TheRetroCritic

Review available on the new website .

Review available on the new website .

Avengers... re-assembled! Seriously, is this trailer awesome or what??

Released in 2014, Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher was an anime-style animated feature produced in Japan taking The Punisher and throwing him in an Avengers storyline led by Black Widow, of all people. How does that work? As it turns out, surprisingly well. Taking a page out of DC's book, Marvel lends its characters to a group of competent animators who, much like most of the Batman animated features, not only deliver a visually appealing film but respect the source material. The film doesn't take the easy route either: it would have been a breeze to just make an Avengers movie like the poster suggests, packed with familiar characters throughout, but the fact that this focuses on The Punisher and his unlikely collaboration with Black Widow is refreshingly daring and original. The plot sees S.H.I.E.L.D. clash with The Punisher (voiced by Brian Bloom) over a specific case which Nick Fury explains goes deeper than Frank Castle knows. The latter therefore

Only a month after Batman faced Superman in DC's pre- Justice League crossover movie, Marvel graces us with Captain America: Civil War , bringing to the screen a sort of mini-Avengers movie steeped in Cap lore based on a classic comic-book storyline. The film sees Captain America (Chris Evans) having to protect his friend-turned-Hydra pawn Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) who may or may not have attacked the UN. Steve Rogers believes he may have been framed but, when half of The Avengers agree to the Sokovia Accords, a list of laws which would restrict their freedom to jump into action, things get somewhat more complicated and an elaborate manhunt is soon underway. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), after a blunder involving The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) taking out villain Crossbones with a lot of collateral damage, decides that the superteam should probably be held accountable for their destructive efforts but he quickly finds that convincing Captain America of that is not s

After the double dose of disappointment Marvel offered us a year prior ( The Wolverine , Iron Man 3 ), I was certainly nervous about the direction the company was taking for its second phase, even though  Thor: The Dark World wasn't too bad. Thankfully, Marvel came back to prove me wrong, very wrong, with Captain America: The Winter Soldier , the present day-set sequel to The First Avenger . The real worry I had going into this one was that it would just feel like yet another Avengers Assemble , giving up on the retro feel of the first Captain America movie altogether, something I personally love about the character and that particular flick. As it turns out, The Winter Soldier is deeply rooted in the character's history and we actually get to see how that history had an impact on Steve Rogers' present. Sure, the film goes for a decidedly modern thriller vibe but it still manages to feel like a superhero movie and keep some good old-fashioned camp intact. With Jo

With the success of Marvel's modern comic-book to movie adaptations, it was inevitable that a crossover would one day be attempted. The studio had, after all, been building up to it for years, testing their own capabilities with every movie and the result was one huge epic that did not disappoint entertainment-wise and raised the bar for any superhero flicks that followed. The run-up to the film was hardly flawless with The Hulk going through two makeovers before Mark Ruffalo snapped the role and Iron Man 2 not getting the best reviews despite being loads of fun. Potential further helpers Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four crashed and burned before the big project, the former going for a reboot and the latter not looking good, to say the least. Joss Whedon leads an all-star cast in this cinematic adventure full of iconic characters so many kids and adults alike have been picturing themselves as since they were three. Chris Evans plays it straight once again as Steve Rogers/C