#i mean i'm a thor cap and loki stan

[quirrelli]

Marvel Rewatch Thread

Originally posted: 25.02.22-14.03.22

Haven't seen most of the Marvel movies since they came out but I have a sudden urge to rewatch them like a TV show, with Endgame as the season finale. And to tweet about it. (Feel free to mute this thread if you're only here for the art.)

Iron Man still fucking rules. It has so much of what I like to call buzz porn. I will never get tired of the suiting up sequences.

Evil Jeff Bridges with a cigar on a Segway. A king.

We've all gotten used to it by now but the way they show Tony's face in the 3D-void with the digital interface over it is actually pretty ingenious.

Speaking of Tony, RDJ may always play himself, but the man oozes charisma from the points of his funky goatee to the bell bottoms of his suit pants.

And Jarvis too! I've never not loved a Paul Bettany performance. I predict I may say this several more times, but the casting carried this franchise from the start.

That final battle is like, what if Transformers but good?

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Ah, the famously maligned Iron Man 2. It's true, it's not as good as the first but nevertheless, the War Machine suit FUCKS. (And so does the song).

I like Whiplash, it's Hammer that's the problem. Everyone, but especially he talks so much that the quippy bickering that is 90% of the dialogue stops being amusing like it was in 1 and becomes draggy.

Also, the narrative structure is much less clean. Iron Man 1's plot is a tight piece of ass, where 2 needs to do some more squats.

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The Incredible Hulk certainly is an odd little duckling in the lineup. Its connection to the rest of the MCU is so tenuous as to almost not be felt at all, especially with Norton's recasting. It's also the only one without a post-credits stinger.

I will say I like Norton!Banner, but there is something off about this Hulk's face. Maybe the technology just wasn't quite there yet in 2008.

Certainly appropriately green color palette throughout though. I'm also noticing a certain grimy, tactile nature to these early entries that's gradually lost as more and more of the sets and even costumes get replaced by pure CGI. Some jumpy editing here and there too.

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Again, the casting in these movies is stellar across the board but man, Chris Evans is such a perfect Captain America in every way. Certainly the best bod in the biz, come at me, rival Chris stans.

That replacement effect they did with pre-serum Steve's body is surprisingly good, especially remembering much more recent travesties like the Super-stache.

The first Cap suit is still lowkey my favorite one. That functional military aesthetic is just my vibe.

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Thor is better than I remember. Everyone, but especially Jane is super likeable actually. Also, I would trust Heimdall with my life savings, my first born, my soul and my browser history.

Besides Tony, Loki arguably carried this franchise more than any other character and he proves yet again that family makes the best villains.

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The Avengers takes me back. It might be old news now, but this is the movie that invented the concept of the "cinematic universe". Like, that wasn't a word before. It was thrilling.

I remember when I got into Marvel after the first Iron Man came out, reading rumors about a potential Avengers movie and thinking that it was never going to happen. It would be too big, too expensive, too much to set up, just unfeasable on every level. And then it... happened.

That first arc of the MCU might have also been the best execution of a cinematic universe to date, bc it was at that point still Tony's story at its core and his arc finishes here. But we'll see as we go along.

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Thor 2 is the first of these that really feels like it only exists to be part of the larger franchise. That is not a good thing. It's what sank the DCU before it even left the shallows.

There's a very noticeable lack of verve compared to the first one, the cinematography and editing is so unexciting, the plot so basic. I mean they whipped out the ol' "when the planets align" chestnut. The only fun idea is the wacky gravity but they don't do enough with it.

Jane, despite being more directly involved in the conflict feels much less like an active agent than the first one and what did they do to rapier-man's hair?

I don't mean to pretend like these movies are high art or anything but this is well below the standards set, like b-tier fantasy at best.

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I have to admit IM3 is better the second time around. The big twist obviously loses its impact but there's some good moments and it's thematically more coherent than I originally gave it credit for.

Having said that, that theme and its resolution requires that this be the end of Iron Man as a character, which it obviously won't be. It's sort of the opposite problem from the last one: Where Thor2 can't exist outside the MCU, IM3 can't exist within it.

What made me absolutely livid when I first saw this movie is that Tony gets the reactor removed. It still doesn't sit right with me, though the reasons have shifted. Then, it was bc Tony and the suit are a unit, if it's not part of him he becomes exactly what cap says he is in A1

Now, contrary to what IM3 posits, the reactor to me symbolizes accepting the wounds of the past as a permanent part of yourself and growing from them, which breaks down as a metaphor if Tony could always get rid of the shrapnel and just didn't, for some reason.

Also, the mark 42 is still fugly.

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CA: winter soldier has some really good hand-to-hand combat and I really like the bromance with Natasha. They make a good team. Same goes for Wilson.

Because the themes of mass surveillance and corruption are more relevant than ever I'm not a huge fan of the conspiratorial bent this movie takes. It's a bit too real a subject to go full wacky Hydra long-con, you know.

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Guardians 1 does a remarkable job being good, considering all the new stuff it has to fit in. I'm not particularly attached to any of the characters but yeah, it works, it's just a solid flick all around.

I'm having flashbacks to baby groot mania

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Guardians 2's opening slaps. Also, de-aged Kurt Russell looks surprisingly convincing.

It's the sequel that's just better in every way. G1 laid a solid foundation that this one builds on a lot. It really digs into the characters' hearts (and makes me mix my metaphors apparently). They even manage to make the goofy tone thematic in that it's Peter's coping mechanism

Ego is the rare antagonist who isn't a foil but a natural evolution of the protagonist. Definitely in the upper echelons of Marvel villains.

I really like the ship with the little movable laser balls. Creative.

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Avengers 2 time! Vision: Awesome! Hulkbuster: Awesome! That shot of Cap ripping a log in two: Awesome! Natasha calling herself a monster bc she can't have children... a choice.

I'm glad they acknowledge from the start how OP Wanda is. I'm less glad her powers are basically reduced to telekinesis when they're so much funkier than that.

