Going through puberty is cringe! I think every single person who has gone through that awkward but important phase in their lives can agree on that. It’s that stage that is like the equivalent of ripping off a band-ad that been a part of your skin for months or popping a really big zit that has been on the side of your face for weeks. It’s uncomfortable and will probably make you squirm but it’s something you know you have to do and get through at some point in your life. Regardless of what gender you are, there’s always that point in time where you go through that period of time where you not only start to experiencing changes in your body, voice, and hormones but how those changes are going to affect you for the rest of your time on planet Earth. The reason being is because the changes you go through when you hit puberty is also what changes you from underneath and that’s when you start to discover your true purpose in life. You don’t have everything planned out exactly but you discover that first step that you’re wanting to take which will lead to your exact definition of a successful future.
When it comes to recent movies, there hasn’t been one that quite captures the glorious and embarrassing amount of cringe of going through that difficult time period than with Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade. A film which saw Elsie Fisher’s Kayla Day go through all the inevitable phases that a teenager must go through as they work their way through middle school and approach high school. She is everything that you would expect a girl like her to be in the eighth grade. She was quiet and awkward, she suffered with stress and anxiety, she had a hard time interacting with other students, she published video web blogs that only her herself really watch, she had a rather distance relationship with her dad, and overall, she was just a teenager. Admittedly, the movie itself was cringe and honestly hard to watch at times, but that was the point that Bo Burnham was trying to make with that movie. It was cringeworthy and difficult to watch experience because experiencing the eighth grade itself is a cringeworthy and difficult to learn experience. Whether or not that Turning Point comes close to capture that same realistic magic as Eighth Grade is something I can’t quite say but I haven’t seen a children’s movie capture this kind of subject matter as perfectly as it does. (Friendly reminder, that Eight Grade was actually rated R instead of PG-13 which I believe was a bit mistake. Aside from a couple of f-bombs, it’s as PG-13 as it goes)
While this is certainly not the first Pixar movie to tackle themes of growing up and maturing (see the Toy Story sequels), there really hasn’t been one that been as front-and-center with those core themes than with Turning Red. And also while this also isn’t even the first Pixar movie to have a main female lead like some are claiming it is (Did everyone just suddenly forget about Brave, Inside Out, Finding Dory, and even the Elastic Girl lead Incredibles 2?), there hasn’t been one that has captured the inner turmoil of what I imagine a girl has to go through when they turn 13 years old.
I will admit, I’ve never been a 13-year old girl. I’ve been a white, caucasian male my entire life. That right there might make some of you want to click off this review and go find another reviewer that has been through the same growth spout period as you have. And if you do, that’s fine. I certainly think the voices of target demographic which this movie is aimed matters just as much if not more than those outside of that demographic.
But just because I can’t relate to being a 13-year old girl doesn’t mean I can’t relate to Mei or her girl friends in any way, shape, or form along with their early experiences as a teenager. I might not have went through the exact same awkward phase as Mei, Miriam, Abby, and Priya does in the film (and I especially have not been turned into a giant red panda) but I certainly have gone through an awkward phase of some kind when I was the same age as all of these main characters throughout the film. (Heck, I even too had finished in 2nd place in the spelling bee as well! No joke!)
There seems to be a consensus lately that if an audience member can’t relate exactly to what the main character has gone through, then that makes them a bad character or a character that strictly “not for them”. (Which is something I will DEFINITELY bring up in my piece soon about that ONE review of Turning Red which is a prime example of everything wrong with film criticism.) I personally never understood that. While I always love to see a part of myself on the big screen, I’m also equally fascinated to a non-part of myself on the big screen as well. I like see different kinds of people go through different kinds of phrases in their lives compare to mine on the big screen as well. I like to see how they are different from me in terms of personally, development, and growth throughout the motion picture. I like to see them make valid and logical choices that I myself personally would not have made. I like to see someone on the big screen that is different than me but in a incredibly compelling way. Even if I’m not watching a movie with a main character that doesn’t resemble me in any way, shape, or form, I have HUNDREDS of others films that do that I go watch. That’s how I see the characters in this movie and I don’t think it could have worked out for the better.
When looking at it from a surface level, it can be easy to assume Turning Red as a movie strictly for young girls and teenage girls. While it’s totally understandable to assume that and I won’t even tell people who claimed that are wrong, I do feel there is strongly something for anybody to relate to in this movie. Because Turning Red isn’t just about a girl taking her first steps into become a woman, it’s about also taking that leap of faith that might go against everything that the folks who raise you stand for. Even if you don’t go through that same awkward phase that every young girl goes through during her teenage years, you can at least see the main character’s troubled relationship with her mother and her inherited family which is something I know anyone can get an understanding of.
As much as Turning Red is about getting through that next awkward step in your life, it’s also about finding yourself through that teen years and being that version of yourself you can imagine being for the rest of your life. Mei’s mother Ming Lee is about the most strict, overprotective, and emotionally manipulative mother you can possibly imagine. Not only imagine absolute perfection from her daughter but also imagine no other version from Mei than the one that perfectly matches her along with her family and ancestors. Despite how hard Mei might tries to be the perfect daughter that her mother has imagined, there is still a sense of emptiness insider herself that she want’s to be something much different than what her heritage had set in stone for her. It’s with her relationship with her friends, Miriam, Abby, and Priya, that shows that there’s more to her than what her mother wants her to be. Mei is upbeat, full of energy, and wants to be part of the crowd instead of an ancient religion. This is all everything that her mother is not (and as we learn throughout, that’s also something that Mei’s grandmother isn’t either), and that’s what make the Red Panda in this story work perfectly.
The big hook to this movie is that Mei is able to transform into a huge red panda whenever she experiences a strong emotion of any kind. Whether that strong emotion considers of anger, sadness, or excitement, Mei will immediately transform into a giant, fluffy red panda once she fill a big ounce of feel. That makes for a great case of someone being afraid to express their emotions in an extreme way that it gives everyone in public the wrong idea of who you are. Deep down, Mei isn’t a big scary fur bear, she’s just an innocent child who now likes boys, music, and expressing her true self onto other people. While the red panda shows publicly what Mei might be on the outside, that’s not how she truly feels on the inside and hopes that other people don’t get the exact opposite idea of it. Whether or not, the public will like Mei as a red panda, Mei also hopes that people like Mei as Mei as well. Make no mistake, the Red Panda itself does makes for some rather bizarre but interesting lore throughout the film which ties back into Mei’s ancestors of members of her family having to go through that period of rejecting that red panda period so you can be at one with the entire clan. However, the Red Panda also perfectly mirrors that awkward pubescent stage that all of us have went through or will go through once we have reached the teen years. We all have had our “Red Panda” moment.
What also helps greatly is the animation! While it can certainly be described as crazy, weird, over-the-top and just plain “out there”, it perfectly blends with the exact kind of movie that it’s aiming to be. It’s just as stylish, energetic, and even at times cringe as is the story that it’s trying to tell. It’s colorful, beautiful, and upbeat with some of the most expressive characters that I’ve ever seen in animation. Between this and Encanto, it certainly seems nice to see Disney take the next big step into animating their films but not just making the aesthetics and background look more realistic but also with making their characters emote and expresses themselves in that exact same fashion.
As much as Turning Red has smart and mature themes throughout, it’s also just a ton of fun! It’s extremely hilarious with jokes that even if I can’t relate to or even understand, made me laugh quite a bit. It’s sharp and fast-paced throughout with hardly a dull moment to speak of. The vocal performances from the cast, especially Rosaline Chiang and Sandara Oh as Mei and her mother respectively, is strong nailing the sharp and funny dialogue along with the emotional beats and story turns the movie takes until it’s final act. Regardless if you watch it as an cinematic exploration of growing up and believing in who you are or just as an entertaining animated flick, Turning Red is the absolute complete package!
There are definitely some things you can criticize (As likeable as Mei’s father is, I do wish they could have done more with him aside from being just the nice dad who barely speaks and just blindly goes along with whatever his wife wants.), but Turning Red is another Pixar winner and another prime example of how we should all learn to stop doubting them by now. There are definitely Pixar films I’m more attached too and even some I think that are better than this movie, but I can’t recall a Pixar movie that is just so open and honest with itself as this one is. It take risks and tackles subject matter that at least 99% of other animation studios are probably afraid of tackling for a supposed kids film, it has a strong thematical and emotional core that holds the whole thing together near perfectly which nearly everyone that watches it will be able to get some sort of reaction out of, and has animation that at times might be cringe, but serves it’s purpose and executed in all of the intent and purpose imaginable. Turning Red is a wonderfully, lovable movie about an awfully, cringe-able time period that we all have or will have to go through that I can’t recommend enough.
