Pete Messum Reviews...

My thoughts on the new Spidey flick...

***CONTAINS SPOILERS*** I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to this film. It was my least anticipated Marvel movie for this year, and the trailers made the film look bloated and convoluted. The amount of marketing for this film was actually amazing, but it’s such a pity that the actual content they showed not only spoilt the film, but made it look like this bloated mess. However, despite this – despite even the mediocre-ness (and rehash of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man) that was The Amazing Spider-Man – the film is actually pretty good. Don’t expect it to be of the same quality as most of Marvel Studios’ films. This is good for what it is. It certainly is very different to the original Sam Raimi movies, and to the Avengers and X-Men movies, so like it for what it is. OK, introduction over – let’s review The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (the least creative sequel title known to mankind. The Amazing Spider-Man: Rise of Electro would have been much better). The plot follows...

So much for Agents of SHIELD Agents of SHIELD has needed to pick-up a little for me recently. Last episode showed signs that the series was heading in a new direction needed, and this episode finally gave us the game-changing twist we needed (although none of the main characters have been killed yet). SHIELD is now revealed to be in fact HYDRA, and this episode is a case of 'who do you trust?' Sadly, out of the many characters that could have been HYDRA, it was John Garrett. Damn it, I liked that guy! If there is one problem with this, its that the 'shock twist' that Ward is in fact HYDRA was a little too predictable to me; it makes a million times more sense than Garrett after all. Ward is a character that I'm still not a fan of. There are times when he will do something cool, but has nothing to him to make him likeable. He's more of the team's 'I hope he's the traitor 'cause I'm not rooting for him' than the total awesomeness that ...

After a really 'meh' episode, Agents of SHIELD pulls us back into the plot that has actually been engaging this series, with SHIELD on the hunt for Deathlok, AKA Mike Peterson, who is now under the influence of the mysterious Clairvoyant. The opening shows Garett and Triplett having a quick face-off with Deathlok, quickly defeating their enemy. Mike Peterson is then given a package, which he opens up to find a new weapon for him. Deathlok himself looks pretty awesome (and I'm betting an action figure will come one day), but it's a shame that this only has the budget of a TV series, as he probably would look even more awesome otherwise. SHIELD's hunt goes badly, but they soon find their enemy in an abandoned racing track. Just as they are about to find him though, they find...the Clairvoyant. Throughout the episode Skye is trying to work out who the Clairvoyant is and how they have access to so much information, and that leads them straight to the Clairvoyant him...

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may have had pretty awful and bloated trailers for the most part, but the film itself is an incredibly enjoyable comic book-to-screen adaptation, enhanced with some stellar action and special FX. While the trailers do spoil the film to the point where the final shot is used, there is the odd twist that is thrown in there for the audience (although the film itself has plenty of not-so-subtle foreshadowing) that wasn't revealed in the marketing. Emma Stone and Dane DeHaan are stunning in this film as Gwen Stacey and Harry Osborne. Harry is a complex character the portray, but DeHaan is so brilliant that he plays across the tortured insanity perfectly, and Emma Stone gives Gwen the heart that the film needs. Andrew Garfield is good, although Peter Parker's complicated personality drags the performance down in places. Jaime Foxx is a little too hammy as Electro, but Paul Giamatti steals the ham as Aleksei Sytsevich, with a performance worthy of the Adam ...

This is again a rather tough episode to review. It sets up many elements (that I won't talk about just yet) but also contains its own self-centred story, albeit connected to the Thor films. The episode is primarily focussed on Lorelei - a sorceress who escaped Asgard after the mass breakout in Thor: The Dark World. First things first, what has she been doing between Episode 8 (set shortly after the film) and this episode. There must have been months! OK, plot-holes don't always mean a bad story so let's carry on. Lorelei has the ability to control men to her very will and make them fall madly in love with her. This is a rather clichéd idea, and the predictability of Ward being taken over ruins it slightly. Clichés can sometimes work in Marvel films. After all, they know that they are quite cheesy at the end of the day (even if some elements in Captain America: The First Avenger took it too far) and so it can work. It has worked in previous episodes, but in this episode, n...

This episode provided the most interesting mystery for the series in a long time, and as a result it gave the episode a crime drama feel, especially as it all resolves around a murder. After last episode's shocking cliff-hanger, Stephen is explaining to his mum (or mom, if you live in America) about his important work at Ultra, while the family takes John in after his exile last episode. This shows John again at his height, and Cara at her lowest. She seems to be unable to have full control over the Tomorrow People and after this episode's ending, I'm hoping someone else takes over soon. Really soon. For most of this episode, Cara and Russell seem to be working against Stephen and Ultra, which causes some friction between both parties. John seems to be caught in the middle, enjoying it all. I won't spoil this episode, but the ending was a fantastic twist for the series. You can kinda see it coming in the final scene, but it is truly a brilliant reveal. Overall, the ...