A Reviewer’s Journey, The Complete Marvel Cinematic Universe
A complete reviewer's journey through 30+ MCU films from Iron Man to Thunderbolts. Phase-by-phase trajectory of peak through collapse.
Tag: Franchise (Page 10)
2000sIron Man (2008) Review
Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, and the cave construction sequence that built a franchise. The casting decision that built Marvel Studios.
ComedyThe Snap, The Blip, And The Catastrophe The MCU Refused To Show
Why Infinity War and Endgame collapsed. An essay on Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and the central structural failure that defined the MCU's transition from peak franchise to declining property.
2020sEternals (2021) Review
The Celestials are cosmic-scale beautiful. The rest of the film fails under decorative diversity and two-and-a-half hours of incoherent narrative.
2010sCaptain America: The First Avenger (2011) Review
The 1940s adventure that built the franchise's moral foundation. The 9 reflects honest evaluation of the most disciplined origin film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the entry that gave the franchise its moral center.
2000sX-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) Review
Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber's underrated Sabretooth, and the Deadpool handling that damaged the property for years. The 8.5 reflects honest evaluation of the film that proved interconnected superhero cinema could function at scale and the entry that established the commercial…
2010sThe Avengers (2012) Review
Joss Whedon's ensemble breakthrough, Tom Hiddleston's Loki, and the film that proved interconnected superhero cinema could function at scale. The 8.5 reflects honest evaluation of the film that proved interconnected superhero cinema could function at scale and the entry that…
2010sThor: Ragnarok (2017) Review
Taika Waititi's tonal pivot that broke the Thor character and signaled the MCU's slide into decorative comedy. The 6 reflects honest evaluation of a film that is funny in its individual moments but represents a structural betrayal of the Thor…
2010sCaptain Marvel (2019) Review
Flat performance, press tour damage, decorative feminism, and the protagonist who is actually the villain. The film does not reward straight-through viewing.
1970sStar Wars: A New Hope (1977) Review
A New Hope is the film that created modern blockbuster cinema, and it did so by being something very specific: a myth engine. Lucas wasn't writing charact.
Film TrilogyBack to the Future Trilogy Review
The Back to the Future trilogy earns its 9.5 by solving the hardest problem in serialized storytelling: making three films that each stand alone while building a cumulative argument none of them could make individually. Zemeckis and Gale understood something…
1980sThe Empire Strikes Back (1980) Review
Empire earns its 8 by doing what no Star Wars film before or since has managed: it takes the universe seriously. Lucas's original Star Wars is a myth engine, archetypes, simple morality, the pleasure of a world with clear rules.