Before watching this movie, I never thought in a million years that I would say to myself, I definitely remember the time when I had my own “Red Panda” moment.
(Seriously, Domee Shi! How in the world did you know that I finished 2nd place in the spelling bee?!)
2022 is shaping up to be perhaps the biggest year for Sonic the Hedgehog yet! He’s got a second movie that is to be released next month, a new Netflix series titled Sonic Prime to debut sometime this year, a new Sonic remaster of the classic era games called Sonic Origins, and the next big 3D main entry in the franchise, Sonic Frontiers, scheduled to hit stores this holiday season! And with the recent announcements of a third movie in the works along with a new Paramount Plus series with fan-favorite Knuckles the Echidna, the future seems quite loaded for the speedy blue blur.
Whenever you talk about Sonic the Hedgehog, it always starts off with that same, boring monotone line of dialogue about how the franchise was once a big thing but has now long lost it’s way. The repetitive, tiresome, preachy take of “Modern Sonic bad, Classic Sonic Good” Blah blah blah. That constant same mumble jumble over and over with what seem like at least the past two decades. Even when a Sonic game or medium comes out that’s actually good, that always tends to get brush off and the media immediately retreats back to it’s “Sonic sucks!” narrative yet again. Or in the case of Gamespot, those are just delusions!
Or in the case of IGN, Sonic was never good to begin with!
I’m not gonna go into how right or wrong those people are but unfortunately, that has been the reputation with this series for quite some. However, if what SEGA plans for 2022 for Sonic is any indication, they are looking to change that narrative in a massive way. The exact way they plan on doing that is by taking their most beloved/infamous mascot from a traditional gaming franchise to now a multimedia franchise!
Granted, this won’t be the first time that SEGA has tried to do that with Sonic. Back in 2014, (which SEGA did actually initially hype of as “the year of Sonic”, they were looking to expand Sonic onto other forms of media in the series spin-off, Sonic Boom. Sonic Boom took a new direction with the franchise and acted as a departure from it’s own existed canon. It focused on five main characters most well-known by fans of the franchise, those being Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Dr. Eggman (Yes, I know he’s actually Robotnik but I’m calling him Eggman, damn it!) along with a couple of fan-favorite characters along the way like Shadow and Metal Sonic. Every one of them got redesigns with Knuckles looking buffer than ever, Eggman looking thinner than ever, and Sonic actually having blue arms for once. It was set in a distinct world separate from the main series, introduces original characters, most notably Sticks the Badger, and was promised to be a fresh start for the series along with giving it a brand new sense of identity. With a launch of toys, comic books, a couple of video games, and a television show, this was Sonic’s chance to jump back into the spotlight in a bright fascinating way. However, the results of this were mixed at best.
The television series aired from 2014 to 2017 with 2 seasons consisting of 104 episodes (all less than 15 minutes long) that first aired on Cartoon Network but later moved to Boomerang. It’s never been established of what the overall reaction to the show was and if it was all that popular to begin with among their target audience of young children. It just seems like a show that just existed and was a thing at some point. For what I’ve seen, it’s a decent, enjoyable kids cartoon with some fun action, fine humor, enjoyable spoofs and simple storylines/messages that you won’t think too much about just a couple of minutes after each episode had ended. It didn’t quite seem to reach the same highs (at least in term of ratings) as the original Sonic Satam in the late 1990s or even Sonic X (Again, in terms of ratings) in the mid 2000s but it wasn’t as low as say, the completely forgotten Sonic Underground. Perhaps this had to do with the rapid reaction to the overall announcement of the Sonic Boom franchise with folks being put off about the direction and character redesigns along with how the Boom games were received themselves, which ranged from middling (Shattered Crystal and Fire & Ice) to awful (Rise of Lyric).
Looking back on it, I don’t think the Boom series was quite the success that SEGA was hoping for in the grand scheme of things. It didn’t seem like it was as memorable of the series to this generation of millennials as Satam and X was to their generations. It’s hard to consider it a failure but it’s also hard to claim it was a hit either. Regardless, it’s look as though SEGA is looking to take it all one step further with what they are planning for Sonic for not just this year but for the near future.
It’s no secret that the Sonic the Hedgehog live-action movie was a big success for SEGA. Despite not making quite as bit of money at the box office as it could have due to the movie coming out just before Covid hit, it definitely was something that both fans and movie goers thoroughly enjoyed. Because of that, SEGA knows they got a big hit on their hands and want to ride that success train for as long as they possibly can. The best way to do this is to introduce these newcomers into the series with an expanding library choice of content. From the movies to shows to video games, no doubt SEGA wants to make new fans feel right at home.
For those that enjoyed the first Sonic movie, they got a second one to look forward and if they like that one too, there will be a third one on the horizon. For those that happen to enjoy Idris Elba’s Knuckles in the second one, then they got a brand new series just about him in the works. For those that enjoy the movies’ overall characters, callbacks, references, and lore from the games, they now have a new remaster of the original Sonic games on the way so they can get the characters, callbacks, references, and lore for next time. For those that want to see Sonic in a strictly new animated show that will put it’s own spin in the soon-to-be massively overdone multiverse concept, you got a new, original Netflix series coming soon. For those who want to experience a brand new Sonic game which perhaps will shape the direction of the franchise in the same way that Sonic Adventure and Sonic Colors did, they have a new game coming out developed by Sonic Team that they can ask Santa for Christmas. And heck, I’m pretty sure that there’s some good comic storylines by Archie that perhaps might even give you more respect for the Sonic characters than you had for the games or shows (Just avoid anything from Ken Penders!). All of this and more shows that SEGA desires for the 2020s is to have Sonic the Hedgehog be seen as more than just a gaming franchise still clinging onto the past, it’s now an expanding franchise that is looking strictly into the future across many mediums.
We all don’t know for certain if this will all work out in the long run. I imagine that SEGA has been trying to do something like this for the last two decades now but never have been able to find that one successful piece big enough to start building their own glorious puzzle up until now. There’s also the concern about how focusing on so many different things at the same time can lead to truly messy results (kinda like with the last several years with Sonic Team). No one can predict the future because as we all know, the future is not set in stone.
The first Sonic movie gave the franchise another leash on life in a way that no other Sonic media has ever had. At least now, there’s a chance to take advantage of this opportunity to build on something special and redefine Sonic in ways that are unimaginable. If SEGA wants Sonic to be anywhere near as popular as he once was, then they better coast on the success that they have right now and have all forms of good content for the foreseeable future. It’s only then that we will all be able to look back in how a change in a movie character design was able to change the franchise for the better. Not just by delivering a movie that this generation can look back on as the moment that they truly knew Sonic the Hedgehog, but the one that the blue blur was no longer seen as a slumping gaming series, but so much more.
Sonic’s future is in your hands now, SEGA! Don’t smurf it up!
Release Dates:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will release in theaters on April 8th.
Sonic Prime, Origins, and Frontiers have not gotten official release dates yet but they have all been confirmed to come out sometime this year in 2022.
Happy Batman Day! To celebrate, let’s rank all the theatrically released Batman films from worst to best!
Firstly, I am referring to every single Batman movie that has been released in theaters at least for one night at MULTIPLE theaters. That’s why you won’t be seeing movies like Under the Red Hood, Return of the Joker, Batman: Year One, and The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 & 2 on here but will see movies like Mask of the Phantasm, Lego Batman, Killing Joke, and Return of the Caped Crusaders on list. Also, in case if anyone asked, Batman & Harley Quinn was only released for one night in just one theater so I didn’t count that and 2.) I’m including the Snyder cut since a good amount of footage from the theater cut are still presents even if the Snyder cut wasn’t technically released in theaters.
Secondly, these are just my opinions. I get everyone has their own different version of Batman that they prefer. The ones that are the most hated have their diehard fans while even the ones that are the most loved have their diehard haters. At this point, you should know which Batman is your Batman and which one is not. I’m just going with the rankings of how I see the quality of the Batman films.
I also will say when it comes to my overall feelings of all sixteen movies, just note that I think #1-4 are near perfect, #5-8 are really great, #9-10 are solid, #11-12 are mixed bags, and #13-16 are real legit stinkers. For the most part, I like more Batman movies than I dislike.
So please, if you disagree, don’t get upset and even feel free to let me know your rankings in the comments below or even on Twitter or Letterboxd. Without further of do, here we go!
