Author Archives: Doc

Paradise S1 E6

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“You Asked For Miracles”

I love Die Hard so much.

Using it as flavor for this episode was such a great idea.

Paradise is such an incredible show. I never expected this being as amazing as it is.

Xavier is leading the charge against Sinatra. He has everything planned out perfectly, knowing what she would do at each step. It led to a dramatic showdown at the episode’s end between them, and something that Xavier did not see coming.

His wife is alive?

Xavier also does not know that his daughter Presley is not safe and secure. She is in the custody of Jane. Presley did not know that Jane was someone not to trust.

Xavier has all the guns. Things are really coming together.

Yippee Ki-Yay, Mfer.

White Lotus S2 E2, E3

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“Italian Dream”

“Bull Elephants”

I just discovered that White Lotus season three has begun over on MAX, with episodes dropping on Sundays. Apparently episode 1 of season three is out and the next one will arrive this Sunday night. I had just started season two recently and so I would like to set a goal to finish season two and watch the first episode of season three before Sunday night so I can caught be caught up with the series.

So today I watched episodes 2 & 3 of season two.

I am not incredibly connected to any of these characters yet, outside of Aubrey Plaza. She is in a wild situation with her new husband and his best friend. They are seemingly dancing around each other and the tension is palatable. Between the two husbands, Ethan and Cameron, Ethan is so much more likable and he seems a much better person than anyone else on the show.

I feel for Tanya too. Her husband Greg definitely has something going on. He has been getting phone calls, speaking to someone he tells he loves. He’s plotting something. It seems like his potential illness that was going to kill him is gone. He indicated that Tanya helped him get better. I wonder if the show is trying to make him look like a bad guy and it will be a swerve, or is he after Tanya’s money?

Again, I have not seen any progression toward the scene we got in the first episode with all the dead bodies in the water. It was late in season one when things started to happen in that area as well.

The Gorge

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Apple TV + released a new movie recently featuring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy called The Gorge. The Gorge is an action/horror film with touches of a romantic film.

According to IMDB, “Two highly-trained operatives are appointed to posts in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast and highly classified gorge, protecting the world from an undisclosed, mysterious evil that lurks within. They bond from a distance while trying to stay vigilant in defending against an unseen enemy. When the cataclysmic threat to humanity is revealed to them, they must work together in a test of both their physical and mental strength to keep the secret in the gorge before it’s too late.”

The first hour of the movie is excellent. I really liked the relationship built between Levi (Miles Teller) and Drasa (Anna Taylor-Joy) when they were on opposite sides of the Gorge. There was a sweetness to them increasing their connection via notes. When Levi shoots the cable across the Gorge, I was amazed at the efforts he took. I loved when the cable gets blown free and Levi falls into the Gorge.

The action in the Gorge is good, but a lot of that was nothing that we haven’t seen before. No spoilers, but how they escaped the Gorge eventually was unbelievably cool.

I do think the ending was a little iffy at times, but I did enjoy the very end of the film. It is a satisfying conclusion, if not rushed a bit, which is odd considering the film runs over two hours.

I thought this was a fun time for the most part. It looked great and I enjoyed our two main characters. It was definitely a good time and an easy watch.

3.6 stars

The X-Files S8 E5

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“Invocation”

This was my least favorite episode of the eighth season so far, but it was not bad, and was almost saved by the ending.

Seven year old boy Billy Underwood was snatched from a park and was missing for ten years. Strangely enough, Billy returned but had seemingly not aged one day.

The craziness of the case involved Scully and Doggett, but it felt as if Doggett had taken a step back into the asshole that he had been shown as in the early episodes of this season after apparently taking steps forward in the last couple.

The returned boy would not speak and was creeping out his father and brother. His mother was not bothered at all. The first half of the episode did not feel as if it matched up with the conclusion, but I did like the conclusion.

The kidnappers from ten years ago were discovered and arrested but Doggett discovered a grave with the skeletal remains of Billy Underwood from the time when he originally disappeared.

I don’t know if this was supposed to be a spirit of some kind returned to help his brother, who wound up kidnapped by the same men, or what. There was a scene of a knife being stabbed in Billy’s brother’s bed that does not make sense in the eventual narrative. It sure seemed as if the show was setting up the returned Billy as some sort of malevolent force.

