the overlapping stakes: Bruce’s snap working, but then EVIL TIME TRAVELERS attacking immediately means the new reality doesn’t sink in before the miracle cavalry arrives.
  • I love that Thor isn’t upset about Cap wielding Mjolnir--instead he’s, like, happily vindicated. (D’you think he can wield it now because he’s saltier? Like, part of being worthy is definitely a thing about character, but Asgard isn’t really a saintly sort of place.)

  • So I have a list of all the times I got all verklempt, but y’all. I started crying at this scene and didn’t stop till the credits were done.

  • So instead of the somewhat-cuddly Gamora, we’ve got good-but-still-way-prickly Gamora now, I guess. (Uh, can somebody time travel back and grab Widow from somewhere, please?)
  • "We’re on it, Cap.” Aw, Wasp called him Cap! After making fun of Scott for doing that.
  • WANDA MAXIMOFF, WORLD BREAKER. She totally would have pulped Thanos had he not had all his ships open fire on everyone. (Also, wait, how do we get Vision in the upcoming show? Is he embedded in some random server or something?)

  • Someone’s done an NFL fantasy league but with all Avengers, right?
  • Those wizards are HANDY. And the mandalas make a nifty visual in contrast to the rest of the battle.
  • Can I have a movie that’s all Peter and Valkyrie, please?

    Seriously, whoever animated this must have been GIDDY.

  • CAROL DANVERS, PEOPLE.
  • All the ladies in that one scene were pretty cool, but it actually makes zero sense--some of them were literally on the other side of the battlefield doing completely other things!

  • "And I...am...Iron Man.”

  • I like that they had that kid from Iron Man 3 there, even though nobody recognized him, LOL. Also, where is that kid’s family? He has a mom and a sister, IIRC.
  • Valkyrie, Queen of Asgard. I dig it. Also, will we be so blessed as to see Thor in the next Guardians? (There’s really nothing that’ll bring Thor back to himself so much as having Quill to fuck with.)
  • So, like, Cap just...went and created an alternate timeline for a bit, and then what? What happened? (I mean. PEGGY. But still.) And why did he go back? Was alternate Peggy dead? Do we get to hang out with Elderly Steve for a while, like they did in the comics?
  • I mean, it’s cool that Sam might be the new Captain America, but...he doesn’t have any special powers, guys.
  • (Let’s be real, though, if Tony hadn’t died, he totally would have squirreled that glove away for future scientific experiments in stupidity.)
  • For one second, guys, let’s consider how insane the brokering for the order of those last credits were. How did they even? (Vin Diesel got a “featuring Vin Diesel”! Groot only talked ONCE in this movie.) But I love that the original Avengers got fancy credits with their autographs included. That was lovely.



  • I remain heartbroken this never happened.


    Teary-eyed moments that may have occasionally been actual sobbing:
    1. When Carol showed up to save Tony and Nebula
    2. "I lost the kid"
    3. Nebula and Rocket clasping hands
    4. Realizing Steve’s leading support groups in honor of Sam
    5. "But would you be able to rest?” (Given Gwyneth’s Gwyneth-ness, I sometimes forget she’s excellent at the acting thing)
    6. When Nat says “See you in a minute” with a big smile before they time travel
    7. "That’s my mother. She dies today”
    8. Thor through his entire talk with Frigga, and also, “I’m still worthy”
    9. Steve seeing 1970s Peggy
    10. Tony saying goodbye to his father, ooooof
    11. Noooooooo NAT

    12. Cap’s face when Nat doesn’t come back
    13. Clint’s face when his phone rings
    14. Cap strapping his broken shield on
    15. "On your left.”


    16. Peter seeing Gamora again (I mean, I’m glad he got kneed in the groin by her, but still)
    17. Rhodey, and Peter (“You did it, sir, you did it”), and Pepper (“We’re gonna be okay. You can rest now”)
    18. Stupid Clint and his family, and Peter and Ned hugging, and Scott and his family, and T’Challa and his family, and Tony’s goodbye message
    19. ”I love you 3000”
    20. "I wish there was a way that I could let her know. That we won. We did it.” “She knows. They both do.”


