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Random thoughts on Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War .

Review available on the new website .

Avengers... re-assembled! Seriously, is this trailer awesome or what??

Post- The Avengers , Marvel's first attempt at translating the new MCU to the small screen was Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. , a show following a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents led by the originally killed-in-action Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). The idea of giving a character we all believed to have been written-off completely his own show which, as far as we knew, wouldn't include any major Marvel superheroes, was not a particularly exciting prospect as it felt like a bit of a stretch. On the other hand, Phil Coulson was always a likeable character and S.H.I.E.L.D. has always been a setting packed with potential. The team we're introduced to includes the recently revived Coulson, tough-as-nails operative Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), top scientists and tech experts Fitz (Ian De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) with superspy Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) and new recruit hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet). The early episodes focus mostly on Skye's absorption into S.H.I.E.L.D. as

This direct-to-video animated feature sees Iron Man and Hulk team up to face a powerful new enemy created by Hydra pretty much accidentally. Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United  was Marvel's first attempt at a CG movie using a new 2-D wrap technique. Unfortunately, the one thing bringing this venture down is the animation which could be a little more fluid when it comes to the characters' faces and definitely needs more shading, texturing and overall polish. It's a shame since the designs and the plot are all-around faithful to Marvel's recent movie output, this particular movie giving us an Avengers: Age Of Ultron test run of sorts while also bringing back The Abomination thereby linking The Incredible Hulk to Hydra in a clever way. The latter organisation's goal initially being to use Hulk's gamma energy to create a weapon but, in the process, they give birth to a new sentient electrical life form called Zzzax and it's not too keen on humans. Soon en

Good Christmas specials are so hard to find these days. Most of my and your favourites are probably extremely dated by now. Luckily, here comes Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight! to save the day. The animated feature takes The Avengers and sends them on a quest to find Jolnir, the legendary Santa Claus, before Loki does since his plan is to steal his powers of bending space and time. They travel to space using a portal built by Tony Stark and end up on a Christmas planet, because why not. Meanwhile, Thor and The Hulk stay behind on Earth to help fill in for Claus should he not be found. Rocket Raccoon and Groot, from the Guardians Of The Galaxy , are also involved as they land on the same planet and meet with Mrs Claus. The entire thing is, as you can tell, completely ludicrous but it doesn't take itself seriously at all, remaining tongue-in-cheek throughout. In fact, Frost Fight! is surprisingly very funny: you've got Rocket Raccoon fighting Gingerbread Men, Gr

Released in 2014, Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher was an anime-style animated feature produced in Japan taking The Punisher and throwing him in an Avengers storyline led by Black Widow, of all people. How does that work? As it turns out, surprisingly well. Taking a page out of DC's book, Marvel lends its characters to a group of competent animators who, much like most of the Batman animated features, not only deliver a visually appealing film but respect the source material. The film doesn't take the easy route either: it would have been a breeze to just make an Avengers movie like the poster suggests, packed with familiar characters throughout, but the fact that this focuses on The Punisher and his unlikely collaboration with Black Widow is refreshingly daring and original. The plot sees S.H.I.E.L.D. clash with The Punisher (voiced by Brian Bloom) over a specific case which Nick Fury explains goes deeper than Frank Castle knows. The latter therefore

Here's a mash-up of the Thor and Flash Gordon trailers I made a while back.

Only a month after Batman faced Superman in DC's pre- Justice League crossover movie, Marvel graces us with Captain America: Civil War , bringing to the screen a sort of mini-Avengers movie steeped in Cap lore based on a classic comic-book storyline. The film sees Captain America (Chris Evans) having to protect his friend-turned-Hydra pawn Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) who may or may not have attacked the UN. Steve Rogers believes he may have been framed but, when half of The Avengers agree to the Sokovia Accords, a list of laws which would restrict their freedom to jump into action, things get somewhat more complicated and an elaborate manhunt is soon underway. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), after a blunder involving The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) taking out villain Crossbones with a lot of collateral damage, decides that the superteam should probably be held accountable for their destructive efforts but he quickly finds that convincing Captain America of that is not s

After listing some of my worst , here is my Top 10 Best Modern Marvel Movie Villains . Again, by "modern" I mean post-2000. Here we go: 10 BARON ZEMO Captain America: Civil War Although he may not look much like he does in the comics, the Baron Zemo we got in Captain America: Civil War somehow still works really well. We're first introduced to Crossbones early on in the film and he's your typical supervillain with the badass costume and everything but Zemo is then revealed to be the film's true main baddie and the fact he's a meek everyman you couldn't pick out in a line-up makes him all the more effective. To think that one guy with nothing to lose can single-handedly tear apart The Avengers from within, manipulating everyone from afar, says a lot about what Zemo is capable of. I shudder to think what he has in store next for the superteam...  9 YELLOWJACKET Ant-Man While Yellowjacket may not be the most memorable of all