I read on Wikipedia that this also set up an arc for John, who apparently had lost a son to a murder as well, which makes sense why he was so obsessed with this case. However, I missed it during the episode. A psychic had mentioned something about someone in the room having gone through this, but I did not think it was Doggett and I do not remember it ever being touched on the rest of the episode.

I found this uneven and shaky as an episode, but not one that I hated. It is a definite “mid” episode, though if the upcoming Doggett arc takes off, maybe this would require some readjusted thought.

Dark Matter S1 E6

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“Superposition”

Jason 2 is becoming more manipulative with every second. He accidentally gives his son ice cream with nuts in it, not aware that the boy has an allergy to them. This started some questioning by Daniela about what was going on.

Then, man the Box is a perfect way to get rid of bodies. Imagine, you could just drop a body off in some nearby dimension and no one would ever know. Jason 2 does that very thing, albeit not a dead body, when he tricked Ryan into going with him into the Box only to strand him in an alternate universe.

Jason and Amanda are starting to feel the stress of their continued failures at finding Jason’s actual universe. They’re coming across so many that are just a little different and they were feeling it. They are also growing closer to one another, bringing even more stress into the situation.

Jason 2 sealed up the Box at the end of the episode, seemingly finishing his plan. However, I get the implication that Jason 2 may not be as happy in this universe than he thought he would be.

I am not sure what will happen next, but I do think the doubts that have creeped into Daniela’s mind will continue to grow as Jason 2 increases his efforts.

Dexter: Original Sin S1 E10

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“Code Blues”

I have been up and down with this new prequel version of Dexter during its run on Amazon Prime. Leading up to the tenth episode, I had mixed emotions for this show. The tone had been all over the place and there were times when it felt as if the show wanted to be more comedic than it should have been.

Thankfully, I feel as if the finale of the season delivered a reasonably solid episode, in particular in connection with the kidnapping of Nicky. However, the show left a giant dangling plot in Dexter’s serial killer brother unresolved and feeling like a huge time bomb ready to go off. Will that ever be dealt with? Will there be another season of this version of Dexter? I’m not sure the answers to any of those questions, but looking just at this finale, I thought it was pretty good. (I guess Dexter deals with Brian in season one of the original series, which I did not remember.)

It did not hurt that most of the flashbacks were over and were just used to further the backstory of Brian, which was better than the stuff with Dexter’s birth mom.

The material with Captain Spencer was much better. I have to say that I was critical about the manner in which Dexter allowed Spencer to escape his table last episode. I thought that was an unnecessary risk. Of course, it worked out well, and Dexter was able to save Nicky from a watery grave after Spencer tried to drown the boy. Dexter was able to do it without revealing his identity to Nicky too. Win-Win.

He also was able to catch Spencer and kill him on the boat. Lots of blood involved there, which had to be a problematic plot hole.

Having Dexter, Harry and Deb dancing at the end of the episode was a fun way to show how positive everyone was feeling, even though a darkness lurked around a corner in Brian.

Overall, Dexter: original Sin finished strong, but perhaps not strong enough for me to dismiss the erratic tone taken by the series through the first two-thirds of the season. Some moments were very strong and engaging while other moments just did not work. All of the recasts were big hits though and the show definitely ended on a high note.

Paddington in Peru

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The first two films are absolute, unexpected classics. They are two of the best movies that you will ever see. I will say that I was feeling uncertain about a third film in the franchise, called Paddington in Peru. I’ve seen too many third installments take a bad turn.

While Paddington in Peru is nowhere near as exceptional as the first two, this new film is entertaining and fun as well.

According to IMDB, “Paddington returns to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. With the Brown Family in tow, a thrilling adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey through the Amazon rainforest and up to the mountain peaks of Peru.”

Paddington is always an enduring character that is funny, easy to love and fun to watch. He works so well in this story, no matter what situation the writers stick him in. Ben Whishaw does a great job as the little bear’s voice.

