marvel – PopCult Reviews

Comic Book Review – Daredevil by Frank Miller Part Two

Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Volume Three (2021)
Reprints Daredevil #183-191 and What If? #28 & 35, and Bizarre Adventures #28
Written by Frank Miller (with Roger McKenzie & Mike W. Barr)
Art by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson (with Terry Austin)

Daredevil by Frank Miller Omnibus Companion (2024)
Reprints Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #27-28, Daredevil #219 and 226-233, Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #1-5, and Daredevil: Love and War
Written by Frank Miller (with Bill Mantlo and Denny O’Neill)
Art by Frank Miller, John Buscema, David Mazzuchelli, Bill Sienkiewicz, Al Williamson and John Romita Jr.

The second Daredevil Visionaries volume concluded with the iconic Death of Elektra. I’d heard about that story since I was a kid and even seen it recreated in cinemas with the dreadful 2003 adaptation. Nothing could compare to reading the real thing, a wonderfully tense blend of art & writing that delivered an operatic tragedy into the life of the Man Without Fear. Having never read these books, I wondered where Miller would go now. Elektra was such a big part of the first half of his run. I also learned that his “Born Again” storyline wasn’t part of this initial run but a return to the book in 1987, riding high off the acclaim of The Dark Knight Returns at DC Comics, about to return to them for Batman: Year One.

Movie Review – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson

In January 2019, I was sitting at home on a weekday due to an unexpected week of snow. By the end of the week, the snow was melting, but there was still ice on the rural backroads, so we were still closed out of precaution. Buses wouldn’t handle these conditions well. I got a text from one of my sisters asking if I wanted to see this new animated Spider-Man movie with her and my nephew. I’d been aware of it but wasn’t chomping at the bit to go see it. However, getting to spend time with her and my nephew was something I always loved to do.

Patron Pick – Iron Man 3

Don’t forget to respond to our poll about your most anticipated Fall film release.

This is a special reward available to Patreon patrons who pledge at the $10 or $20 a month levels. Each month those patrons will pick a film for me to review. If they choose, they also get to include some of their thoughts about the movie. This Pick comes from Bekah Lindstrom.

Iron Man 3 (2013)
Written by Shane Black & Drew Pearce
Directed by Shane Black

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an all-encompassing behemoth at this point, and its existence marks a transformation of corporate-owned media. It’s hard to remember individual films with such a glut of content filling up cineplexes and streaming platforms, but some movies in the mix aren’t absolute formulaic dreck. Once upon a time, Marvel was a little less cohesive, which was a good thing. Not every film needs to provide plot points & Easter eggs for future films and long-running storylines. In this space, it was possible to hand a movie over to Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Nice Guys) and let him do what he wanted, with an emphasis on superhero-ing things. It was likely seen as less in the shadow of the first Avengers movie, but Iron Man 3 is a very solid, entertaining flick.

Movie Review – Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Written by Taika Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Directed by Taika Watiti

Well. This is not surprising. When I saw Thor: Ragnarok, I enjoyed it for one primary reason: it was not like previous Marvel movies. It wasn’t a masterpiece of filmmaking, no Marvel movies are or ever will be, but it was fine entertainment. In true wash-rinse-repeat fashion, Disney and/or Taika Waititi said, “Hey, let’s try and do the same thing but worse.” They certainly accomplished it. I can’t say I’ve seen too many films with this large budget that feel incredibly lazy in every production aspect. Scenes happen, and then another scene happens, and they are loosely linked, propelled at most by a plot that fans of the Power Rangers would find lacking in substance.

Movie Review – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Written by Michael Waldron
Directed by Sam Raimi

When you hire Sam Raimi, you better be prepared to let him do what he does best. This is not something commonly found in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a seemingly never-ending series of loud, bland commercials for upcoming movies which are also commercials for upcoming films. However, there’s no doubting Multiverse of Madness or MoM is set up to tease Marvelites with the Multiverse and its long-term effects on the MCU. There is a clear cameo that has been teased in the trailers and commercials and more to be seen in the picture, but those just don’t entice me anymore. I want a good movie with a complete arc and well-written characters. Thank god for Raimi, who gives us just that.

Movie Review – Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Written by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, and Alvin Sargent
Directed by Sam Raimi

By 2007, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man film series had been a massive success. The following year would see Marvel’s first production of Iron Man, which, as we all know, would kickstart the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Audiences were incredibly hyped for this third installment. Through the marketing, it made it clear that we’d finally be seeing the Spider black suit and Venom in the movie. However, we were also told the conflict with Harry would be resolved, and there’d be a third villain in Sandman. Pretty crowded movie, but Spider-Man comics are often filled with subplots and supporting characters. So when I went to see the picture, I didn’t have any apprehensions about going into the theater.

Movie Review – Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers
Directed by Jon Watts

This is the second time I’ve written a review for Spider-Man: No Way Home this year, the first being an April Fool’s joke which let me imagine what might happen in the picture. Using leaked details, I pieced together a completely over-the-top film which ended up not being too far off from the actual film. If you are someone for whom Spider-Man films mean a lot too, if they are linked to your childhoods, etc., then you are going to love No Way Home. But I am not reviewing it from that perspective; I want to look at this as a movie and as a reflection on the fundamental elements of the iconic character. When we look at No Way Home in this manner, it really falls apart as a cohesive film.

Movie Review – Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Michael Chabon
Directed by Sam Raimi

How do you follow up Spider-Man? With what is undoubtedly one of the best superhero films ever made. So many unplanned franchises/trilogies often suffer in their second installments. They seem to follow a playbook that bloats their cast and overcomplicates their plot. The result ranges from disappointing to middling. Even Superman 2, a sequel that was planned at the same time as the first movie, is a mess both in its theatrical and director’s cut forms. I think the key to Spider-Man 2’s success is Sam Raimi and Sony Pictures choosing to step away and let the filmmaker continue his love letters to the comic books he grew up with.

Movie Review – Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Written by Kelly Marcel
Directed by Andy Serkis

I never could have predicted this would be the movie we got with Venom in the lead role. I want to be upfront here and say I did not enjoy watching this movie. Yet, I appreciate the final product’s entirely off the rails insanity. It is certainly nothing like your standard MCU movie; it doesn’t seem interested in cutesy quippy dialogue. For the most part, it feels like a hurriedly edited mess that doesn’t have any lulls. It follows some tropes of the superhero sequel, and the main antagonist is yet another evil symbiote. That said, this is one of those head-scratching movies that is so strange in its presentation that you have to wonder if executives spoke up at any point during the production.

Movie Review – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Written by Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, and Andrew Lanham
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton

I think the era of Marvel movies might be over. It was an inevitability; they churned out so much in a decade that they couldn’t help but plug into a formula with a few exceptions here and there. I look forward to Spider-Man: No Way Home, but for shallow nostalgia reasons, and Thor: Love and Thunder is the only one I genuinely think I’ll enjoy. I don’t “stan” any of these or any other comic book cinematic universe’s characters, and I say this as someone who has been reading comics for over thirty years. While on the surface seeming like a fresh new property, Shang-Chi is another boring, well-tread origin story that we’ve seen a thousand times before.