A Year in Review 2018 – Superhero Movies

With the end of the year coming close, we look back once again at the movies of 2018. Today,we’ll be looking back on the superhero movies of this year. A staple of every year since the inception of the MCU, this year had no shortage of superhero movies either, with a few of them also making cinema history. One of these movies, was Marvel’s Black Panther.

Black Panther, starring Chadwick Boseman as Prince T’Challa, takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War. After King T’Chaka’s death in that movie, T’Challa must return to Wakanda to take his place at the throne.

When challenged by Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, a man upset with the current social order, T’Challa has his ideals about Wakanda’s place in the world and what it means to be a king tested.

Black Panther was a very significant movie for a lot of reasons. It is the third highest grossing MCU movie, the second highest grossing movie of this year, and was considered a significant win for the African-American community. A landmark film, this is definitely one worth watching

Avengers: Infinity War was, without a doubt, the biggest cinematic event of the year. A culmination of 10 years of world building and interconnected plots over almost 20 movies, Infinity War sees every superhero come together to defeat he Mad Titan, Thanos.

With one of the biggest ensemble casts, chockful of Hollywood big names and up and coming stars, Infinity War was one of, if not the most ambitious projects in modern cinema, both from a technical and a storytelling perspective.

Thanos is on a mission to collect the six Infinity Stones, gems that give the wielder the powers of a god. With them in his possession, he intends to wipe out half of all life in the universe.

Infinity War had a lot it needed to accomplish. It had to juggle between so many highly popular stars, form a coherent and interesting plot, develop a new villain, and shock the audience.

By all accounts, it should not have been able to do this, and yet it did. It delivered on all counts. If you haven’t already watched it, you absolutely have to.

The Merc with a Mouth is back. Everyone’s favourite undying degenerate returns in Deadpool 2. As with the last one, the sequel is filled with the same kinds of jokes, references, meta-humour,and fourth-wall breaks that audiences loved about the first one.

The first Deadpool movie was something akin to lightning in a bottle, becoming the highest grossing R-rated movie, leaving Deadpool 2 with some big shoes to fill.

While Josh Brolin’s Cable and Zazie Beetz’s Domino are both fun additions to the cast, Ryan Reynolds still steals the show as Deadpool.

A fun, not-so-family friendly time, Deadpool 2 is an adequate sequel. While it doesn’t quite recapture what made the first movie so great, it is nonetheless still entertaining.

The third and final MCU movie of this year, Ant-Man and the Wasp, the sequel to Ant-Man, is primarily about Hank Pym’s efforts to rescue his wife Janet Van Dyne from the Quantum Realm.

Scott Lang is serving out the last few days of his 2-year house arrest sentence, a deal he took up after breaking the Sokovia Accords (events that transpired in Captain America: Civil War) when he is called to help in retrieving Janet.

While they attempt to do so, they are chased by Ghost, a mysterious operative who can phase through matter. Ant-Man and the Wasp as a movie is perfectly adequate. It doesn’t toe the line or try anything too new, sticking to Marvel’s tried and tested formula.

As such, it’s a fun movie but not one that you would remember too fondly unless you’re a particularly big fan of the characters. If anything, the only reason one would have to need to watch this movie would be to keep themselves up to date with the MCU and the events that occur, since the end-credits scene in this movie ties in to the end of Infinity War and may hold the answers for the solution they need in “Avengers: Endgame”.

DC’s had a rough time starting up its cinematic universe. Almost all their movies so far have been critically panned or received little to no love from audiences apart from a few die-hard fans.

Aquaman was seen by most as the final stand for DC: One last shot to maybe salvage whatever was left. It’s a complete tonal shift from the other movies in the cinematic universe, and it works, because Aquaman is quite possibly the best DC movie yet, even if that’s not saying much.

Featuring incredible action scenes, a decent and mostly coherent story, and genuinely good performances from the cast, especially lead man Jason Momoa, Aquaman tells the tale of Arthur Curry and his fight for the throne of Atlantis.

Son of Queen Atlanna of the Atlanteans and a lighthouse keeper, Arthur was shunned by his mother’s people, considered to be a “half-breed”. For once, without the necessity to try to set up any sequels or other franchises, DC lets Aquaman have his own self-contained story, which proved to be the best direction to go in

The action is entertaining and well choreographed, the humour sticks, and overall it’s certainly a good time. DC fans, you may have hope after all.

And that’s all for today! I hope you enjoyed the show, and I’ll see you in the next episode!

- Open Face Team

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