There are two actors in this film that are always great in whatever they do, and that is Antonio Banderas and Olivia Colman. I have loved Olivia Colman for years, especially her role in Secret Invasion (which felt like the one great thing in that series), and she is awesome her as Reverend Mother. Antonio Banderas was great in the villainous role and has a really solid character arc. Banderas had to play multiple characters in Hunter Cabot’s family and he does a wonderful job.

Dougal Wilson is the new director for the franchise, replacing Paul King, and he does an admirable job, creating a sweet and charming story with some fun characters and family interactions. Paddington in Peru is not near as good as the previous films, but it is still a great family film with a positive message and a lot of fun.

3.75 stars

Yellowjackets S3 E1, E2

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“It Girl”

“Dislocation”

Yellowjackets returned to Showtime with the first two episodes of season three with even more craziness among the girls.

Picking up after the shocking death of Natalie at the end of season two, the present day survivors continued on with their lives. Part of the reason this show is so good is that these survivors are still in such trauma over everything that they did and trying to make their way through. You can see the instability of all of these characters, with a chance that at any time they might flip out.

Meanwhile, the crash site victims are just as crazy as ever. Watching them makes me wonder exactly what horrors these girls did to get through the woods.

Misty is struggling with her part in Natalie’s death. Shauna feels like she is any moment ready to flip out and destroy everyone around her. Lottie is out of the mental institution and hanging out with Shauna. Taissa and Van running out on their bill at a restaurant and having a server chase them only for that server to have a heart attack and die. Taissa and Van hooked back up afterwards… even after Taissa is seeing shadowy figures.

These women are nuts.

Of course, Coach may be a bit nuts too after spending the winter hiding out in the woods talking to “it.” He caught Mari and took her back to his hideout against her will. He seemed to act as if he had no idea that the cabin had burned down.

At the end of the second season, there was an implication that everything in the woods was just in the girls’ imagination, an excuse for the bad things that they did. I wonder if that is true or if there is something there causing all of this chaos.

I liked the start to this season and I am excited to see where these characters go from here.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #4

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February 16

“Replacements”

“Replacements” details the events for Easy Company undergoing Operation Market Garden in Holland, which was a failure. The high-risk operation saw Easy Company retreat from the fight with the Krauts and showed how dangerous this situation could be.

It also featured a group of replacements to the company and how they were accepted (or hazed as the case may be) into a group of men who had been together for going on two years.

We had a return from David Schwimmer’s Captain Sobel, now as the newly appointed Regimental S-4. His facial expressions told more than any lines of dialogue could have from this returning character.

The story was told from the perspective of Sgt. Denver “Bull” Randleman. He gets wounded by some tank shrapnel and winds up spending the night in a barn with Germans all around him. He received help from a Dutch farmer and his daughter in a tense moment. Bull had to fight a German soldier hand-to-hand to keep his presence hidden.

There was also a cool scene where Private Webster gave a Dutch child a chocolate bar. The child had been with his father in an air raid shelter and came out when the Americans went past. The father had said the boy had never had chocolate before and the joy on the boy’s face after tasting the chocolate was a wonderful bit of life included within the horrors surrounding everything.

Horrors such as the Dutch people, who were greeting Easy Company as “liberators,” taking women and cutting their hair and drawing swastikas on their faces. These were women who had slept with German soldiers and were now facing consequences from an angry mob. This was a disturbing scene and you could tell that the soldiers were bothered by it as well.

This show does a really good job of these smaller moments tucked inside the overall dramatics and violence of the war scenes.

Invincible S3 E4

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“You Were My Hero”

Episode four of the third season of Invincible was really good, if not split into two distinct parts.

I want to get this out of the way first. When this episode started to use a narrator, like a voice over guy for movie trailers, I HATED THAT! That was the worst. I thought the second half of the show was going to be absolutely brutal because of this horrid technique.

However, as soon as Alan found Battle Beast, the second half picked up dramatically. I am not a fan of Omni Man, but seeing how he has a soft spot for Alan was a cool thing and watching them battle against two Viltrumites was fun.

I really enjoyed the first part of the episode where Mark was taken into the future to confront the king who had enslaved earth. I was sure that the king was going to turn out to be Nolan, Mark’s father, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was the Immortal instead.