Why did they give Ultron so much... face? Especially combined with Spader's expressive performance it would have been much more unsettling to have a motionless mask.

This movie really takes IM3 from a mixed bag to utterly pointless.

It could be on my end but the audio mixing is off. Some of the sfx are weirdly quiet in places.

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Ant-Man is definitely a breath of fresh air after all relentless power escalation of the previous batch of movies. Slows down a little, brings down the scale (hah), you know

Although I do remain a touch salty that they didn't go with original ant-man/yellowjacket, especially since they already transplanted the Ultron storyline to Tony. I would have liked to have seen mad scientist Pym and his merry circus of fucked up alter-egos.

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Movie civil war is better than comic book civil war bc it ties into the characters way more and bc the inciting incident actually directly involves an avenger, and one who is famously volatile to boot. Still perhaps a touch contrived though.

Black Panther!!! The only hero who may out-cool Tony. RIP, king.

Why are the police in Bucharest speaking German? That really threw me, to the point I was unsure where that part was taking place. Pretty serious oversight honestly.

And why did steve kiss this random side character who doesn't matter? In a movie as long as this you can't really afford to keep dead end plot lines like that around.

My aesthetic is steve rogers' biceps.

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Listen, Toby Maguire will always have a special place in my heart, but Holland is the best package as far as spider-men go. Even though obviously no-one here looks their age I do buy Holland as conceptual teenager. Like, the energy is correct, in a way it never was before.

I really enjoy dad!Tony's ineptitude too. There was a touch of that IM3 (keep coming back to that one, huh) but it works better here.

Did they cast Michael Keaton as the Vulture bc of Birdman? I'm gonna choose to believe they did.

If I may nitpick for a second here: The new Avengers HQ was introduced after Ultron, two years before Homecoming takes place, so why would they just now have a "moving day"?

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I really like the tech in Black Panther. The beads, the sand, the cloaks. Really adds to Wakanda's identity separate from the rest of the universe.

Who gave Michael B. Jordan the right to be this attractive and compelling and generally a highlight of the franchise?

WAR RHINOS!!!

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Do I have lingering trauma from being on tumblr in the years 2012-17? Yes. But I still have to admit Cumberbatch is a decent actor. My favorite thing about his casting is that there's probs no one else whose name is as evenly matched in joke potential to their character as him.

The trippy shit is great. Like Inception on LSD. Just fun to watch even if, like me, you're not super invested in the story.

Rachel McAdams is so pretty <3

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Thor Ragnarok summary The aesthetic: impeccable The cast: hideously attractive The humor: so good The tonal shift compared to previous entries: lurching

I guess it only makes sense that the most unique, mould-breaking, complete stories have the most trouble fitting into such a behemoth of a franchise. Ragnarok might be the best MCU movie outside of the context of the MCU.

When Thor lands on the rainbow bridge all electrified, a lightning arch connects between his eye and his chest circle thingy and I love that particular frame so much.

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The size fuckery in Ant-man 2 is even better.

I don't like the ghost's acting. Nothing wrong with the character, but her body language is stiff and awkward. Now scott's daughter, there's a real mvp.

Watching the first after credits stinger before having seen infinity war makes it super ominous actually.

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Captain Marvel aka I'm gaaaaaay, the movie. And not just me. Carol and Maria will get married eventually and finish raising their daughter together, you cannot convince me otherwise.

Aww, I forgot about the Stanley montage. That's sweet.

I do love the mohawk.

Larson leans into the cocky badass persona a bit too far but what I like about Carol is how much joy she finds in her powers. Like so many heroes they get foisted on her but she doesn't get caught up in any "but what if I'm a monster" or "I didn't ask for this" angst.

She discovers she can fly and is like "fuck yeah I can fly! Watch me gooooo!" You know, the correct response. One of my favorite moments in the movie is when she starfishes straight through a spaceship just for shits and giggles.

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The remarkable thing about Infinity War is that while not everyone gets an arc, everyoen at least gets a beat or two and it all makes sense and hits. That's the pinnacle of what can be achieved with a well-designed cinematic universe.

The only thing that feels a touch underdeveloped is Wanda and Vision's relationship. It's a shame bc Wandavision is such a good ship with so much history. At least they have a TV show now. Also, I notice Wanda lost her accent.

Do Strange and Tony have... chemistry? Not to get all shippy for the finale but like, I might have to check AO3 and see if there's anything good.

Why is it that all of my faves specifically have to die :(

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Is Infinity War/Endgame the best two parter finale? A case might be made, I think.

This movie really makes me cognizant of how well structured the power escalation in this franchise is (leaving aside the fact that the sorcers are supremely OP).

Time travel and universe rearrangement is game-breaking and about as far as you can reasonably go in scale. The stakes just lose touch with what's humanly imaginable/ empathizable after that, which is why it's good that they saved it for the very end.

Endgame has a touch of the ol' "too many endings" disease but I'd say it's earned them at this point.

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Wrap up time! First, the perhaps obvious: there's a difference between watching 22 movies and 22 TV eps. They flow different and the movie marathon does get exhausting in a way the equivalent of ~2 TV seasons wouldn't have done.

They are, for the most part, fun flicks in their own right but I'm left wondering if the individual heroes wouldn't have been better served in a semi-canon CU, where weirder titles like Dr. Strange and Ant-Man would have had more freedom to experiment.

Then again, the existence of the MCU doesn't preclude future iterations that do push the envelope a little more. In fact, Wandavision, the only one of the TV shows I've cared to watch, does go in that direction, to the point that it ends up straining against its MCU obligations.

