Mark McPherson's Blog, page 41

“Marvel’s What If…?” Episodes 1-3 Review

There’s perhaps more promise in a Marvel anthology saga that it feels more suitable for playing with the Marvel Cinematic Universe rather than adhering to its many connections. The previous Marvel series of Loki almost seemed to break that connective tissue to allow for a splintering of worlds to explore. This framing isn’t a necessary requirement for diving into Marvel’s What If…? and that’s also part of its charm, where anything can happen. The problem is that jumping into such a series seems...

“The Suicide Squad” Review

There’s a certain giddy freedom that brings to DC’s overhaul of their bitter connected universe. His take on The Suicide Squad is a fiery cocktail that mixes the darkly absurd charm of Guardians of the Galaxy with the bloody crassness of his Troma B-movie days. This much-needed kick to comic book films makes for a wild subversion, where weasels can go on missions, polka dots can kill people, and a humanoid shark can foolishly attempt to disguise himself.

The exhilarating sensation...

“Jungle Cruise” Review

Jungle Cruise is every bit the pleasing summer adventure picture it aims to be. Based on the Disney ride of the same title, there’s probably little surprise that the picture is a fast-paced and quirky trip through the tropics, laced with fantasy and romance. While Disney’s dive into this genre is by no means a subversion or refinement of the jungle adventure, it’s still a welcoming presence as an old-fashioned swashbuckling picture.

plays the bold scientist Lily and Johnson the e...

“Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins” Review

G.I. Joe was rarely a franchise I didn’t view through campy eyes. I grew up with the cartoons and came back to them in my teenage years admiring the absurdity of it all. The same goes for the first two live-action films which were highly scorned for being big and dumb, even though that had been my initial draw to the lingering obsession of the franchise. True, there were numerous cartoons and comic books that took the premise far more seriously but few of them ever really resonated. One series ...

“Space Jam: A New Legacy” Review

Remember fun? This question is literally asked in Space Jam: A New Legacy, hammering the blunt message that it’s easy to forget that our passions can be more than just work. But as the Warner Bros movie attempts to shove every reference it can into this film as though it’s Ready Player One on steroids, I tried to remember the original Space Jam. What made that film so much fun that it warranted a return with this reboot of sorts? I think what makes me so fascinated by the original was that it e...

Stupid Alien Wars

2021’s The Tomorrow War is a fairly generic and frankly forgettable alien invasion movie. Mysterious aliens ravage Earth in the future and humanity sends back soldiers to retrieve people from the past to aid in the war effort in the future.

Chris Pratt plays Dan Forester, a military scientist who is sent forward in time to study the creatures and find a way to wipe them all out. There are the emotional tethers of him trying to connect with his daughter and reconcile with his father. This per...

“Black Widow” Review

The Black Widow movie has been so long overdue (both because of the pandemic and Marvel’s crowded forecasting) that everything about the film screams of being a late arrival. It’s not just that the story takes place directly after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016) or that it takes place before her demise in Avengers: Endgame. It feels like such a movie should’ve been sooner rather than later considering the expanded past of her character comes off more like an afterthought. The go...

“F9” Review

There comes a point in the ninth entry in the Fast & Furious saga when one of the characters questions the impractical nature of action-based work where they rarely bleed or become seriously injured. The easily paranoid Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) brings this up several times and the cocky hacker Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) will either brush it off as delusional or merely stare in amazement at Roman’s luck, at one point muttering “How are you not dead?” It seemed like ample time in the seri...

“Luca” Review

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Pixar’s latest mixture of real-world locations and fantastical characters is bursting with charm and heart. It may surprise some, however, that Luca may not have enough of the bolder ambition that adults have come to expect from the studio’s gutsier features. There’s no contemplative nature on looking into the core of our existence nor is there some dagger of tragedy wield that will only pierce the heart of parents. Luca is simply a summer getaway of a pictu...

“Bo Burnham: Inside” Review

Of all the films and special that attempted to tap into the anxieties and isolation of the Coronavirus pandemic, few will ever feel as cathartic, emotional, and perfectly relatable as ‘s one-man show to an audience of none. Burnham’s special is a mixture of comedy, music, and tragic commentary on how surreal the experience of being in quarantine can make us a mess but also change our entire outlook on the world. Having given up live performances because of having panic attacks, the lo...