Then, with the Immortal basically crazy, the struggle Mark had to face with whether or not to do what the Immortal wanted, to kill him, was a major character beat. It reminded me somewhat of Superman in Man of Steel when he broke Zod’s neck. Mark had no real choice and had to do it (although ripping off Immortal’s head was a little more drastic than breaking his neck).

I hope the beginning of the episode does not turn out to be just a throw away bit in this series, because I liked this and Mark was battling inside on his choice. I wonder if this will be forgotten considering it led to Mark and Eve having sex for the first time.

With the exception of the voice over guy, this was my favorite episode of Invincible in awhile. I hope it isn’t just forgotten (as there were some intriguing things mentioned in the future that could be hints about what is coming).

Cobra Kai S6 E11-15

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The final five episodes of the final season of Cobra Kai dropped on Netflix, bringing the series to a satisfying conclusion.

The tragic ending to episode 10 did not really play a piece in these final episodes very much. But the Sekai Taikai coming back to the Valley to complete the tournament was weird, yet worked.

There were a lot of great character moments in this last five episodes where we saw more of the development of these characters than what we saw in the first ten episodes. Moments between Johnny and Creese, Sam and Tori, Tori and Robbie, Dmitri and Hawk, and Johnny and Daniel.

Highlights included Johnny and Carmen’s wedding, both of the final matches in the Sekai Taikai with Tori and Miguel, the return to Cobra Kai, the moment when Daniel LaRusso walked out in Cobra Kai gear, the boat explosion, all the callbacks to the previous seasons and the Karate Kid movies.

My least favorite part of these episodes were the part in Korea with Kim Da-eun and her grandfather. This was a big thing is episode 11, but meant nothing after that.

Mixed: When the tie happened in the Sekai Taikai and it was announced that the tie breaker would be a battle of the two sensei. I literally laughed loudly at the silliness of that twist. Yes, the results in episode 15 turned out epically, but the very idea is just stupid and made no sense.

I thought there was so much more emotion in this block of episodes than previous ones that it was such a strong conclusion to the series. I did like how, in the end, it circled back to having Johnny front and center. This show did start off with Johnny as the main character and Daniel as a supporting character, which changed as the seasons progressed. The turn back to the Cobra Kai roots worked really well and made a lot of sense.

Even more, I was please that they did not make Johnny do the crane kick in that final battle to win the match. I really thought that is where they were going with that match, but the way they did it was so much better and felt far less forced than the crane kick would have felt.

We do not learn anything more about Miyagi’s past, and I actually think that worked well too. That felt like a side story that did not matter in the long run. Once they dealt with it in this episode, Daniel was able to accept the unknown and move on.

So after six seasons Cobra Kai had some really cheesy moments and some that were so far over the top, but it formed together with some excellent storytelling and character development. It also introduced us to a group of characters that we truly liked watching and provided a wonderful conclusion. I wondered if season five should have been the series conclusion, but after seeing these last five episodes, I am glad that they took it one more season.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #139

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February 15

Welcome once again with the EYG Comic Cavalcade. I was able to finish reading my books, even though I was only able to get them after school Friday. I drove through a blizzard to get the books, and I thought I wouldn’t be doing this post late to the weekend. But I was able to read comics all night on Friday, and finished them up this morning.

So here we go…

One World Under Doom #1. “The Exercise of Power.” Written by Ryan North and art by R.B. Silva. Ben Harvey did the cover art. Doctor Doom stole the mantel of Sorcerer Supreme from Dr. Strange during the Blood Hunt. Everyone was worried about where he would take it. Now we know. Doom stepped up to start his domination of the planet. I have loved Ryan North’s run on Fantastic Four, so this is an exciting arc.

Amazing Spider-Man #67. “Nothing Stops.” Written by Justina Ireland and penciled by Andrea Broccardo. Patrick Gleason & Richard Isanove did the cover art. The X-Men have stepped up in Peter’s place as champion for now, but how long will it last? I am not a fan of the way Peter is being written in this arc. I understand the thinking, but Spider-Man’s dedication to life and responsibility would not allow him to act in this manner. I don’t like it when someone does not seem to understand the character of Peter Parker. We’ll see where this goes.