Anyway, I'm not gonna do a ranking of the movies. Instead I'm gonna do sth much more fun and at least 5% less overdone and rank each movie's main villain! It's possible they might correlate more strongly with overall enjoyment than the heroes even. Let's see here:

1. Loki 2. Killmonger 3. Vulture 4. Hela 5. Ego 6. Winter Soldier 7. Obadiah Stane 8. Ultron 9. Thanos 10. Yon-Rogg 11. Kaecilius 12. Yellowjacket 13. Ghost 14. Red Skull 15. Aldrich Kilian 16. Whiplash 17. Zemo 18. Colonel Ross 19. Ronan the Accuser 20. Malekith

[cassianandfenrysaremyboyos]

Just a casual little spruik of my side blog @san5a if anyone wants to follow it

[writer-monster]

11 reasons why cap 4 should reintroduce Bucky Barnes as the love interest, an essay

to start this off, i am not writing this essay from a shipping place nor do i believe that this would have any influence at all over the upcoming movie. i expect nothing. this is simply something that i would personally like to see. (of course no hate to anybody who thinks differently)

here are 11 reasons why i think making Bucky into Sam Wilson's love interest in Cap 4 would be a good move for Disney.

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1. on the Chinese film market - and why it's an irrelevant argument against the inclusion of homosexual themes in Cap 4

the Chinese film market is something that has been blamed for a lack of diversity in Hollywood films a lot lately. many people claim that this market with a lot of buying power has been responsible for the lack of gay and black representation in particular within Hollywood films.

and we have certainly seen Hollywood treating it as such, going so far as to cut gay scenes from movies for their Chinese releases, and vastly minimising John Boyega's (a black actor's) presence in the Chinese poster of Star Wars The Force Awakens.

[image ID: on the left is an image of the American poster for Star Wars The Force Awakens, featuring John Boyega prominently on the right-hand side. And on the right is the Chinese poster for the same movie, in which John Boyega is barely visible.]

so we know at the very least that Disney believes this through their own actions and efforts to self-censor for the different markets.

but Captain America 4 is a black-led movie, don't you forget. and Disney can't minimise Sam Wilson/Anthony Mackie in the movie or the poster because it's his movie and his poster. and no amount of creativity in the editing room can change that (thank God!).

so if by their own argument the film is already going to be either banned, panned or slammed in China... then what do they have to fear from making it a gay movie too?

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2. oh, the queerbaiting

queerbaiting is an unusual cultural idea. and sometimes i find myself thinking that the term is far too easily used, but then all of a sudden i will stumble upon a movie or show that is so quintessentially cruel and overt in it's... well... queerbaiting that i will start to wonder what the hell kind of a bizarre relationship all these straight people seem to have with their friends. take Troy and Abed from Community or John and Sherlock from Sherlock as the perfect examples of this. (in which my reaction to the show's creators saying the show wasn't gay was to ask so then why did you make it so gay?!)

i felt that Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes in tfatws were getting quite close to this level of queerbaiting.

there was the field scene, the couple's counselling scene, the boat scene, the couple's counselling scene, Bucky going with Sam to face Karli when she told Sam to come alone, the couple's counselling scene, ALL the staring scenes, Sam checking out Bucky's ass here as they said goodbye, the "i would move in with him but" hidden scene, "Uncle Bucky" showing up at the cookout scene, the romantic walking off together into the sunset together ending scene, and the couple's counselling scene. did i forget anything? but i mean seriously, the couple's counselling scene!!! that thing they did with their legs and their crotches while staring deep into each other's eyes, would any straight guy willingly do that? do straight guys crotch-snuggle now?

[image ID: an image of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes during the therapy scene with the quote, "Isn't anybody going to drag me into impromptu couple's therapy and slot my legs firmly between theirs before staring deeply into my eyes?"]

(yeah i stole this image from a buzzfeed article on the fan reactions to the couple's therapy scene. but given that they stole 80% of the content of that article from fandom tumblr, i think it's pretty even-steven.)

there's also the fact that people started talking about bisexual Bucky Barnes a lot after the tiger pictures line, and the lead writer Malcom Spellman responded to the talk of Bucky's bisexuality with "just keep watching". well we watched, Malcolm. but it's beginning to feel like you were just jerking us around.

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3. the writing

seriously though, what else is Bucky Barnes doing right now in the MCU? his only remaining connection to anything going on right now is through Sam. there is literally nothing else established that's left for him to do that doesn't involve Sam. he moved to Louisiana to be closer to Sam (canonically), he hangs out with Sam's family (canonically), and Steve is presumably gone and is definitely not coming back for more adventures.

he has no villains or loose ends left. he has no other superheroes that he appears to be in contact with. he has no girlfriend or potential love interest, or even other friends or family. he is living in a tent that he has secretly set up in Sam's backyard and is mysteriously appearing from the bushes when it's time for dinner like a stray cat.

in my opinion there is no other meaningful and pre-established progression for Bucky's character that wouldn't just feel cheap.

plus, i don't think the general audience would be all that surprised if they kissed. i think a LOT of people picked up on all that tension. i think a lot of straight people picked up on all that tension too.

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4. the chemistry between the actors & the chemistry between the characters

the original pitch for tfatws was essentially just this, it was the chemistry between Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie and their respective MCU characters of Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson.

now obviously Anthony and Sebastian are simply friends, and i wouldn't mean to imply anything more. but they are also not their characters.

Sam and Bucky's scenes together before tfatws were both limited and short, and yet audiences still fell in love with the dynamic between the two characters.

in interviews, these two actors are constantly slipping into character and flirting with each other and frankly it's adorable. plus it's really entertaining. i'd love to see that dynamic, unfiltered, in a movie.

because believe it or not the flirting is actually even more open in their interviews than it was in tfatws. and i'm leaving some links as proof.

this here is known as the "married" compilation

and here's a "lucky dip" selection of interviews - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

and here's Anthony trying to get Seb to take his jacket off.

i'm just saying, why not let their chemistry shine? these two are so talented and so entertaining, especially when you put them in a room together. and can you imagine how absolutely hilarious and brilliant it would be to watch them navigate being a couple?

(and for those who bring up the "friends would be uncomfortable pretending to be dating" argument, i'm not here asking for a sex scene or anything. i don't think anyone would expect them to show any more intimacy (physical or emotional) while playing a couple than what they've already shown together in say... tfatws or in their own interviews. not that i actually expect anything regardless.)