16.) Batman: The Killing Joke
Yes, the worst Batman movie ever released in cinema is in fact not Batman & Robin. While Killing Joke might not as cause anywhere near as much impact on pop culture as B&R did, this is probably the one theatrical Batman feature released that feels like the most waste of time. Even the worst of the Schumacher and Snyder flicks had at least one element or two that worked in their own rights. This is what happens when you try to adapt source material in a faithful matter but don’t actually know or believe in the story that your material was originally telling.
The first half an hour of the picture is terrible beyond words with the way it treats Batgirl and not being important to everything else whatsoever. And there’s the rest of the movie that does nothing more but go into great lengths to just how dated the original storyline is and makes it’s mere existence feel like a mistake. The animation is slow and lifeless, the voice acting is phoned in and poor, and the dialogue that might have fit well for a comic book novel DOES NOT translate well into a motion picture whatsoever. When not even Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill’s iconic voices as the Caped Crusader and Clown Prince of Crime can save your movie, something has gone seriously wrong!
This is a perfect example how sometimes being too faithful to the source material can be just as bad as being unfaithful towards it. An adaption is an adaption for a reason and that’s something that Killing Joke doesn’t get whatsoever! It’s absolutely depressing that Conroy and Hamill’s final time together had to end on an absolute whimper!
15.) Justice League (2017)
It’s unbelievable how not only the first ever live-action Justice League movie doesn’t work, but it has to be one of the most lifeless, dull, and forgettable superhero movies ever made. The course correction from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is so painfully obvious on screen with out-of-place reshoots and edits that are downright embarrassing. It’s like the equivalent of a superb Japanese anime getting butchered in the English version by 4kids, filled with unnecessary editing, censoring, and scripting to make it more “kid” friendly, even if it doesn’t make much sense in context and hurts the overall quality of it.
This came across as more of a straight-to-dvd Avengers knock-off that you would find in a bargain bin at the Dollar Store than an actual Justice League movie. A handful of moments are cool in their own right and is is nice to see Henry Cavill represent a bit of Christopher Reeves here (despite it making no sense in the context of the universe) but it’s incredibly unforgiveable just how cheap, hollow, and unmemorable this whole experience is.
When even a remix of Danny Elfman’s iconic Batman theme can’t win me over, you know your movie has failed!
14.) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
I’m still in awe how you take a crossover like Batman and Superman and make it so long, dull, and joyless. The plot is a convoluted mess no matter which version you watch, with the conflict between Batman and Superman being so incredibly ridiculous that it could have been avoided if the two just simply talk to each other. It’s a film that wants to comes across as the most grand and ambitious movie every made, but when you look deep into it, this movie actually doesn’t have much to say on anything it’s talking about. Other than trying to cram two to three movies worth of material into one film, there’s nothing really risky or daring about Dawn of Justice, with it’s so-called themes that have been done much better in plenty of other superhero films.
Ben Affleck is fine as Batman and there’s a few standout moments here but that’s nowhere near enough to save this turd. Even the ultimate edition which some claim “saves” the movie is really just has more of the same problems, save for being slightly better editing and pacing. If there is a clear difference between ambition and aimlessness, then Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice certainly strikes the finest line yet between those two definitions with results that fit more of the latter than the former.
It gets a slight edge over Justice League (2017) because it does at least feel like a fully realized vision of a filmmaker but that is no where near enough for me to claim it’s good or even should be praised because of that. It’s a movie so bad that it arguably killed the DCEU before it even got a chance to get going! Sorry but I’m not a fan whatsoever!
13.) Batman and Robin
Despite writing up a blog piece somewhat defending this movie as NOT the worst thing ever made along with tons of retweets/likes of my tweet about how it’s pointless to still be upset over this movie existing, that still doesn’t change the fact that Batman and Robin is still a very bad and just plain awful movie. I do at least put it above the first few on the list because this is a movie you can at least watch and laugh at how terrible it truly is, unlike those where watching it is just a miserable experience.
From it’s over-the-top characters, cheesy one-liners, campy action, and it’s outlandish overacting, B&R is no doubt one of the best disaster pieces that has ever been released in theaters. It’s not just “so bad it’s good”, this movie help refined “so bad it’s good”. Everyone and their mother has picked this movie apart and for good reason. While I still make the case that this is a watchable bad movie as oppose to an unwatchable bad movie, it’s still a bad movie regardless.
Even a couple of moments that do work with the way they were intended (Bruce and Alfred’s conversation makes me tear up every time) can’t save it for the sheer amount of brilliant terribleness that is the big picture. At the very least, this movie’s failure and own existence eventually led to many other good Batman and superhero movies to be made. I guess that’s something.
12.) Batman Forever
Most of the problems with the Joel Schumacher movie I just mention are also present here, albeit not quite as bad. Cheeseball dialogue, cartoonish characters, arcs that feel unearned and don’t really make any sense, and villain performances that is so hammered up that you wonder if Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones were just being as awful as possible just because they could. That being said, this movie does at least nail the look, feel, and atmosphere of Gotham City in a way that no other Batman has had to this point.
For a famous setting that has been often portrayed as mean, gray, and bleak, it’s refreshing to see someone step it up and breath some actual life into it, even if it doesn’t quite match with how the character of Batman is usually interpreted as. It’s bright, light, and colorful blends perfectly with the bright and colorful criminals that scatters throughout the film that makes this look like paradise for the bad guys in Gotham. Every once in a while in a movie, it’s perfectly okay to make a bad place look good.
It’s still mildly entertaining in it’s own right and it’s certainly the exact kind of movie that WB wanted over the backlash of Batman Returns being “too dark”, but everything is treated too much like a joke here that it’s so hard to take anything happening to the characters seriously.
11.) Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders
Easily the most inconsequential Batman movie to ever be released in expanded theaters (heck, 99% of the world probably forgot that this actually came out in theaters), but it’s still got some charm that the original 60′ series and the 66′ movie had.
The voice work from the cast can sound very rusty (You can just tell how poor Adam West had trouble with most of his line deliveries), should have had some tightening towards the climax, and I can’t help but wonder with the idea of multiple Batmans in one movie could have unlock the potential of endless memorable memes or at least prior Batman VAs coming together could have made this DC’s version of Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Yes, I get this is suppose to be low budgeted and was originally straight-to-dvd, but I still can’t get that out of my head.)
That being said, it’s still exactly the kind of campy, over-the-top Adam West adventure as you could imagine can exist in 2016. It’s doesn’t try to be anything more or anything less than that but sometimes that’s okay. Especially with the recent Batman and DC flicks that came around that same time that was pretending to be anything BUT simple, I think being simple in the case of Return of the Caped Crusaders was more than good enough.
10.) Batman (1966)
Batman contains something that I really miss nowadays with big franchise movies, it being the exact movie that itself wants to be and not the audience. You couldn’t make a Batman movie like this in 2022. Not just because it doesn’t meet the standards of filmmaking today (whatever that consists of) but it wouldn’t meet the standards of what the fans and audience expect out of Batman.
If this movie came out today, it would get torn to shreds by everybody and many of the cast and crew would be chase off of social media. However, this movie came out in 1966, not 2022. There was no social media to speak off or high standards to reach with this character or series. It was an actual thing and because of that, it could be anything it desired to be.
I can’t say it has hold up very well whatsoever but the fact there was an actually movie called Batman in 1966 makes it as big of an accomplishment as what Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan did for their own respected versions in at the times those films was released. Long live Adam West!
9.) Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Because we live in some dark and twisted form of an alternate universe, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a real thing now. Truth be told, even if you remove yourself from the toxicity that is the Zack Snyder fanbase (I won’t blame you if you can’t!), it’s actually not that bad and there’s plenty of positive this time around, along with some negatives.
The first half is way too stretched out for it’s own good, feeling like Snyder is trying to get every single little frame of work that he desired in there regardless if it actually serves a purpose. There’s also the final fifteen minutes that feels more like a collection of post credit scenes rather than an actual epilogue. But everything in between that is pretty solid. There’s good action set pieces, a nice score, memorable visuals, and some good character interactions between all of the Justice League members, with Wonder Woman and Cyborg being the standouts. It’s also refreshing to see a Zack Snyder superhero movie to where the superheroes actually feel like superheroes, feeling as if he just ditched the ego-filled mindset and just set out to make a damn good Justice League movie that most people could enjoy.
There’s still some faults from the theatrical cut that are carried over here such as Steppenwolf being so terribly BORING! However, this is certainly an improvement over the theatrical cut and should most certainly be considered the actual definite version of Justice League. I might not call myself a fan of Snyder’s input on DC but I’m at least glad he got to finish what he started after having to originally step down due to the tragic death of his daughter. Can we please move on with our lives now?!