New Champions #2. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Gleb Melnikov & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. This has been a fun start to this series. I loved the compilation of this group of heroes as potential New Champions. I am intrigued by which ones of them will stick around and join this new team.

Feral #10. Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Cover art was done by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner. This issue really took a step into horror. This comic has always had a horror feel to it, but the scene with the lady in the basement with the hungry cats was just next level.

X-Men #11. “Live Capture.” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Cover art is done by Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer & Marte Gracia. The X-Men find a surprise when they go to investigate a spaceship. Corsair!

Eddie Brock: Carnage #1. Written by Charles Soule and art by Jesus Saiz. Cover art was done by Iban Coello & Frank D’Armata. The Carnage symbiote faces off with Eddie Brock. Can they work as a duo, or are they simply incompatible? This is a new look at Brock and a very intriguing book. I have never been a huge fan of Venom/Carnage as heroes, but this has a bizarre twist to it.

Sam Wilson: Captain America #2. Written by Greg Pak & Evan Narcisse and art by Eder Messias. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. This felt very much like the newly released Captain America: Brave New World movie. Right down to the fight with Red Hulk.

Spider-Boy #16. “Bonus Level” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina. Paco Medina and Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Thanks to Daredevil, Spider-Boy jumps back into the Dragon’s Challenge tournament along with Spider-Girl. I’m glad this arc is over.

All-New Venom #3. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Adam Kubert & Laura Martin did the cover art (Silver Medalist). Another of the suspects is eliminated from the “Who is All-New Venom?” story. It is not Madame Masque (thank god).

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #10. “Haunted” Part 10. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Von Randal. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks (Gold Medalist). The mysterious Black Tarantula is revealed and the person behind him steps up too.

Standstill #7. Written by Lee Loughlin and art by Alex Riegel. Cover art was done by Andrew Robinson. Ryker and Jack Knife are together and Ryker is not in best shape. However, there are more problems on the way. Will they survive?

The Immortal Thor #20. “Into the Dark.” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Jan Bazaldua. Alex Ross did the cover art (Bronze Medalist). Thor spends some time with his mother, Freyja, until the return of Torantos brings him back for a final confrontation… but not as one would expect.

Transformers #17. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson and art by Jorge Corona. Cover art was done by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer. The final page saw the debut of Shredhead. More Autobot and Decepticon action both on earth and Cybertron.

Deadpool/Wolverine #2. “Badlands” Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Joshua Cassara. Joshua Cassara & GURU-eFX did the cover art. Deadpool and Wolverine fight some boned up dinosaurs. Wade and Logan’s relationship comes through in these pages very well.

Deadpool Team-Up #5. Written and drawn by Rob Liefeld and the cover art was done by Rob Liefeld and Juan Manuel Rodriguez. How intriguing this is. Rob Liefeld has recently fallen out with Marvel over perceived slights during the premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine and he has come out against them. It seems like this is most likely the final issue with Rob Liefeld involved for the foreseeable future. This is the final issue of this Deadpool Team-Up.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #5. “Scars.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Variant cover art (Torch cover) by Emilio Laiso & Mattia Iacono. Marc Specter takes on Fairchild inside the square circle. Perhaps it does not go the way one would expect.

Deadpool #11. “Pools of Blood Part One.” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Andrea DiVito. Cover art by Taurin Clarke. Deadpool and his daughter have a special contract. It was a contract for Miles Morales Spider-Man. Miles is not going to go easy.

Batman: Dark Patterns #3. “We are the Wounded Part 3.” Written by Dan Watters and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover art by Hayden Sherman. I really love the Wound Man and the story that is behind this character. He is one of the more interesting new villains you are going to find.

Absolute Batman #5. “The 200 Part Five” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Oragotta. Cover art is done by Oragotta & Martin. We get more present day/flashback with Batman and a young Bruce Wayne.

Geiger #11. Written by Geoff Johns and art and cover by Gary Frank & Brad Armstrong. Nate is out to try and help Mr. Geiger control his power. How better to do that than find the Glowing Woman?