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5. if they were a man and a woman they would've gotten together in tfatws

i have no more to add here. just that... yeah, they would've.

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6. and i'm not talking about the comics here, i'm talking about the MCU.

i understand fully that none of what i'm saying here falls in line with these characters from the comics. but the mcu itself doesn't fall much in line with the comics either, and these two characters especially are very different from their comics counterparts.

i'm not asking for these two to get together in the comics. tbh i don't think that it would work.

but the mcu Sam and Bucky are different and closer than their comics counterparts. they've got different histories, different backstories, and a very different dynamic. please rest assured that i am only talking about them in the mcu.

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7. Bucky Barnes is believably bisexual. and Sam Wilson has never been proven to be straight in the mcu, nor has he had a love interest.

(now please continue to keep in mind that these points only stand for the mcu versions of Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson, and not at all for their comics counterparts.)

Sam Wilson has never had a love interest, which is crazy because have you seen that man! he has had two blink and you'll miss it moments of verbal expression of attraction to women, both in TWS. and that's the extent of it, through his entire history in the mcu.

Bucky Barnes has had a number of surface-level female love interests, but none of them even came close to the level of connection and chemistry that Bucky shares with Sam.

and i'm sorry SarahBucky fans, but i just don't think there's very much to their relationship either. i love Sarah, i really do. but it's Sam who shares all the meaningful moments and history and chemistry with Bucky. and i don't see what making her into a love interest would do for Sarah's character either, what would that add to her story?

[Picture ID: Bucky at the cookout with Sam, Sarah, Cass and AJ. Bucky and Sam are looking at each other and smiling.]

and also there is the whole tiger pictures thing... again. which does strongly suggest that Bucky is bisexual whether this was intentional on behalf of the writers or not.

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8. it's representation... AND it feels natural

marvel hasn't had a lot of queer representation that's been noticeably present in the MCU at the time of writing this.

there have been a lot of failures so far, from the bisexual erasure of Valkyrie in Thor Ragnarok to the wlw erasure in Black Panther.

there was queerbaiting almost identical to the bisexual Bucky baiting for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. when asked if he had considered featuring a gay hero in gotg2, director James Gunn stated that "We might have already done that. I say, watch the movie." after the movie's release audiences were understandably confused about the lack of queer representation. To which the director followed up his comments with, "But we don't really know who's gay and who's not. It could be any of them."

there is also Loki, considered by most fans after the airing of his six episode series on Disney+ to be both a poor attempt at both genderfluid representation and bisexual representation. with both attempts being summed up fairly well by the term "blink-and-you'll-miss-it". (also it's just terribly written and Loki doesn't wear any interesting clothes! fanficcers are a Goddamn blessing in this hard time!)

and let us not forget that Andrew Garfield was apparently FIRED for pushing for a bisexual spiderman. a bisexual spiderman within an interracial mlm relationship no less.

so for all these failures, marvel, why not allow us queer fans this? two brilliant and heroic men in a loving interracial relationship. two heroes that we can look up to.

now, one of the biggest detractions from the argument for representation is the idea of "forced diversity". and some poorly written characters certainly do end up feeling forced into the narrative. take Iceman in the comics for example, with Jean Grey just straight up suddenly telling him he's gay. like, marvel, sweetie, that's not how this works! and i don't know a lot of queer people who thought much of that "representation".

but the crux of the "forced diversity" argument is almost always that it feels unnatural within the story, right? and i don't think that anyone could say that about MCU Sam and Bucky ending up together, given these characters' existing chemistry and their history. they've both played characters in gay relationships before so we know that it's not outside of either actor's wheelhouse. and y'all know that Anthony and Seb can act, people. if it's in the script i believe that they'll make it seem like the most natural thing on earth.

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9. it'd be a nice change

there's been an ongoing meme lately about "Disney's first gay character", the joke being that they continually announce gay characters without really ever including gay characters in their films.

this is to the point where Disney has formed a reputation amongst queer audiences of being homophobic.

if Sam and Bucky were to become a couple, then Disney could have its first actual gay character within a gay relationship. AND have him be in the lead of his own movie, no less.

it's also worth keeping in mind that there's likely an overlap between the people who were outraged by a Sam Wilson Captain America, and the people who'd be outraged by a gay Captain America. and if they were already not seeing the film, then i don't think much is gonna change that.

queer audiences would definitely love it, and the media attention would be guaranteed to be huge. i mean, simply look at the amount of media attention mere rumours of a character's queerness gets you and multiply that by a canon confirmation of said rumours.

but i'm pretty sure that Disney already knows this.

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10. and yet, in truth, it's not about the representation

in truth i've never felt that i had any trouble relating to characters of any sexual orientation, race, gender, sex, body type, etc. (although that is not to throw any shade at all on people who do wish to see themselves represented) but for me, i think it's more about the story than the packaging.

and yet, a love story is still just a story. straight or queer, monoethnic or interracial. when two characters have chemistry and history and have sacrificed for each other time and time again, and they also can't keep their hands or their eyes off each other, then i'm pretty sure that that's a love story.

straight or queer, monoethnic or interracial, it shouldn't be about these simple labels. it should be about how well written the relationship is. it should be about chemistry, and history, and sacrifice.

because i'm fucking sick of all the hollow, forced romances in media no matter the genders of the participants. i'm sick of lazily written, shallow relationships where any two people sharing the same space for any extended period of time will simply fall in love. it's boring, it's repetitive, and as a writer myself it drives me up the wall!

romance stories suck! and everyone knows that romance stories suck. between twilight, and most of the entire YA genre, and love triangles (so boring), and romance used as poorly-written throwaway subplots in Hollywood movies, the world is in agreement that the romance in western media is simply dreadful. and yet we still want love stories. it's an entire genre that sits at the heart of the human experience (<3), and yet one which so few of today's best known writers seem truly able to capture.

i don't think that i'm the only one who feels this way, either. i suspect it's actually a large part of why fandom is so romance-centred in the first place, that we're all just starving for a good love story.