8.) The LEGO Batman Movie
You could make the argument that The LEGO Batman Movie is the Batman movie that feels like the culmination of all the other Batman movies that have come before it along with the hit tv shows.
The key trick that LEGO Batman pulls off is making all it’s spoof nature and commentary that doesn’t come across as lazy, spiteful, or talking down to its audience. It’s able to be a self parody while always having something new and meaningful to say. It’s able to deconstruct it’s main title character but also show a full side of him that has been hinted at in the past but makes it come into full fruition now. It’s able to make fun with it’s material without actually making fun of it. It’s able to make everything Batman while also making Batman everything. I guess what I’m trying to say is, EVERYTHING IS BATMAN!
Not necessarily Batman’s most memorable picture and honestly could have done without the Lego gimmick this time around but this is still a very fun ride regardless.
7.) The Batman
The big overall question that everyone wants to know is if The Batman is the best Batman movie ever made? Well, it really depends on the kind of Batman that you want and hope to get out of this new movie. We have gotten so many different incarnations of the caped crusader in the past and nearly every single one of them has their fans of some sort. In my opinion, it’s not quite the best Batman movie or even my personal favorite one but still a damn solid one nonetheless.
There are some flaws that hold it back a bit. The inspirations that Matt Reeves clearly has taken from other Batman stories and David Fincher movies are quite noticeable, a third act sequence that should feel more impactable than it actually is, and a sequel tease near the tail end of the film that will likely have your eyes rolling. The strengths of the movie, however, should not be cast aside. The acting is all stellar here (Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Rino, and Colin Farrell are all perfect in their roles), there has never been a more effective and accurate Gotham City-like atmosphere displaced on the big screen, and a Batman film that put more focus on the detective aspect, even if Batman is still FAR from being the World’s Greatest Detective in this. Plus, anyone that claims that Michael Giacchino’s instantly iconic theme is not in their head immediately after the movie is lying through their teeth.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve grown more accustom to filmmakers doing their own unique thing with the characters that one movie that feels more in line with the actual source material than one the director put Batman in their own unique sandbox is what makes The Batman come across as more conventional compared to some of the others one. However, conventional doesn’t mean the same as bad. The Batman is a really good movie that while doesn’t break any new ground, it does tick off most of the right boxes of what I (and imagine others) would view as a proper Batflick.
6.) Batman Begins
Batman Begins was an absolute revolutionary when it came out back in 2005. Not only did it revived the Batman franchise that seemed long dead for eight years, but it help set the foundation that properties surrounding superheroes and comic books can in fact be taken more seriously and still be really good.
Even if the second half isn’t quite as good as the first half and the action leaves a lot to be desire but those problems can easily be forgiven with the way this movie is able to accomplish everything else. It gives us an incredibly engaging Bruce Wayne in Christian Bale’s iconic turn as this iconic character along with providing a satisfying origin story that stands as one of the best ever put to screen in superhero movie form.
While it’s impact didn’t feel all the way felt until around the arrival of it’s sequel The Dark Knight three years later, this film’s importance to the Caped Crusader along with the sub-genre should not go unnoticed. Even before Marvel got their universe with Iron Man, it was this terrific first entry from Christopher Nolan that got the ball rolling with just how good a modern superhero movie can be.
5.) Batman (1989)
The original Tim Burton, Batman was quite an accomplishment in 1989. Introducing the character ofBatman on the big screen that would define a new generation of moviegoers and Batman fans. As it’s own film, it still holds up incredibly well but it isn’t perfect by any means.
Side characters such as Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent aren’t given much development time, it’s quite inconsistent as to whether or not Batman should kills his enemies or not, and there are times where so much focus is put on the Joker that you can argue that it takes away from the actual titled character of the film. But I do think when it comes down to the core conflict and the way both the hero and villain are portrayed here, it makes for a rather unique, interesting, and personal conflict between the two pairs. Just because anyone can be a hero doesn’t mean that anyone can not also be a villain as well.
Tim Burton might not have captured the Batman and Joker from their original roots but he did help create original roots of his own that made the film for the better and leave the impact that it has today. If it wasn’t for the success of this film, who knows if Batman would be anywhere near as popular as he is now.
4.) The Dark Knight Rises
You ever have that one movie that you would define as a flawed masterpiece. A film that you know deep down has problems but it’s still perfect for you anyway! That would be The Dark Knight Rises for me! The kind of film that even with it’s notable flaws, I still can’t help but feel like this is the best possible version of itself it could possibly be. The overall premise of this movie is one that actually dares to question the entire idea around the character of Batman: that perhaps Bruce Wayne being the Batman was a mistake.
And every time I watch this movie, I always go back to that one scene with Bruce getting out of the pit. When watching it, I just can’t imagine these movies being the way they are without that one particular scene. It just makes everything whole and even the things that are wrong with the movie (and even the whole trilogy) feel kinda right. Just like how that moment brings Bruce within himself to become the Batman one last time, I believe that was also the exact moment where Christopher Nolan found it within himself to direct this movie. The one moment that the Dark Knight behind the camera was able to rise once again to finish what he started.
To this day, I can’t think of many series finales that have been as satisfying as The Dark Knight Rises. From it’s scope to it’s action to it’s themes to it’s ending, I will always have a big fondness for Nolan’s final triumph with Batman and superheroes. Some might bark for this being too high on the list but, I’m still a believer in The Dark Knight Rises even if you’re not.
3.) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Mask of the Phantasm perfectly illustrates how Batman is not just a symbol for Gotham City but also represents a tragedy for Bruce Wayne. With losing his parents, seeing good people become evil, watching as criminals strike fear into the heart and soul of Gotham, that showcases how being Batman is difficult just like that. But it’s his tragic relationship with Andrea that shows that no matter how hard he tries, Bruce Wayne can just never escape being Batman. It’s something that will haunt him for as long as he lives. Whether it’s a personal connection or not, there will always be something that traces back to Bruce as Batman. He can never move past it, because Batman is and always will be Bruce Wayne’s destiny. He can dread it, run from it, but destiny will arrive all the same!
There are plenty of Batman movies that are more centered around the stories they tell themselves that just so happens to have Batman in it. Many have succeed, some even more so than this movie, while others have failed. But, there really hasn’t been a motion picture that show the inner turmoil of Bruce Wayne as a character and the tragic figure that Batman himself represents than with Mask of the Phantasm.
This may not be quite my favorite movie WITH Batman but, even after the release of The Batman, I strongly that this is the best movie ever made ABOUT Batman.
2.) Batman Returns
Whenever I think of the Batman movies that would make for the perfect double feature for one another and just two films that perfectly compliment the other, I think of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Both films contain some of the biggest, boldest, and just plain best work of both directors filmography.
Both movies are just as much about the antagonist in terms of story, character, and themes as the protagonist, perhaps even more so. They tell incredibly groundbreaking tails of the pros and cons of the Batman legacy along with showing a Batman that is truly unrestrained and beyond his limits that serves both a story and thematic purpose. In the sense, both Batman Returns and The Dark Knight make for a great parallel with one another and terrific back-to-back featurettes. Even when looking at Returns at it’s own thing, it’s still brilliant!
Everything done with the Batman, Catwoman, and the Penguin is absolutely great, it’s shot phenomenally, Danny Elfman’s score is still iconic, and it’s arguably the only Batman picture that is able to find room for the dark, campy, realistic, and fantastical elements all at once along with stating that each one of those featurette have a place within Batman lore. As much Michael Keaton fun as it was to see Batman again in The Flash, I can’t imagine there being a more beautiful and interesting take on his version of Batman then with this movie.
1.) The Dark Knight
But yeah, no surprise to anyone, this is still the best movie with Batman ever made. I know it’s become cliché to claim that The Dark Knight is one of the best superhero movies ever, but many people said that for a reason, it is just that damn good.
What makes The Dark Knight work perfectly is how it’s an unique, distinct story about Batman being challenged mentally, emotionally, physically, thematically, and symbolically. The two other main characters throughout the picture in Joker and Harvey Dent represents both the hero that Batman so desperately wants to be along with the villain that he fears that he will one day come. It’s a Batman movie that perfectly mirrors itself with out it tells this identical tale of crime, corruption, and vengeance in the most complex and fascinating way imaginable.
Even the films’ overall minor flaws like a couple of plot holes throughout and taking place in the most generic looking Gotham City imaginable can’t take away from the amount of absolute superb filmmaking throughout the entire 152-minute long runtime. There are definitely Batman movies out there that people have liked/disliked more than others but I don’t think anyone can argue that there hasn’t been a Batman movie that has a much of an impact as The Dark Knight. From the twists and turns to it’s resonate themes to Heath Ledger’s amazing turn as Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight, even 14 years later, still stands on top.
