I went into the movie with very low expectations but it had me hooked the moment it started. I left the theater speechless (last time that happened with an MCU film was Wakanda Forever). It is the first time, after a long time, that I am excited about the future of the MCU. Florence Pugh was mesmerizing.
Worth shouting out Pugh's stunt double, Sarah Irwin, whose previous Marvel credits include doubling for Rachael Taylor, Sophia DiMartino, Laura Donnelly, Tatiana Maslany, AND Aubrey Plaza (though this was her first time doubling Pugh). It would be a stretch to say that I "know" her, but we were both PAs on a short film in Chicago 10 years ago where we spent most of one day just sitting in an apartment with a chonky Rottweiler and a good chunk of another day just sitting in a car waiting for the rain to stop. Most people on the crew already knew at least one other person, but Sarah appeared out of the blue because she overheard the line producer in a coffee shop talking about a stunt in the short and she just wanted to see how it went, as she'd recently gotten into stunts herself after being a dancer for many years. The stunt was not great.
Me not really have Marvel fatigue, me just want to be invested in these characters again. Original run had four solid leads (Cap/Tony/Thor/Hulk) who had lots of interactions and appeared every year or two in some movie or other.
Now we just have bunch of heroes who work in isolation — me liked teaser at end of Shang Chi, where Wong bring him into Avengers circle... and then we never saw Shang Chi again. Me liked Spidey-Strange relationship... and then it got erased. So it nice to have movie where different characters actually bounce off each other, because that thing Marvel historically do well.
Maybe Fantastic Four will do that well also. But me suspect me will continue biding time until Young Avengers that was teased at end of Marvels.
It's really a shame they haven't done anything else with Shang Chi since his debut. That movie was the other big post-Endgame success to me. Hopefully they use him well in Doomsday.
That movie really had me very excited for Shang/Spidey/Shuri/Strange/Ant-Man Avengers movie we were surely getting in 2023. Ah well.
We talk about "Marvel fatigue", but honestly me not think that is real problem. We just need movies that give us reason to care about these characters.
I went into the movie with very low expectations but it had me hooked the moment it started. I left the theater speechless (last time that happened with an MCU film was Wakanda Forever). It is the first time, after a long time, that I am excited about the future of the MCU. Florence Pugh was mesmerizing.
Worth shouting out Pugh's stunt double, Sarah Irwin, whose previous Marvel credits include doubling for Rachael Taylor, Sophia DiMartino, Laura Donnelly, Tatiana Maslany, AND Aubrey Plaza (though this was her first time doubling Pugh). It would be a stretch to say that I "know" her, but we were both PAs on a short film in Chicago 10 years ago where we spent most of one day just sitting in an apartment with a chonky Rottweiler and a good chunk of another day just sitting in a car waiting for the rain to stop. Most people on the crew already knew at least one other person, but Sarah appeared out of the blue because she overheard the line producer in a coffee shop talking about a stunt in the short and she just wanted to see how it went, as she'd recently gotten into stunts herself after being a dancer for many years. The stunt was not great.
What a cool rise up the stunt ranks for her! That's awesome!
Me not really have Marvel fatigue, me just want to be invested in these characters again. Original run had four solid leads (Cap/Tony/Thor/Hulk) who had lots of interactions and appeared every year or two in some movie or other.
Now we just have bunch of heroes who work in isolation — me liked teaser at end of Shang Chi, where Wong bring him into Avengers circle... and then we never saw Shang Chi again. Me liked Spidey-Strange relationship... and then it got erased. So it nice to have movie where different characters actually bounce off each other, because that thing Marvel historically do well.
Maybe Fantastic Four will do that well also. But me suspect me will continue biding time until Young Avengers that was teased at end of Marvels.
It's really a shame they haven't done anything else with Shang Chi since his debut. That movie was the other big post-Endgame success to me. Hopefully they use him well in Doomsday.
That movie really had me very excited for Shang/Spidey/Shuri/Strange/Ant-Man Avengers movie we were surely getting in 2023. Ah well.
We talk about "Marvel fatigue", but honestly me not think that is real problem. We just need movies that give us reason to care about these characters.
You sure made me want to watch this, while I was planning to thoroughly ignore it before reading your review!
Great article, Caroline!