(btw i think fandom has a reputation for being something that as a whole that it is not. it has this reputation for straight up demanding things and harassing people until they get their way. while unfortunately there are a few people who do this, they're fucking annoying and i swear that they're far from the majority.

in my experience fandom is mostly about writing a five thousand word story at three am while drunk off your ass because it might make someone whom you've never met smile, editing it in the cold light of day, and then posting it. expecting nothing. sometimes getting nothing. and sometimes getting someone send you kudos or a comment so heartbreakingly wonderful that it makes you smile in return.)

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11. so once again, it is all about the writing.

i want to see Sam and Bucky get together in the mcu, not because they would be a gay couple but because i genuinely believe that their story has potential to be an amazing love story.

and i know the mcu isn't about the romance. it's why in my personal opinion we haven't gotten a lot of good canon romances besides Peter Quill and Gamora. and i don't think that the mcu should be all about the romance either. i fucking love the action and the fighting scenes. i love the comedy. Captain America: The Winter Soldier had no romance and it was a fucking treasure, it was an amazing spy-action-thriller and it made my little gay heart dance. Thor Ragnarok had no romance, and it was an utterly brilliant comedic spectacle action film. not every movie needs romance.

but mcu Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes were doing couple's therapy and fixing a boat and walking off into the sunset together in tfatws. they were inseparable on the battlefield. they've got a dynamic. it's beautiful, it's romantic, and it's gold.

a budding relationship between them in the next movie would be a good way to explore both characters more without the narrative feeling too stilted and separate. at the end of tfatws, both Sam and Bucky fans found that their respective fave felt somewhat underutilised and that their characters were underexplored.

now, that problem would be even more difficult to remedy in a movie, because the plotline of a movie needs to be really tight to work (giggity). and we know that the central conflict of the movie is gonna be action-based (which is good), but we still need each character's personal journey and growth to tie into the main conflict. (which is another issue that some fans found with tfatws, that these characters didn't really feel connected to the action-based plot on a more personal level.)

if Sam and Bucky are already in a relationship, however, this whole dynamic changes. first, their relationship has already been set up for nicely since TWS and through tfatws and they would officially be the best-fleshed-out couple in the mcu. but most importantly, a relationship gives them a perfect vehicle to explore both of their pasts comparatively and connect them personally to the action-based plot.

do you want to establish that Sam is a little too trusting and naïve? then establish this through his relationship with Bucky, and through showing his placing his trust in Bucky. (rather than through having him sympathise with a villain who threatened to murder his sister and his nephews).

perhaps you want to show Bucky recovering from his trauma? show us how comfortable he is with Sam. they get along, they're enjoying each other's presence, we see more of Sam's life and of his family, and then let Bucky tell Sam something that's raw and dark and honest about his life as The Winter Soldier. something about a memory, one that he only just recalled. he's opening up. and maybe what he tells Sam is even something that sets up the future action-based conflict, to ground that in something real.

you want to explore that Sam has trauma too? do this through Bucky. he tells Bucky a story about his time in the military. in the form of a flashback, he shares his own story of loss to evoke before the audience the shared theme of feeling at fault even when you're simply a helpless bystander to an act of pure destruction.

then, action sequence! and it's directly connected to Bucky's time as the Winter Soldier. explore the grief of someone whose life the Winter Soldier tore apart manifesting into a villain perpetuating the cycle of pain. establish your villain.

Later, Sam is dragged into battle against this villain for protecting Bucky. But Bucky doesn't want Sam to protect him. He feels guilt for what he can't control and he doesn't want Sam getting hurt because of him. Bucky reminds Sam that he has a family, one who needs him and who loves him. He tells him to go home.

Sam reminds Bucky that he's a part of that family. And that sure Sam's a hero and his job is to protect anyone and everyone, but that he's doing it because he wants to. It's not simply to prove that he can, or to prove that he's not a bystander (this connects to Sam's trauma here), but that he's doing it to help people.

and this gets Bucky thinking about who he is and what he's doing here. is he a hero who stands by Sam's side? or is he an ordinary man who stands aside? or perhaps, does he stand alone? what does he stand for? Maybe Sam knows. But does Bucky?

Sam and Bucky fight off the villain again, and for the first time Bucky meets this adversary face to face. And Bucky recognises this villain, and has a flashback to the genuine pain that he inflicted upon them in the form of the Winter Soldier. Bucky freezes mid-fight, he almost dies, and Sam has to save him.

Sam chews Bucky out for almost getting killed because he was afraid for him. but Bucky takes this the wrong way and goes off to fight the villain alone, or perhaps to die alone, he's not quite sure.

He puts up a half-hearted fight. He apologises for what the Winter Soldier has done, and he waits for the killing blow, when Sam swoops down and he saves him. He asks Sam why he saved him and Sam calls him a moron. And then, Sam asks him what sacrificing himself would solve. He tells him that you can't choose your past but you can choose your future (connecting to his own experience of loss and guilt and grief). And that no matter what Bucky Barnes still has a future, whether that's as the Winter Soldier or the White Wolf or just some dork with a day job. And that he has a future as a part of Sam's family too.

Sam fights the villain, and it's toe to toe. He delivers a few good blows, but receives a fair few himself. And then the villain tears off his wings, first one and then the other, in a manner reminiscent of what the Winter Soldier did to him in TWS. Through Bucky's eyes there's a flashback to highlight the parallels. Sam gets back on his feet and he fights his best fight, but is now losing.

And then the heavily injured Bucky steps up and fights by Sam's side, and only together do they take down the villain.

"So... I inspired you, huh?" Sam teases with a smile, utterly exhausted. "With my heroism and-"

"You inspired me." Bucky said, equally exhausted. "Let's leave it at that."