When I decided to do a marathon of all the Batman movies that had been released in theaters, this decision came from not only trying to build anticipation for myself and others for this newest entry but tried to get a sense of how each individual Batman incarnation differentiate themselves for one another. Not only to see what each different version has brought to the table and to see what exactly the new one could do, but more of what each version has NOT brought to the table and what exactly could this new one bring that the other films have not. With a character that has gotten so much live-action films along with TONS of animated ones, you would think that you have milked the franchise long enough in movie form and be fresh all out of full cows. I’m not gonna go over how each single version of Batman has stood out as their own since I’ve done that several times throughout my Bat-athon but I’ve always made the case that it seems like each director’s goal was to make a stylish Batman that fit more with their overall vision than the source material. Which is honestly why I was the most curious when it was announced that Matt Reeves was going to helm a Batman movie, a director who’s filmography consists of 75% remakes, reboots, and sequels.
It wouldn’t be a mistake to compare Matt Reeves with the likes of say J.J. Abrams, a director who’s prime skillset as a filmmaker is mimicking the style and feel of other people’s movies/properties. Yet, there’s always a sense through Reeves’s films that he’s telling a story that feels familiar but also is able to tell it as if it’s the very first time that particular story has ever been told. These two directors also tend to have a different sense of goals. Whereas Abrams tends to aim making flashy, sugary, fast-paced movies that are entertaining on a surface level but nothing much else, Reeves tries to add a sense of depth with his own unique style, direction, and storytelling. That’s what made his superb Planet of the Apes movies stand out despite it’s similarities to other films and that’s also what makes The Batman stand out as well because of it.
The Batman really feels like the first time in live-action that a filmmaker isn’t trying as hard to put his own “spin” on the character. Reeves isn’t so much interested about expressing his own unique voice but more on expressing his love for the Batman character, along for David Fincher films. We see his influence and inspiration on screen with The Batman functioning as a Batman movie first and as a genre movie second. In this case, that genre movie would involve detective tales, murder mysteries, and crime thrillers. While fans of these type of genre movies might be a tad underwhelming here as it doesn’t add much different to that particular genre, fans of the Batman character himself should be greatly satisfied.
And they should be more satisfied with the fact that this movie arguably features the most amount of Batman out of any of the live-action movie thus far. There have been complaints in the past that Batman movies focus too much on Bruce Wayne and not enough on Batman. I highly doubt that complaint can be made here, heck I wouldn’t be surprised if some complain that there’s too much Batman and not enough Bruce Wayne here. Even when we do get Bruce Wayne, he doesn’t seem all that different than his Batman persona. This is a Bruce Wayne that has let his Batman side take over what should be his human side to him. While that might bother some, Reeves makes it clear early one that is his full-on intention with showing a Bruce that is still in that insomnia/trauma phase that he hasn’t been able to get over of.
We spend so much time with Batman himself being the defined character we all know him as and more focused on the detective aspect than we have seen in film’s past. We see him do things like solve mysteries, investigate crime scenes, trying to get together evidence, and use special equipment like contact lenses to pin-point and record actual footage. Heck, we even see him doing as something simple as showing Batman look for clues in a stock folder of files. How much more detective can you get than that! While these detective aspects are admittedly nothing groundbreaking , it’s at least nice to see the World’s Greatest Detective actually act more like the World’s Greatest Detective for once.
What’s also greatly appreciating is how this is also the kind of Batman movie that doesn’t let it’s main villains or side characters overshadow the title character. I have made the argument in the past that the Batman is mostly define about the villains and that’s why it’s equal screen time to other characters hasn’t bother me as much as others, but The Batman shows that you don’t have to sacrifice one end or the other to make that ring true. While we see characters like Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, and a few others have their fair amount of screen time, it never functions as it’s own separate story and always finds a way from both a thematic point and story point to trace it all back to Batman himself and his important duty in Gotham City.
And speaking of Gotham, this movie beats just about every single Gotham City we’ve had in live-action so far. While I loved that Batman Forever’s Gotham brought a sense of life into a corrupt town and Batman Begins hinted at a small portion of the absolute wasteland that the city can be, The Batman puts that corruptness and wasteland-like nature on full display. This is the first time in any of the live-action movies that you can buy Gotham as a city that’s lost his soul. It’s the first time I bought it 100% as an absolute shithole where crime has taken over from both a surface and symbolic level. It’s the first time I bought Gotham City as being a complete and utter mess that would take Batman forever (no pun intended) to clean up. This is the Gotham I see that gone through hell the same way that Bruce Wayne has.
However, hell isn’t something that only Gotham goes through in this movie but also the main characters the movie focuses on. Similar to other Batman movies, The Batman keeps it’s core and thematic through line through three different characters, this case it’s Batman, Catwoman, and Riddler. It’s the way this movie compensates into the depths of trauma and insomnia that has consumed all three of these figures throughout the past and present. Batman, with the death of his parents along with the other hits he takes as the story goes on. Catwoman, with the sins and connections to those from her past along with needing to find her friend/roommate. Riddler, with trying to share the amount level of grief and wanting acceptability along with coming up with a complete convoluted plan that will give him some sense of completeness. It’s that distinct mindset and things that each one of these characters have gone through or will go through that drives the movie forward and meets it’s overall endgame. With most of the characters presented, it might just be the most truly darkest dark night of their entire lives.
The performances are all stellar across the board. While the jury is still out on how he will hold his own as Bruce Wayne (again he doesn’t really get the chance to be fully at home as Bruce himself), Robert Pattinson makes for a perfect Batman, perfectly capturing the brooding and stoic nature of the character without going too overboard in any of that department. Zoe Kravitz is an absolute blast to watch as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, adding a ton of energy and feels the most comic-book accurate out of all the Catwomen we’ve gotten so far (although, I think I still prefer Michelle Pfeiffer). Jeffrey Wright makes for one cool Commissioner Gordon and one that even has the audacity to stand up to Batman. Paul Dino is perfect as the Riddler here that provides the right mix of being insane, threatening, and somewhat sympathetic by the end of it. Colin Farrell is recognizable but also quite entertaining as the Penguin. John Turturro continues to prove how underrated of an actor he is with his turn as Falcone. And despite not having as much screen time as one may hope for, Andy Serkis makes for a compelling Alfred in his own right.
The movie looks fantastic with it perfectly capturing the toxic but beautiful atmosphere of Gotham. The action, while used sparingly, is top notch with the highlights being that of a nightclub sequence that puts even the one in The Dark Knight to shame, and a Batmobile chase sequence that’s immediately brief but awesome in it’s own right. The score by Michael Giacchino is inspired and memorable in it’s own right, (Good luck not humming “DUNNNNNNN DUNNNN DUN” just mere moments after the movie has ended). The tone while dark and grim, never goes overboard with it and never forgets to have a bit of levity every now and then. And the film itself was entertaining and engaging throughout that mostly kept my attention and even it’s three hour long runtime didn’t feel taunting to me.
As for the flaws with this movie, there’s not much major ones but definitely some gripes. Firstly, there are elements in the third act that feel rushed and never gets that impactful feeling I think Reeves is originally going for. With the events that transpires there, I would suspected at least a little more time to be spend on it not be so glossed over. Secondly, while I get the movie isn’t trying to break any new ground with it’s material, there are times where the films’ inspirations to both past Batman movies and detective stories such as Se7en and Zodiac can feel a bit on the nose that you might be able to see a plot point or two coming from a mile away. I understand that after over a dozen or so Batman movies released in theaters that original ideas can be tricky but I do think that perhaps it could have afford to take a step further in some of the material it presents itself. However, unlike with Joker, this does at least have an actual functioning brain in his head with it’s own distinct feeling for itself that it’s inspirations won’t take you out of it. Thirdly, there’s a scene towards the tail end of the movie that is clearly meant to give a sequel tease that I honestly could have done without. The movie works well enough as it’s own thing that the overall tease felt quite forced and honestly made me roll my eyes.
The big overall question that everyone wants to know is if The Batman is the best Batman movie ever made? Well, it really depends on the kind of Batman that you want and hope to get out of this new movie. We have gotten so many different incarnations of the caped crusader in the past and nearly every single one of them has their fans of some sort. In my opinion, it’s not quite the best Batman movie or even my personal favorite one but still a damn solid one nonetheless. Perhaps it’s because I’ve grown more accustom to filmmakers doing their own unique thing with the character that one movie that feels more in line with the actual source material than one the director put their own version of Batman in their own unique sandbox is what makes The Batman come across as more conventional Batman movie compared to some of the others one. However, conventional doesn’t mean the same as bad. I would never punish a really good movie for being a really good movie, even if it’s not the best or even my favorite one. The Batman is a really good movie that while doesn’t break any new ground, it does tick off most of the right boxes of what I (and imagine others) would view as a proper Batflick.
