Hello Fellow Journeyers,
The Mandalorian's third season comes as the next Star Wars property following a stellar opening season in Andor. While I'm excited for this continuing chapter, I'm a little reluctant to believe it will continue to impress with season two's questionable story-expanding choices. That being said, I'm optimistically hopeful and excited to see what Mando and Grogu have been up to for basically two years! I believe this one will stay consistent but not surpass its previous seasons at a solid 4 Stars in quality.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie shouldn't exist, but here we are; of all the video game properties that are worthy of being made into a feature film, Mario's is not very high. But after the stellar teaser trailer, I was officially sold. While Chris Pratt as Mario does feel very odd and the voice feels out of place, everyone else's voices seem natural and fitting. Illumination makes quality animation, and I think this one could be the best movie since Despicable Me. I'm hoping this one will be high, but I believe it'll probably end up landing in the 3.5 - 4 Stars range.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) continues the series of Spider-Man movies that will hopefully be my favorite of all the iterations. The story was superb and ripe with the ability to expand and move in many different possible directions. Into the Spider-Verse was hands down my favorite Spidey movie and I have high expectations that Sony will continue what worked so well with this sequel. I'm thinking based on its predecessor that it will be a 5 Stars movie, but could easily dip to 4.5 Stars since it is "Part One" of a complete story.
Oppenheimer is the next Christopher Nolan film. That's pretty much it! 😄 I kid, but that's pretty much all it takes for me really. Tenet was not the satisfying movie I had hoped it would be and I've been hankering for a fantastic Nolan film since Interstellar eight years ago. I'm not one for historical fiction really, but I trust that Christopher Nolan will give a stunning story nonetheless. Because of Nolan's track record, I believe this one will be at least a 4 Stars rating, but could end up being 3.5 or 4.5, depending on how it's handled.
Dune: Part Two has a lot to live up to after the well-done, but a little lacking in story first entry. I really enjoyed the cinematography and adventure story told, but I felt like I missed a lot of essential aspects to really loving this story since I hadn't read the book. That being said, I am really excited to see how the story continues and grows with this second half. I'm confident that this one can fulfill the promises of the first movie and surpass it in quality and content, hopefully giving us a great second part at 4.5 Stars.
Secret Invasion sits at an interesting place in the MCU. There is a lot that this show could do well, taking what worked well in the Captain America films, but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier proved that just utilizing the action/espionage avenue doesn't make it great by itself. If Secret Invasion is written with competence and intentionality, it could be really good. Honestly, I'm very eagerly excited to see Nick Fury's covert story told, but worried it'll crumble under Marvel/Disney's lacking Disney+ content-puke. Even though Marvel has been inconsistent as of late, I'm tentatively thinking this one will land somewhere in the 3.5 - 4 Stars range, but who knows!
Loki was the biggest surprise hit from Marvel yet! I actively thought this show was going to be a complete waste due to Loki's official death in the main timeline, but they actually managed to tell a story that was fun and very different. While the first season did use Tom Hiddleston's Loki as a form of a cash-grab, the way it was told changed my opinion and the season ended fantastically. I'm ready for what's next. Loki's first season proved it could do great things. I hope it can continue this trend with a 4 Stars second season.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is based on Suzanne Collins' prequel book that I still can't decide if it was warranted or not. I enjoyed the story enough, but I also thought it included many aspects of who cares, mixed with forced progression. I loved the world of The Hunger Games even if I only really appreciate the first two books and movies. Mockingjay (movies and book) was a severe disappointment that left the series in an odd place, but I hope they can make this adaptation fun enough to appreciate. While I'm tentatively optimistic about this one, I don't think it will surpass the quality of the first two books and movies; I'm thinking 3 - 4 Stars for a rating.
With the new year beginning, here is a slew of predictions for visual media! Below I've compiled a list of all the movies and shows I'm most excited for, what my thoughts are, and what I believe they will be rated as far as quality. Enjoy! 😊
What Movies/Shows I'm Excited For
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the Marvel movie I've looked forward to most since Spider-Man: No Way Home. Phase Four of the MCU was a slog to get through and honestly a huge letdown. Let's hope this is the beginning of a wonderful resurgence in quality. Since Ant-Man is one of my favorite MCU characters, I have high expectations, especially considering how much I enjoyed the last two Ant-Man movies. And as an additional bonus, I'm super looking forward to Kang being introduced since his tease in Loki 's first season. I'm hoping this will land in the 4 - 4.5 Stars range for a prediction.
Thanks for reading! If you like what you read, want to hear more thoughts on this topic, other reviews, or talk movie recommendations and Essential Reading, leave a comment below.