Together, Sam and Bucky go back to the safety and warmth of their family. Sam fixes his wings. Sam goes back to being Captain America. And Bucky... he's around, but it's unclear what he's doing.

That is, until the very end. When Sam is in a fight, and suddenly Bucky shows up and helps him out.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asks.

"I've made up my mind." Bucky says. "I'm the Winter Soldier. But now I'll save lives, Sam. Now, like you, I'll be a hero."

Sam smirks. "So does this make you my sidekick, then?"

Bucky smiles. "C'mon, at least make me a partner." He says.

"How about co-workers." Sam says (in flashback, he remembers back to the death of his last on-the-job partner).

"How about friends." Bucky says, with a wry look.

"Bucky... I don't want to see you put your dumbass self in danger." Sam says.

"Oh, and it's ok for you to go running off into danger on your own all the time?" Bucky asks.

"Yes." Sam says stubbornly. "Absolutely it is."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not a dumbass?!"

"Sam, if you think I'm not gonna be watching your back for the rest of time... then you're the biggest dumbass I know. And I don't care if you need me or not, I will be there for you."

"Because Sam, you're more than Captain America. You're more than a good soldier. You're a good man. And I think sometimes, the world forgets what the difference is."

-

...or something like that.

(i only spent like 15 minutes on that. you know if i were actually writing this movie i would come up with something much better. and if anyone from marvel is seeing this, yes i can come work for you. i will make the time, let's do this thing right!)

-

finale

at the end of the day, whether or not the mcu chooses to make Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes a couple, it's their decision. and they don't owe me anything.

i'm just some random person on the internet. who thinks that Captain America 4 should #givecaptainamericaaboyfriend

[theamityelf]

(I preordered Infinity War on iTunes as soon as I saw it on opening night, which I never did for Endgame, so let it be known that that's where I stand when I say)

Reasons I'm Mad About Infinity War:

The Wakanda fight. I've already gone into it; saying "We don't trade lives" and then using that as the justification for a battle in which black people get slaughtered in defense of an android is possibly the worst look imaginable. And I like Vision, a lot.

Also, because all of the white people in Wakanda are named, established, main characters and all of the extras in Wakanda are black, we're now in a "disposable black people" situation that just could have been easily avoided by not putting the battle there.

The dismantling of everything from Thor Ragnarok. Finally some real progress in the character development for Loki? Kill Loki. Thor lost an eye? Give him a new eye. Thor discovers that he doesn't need his magical weapon to be awesome, because it only helped him harness his power; it didn't give him power? Give Thor a new magical weapon, which he does need, in order to be awesome, and it pretty much does give him power. As disrespectful as Rise of Skywalker was. If you don't care to honor what a previous installment did for the lore of the series, then maybe you don't need to be making the next installment in a series.

This isn't something I dislike about the movie, because I think if anything it keeps her in-character, but I do feel that Wanda not joining the battle until a lot of casualties have happened gives the impression that she doesn't care about the people dying for her boyfriend; she just cares that so many of them are dying that the bad guys might make it to the lab soon. Super glad she didn't realize she can just make another Vision until after a lot of people died while she watched.

The treatment of Rhodey. His line "I'm pretty sure I paid for that" (or whatever), implying that his back injury was the price he paid for disagreeing with Captain America, is just the grossest thing. And having him pal it up with Team Cap right after adds more insult to injury. It's not a matter of which team I prefer; it would've been disrespectful to do that to Sam, too.

Tony's friends casually betraying him? I'm not a stan for Tony Stark, but it feels mean that Steve's friends are deferentially loyal to Steve and Tony's will be loyal to Steve whenever Tony isn't around. The fact that Vision, who came from JARVIS, verbally states that he is putting Wanda (who, as I've said before, had done nothing heroic in the whole MCU at that point in the canon) before Tony, seems pretty cruel. His relationship with JARVIS was built up for several movies and then demolished in a couple of minutes because for some reason the character who has never shown an interest in preserving human life deserves the utmost loyalty.

No, there is no way this was the only way, man. There is no way that "cut off Thanos's head with a sling ring while Mantis has him under" is a plan that didn't work.

But it's still much better than Endgame.

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

By Talking About The First Sequel To The Massive Blockbuster Known As The Avengers, Avengers: Age Of Ultron...

This Film Sees Earth's Mightiest Heroes Reuniting To Battle A Threat Created By Tony Stark And Bruce Banner Called Ultron, Who Is Out To Create What He Believes To Be The Peace Of Our Time When Really He's Causing Massive Human Extinction....

Will The Avengers Be Able To Prevent The Age Of Ultron With The Help Of Enemies Quicksilver And Scarlet Witch And A New Ally Who Calls Himself The Vision?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Avengers: Age Of Ultron...

The Film Starts In Sokovia With The Avengers Launching An Attack On Baron Von Strucker's Fortress And Forces...

(End At 4:30)

(End At 4:25)

Searching Strucker's Secret Room, Tony Finds One Of The Chitauri's Leviathans Before He Finds Loki's Scepter But Before He Can Grab It He's Blasted By The Other Olsen Twin Who Gives Him A Vision Of The Avengers Failing To Save Earth Because He Failed...

And It's This Vision That Changes Tony Completely And Makes Tony Believe Every Decision He Makes From Here On Out Is The Right One Even Though To Others It May Seem Like The Wrong Choice...

As Kick Ass Zooms In We Get A Title Card As Tony Grabs The Scepter...

Returning To The Newly Dubbed Avengers Tower, Hill (Who Now Works For Tony After The Downfall Of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Tells Cap About Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver While Hawkeye Gets Healed And Tony's Iron Legion Returns From Sokovia...

But As All That Goes On Tony (With Help From J.A.R.V.I.S.) Analyze Loki's Staff And Discover That While The Scepter Is Alien, The Jewel Is Housing Something Inside That's Like A Computer As J.A.R.V.I.S. Discovers Code...

Telling Banner This By Showing Him The Data Of The Jewel, Tony Thinks That It Is Perfect For His Ultron Program That Tony Is Making For His Iron Legion And Asks For Bruce's Help With It.