As for the post credits scene, there’s not anything you MUST see if you have to go somewhere immediately after the movie is over. If you can stay, I would say do it in anyway to show some respect to all the folks who worked immensely hard on this movie along with a little bit towards the very end of the credits. Again, you won’t be missing anything if you leave after the movie is over but if you can stay, I would say stay anyway.
Think of it like a similar post credit scene to say, Birds of Prey.
The Marvel Netflix series has officially been taking off of Netflix. After seven years on that platform and about three years since it aired it’s actual final season, Marvel and Netflix seem to no longer be on the best of terms and have moved on from one another. However, just recently, it has been announced that all of these series will be added through Disney Plus as a means of allowing more mature content that will be added on March 16th. Because of all of that, I thought it was best to go back and finish watching the seasons I had yet to see just before it was taking down from Netflix. In hindsight, it was pointless to try to rush through it since it was eventually gonna be on Disney Plus anyway but I digress.
The Marvel Netflix series run made for a quite an interesting, bumpy, uneven, somewhat satisfying, but also plain exhausting ride. While it got off to a very promising start, it soon started to feel like it became too much of a good thing and couldn’t keep that level of consistent quality that the earlier seasons had. That’s not mean to say that these Netflix series was an absolute failure as a whole and there was even a couple of seasons that were great after a while but it definitely couldn’t reach the level of anticipation and rewatchability as say the Marvel Universe movies and even the Disney Plus series to some extent. Whether this has to do with Marvel or Netflix itself with the consistent flaws (sluggish placing, bloated runtimes, minimum momentum) these series has had is besides the point, but nevertheless, it was a thing that existed at one point and it came to an end three years later.
So, here is my ranking of all 13 seasons from worst to best. Keep in mind, I’ve only watched the majority of these seasons one time and I’m only going by what I remember from my overall experience with each season. With that underway, let’s get started.
(Btw, potential spoilers for each and every one of these seasons. If you haven’t watch one of the seasons and don’t want to be spoiled, then you might want to click away and come back once you’ve finished all of them.)
13.) Iron Fist- Season 1
This is arguably the first absolute trainwreck that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had released up to the point of this season’s release. Taking away all the pre-release controversy of Iron Fist being whitewashed and even actor Finn Jones trying to make the early negative reviews of the show into a political talking point, this season just fails on about every single level. Danny Rand is an annoying and unengaging lead while Finn Jones brings little to no charm, charisma, or believability as a material arts master. The fight scenes are poorly shot and are quite hard to watch, it’s about five episodes too long, it’s tone is uneven as hell, most of the cast look embarrassed to be there, the villains are a joke, and The Hand is the single least interesting thing introduced in this entire Marvel Netflix canon. Colleen Wing is quite likable though and poor Jessica Henewick’s back must hurt for having to carry these two sub-par seasons of this show on her back.
12.) The Defenders
The Marvel Netflix’s equivalent of The Avengers was about as forgettable and underwhelming as you can possibly imagine. The cast themselves (save for Finn Jones) have good chemistry and once the series actually bothers to have them together, they play off each other very well. Unfortunately, The Defenders lacks an interesting (or at least functional) plot for them to work with. The forced tied-ins to the already painfully dull The Hand, doesn’t do any favors, the build up to The Defenders themselves is beyond forced, and it really doesn’t provide enough of a justifiable reason as to why this needed to be a full-team up series to begin with. Thrown in a wasted Sigourney Weaver as the villain, a pointless revival of Elektra, and a finale where everything falls apart to absolute shit and it’s feel more on par with the Justice League monstrosity that got released just a few months after this came out than the 2012’s Avengers. While not quite the worst season overall, this was arguably the most disappointing one.
11.) Iron Fist- Season 2
A minor improvement over the dreadful first season but still not enough to make the Iron Fist character worthwhile. The action scenes are much improved, Danny isn’t the annoying insufferable dweeb as he was in the prior season, and at least had the decency to actually be 10 episodes this time as oppose to the completely forced 13. That being said, it fails to make it’s lore and backstory of it’s title character interesting and compelling . It also fails to give a reason as to why The Hand is worth being a major focus on throughout Marvel Netflix as a whole. What makes it more insulting to injury is how the final five minutes are legit better than anything that either two seasons had to offer that it makes you wonder why they didn’t just make this series like that to begin with. Oh well, at least Colleen Wing and Misty Knight are still cool.
10.) Luke Cage- Season 1
The one series where I started to notice the big cracks in the Marvel Netflix show. Whether it’s Marvel or Netflix fault as to the overall “formula” as to how these shows get made, these series greatest weaknesses comes from it’s pacing and just being too damn long. Luke Cage Season 1 unfortunately fall into those exact trappings. It’s starts off well enough with plenty of unique aesthetics and style to admire, a cool soundtrack to listen too, and solid introductions to most of the characters of the shows. Unfortunately, it’s right around the midway point where the series kills off a charismatic and welcome antagonist with Mahershala Ali’s Cottenmouth in favor of a more over-the-top and non-threatening antagonist in Erik LaRay Harvey’s Diamondback, that the big main flaws start to drag the whole season down. The middle chunk is filled with needlessly filler with too much time of Luke Cage being injured and Claire having to nurse him, the brother conflict between Luke and Diamondback doesn’t work in the slightest and feels like it should have been saved for Season 2, and it’s tonal whiplash of being cartoonish feel like a betrayal to the more serious and laid-back tone that the beginning of the show promised. Can’t go wrong with Simone Missick as Misty Knight though and Mike Colter is pretty good as Luke Cage himself!
9.) The Punisher- Season 2
After having achieve vengeance for his family’s death in the first season, Season 2 sees the Punisher attempting to pursue a new purpose and he finds that purpose when he find himself needing to protect a teenage girl named Amy Bendix from a brand new villain assassin in the form of John Pilgrim. That is a unique premise in of itself that makes for a great metaphor of the makers of the show trying to figure out what to do with the next season of a character who wasn’t originally suppose to get their own series.
Unfortunately, not of enough time is spend on that and too much of it is focused on forcefully bringing back Billy Russo (now known as Jigsaw) as the other main bad guy. Similar to Diamondback, that villain just seems too cartoonish to take seriously and doesn’t really fit in the overall tone that the series is going for. Kinda like with the title character (and most of the seasons 2 tbh), Season 2 of The Punisher feels like it’s at war with itself. It’s fine when it’s focuses on it’s own story along with it’s own individual arcs but falters when it feels the need to connect to Season 1 in ways that feels very implausible.
8.) Jessica Jones- Season 2
Season 1 of Jessica Jones was always going to be a tough act to follow after the way the season ended of killing its incredibly compelling bad guy that was neck-neck with Kingpin as being the best villain in these Netflix series. Similar to The Punisher, Season 1 set big holes that Season 2 can’t quite fill in. Luke Cage is replaced with a next door neighbor as a love interest who is rather quite boring, having Jessica’s mother being alive all along is too bizarre itself to completely buy into, and the season seems to be so aware they could never top Killgrave that they don’t even bother having an overall villain itself throughout the course of this season. There’s also the development of Trish turning into Hellcat which is cool up until she makes an awful decision that it makes her unredeemable. Thankfully, Krysten Ritter is just as brilliant her as she was in the first season and really holds this season together. Jessica Jones herself is still a great and compelling protagonist to follow and Ritter hasn’t lost a single bit of charm or wit to this character but you really get the sense that her series hit a brick wall after the first season and the creatives behind it didn’t quite know how to respond to it (at least until Season 3).
7.) Luke Cage- Season 2
Similar to Iron Fist, much better than the first season but not quite enough to make it standout as it’s own thing. 13 episodes is still way too long for these shows but for some reason, it feels the need for each episode to be at or around an hour long. Why? It makes the overall experience feel tiresome, no matter which way you decide to watch this show. However, unlike Season 1, there wasn’t really an area where it completely lost me. Luke Cage’s relationship with a family member, mostly his father, actually works this time because it’s actually a main focus point throughout the entirety of the season and doesn’t abrupt the overall tone. Simmone Missick as Misty Knight is still as fun to watch as she always has been and share great chemistry with Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing, so much so it kinda makes you wish Marvel Netflix could have gone on a bit longer for we could have Daughters of the Dragon. The best part of it all has to be the central main villain that is Mariah Dillard played by the wonderful Alfre Woodard. She thankfully gets more screen time here than the first season and completely steals every scene she’s in, Woodard makes her villain you love to hate but at the same time, don’t want to because Alfre Woodard is so likable. The series also makes a bold choice towards the end to where it isn’t afraid to make Luke Cage the bad guy.
