This just feels like a hot mess of a movie. Doctor Strange has always been about the weird visuals, with his mirror dimension and all, but there’s so much of that in here, you barely know whether you’re coming or going. The horror elements seemed ramped up - some pretty gruesome deaths in quite graphic detail, alongside moments of serial killer, zombies, it felt like there was barely an original idea in the piece.

Thankfully, this movie was a step back to the great for Spider-Man, ending this first trilogy of films on a really high note. It wasn’t perfect but it was very well done, particularly as the Multiverse aspect could have been very confusing. The more elements you throw into a movie, the more messy it gets, but this was handled spectacularly, remaining entertaining all the way through.

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this one. The trailers didn’t make it look that interesting, and it seems quite removed from the rest of the universe, and although it was a stellar cast, it felt like too many people to get invested in. Unfortunately, my expectations were bang on - this was so boring and it felt like it dragged the rest of the universe down a couple of notches with it.

If we rewind six months of so, and ask my former self if the upcoming Hawkeye TV show would have been my most anticipated of the new MCU TV outings, I would have laughed long and hard. But then they signed up Hailee Steinfeld, then they set it at Christmas, and then they made all the artwork and superhero uniforms purple. Tick, tick, tick. The season finale was released yesterday, bringing to a close a six-episode arc that introduced a new character to Hawkeye’s life, as well as bringing in some returning faces both friend and foe.

It’s the time of year where everyone, including me, starts posting top ten this and top five that, highlights and lowlights of the year gone by. The Guardian have kicked things off with the first part of their top 50s, specifically top books, albums, films and TV shows. Reading this list made me wonder if I need to think about what TV shows would make an end-of-year list. Pulling together my top albums of each year is a wrench, so I can only imagine TV would be far worse.

I’ll be honest with you here: yes, there were a couple of things I wanted to point towards on the subject of the recent Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. But the real reason for this post is an excuse to talk about Simu Liu, who I have become somewhat obsessed with ever since watching the film first time round. That’s the good thing about having a blog, no matter how much or little you post, you can spend lots and lots of time researching things that you’re interested in!

Recently, I watched Shang-Chi, the latest Marvel movie, and it was really good but I couldn’t have predicted the road it would lead me down. After watching the movie, I dug into the behind the scenes documentary that also popped up on Disney+ at the same time. It was a great look at how the movie came together, the thoughts behind updating the character and bringing some legendary martial arts into the Marvel world.

The length of the title of this film made me nervous, but I shouldn’t have been because it’s a top notch Marvel movie, and a great set of new characters to get on board with. I enjoyed it, and particularly liked the fact our main two protagonists were friends from start to finish. There were a few questions on some of the plot points but nothing so irritating to ruin the story.

Wahey, this was a great movie and totally worth waiting for! Finally Scarlett Johansson gets to take centre stage and this is such a great movie for her but also as an ensemble piece with her extended family. It took a little while to get going, filling in that backstory and showing Natasha in hiding from the authorities, but once the action started and the espionage got under way, it was a rollercoaster ride to the end.

If you’ve read any of my Film Watch posts for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’ll have noticed a trend towards the end of the first three phases that goes something like: ‘I think this is a good film but I’ve totally lost the plot and don’t know what’s going on. I’ll have to go back and rewatch the movies and do some homework.’ Well, with the bonus of ever-extending lockdowns, I’ve actually managed to do it!