Despite Being Against It At First And Wanting To Tell The Rest Of The Team, Bruce Eventually Caves And Decides To Help Tony While They Have The Staff For The Alotted 3 Days That Thor Is Allowing Them To Have...

As Tony And Banner Get Ready For A Party Tony Is Throwing In Honor Of The Avengers Defeat Of Strucker, The Ultron Integration To The Iron Legion Is Complete. But As Ultron Awakens, He Questions His Programming Which Leads To Ultron Malfunctioning And Using Advanced A.I. Abilities To Kill J.A.R.V.I.S. As He Creates A Body Out Of One Of The Iron Legion Armors

Meanwhile, At Tony's Party Everyone Seems To Be Having A Good Time Even The Avengers Themselves, Rhodey (Who's Back As War Machine From Now On)

Guess Iron Patriot Didn't Well With Focus Groups After All...

Sam (Who's Been Helping Cap Track Down Bucky Since The End Of Winter Solider) And Stan Lee Who's Cameo Is Here...

Stan Lee Cameo!

Anyway After Everyone Is Gone The Avengers Along With Rhodey And Maria Hill They Hold A Contest Of Who Could Lift Thor's Hammer With Cap Being The Closest Only To Be Interrupted By Ultron, Who Reveals He Is On A Mission To Destroy The Avengers With The Help Of Stark's Iron Legion...

Escaping Through The Internet, Ultron Goes To Strucker's Castle Where He Can Build Himself A New Body...

With Everything Gone From Their Computers And Loki's Staff Gone As Well, They Discover The Computerized Remains Of J.A.R.V.I.S. As The Team Worries About Ultron Hacking Into Nuke Codes....

Knowing That They Have To Not Only Get The Scepter Back But Stop Ultron, They Ask Tony Why Ultron Is Trying To Kill Them And Of Course It All Goes Back To The Battle With The Chitauri And Tony's Vision That Scarlet Witch Gave Him...

Speaking Of Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver, In Sokovia, Ultron In A New Body Recruits Them To Help With His Plans To Save The World By Getting Rid Of The Avengers As We Discover Why Scarlet Witch Let Tony Have The Scepter Which Is Because She Saw Tony's Fear And That It Would Control Him And Make Him Self Destruct...

Uh, Self Destruct On Him? How About Self Destruct On You Or Do The Words Civil War Not Mean Anything To You, Wanda?

And Why They Are Who They Are And That's Because They Believe Tony Stark Killed Their Parents As One Of His Companies Missiles Killed Their Folks And Nearly Killed Them As They Were Buried Under Rubble...

Discovering Reports Of A Metal Man Or Men, Someone Making People See Old Fears And Memories And Someone Too Fast To See Breaking Into Robotics Labs, Weapons Facilities And Jet Propulsion Labs All Over The Globe, The Avengers Continue Their Search For Ultron...

But When Strucker Is Found Dead In His Cell With The Word Peace Written In Blood, They Start Going Through Hard Copy Files When Everything They Had On Strucker Is Gone From Their Computers...

Eventually Tony Discovers That Someone He Once Knew Named Ulysses Klaw With Connections To The Home Of A Certain Black Panther And The Vibranium That Not Only Powers His Suit But Captain America's Shield...

Traveling To Africa, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch And Ultron Do Buisness With Ulysses Klaw (Played By Supreme Leader Snoke) To Get Vibranium Only For Ultron To Cut Of Klaw's Hand When Ultron Says Something That Tony Stark Once Said To Him...

Ooh, Foreshadowing....

(Start At 1:10)

Blasted By Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Cap And Thor Have Visions We Start Black Widow Who Sees Visions Of Her Time In The Red Room (Which Is The Black Widow Training Ground) Then Move On To Cap Who Is At A 1930s Dance Hall Where He Dances With Peggy Only To Have A Symbolic Moment, I Guess Which Has Him Realizing That Everyone He Cared For Back Then Is Gone...

And Finally Thor Who Sees That Asgard Has Turned Into Christian Grey's Playground Only To Be Confronted By Heimdall Who Sees That Thor Will Lead Them Into Hell And He Will Destroy Them (Which Obviously Isn't True)...

Anyway Aside From Those Moments Of Either Foreshadowing Or Just Scenes That Have No Reason To Be In This Movie, Tony Eventually Destroys The Version Of Ultron That's There Only To Now Deal With A Rampaging Hulk That Scarlet Witch Has Turned Loose On The City Which Forces Tony To Activate The Hulkbuster Suit To Take Him Down...

(Start At 0:30, End At 4:50)

With Banner Calmed Down, The Avengers Decide To Lay Low As Hill Deals With The Press And The Police On The Attack In Africa But The Question Now Is Where Do They Go?, Luckily, Hawkeye May Have The Answer They're Looking For...

Taking Them To A Rustic Farm (That Looks Like It May Already Be Occupied By The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, April O'Neil And Casey Jones) Hawkeye Introduces The Team To His Family...

Wow, I Didn't Know Velma Dinkley Was Married To A Superhero....

While Ultron, Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver Visit The Team Doctor, Helen Cho In Seoul So She Can Create A Living Body Into A Reanimation Cradle That Her And Tony Have Been Developing For Ultron To Download His Consciousness Into, Refusing, Ultron Decides To Convince Helen To Help Him Using Loki's Scepter...

Back On The Farm, The Team Has Some Moments On The Farm Which Eventually Lead To Tony Talking With Nick Fury In The Barn, Who Aside From Telling Tony To Cut It Out With The Maximoff Vision Crap, Is There To Help The Team...

Telling The Team That Ultron Isn't Having Any Luck Getting Nuke Launch Codes As They're Changed Frequently By Unknown Sources And That His Contacts Believe That Ultron Is Actually Building Something Which Leads Banner To Realize That Ultron Is Trying To Evolve Above Humans As He Believes Humans Are Significantly Insufficient Hence Helen Cho...