Other books this week: Psylocke #4, The Lucky Devils #2, The Moon is Following Us #6, Marvel Mutts #1, Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #4, and Magik #2.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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February 14

So I am a couple of days late with the EYG Favorite Comic Covers post. Wednesday on NEW COMIC BOOK DAY, there was a bunch of snow. We had around 8″ here and Dubuque was around 6″ so I did not venture out. Then, Thursday night, I already had tickets for Captain America: Brave New World in Davenport. That took a trip to Dubuque out of the cards for Thrusday.

I headed to Dubuque today after school and, about halfway there, suddenly there was snow everywhere. It was getting bad, mainly because of the wind, but I made to Comic World and got home as quickly as I could. It felt like I was coming home through a blizzard, but it may be that I am just not as used to driving in weather any more. Still, I am home safe and ready to award some medals.

Bronze Medalist

Immortal Thor #20

Cover art by Alex Ross

Last year’s champion, Alex Ross, returns to the medal podium this week with one of his classic Thor covers. It is an action packed cover with Thor dead center.

Silver Medalist

All-New Venom #3

Cover art by Adam Kubert & Laura Martin

The image of the All-New Venom on the cover, with that creepy grin, stands before the red background, causing the character to stand out even more. The reflection in Venom’s eyes are a cool extra feature.

Gold Medalist

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #10

Cover art by Mark Brooks

More red background this week and Spider-Gwen is looking awesome in this web. The web itself knocked the title off its place at the top. When I was going through my pile of books this week, this one jumped out at me. I had this one picked and the other two were the debatable one.

Captain America: Brave New World

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The fourth film in the Captain America franchise debuted this weekend from Marvel Studios. It has been a film that has had its struggles dating back to Covid, multiple reshoots and delays. Finally, it has arrived in theaters. As with other struggles, this film has had some middling reviews from critics. All of this made me a little nervous about the movie. I am pleased to say that I enjoyed this a great deal.

Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) was still facing challenges of assuming the mantel of Captain America, but the new president of the United States, Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) reached out to Sam with an olive branch and an offer to reform the Avengers.

Ross, who had done plenty of horrible things over the years, was trying to turn over a new leaf. However, an unexpected assassination attempt changed everything for the new POTUS.

Sam was completely confused when one of the attempted assassins turned out to be his friend and invitee Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), one of the original soldiers who was given the Super Soldier Serum and then experimented on by the government for years. Sam believed in Isaiah’s innocence and it created a chasm between Sam and the admnistration.

This film works well as a sequel to the Disney + series Falcon and the Winter Soldier and also, oddly enough, the Incredible Hulk. There are elements in the film that tied it to The Eternals as well.

Anthony Mackie is tremendous as the lead in this film. He showed that he was an excellent choice to take over the role of Captain America. He is charming and does a really great job with the dramatic moments as well. Harrison Ford, who took over the role of Thunderbolt Ross from the late William Hurt, looked to be having a ton of fun as President Ross who eventually turned into the Red Hulk. Harrison Ford is always exceptional, and he and Mackie have great chemistry. They are the standout of the movie.

You can tell at times that this film has been stitched together from reshoots, but it does a decent job of blending them together. With as many reshoots that this film had, it is amazing that this film is as coherent as it is. The film is a political thriller, but I would have liked even more of that.

The inclusion of Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder had been added later. Esposito was great and cool, but he was not in the film very much. I hope that he has more to come down the road in the MCU because the little bit we get of Sidewinder in Brave New World is wonderful.

I loved Tim Blake Nelson returning as Samuel Sterns from the Incredible Hulk. He is another character that could have had more screen time. I loved the look of this character.

No spoilers here, but there is a cameo in this movie that I absolutely loved!

I thought the action scenes were really solid. The aerial action with Sam and Joaquin (Danny Ramirez) was a lot of fun as was the eventual Sam and Red Hulk showdown that we have seen in the trailers.

There are some moments where the film is a little messy, but none of that bothered me. I understood with all of the challenges this movie faced that it may not have been the most polished of films. Some of the first act exposition may have been too much, but there was a lot of material that the film had to provide to those who may not have watched the corresponding films/series.

In the end, Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford were great together and they carried this film. It may not be the best of the Captain America franchise, but, to me, it is a welcome addition.

4.3 stars