6.) Jessica Jones- Season 3
It’s quiet unfair with how this overall season will be viewed and judged in hindsight. Not just as a the final season with it’s titled character but as the final season with Marvel Netflix as a whole. While I’m pretty certain this was not the ending that Marvel imagine with these series of shows, this season works better for Jessica Jones than it does with the Marvel Netflix run as a whole. Here we see Jessica being challenged more than ever as both a detective and as hero. (Heck, there’s Jessica Jones probably does more detective worth here than any live-action Batman movies, pre The Batman.) Not just with the main villain of Gregory Salinger but with her best frenemie of Trish Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat. Like with most of these shows, there is definitely a sense of slow-burn feel through out but at least here most of it pays off here because Jessica herself is engaging and seeing the choices she makes that may or may not define her as a “true” hero shows how unafraid these shows are at showing their characters being more than just heroes. Salinger himself is a pretty meh villain though.
5.) Daredevil- Season 2
If we are counting just the first four episodes of the season alone, than this would be near the top, if not possibly at #1. The first four episodes is as good as Marvel Netflix can get with it’s sheer amount of intensity, suspense, intrigue, and non-stop action. That stairwell scene puts the hallway scene in Season 1 to shame and the rooftop conversation between Daredevil and Punisher is absolute “Batman and the Joker interrogation chat” level of brilliance. Where it starts to falter is with the arrival of Elektra and being introduced to The Hand. While Elektra herself is entertaining to watch and Elodie Yung and Charlie Cox work well together, every time it has to take us back to anything involving The Hand makes it stick out like a sore thumb. Similar to Season 2 of The Mandalorian, it’s impossible to not to try to distinct the moments of fan service with fan favorite characters like The Punisher showing up and feeling like it’s just pure set-ups for other series that had still yet to come. It also doesn’t help that Kingpin only shows up for two episodes and the finale itself is kind of a mess. (Not to mention, that Elektra reveal near the tail end is beyond laughable.) At least, there’s more stuff happening with side characters like Karen, Foggy, and Claire this time around and something always happening throughout that it’s hard to be zone out by. I might have found this a bit more entertaining than the first season, but from an objective standpoint, this is probably inferior and the weakest of the three seasons.
4.) Daredevil- Season 1
The one that started it all and is a favorite for many people. And it’s easy to see why! This set the perfect tone for these Netflix shows, a tone that has a perfect blend of realism but also enough light. The universe building it displays is incredibly well realized and has it’s own unique feel to it that’s different compared to the Marvel movies. The action and fight scenes are absolute top notch that feels real but also incredibly brutal and dirty. And of course, the rivalry between Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and Vincent D’onofrio’s Kingpin is extraordinary stuff and makes the whole season (and even the entire series) worth it because of their great dynamic. The rest of the series on the other hand, is a bit of a mixed bag. The length of the series and each episode is felt the longer it goes on, the supporting characters like Karen and Foggy don’t get much to do other than solving the same crimes that Daredevil himself already solved, and no matter which Daredevil outfit you prefer, they look quite downright silly regardless. It’s a season that basically works more as a whole than the sum of it’s parts. While it’s not quite my favorite season overall, it’s undeniably the most important one.
3.) The Punisher- Season 1
The Punisher himself was the one character that wasn’t originally planned to have his own series. It officially came greenlighted shortly after Daredevil Season 2 as many people loved Jon Bernthal’s portal as the character and wanted to see more of him. That in of itself could make the actually season itself feel incredibly rushed and half-baked but that is thankfully not the case with The Punisher Season 1. While the first half is not particularly great suffering from many of the same length and pacing problems as most of these series do, it easily finds it’s momentum, purpose, and pay offs very well in the second half that it makes the patience feel earned. This help showcased how a supposed monster like Frank Castle himself can still be seen as having humanity within himself. The actions he takes to avenge his fallen family showcases the beam of light that Frank Castle himself has. Jon Berthnal is extraordinary as the Punisher, making for what is possibly the best live-action Punisher up to this point. The action is the most brutal, violent, gory, and bloody than it has been in any Netflix show, featuring one of the most satisfyingly gruesome scenes at the very end of the second to last episode (this deserves to go into the top 3 for that one scene ALONE!) Although it’s somewhat undermines the entire point of the Punisher to present him as being the hero of the story as oppose to a bad guy or at least anti-hero, he does enough brutal things in the show and Berthnal is so good in the role that it mostly doesn’t matter. I can flip a coin between this or the first season of Daredevil but I found the ends to really justify the means more so here .
2.) Daredevil- Season 3
My favorite season of the series by a long shot! Not only in the sense that it takes the character back to his original roots but the one that feels like the character of Daredevil himself is being tested more than ever before. This season has the biggest stakes out of the entire Marvel Netflix universe with the characters in constant peril and Daredevil possibly meeting his match with not just with Kingpin but with his supposed doppelganger known as Bullseye. The sides characters get plenty to do here that have their own arcs and challenges to overcome, the action has never been better and more brutal (the hallway prison fight somehow manages to be even better than both the one in Season 1 and the stairway scene in Season 2 combined), the antagonists shine well here, and is so fascinating to see Daredevil practically get pushed beyond his limits to do what is right for his friends and the city he has sworn himself to protect. And just like with The Dark Knight, it knew that it’s central story had just as much to do with the main hero as it did with his villains. While it’s disappointing that the show had to end here and we’ll never get a fourth season (especially with that cliffhanger tease at the end), they were at least able to save the very best for last and go out on a high note.
1.) Jessica Jones- Season 1
This one was still my favorite overall! Easily the darkest and most suspenseful of all the series but at the same time, the most engaging and entertaining one as well. Perfectly blending the dark themes of abuse, sexual assault, and PTSD, the first season of Jessica Jones works greatly as a haunting character study, a psychological thriller, and an intriguing detective mystery tale. His noir-inspired tone and aesthetic work greatly with the style of the film, the side characters (save for a slightly annoying Hope Shlottmann) are great, with the highlights being Carrie-Ann Moss’s Jeri Hograth, Rachael Taylor’s Trish Walker, and Mike Colter’s Luke Cage, and the overall personal conflict between Jessica and Kilgrave themselves is intriguing but at the same time, disturbing. Krysten Ritter is perfect as the lead heroine but it’s David Tennant as Kilgrave that gives arguably the best performance of the entire Marvel Netflix series, even more so than Vincent D’onofrio as Kingpin. It’s the one season series where I was interested from beginning to end not feeling a sense of drag or boredom. It felt perfectly structure and actually felt justified of it’s 13 episode length. The only real downside is perhaps the death of Kilgrave which despite fitting perfectly within the arc of this season, did make the following seasons an near impossible act to follow to killing off an incredible villain after just it’s first season. But, taking at it’s own thing, Jessica Jones Season 1 was easily the best thing to come out of Marvel Netflix and even had there been no other season to follow this, it would have perfectly well as it’s own great standalone feature.
But yeah, those are my rankings! What a weird, wild ride these Marvel Netflix shows have been!
I don’t know exactly the future now for these characters and the actors involved. With Matt Murdock’s cameo in No Way Home and Kingpin’s appearance in Hawkeye, there seems to be a chance that most of the other cast members could have a chance to play their characters once again. Heck, maybe with the shows moving to Disney Plus, that’ll gain so much viewership that Disney and Marvel will feel compelled to bring them back. Who knows? Either way, those are my rankings of all 13 seasons? Let me know yours in the comments below or you can tweet me on Twitter to give me your rankings there.
Thank you so much for taking time to visit my blog and if you like you can follow me on Twitter, Letterboxd, and hear on WordBlog is you want to keep up to date with me and my content on this website.
Also, I forgot to mention but Claire Temple is a great character and Rosario Dawson plays her well. I just hope those allegations against her beating up a trans person is false. I hear that’s probably not the case but I would need 100% proof on that before liking her once again.
First off, yes I will be discussing both versions in one post. Despite being different in terms of direction, tone, cinematography, editing, and score, both cuts still share the majority of the same beats, plot points, and character arcs that both can only be described as the exact same movie to me. If you don’t like that, well too bad. Anyways, on we go with the last Batman piece for The Batman hits theaters!
