Doctor Strange (2016)

Benedict is rather good as a wizardly ego-maniacal otter surgeon with a god complex.

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Iron Man 3 (2013)

Loved Ben Kingsley as Trevor the drug-addled Mandarin.

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Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Marvel's answer to the collateral damage of DC's 'Man of Steel' and 'Batman v. Superman'.

That airport fight scene was so much fun!

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Suicide Squad (2016)

The cons: For a film with such a paper-thin plot it sure was messy. The same could be said about the action sequences - messy. The new Joker was cheap, low-rent and more pimp than arch-villain. Surely they could have found a better character incentive than stealing the old "bomb in the neck" ploy from Escape From New York? The villain and villainess were weak, silly and underused. Far too long.

The pros: A killer soundtrack. Assorted anti-heroes spouting just the right amount of wise-assery (unlike Deadpool). Fun in the places where it didn't take itself too seriously.

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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

The 3 hour Ultimate Edition. Zack Snyder really needs to chill the fuck out and stop blowing shit up... except for Jesse Eisenberg. He can blow that fucker up as much as he wants. I want an Ultra-Mega-Super-Deluxe Edition that just contains 24 hours of footage of that bastard being killed over and over and over again.

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Deadpool (2016)

If there was an award for wiseassery this film would win it hands down. I fucking hated it with every fibre of my being. After 10 minutes my daughter was on her DS, after 15 I was on my Kindle, after 30 minutes my wife admitted she hated it as well (not noticing that I'd been reading for 15 minutes). Maybe one day I may finish it but it's highly unlikely.

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Tank Girl (1995)

I used to read Tank Girl back when she was in Deadline back in the 80s/90s and I LOVE this film, faults an' all!

Minus half a star because no Sub Girl

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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron is Joss Whedon's response to the mass carnage of Zack Snyder's Man of Steel.

Where Snyder treats collateral damage as a necessary inconvenience (a la Michael Bay and American foreign policy), Whedon goes to great lengths to save innocents, even if it means risking the lives of his heroes, and surely that is what being a hero is all about. The main question that Age of Ultron asks is whether the sacrifice of a few to save the many can ever be justified? Take, for example, a city under siege; the besieging army promise to stop the attack and in the process save many thousands of lives if the inhabitants deliver to them a single child, in the knowledge that he will be killed. How much is their lives worth? One child, two, one hundred? In other words, if we are prepared to sacrifice a single life to save many then we may as well kill a hundred.

The film is well paced with a much needed quiet 2nd act and a frenetic finale that builds the action over several set pieces rather than rely on the multiple endings so prevalent in action films (yes, Bay and Snyder, I can see you both giggling at the back. See me after class!).

It's nice to see Black Widow and Hawkeye take centre stage and Whedon ground the film with a pair of non-radioactive, superpower-less mortals. Empathy is important in a film and this is always going to be a problem in a superhero movie, but in Age of Ultron we have Black Widow and Hawkeye to act as our empathetic surrogates; we are Hawkeye and Black Widow and they do us proud.

James Spader hams it up just the right amount and seemingly channels Adam West for his portrayal of Ultron. The rest of the cast continue as normal but with a little more depth and humanity than previous films, with Thor questioning his godhood and a growing relationship forming between Romanoff (Black Widow) and Banner (Hulk).

Action-packed and funny in just the right places, Age of Ultron is a superhero film that for once doesn't focus on super-powers and instead on love, compassion and sacrifice. A very human superhero film indeed.

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Batman: Dead End (2003)

A talent showcase for Sandy Collora. Fun but the edits could have been a little snappier.

Watch it here

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Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

I only caught the last 15 minutes, and you know what? I'm fucking glad I missed the rest!

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Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

I fell in love with a green skinned woman, made friends with a sociopathic raccoon, fought with a pedantic red tattooed thug, weeped over a tree, laughed continuously, and even danced a little. The colours, the sounds everything about this movie shouts "Fun" with a capitol F. No false endings a la Bay, perfect pacing, no irritating characters, terrific dialogue, just great! The most fun I've had watching a film in ages.

I cannot believe this was based on a Marvel comic as it looks and feels just like a 2000 AD strip. In fact, this is D.R. and Quinch and I love D.R. and Quinch. So to mix up my comics a bit... Eat plutonium death you disgusting alien weirdos! I AM GROOT!

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