    Spider-Man: Far From Home, 30 August 2020, streamed via Hulu/Starz
    This film is sweet and melancholy and funny and perfect.
    • Let’s be clear: That entire tribute to the fallen Avengers at Peter’s school was perfect enough to hurt: “I Will Always Love You,” the Comic Sans font, the iMovie slideshow with inconsistent animation transitions, and the photo of candles still watermarked with Getty Images. *chef’s kiss”
    • Uhhhh, is a Eurotrip seriously a thing that high schools do? Because I’m pretty sure nobody in my high school could have banked that much cash.
    • I dig that MJ is obviously into Peter AND ALSO has twigged he has a secret identity.

    • ”Are you the head Avenger now?” What the hell? There are clearly other Avengers more qualified than this adorable kid, reporters.
    • ”I’m really strong! And sticky!” WAIT. Peter couldn’t get a banana through customs, but he got web fluid into Europe?
    • Fury. 1) Why are you wrangling a teenager personally? Don’t you have people for that? 2) You have quinjets on hand, but you’re claiming Peter’s the only superhero available to assist in Europe? 3) What the hell, dude?
    • ”Thor was a myth and now I study him in my physics class.” OKAY I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS.
    • "Captain Marvel.” “Don’t invoke her name.”
    • EDITH = “Even dead, I’m the hero.” How Pepper didn’t murder Tony herself remains a mystery.
    • Okay, Brad, do you really think Peter frickin’ Parker was able to procure a hook-up in a tiny Austrian village in the space of four minutes?
    • Kind of a bummer EDITH doesn’t have the interpersonal counseling module that Karen did. All he wants is advice and he ends up almost killing a busful of classmates.
    • Like, obviously Mysterio is a bad guy, which is why it especially sucks that he gives Peter good advice. WILL SOMEBODY JUST MENTOR THIS KID ALREADY. Like, seriously, Fury, the kid’s in high school. Why do none of these dudes want Peter to finish high school?
    • NIGHT MONKEY.
    • I expected Mysterio to turn out evil, but I did NOT expect him to turn out fake. I cannot believe they got me again after Iron Man 3 happened.
    • Well, of COURSE all of Tony’s disgruntled former employees formed their own evil organization. Goddamnit, Tony.
    • Y’all, their tiny high school faces when they were pretending they didn’t like each other! Their tiny faces!
    • Most of the cities they visited in this movie were ones that I visited while I was working in Poland, and you guys, I miss traveling so much. My soul is slowly dying.
    • So the whole sequence in Berlin where Peter hallucinates everything is really cool, but I 100% do not believe that projections and drones would lead to what Peter experienced.
    • "If you were good enough, maybe Tony would still be alive.” And that is when I shouted, “Oh, FUCK YOU” at my TV.
    • The Netherlands scene is adorable. “Everyone is so nice here.”
    • NO HAPPY NOT THE TULIP FIELDS. YOU MONSTER.
    • Someone just give this kid a million hugs.

    • Awwwwwwww they riffed the Avengers theme when Peter started fabricating his new suit. And then: “I love Led Zeppelin.” SNERK.
    • Ned and MJ are perhaps the ideal operations team for Peter, honestly. Ned handles logistics while MJ works on strategy.
    • ”There’s nothing scientific about this science tour at all.” FOR REAL, DUDE.
    • Awwww, just like Cap with the shield and Mjolnir!

    • Peter stopping Beck from shooting him without even seeing him is incredibly badass.
    • "People, they need to believe, and nowadays they’ll believe anything.” Way to comment on Our Troubled Times, Beck.
    • These kids are way too cute together.

    • So MJ stole some shit from the Tower of London, we should note.
    • One of my favorite things about this iteration of Peter Parker is that we don’t have to deal with YET ANOTHER superhero posing as either a reporter or a billionaire. Though I guess we’re stuck with the Bugle next time around, sigh.
    • So...the Avengers...are...in space?



    Anyway, it is ASTOUNDING that Tom Holland and Zendaya manage to actually look like bright-eyed high school students, because have you seen their episode of Lip Sync Battle. (I mean, being uber-confident genderfluid theatre twenty-somethings isn’t FAR beyond that, but still.)




    I DID IT. I FINISHED WATCHING ALL THE MCU MOVIES.

    And this is it for my summer experiment of movie clusters/movie-a-day! I’ll still be doing this, just, y’know, not on such a strict schedule. Make requests, if ye dare!

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