Anyone remember 4Kids? Y’know, that controversial children’s network that was infamous for butchering anime series. The one entertainment company that would change up the script, tone, feel, and editing of the whole anime series it was dubbing for younger audiences even if the original anime was actually targeted towards teenagers and young adults. Whether we’re talking about Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sonic X, One Piece, etc., 4Kids would do everything in their power to make sure that each episode of a show they dub would be as kid friendly as an episode of Sesame Street or Dora the Explorer. Even if it required some of the most stupidest and pointless edits/cuts imaginable, like having a character spell out G.U.N. instead of just saying gun (Yes, really!), the agenda was to always scale down each individual episode, cut out anything even remotely dark, have the most lighthearted tone and kid friendly script possible, and make sure it’s no longer than 20 minutes so there can at least be 10 minutes of commercial breaks. As a kid, you don’t notice any of this because you’re not suppose to know any better but as you get older, you see that something is clearly wrong here.
It’s then that you watched the original anime dub that it was based on, most notably the Japanese version and you realized that this is the version that feels right. This is the version that makes the series feel whole and the one that you were actually meant to see. It’s more serious, has more adult and mature themes, there’s some swearing, sexual humor, drug references, and you never feel like you miss a beat when watching it unlike with the US one. Granted, Japan is not necessarily a country that is very sensitive to subject matter and vocabulary language as America is (Like, it’s perfectly normal for a child in Japan to swear. There’s only one or two actual bad words in Japan), but you know damn well this is the version that feels like the definite one, even if it’s practically the exact same show as the massively inferior English one.
Those are the kinds of vibes I get with these two cuts. They have basically the exact same plots with hardly a single beat or arc missed. The whole story in both cuts is about how Batman and Wonder Woman must find the other superheroes out there, form the Justice League, collect all the mother boxes scattered throughout before bad guys get it, fight the evil Doomsday and his deadly army, and attempt to resurrect Superman before all is lost and mankind loses itself once again. The same thing can also be to applied with the original supposed arcs that the characters themselves go through. Batman must learn to be a team leader, Wonder Woman has to use the hope she gain in mankind over the past two movies (BvS and the first WW) to get this gain of superheroes together, Flash is searching for the friends and family that he has lost or left behind bars, Aquaman is learning to adjust to life, people, and resources outside of his wet world, Superman is wondering if there’s any heroism and humanity left inside him, and Cyborg is trying to find his purpose with a group of unique outcasts so he no longer has to be one. Regardless of how much fans of the Snyder cut would like to argue that it’s as different to the theater cut as say The Dark Knight is to Batman 1966, it can’t be denied that the plot points and structure remain in tact.
And make no mistake about it, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is by the far superior version. It feels like an actual complete film with an actual complete vision. It’s able to take it sweet ass four hour long time to build up to each conflict, team-up, and story progression as it cans without losing the style and direction it’s going for, even if it’s stretched out in the first half to almost comical degree. It has it’s own unique score that doesn’t feel like a sloppily remix of prior Batman movies like the theater version. It also has a more improved and more satisfying climax with much better visuals and effects to back it up. It also sure does help to NOT have to use CGI to remove a mustache. Even if there are still some flaws for the theatrical cut that are carried over here (certain characters not having much of a presence, a scattershot first act when getting the JL members together, Doomsday being a boring as f*ck baddie), and even create some new flaws of it’s own (like the absolutely godawful last 15 minutes), the Snyder cut is no doubt the definite version and the one you should watch if you want to have the full experience.
In general, it’s just so amazing how much time it takes into editing, lightning, shooting, framing, directing, and doing redos of all of that can take a movie that has practically the same story to tell but make it as it’s something completely different and gamechanging in comparison. Just like how 4kids took something more mature and aimed at older audience and made something more watered down for a target audience that are probably still a few years away from dropping their first f bomb, the theater cut of Justice League manages to strip away the heart and soul of it’s original version in favor of something more crowd pleasing and a cut short enough where you can fill as much theater showings of it n a day as possible. It’s only in through production and post-production of a flick can make or break it no matter the quality of your actual motion picture. If you don’t believe me, just watch this side-by-side comparison of both cuts.
Now, you might be wondering about me discussing Batman’s role in the movie. Well, to be honest, there’s not much to say about Batman in this movie. His role and arc in the story is about as simple and straight forward as it gets. For a cut of a movie that aims to be more grown up and SMART, his character development is about a by-the-numbers as you could get that even a child can see his story turns coming from a mile away. Granted, this is a Justice League movie first and Batman movie second so that’s understandable but you would think the most popular DC character would have more of a presence in a Justice League movie than say Cyborg (Although, the stuff with this Cyborg is some of the best stuff in the whole movie btw). There’s really nothing fascinatingly awful or fascinatingly great of his role in this movie. It just seems like he’s kinda there.
(Also, side note, it’s quite funny how Snyder fanboys/defenders always like to brush off criticism towards his films claiming that people just didn’t get it despite the fact his DCEU movies has been as unsubtle and oversimplied with it’s themes as possible. Like, what is there to not get about the Martha scene? Or Lex Luthor needing a piss jar? Or even Zod claiming that there’s only way to end a fight between him and Superman despite the fact that’s actually two ways? What is there not to “get” but any of that?)
Sorry, I got sidetracked!
Batman’s sole purpose in this movie is to be a team leader. He and Wonder Woman’s overall goal in this movie, which carries over from Dawn of Justice, is to build an army of superpower beings that they can find in favor of forming an allegiance that will help protect the world at all cost. He still just as bit as moody and brooding as in the last film (unless you watch the theater cut) although not as cold blooded, murderous or bloodthirsty towards crime fighting. He does feel more of the Batman this time around than say, the Punisher but there’s just not much that makes this Bruce Wayne/Batman standout as it’s own thing to be engaged in. Ben Affleck definitely does try harder in the Snyder Cut than he did in the theater cut (where he looked like he rather just stayed in bed) and some of the Batmobile action is top notch but Snyder still fails to make his version of Batman engaging in his own rights without the needs of aesthetics, visuals, and performance wise to do the work for him. His take on Batman overall is…….passable but it should have been much better.
They do also hint at in the abominable epilogue about the possible reason for Batman killing had to do with the murder of Dick Grayson and Lois Lane caused by the Joker. Once again it’s HINTED at, not confirmed. And once again, we never once got the insight into the relationship or connection to Dick or Lois either so that just falls flat. At least it’s more buyable than trying to pretend that Bruce actually cared all that much about that poor Dave fella who Superman got killed. Although, this does lead to easily the funniest line in the whole movie where Batman tells Joker he’s gonna f*cking kill him! I shed tears of laughter everytime I hear that!
I still don’t get what’s preventing Batman from killing the Joker here. It makes no sense, just do it! You’ve killed plenty of others less evil up to this point, how is killing off Mr. J gonna ruin your reputation.
Also, this whole scene is just a dream sequence, something that Snyder sure does love to put in his movies. So, who’s to say that any of this is true and that there even is a real Robin. Heck, maybe this while entire Snyderverse was one crazy fever dream. All kidding aside, I get the sense this scene was only done just to have an excuse for the DCEU Batman to have an interaction of some sort with the DCEU Joker. And my god is Jared Leto has terrible than ever! He should go back to trying to do his best Mario impressions.
But yeah, Batman may not be as much of a mindless killer as he was in the last one and it is cool to see a Batman in live-action being able to interact with other Justice League members but having to follow through the context or lack thereof baggage from Dawn of Justice can’t seem to make the movie do any favors. I sure do hope Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson are up to the task to with making their version of Batman more distinct and filled with depth that you don’t need multiple sequels or decades of resources to get you to care about him.
Overall, that just about does it for my Batman marathon. It sure was interesting to go back to watching all these films once again and seeing how each one stands out with the others. Not all of them are winners of course but this was definitely a purely fascinating experience. There has been many different kinds of Batmans over the years and I only hope Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson are able to bring something to the table that’s fresh, different, but also feels just right. I get the feeling that they will do just that but I will wait to find out when I see the movie myself on March 3rd. I will have my review out for The Batman shortly after I’ve seen the movie, do a ranking of every single theatrical release Batman film to date, and possibly do a spoiler-heavy piece a few days after the movie has come out.
A big thanks to every single one of you that has read all of my Batman posts and other pieces up to this point even if you don’t always agree with what I am saying. I hope you continue to enjoy my content! And if you haven’t already, be sure to follow me through WordPress, Twitter, and Letterboxd if you want to keep up to date with my content or have any questions for me.
Hope you all have a swell day and enjoy The Batman whenever you see it!
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