Modern Marvel movies have gotten a lot of things right over the years including telling more out-there superhero stories in an approachable way, pulling off the craziest crossovers and bringing to the screen some iconic characters in style, heroes and villains alike. But there were also missteps and we also got some less-than-stellar efforts with less-than-stellar villains facing some of our favourite heroes. So, before I list my favourites, here are 10 of my worst modern (post 2000) Marvel movie villains: 10 THE LIZARD The Amazing Spider-Man The Andrew Garfield-starring Spider-Man reboot may not have been the most original piece of storytelling out there, once again laying out the whole Spidey origin story so soon after Sam Raimi's trilogy. Having said that, it had its moments. One of the most disappointing things about it, however, was The Lizard. Not only did the filmmakers seemingly go out of their way to make the character look nothing like he does in the comics

If the success of Guardians Of The Galaxy confirmed one thing it was that Marvel could, indeed, get away with making the most out-there, obscure comic book movie adaptations and turn them into gold. The plan was certainly to do that with Ant-Man but the departure of director Edgar Wright last year seemed to suggest that this was a troubled production doomed to not make Avengers -style zillions. The horror! And so, while Ant-Man certainly didn't wow audiences and critics quite as much as some of the (literally) bigger superhero movies, it still did a good job and put ants (and wasps) on the map! Paul Rudd, known mostly for his reliably goofy work in Judd Apatow-led comedies, turns out to be a solid choice to be the Ant-Man despite the fact that one feels the man, who gives a restrained performance here, was holding back from cracking all sorts of inappropriate jokes on set during the course of the movie. It should make for some inspired bloopers on the Blu-Ray, for

I finally talk about Avengers: Age Of Ultron .

In this 55th episode, Adam (aka The RetroCritic) and fellow film buff Jamie, along with special guest Dale, discuss movie news, review   Avengers: Age Of Ultron   and talk retro stuff. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE Email us here if you have any questions, requests or contributions:  bigrewindpodcast@gmail.com Or simply comment below :) Oh and you can also find us on  iTunes ,  Stitcher  and  Player FM  where you can subscribe to the podcast and download every episode thusfar! @TheRetroCritic @Silent_Consumer #TheBigRewind retrocriticblog.blogspot.com thebigrewind.blogspot.com youtube.com/TheRetroCritic youtube.com/SilentConsumer youtube.com/Cablogula

The Avengers are back in a sequel that promises to be even bigger and more epic somehow. Joss Whedon once again directs and, though you'd expect juggling that many main characters (plus about a dozen new recruits) would make for a complete cinematic mess, the man somehow pulls it off once again and delivers a blockbuster every bit as ambitious and entertaining as it suggests. Well, apart for that weird half hour where Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) takes us for a particularly dull ride back to his "safe house". Urgh... Other than that, this sequel fixes a lot of what made the first movie a little too uneven. While the first Avengers suffered from a ropey opening sequence and an altogether sluggish first half hour, this movie throws us directly into the action and doesn't let go for a good while which is instantly refreshing. Again, everyone gets their chance to shine but also screw up. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), whom, I assume, has amnesia and therefore can&#

To celebrate the release of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron , I count down my Top 30 Superhero Themes over at Feedback Theatre and, shockingly, they're not all from Danny Elfman. Composers assemble!

After the double dose of disappointment Marvel offered us a year prior ( The Wolverine , Iron Man 3 ), I was certainly nervous about the direction the company was taking for its second phase, even though  Thor: The Dark World wasn't too bad. Thankfully, Marvel came back to prove me wrong, very wrong, with Captain America: The Winter Soldier , the present day-set sequel to The First Avenger . The real worry I had going into this one was that it would just feel like yet another Avengers Assemble , giving up on the retro feel of the first Captain America movie altogether, something I personally love about the character and that particular flick. As it turns out, The Winter Soldier is deeply rooted in the character's history and we actually get to see how that history had an impact on Steve Rogers' present. Sure, the film goes for a decidedly modern thriller vibe but it still manages to feel like a superhero movie and keep some good old-fashioned camp intact. With Jo

After Iron Man 3 and The Wolverine , I was half expecting Thor: The Dark World to be yet another disappointing Marvel outing. The first Thor film was nothing mind-blowing but it was solid enough and it brought to the screen the story of one of the most out-there Avengers about as convincingly as it could have possibly been done. But in a world post- The   Avengers , what is Thor to do? Well, a heck of a lot, as it turns out. If you thought the first film was rather bare plot-wise, which it was, you'll be happy to find that Thor: The Dark World is rich with things happening. They may not all make sense or work, but things are happening this time around. Less time is spent on Earth, definitely a good thing, and the film does a far better job at making sense with The Avengers than Iron Man 3 did. Unfortunately, Earth-wise, we leave the desert of New Mexico for the greyness of Greenwich, England. Why are the Thor movies given all the least impressive locations? Seems a bit

With the success of Marvel's modern comic-book to movie adaptations, it was inevitable that a crossover would one day be attempted. The studio had, after all, been building up to it for years, testing their own capabilities with every movie and the result was one huge epic that did not disappoint entertainment-wise and raised the bar for any superhero flicks that followed. The run-up to the film was hardly flawless with The Hulk going through two makeovers before Mark Ruffalo snapped the role and Iron Man 2 not getting the best reviews despite being loads of fun. Potential further helpers Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four crashed and burned before the big project, the former going for a reboot and the latter not looking good, to say the least. Joss Whedon leads an all-star cast in this cinematic adventure full of iconic characters so many kids and adults alike have been picturing themselves as since they were three. Chris Evans plays it straight once again as Steve Rogers/C