And Speaking Of Dr. Cho, She Is Just About Done With Ultron's New Body Only Thing That Needs To Be Added Is The Stone From Loki's Scepter Which Is Revealed To Be The Mind Stone...

With Steve Taking Natasha And Clint With Him, Tony Heads To Oslo To Do Reconnaissance From There While Fury Takes Banner Back To Avengers Tower So He Can Pick Up Hill Who Will Help Him With Something Dramatic...

But You're Probably Wondering Where Thor Is...

Well, Unable To Get Scarlet Witch's Vision From His Mind Thor Decides To Take Off To Get Erik Selvig To Take Him To The Spa Of Sight That Will Allow Him To Re-Enter His Dream To Find Out What He Missed...

Uh, Unless You're Into Weird Fetishes, Thor I Highly Doubt You Missed Anything...

But Miss Something He Did, As It Shows All The Infinity Stones Except For The Time Stone And I Guess Ultron's Plan...

And Speaking Of Ultron's Plan, Wanda Looks Into The Mind Of The Body That Is Inside Of The Reanimation Cradle And Sees Ultron's Ultimate Plan To Destroy The World...

Believing That Ultron Lied To Them, Wanda Snaps Dr. Cho Out Of Her Mind Stone Hypnosis And She Stops The Download Which Forces Ultron To Kill Her And Her Team As The Maximoffs Escape...

As Cap, Hawkeye And Widow Arrive With Enough Time To Save Dr. Cho, Ultron And His Metal Minions Take The Reanimation Cradle Onto A Truck Only For Hawkeye To Spot It From Above So Cap Can Jump On It And Fight Ultron...

With The Help Of The Maximoff Twins, Cap Was Able To Stop Ultron And Save A Runaway Train While Widow Gets The Reanimation Cradle On The Quinjet With Hawkeye Only For Widow To Get Captured By Ultron's Minions

Talking With The Maximoffs Afterward, They Ask Where The Reanimation Cradle Is Only For Cap To Tell Them That It's On It's Way To Tony, Which Leads Wanda To Believe That He Will Only Make Matters Worse By Using It To Fix Things

And Right She Is, As Tony To Convince Banner To Help Him Place The Person Who Has Been Beating Ultron All Along Into The Reanimation Cradle, J.A.R.V.I.S

Turns Ultron Didn't Attack J.A.R.V.I.S. Because He Was Scared But Attacked Him Because He Was Afraid Of What He Could Do, So He Went Underground And Scattered His Memory Throughout The Net To Try To Stop Ultron...

Believing That After All That's Happened It's A Bad Idea, Banner Decides To Do It Anyway. Luckily, Cap And The Maximoff Twins Arrive To Stop Them Which Leads To A Heated Argument Of Right And Wrong Between The Team Until Thor Arrives To Get Everyone To Shut Up And Bring The Body In The Reanimation Cradle To Life...

Forming Clothes And A Cape Out Of It's Skin, Thor Tells The Others About His Vision And That Tony Is Right The Avengers Cannot Beat Ultron Not Alone...

Telling Cap And The Others That Unlike Ultron He Is On The Side Of Life Where Ultron Isn't And That He Doesn't Want To Kill Him But The Pain He Is Creating Will Roll Over The Earth If He Isn't Destroyed Which Kind Of Gets Them To Trust Them...

But None Of That Matters Now As Barton Has Located Ultron With Nat In Sokovia And Need To Go Now...

With Tony Downloading A New A.I. Named F.R.I.D.A.Y. To His Suit And Ultron Knowing That They're Coming The Odds Are Stacked Against Them So, The Priority Will Be The Evacuation Of The City While Discovering What Ultron Has Been Building At Strucker's Fortress And Saving Black Widow At The Same Time Which Banner Does Only So They Could Run Afterward...

But Knowing That She'll Be Unable To Live With Herself If That Happens, Widow Pushes Banner Down A Hole So He Can Become The Hulk...

(Imitating Baby Plucky) Hulk Go Down The Hole!

On Board The Quinjet, The Hulk Gets A Call From Black Widow Asking Him To Turn Back But Instead He Decides To Go Off On His Own To Take A Nice Vacation In Sakkar As Vision Destroys The Last Ultron Minion, Destroying Ultron Once And For All...

And With Everything Done, Hawkeye Decides To Retire From The Avengers To Spend Time With His Family While Tony Builds A New Training Facility/Alternate HQ For The Avengers Where They Can Train...

But Unfortunately It's Going To Have To Be Without Thor (Who Is Going Off To Solve The Mystery Of Who Is Making The Infinity Stones Appear Out Of Nowhere) And Tony (Who Is Going Spend More Time With Pepper And Build Her A Log Cabin) But Just Because The Team Is Down A Few Members It Doesn't Mean That They'll Be Short On Team Members....

Nope, Not On Your Life As Scarlet Witch, The Vision, Falcon And War Machine Join The Team As New Avengers...

Sadly, There's No End Credit Scene But There Is A Mid Credits Scene Which Sees Thanos Grabbing The Infinity Gauntlet And Deciding To Take Matters Into His Own Hands...

And That's Avengers: Age Of Ultron And...It's Okay...

While The Action Scenes Are Great, The Villain Is Good And There Is Loads Of Character Development Throughout The Movie, The Color In Some Of Those Fight Scenes Are Not Good Especially The Ones In Africa, Having Both Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver As Bad Guys Was Completely Pointless (Yes, I Know In Their Comic Book History They Were Bad Guys Before They Became Good Guys But Without Magneto And The Brotherhood That Part In Their History Is Pointless)...

There Are More Reasons Why I Don't Like This Movie But I Feel Like I've Been Writing This Review Forever And I Just Want To End It Also I Can't Think Of Any Other Reasons Right Now So, For This One I Would Say Skip It But I Honestly Don't Know If It's That Bad To Skip So I'll Leave This One Up To You Guys....

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...