The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

This was a much more entertaining mess than the previous one. Too long, too focused on the utterly uninteresting mystery of Peter's parents' deaths/disappearance, and still wildly overconfident about its likelihood to spawn (multiple!) sequels. But I liked parts of it. Specifically, pretty much every part that Spider-Man was in. Not Peter though. This version of Peter sucks.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

This movie is boring. And so much of it seems like unnecessary complications added, I guess, for the sake of setting up sequels? Unlike (the first two movies of) the Raimi/Maguire trilogy, I hadn't seen this movie or its sequel until now, so I don't know how much of what they've set up is actually going to be paid off (or was ever intended to). But that's the impression I got while watching it. They expected to turn this into an ongoing series.

Does Peter really need all this backstory? No.

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

This movie is a mess. There are still enjoyable parts, but there's too much going on and none of it is properly developed. Also, the weakest characters of the trilogy (MJ and Harry) have much more prominent roles in this film, to its detriment. I was going to say "important roles", but no. They're not. They just get too much screen time.

I'm not even sure if Peter and MJ actually like each other.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

In some ways, Spider-Man 2 is more enjoyable than the first film, but it's also not quite as well put-together. It's also a lot funnier, which is a big plus for me, but if you like a more serious tone then you're probably not going to be as happy with this one.

Spider-Man complaining to a stranger about his pants.

Spider-Man (2002)

This movie holds up really well. It's way better than I remembered it being. It's very simple, and it does hold your hand a little too much (even for an all-ages, super-hero movie), but everything in it happens for a reason and it's all driven by the characters' goals and motivations - which are all clearly communicated to the audience. If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching. It's a good movie.

Radiation is out; genetic engineering is in.

Marvel's Runaways - Hostile

Well, that's over. And despite a pretty strong start, I don't think I'll be watching season two. Because this is where we should have been by episode three or four. The show's just been spinning its wheels for far too long and I'm bored.

Marvel's Runaways - Doomsday

I feel I'm being pretty repetitive at this point, but that's just the nature of this show, apparently. Nothing continues to happen.

Marvel's Runaways - Tsunami

Things just keep not happening in this show, don't they? I feel like we're in the same position now as we were at the end of the previous episode. It's all hints and allusions and nothing concrete. Mysteries built on mysteries without any solutions or resolutions. What are the parents trying to do? No idea. How does the formerly old guy fit in? He seems to be kind of in charge of the whole thing but most of the parents don't seem to know who he is or what he wants - but they've been doing these sacrifices to keep him alive for years? The kids are no closer to doing anything at all. It's entertaining to watch but as soon as each episode's over you just find yourself thinking "wait, what actually happened in this episode?"

Marvel's Runaways - Refraction

I still feel like this show needs to pick up the pace a bit, but I guess some stuff did kind of happen in this episode. But then again, mainly just more stuff that sets things up for the future. Everything is always about to happen and nothing is ever happening. Big things that seem like they should derail the characters' lives just... don't.

Marvel's Runaways - Metamorphosis

Once again, things keep happening, but none of them are the actual main plot. I mean, that's kind of moving forward, but not in any meaningful way. The kids are still collecting evidence and the parents are still at the "do the kids suspect something? Nah, probably not" stage. This episode is ostensibly centred around a heist, but it's actually kind of the B plot rather than the focus.

Marvel's Runaways - Kingdom

Again the pacing is weird. It's not bad, it just feels like it should be faster. Like, we're getting these huge revelations but no one is acting on them. I mean, they are, but just in small ways. It's not on the scale I'm used to with super heroes, I guess. I feel like these kids should all be on the same page with regard to taking down their parents, for example, but they aren't. Which makes sense, but it's not what I expect of the genre.

Marvel's Runaways - Fifteen

The pace of this show is a bit weird. It doesn't feel slow to watch (like, for example, Daredevil) but looking back at the end of each episode it doesn't feel like much happened. There's a lot of little stuff but the overall plot doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Even the things that seem like they should lead to huge developments somehow don't.

Marvel's Runaways - Destiny

This third episode is a bit of a slow one, comparatively. The plot is moving forward, but it's slowed down now that the characters are all introduced. We get a bit more background info on some of them and the kids do a bit of sleuthing, but nothing particularly dramatic.

Marvel's Runaways - Rewind

This episode is neat. It's the first episode again but from the parents' perspective. We don't find out the full backstory or anything, just get more details about that day. I like it.

Marvel's Runaways - Reunion

So there's a new Marvel show. I'm not a big fan of the Marvel shows (aside from Agent Carter, which was fantastic) or the MCU in general, and Inhumans was just terrible, but I'll give it a go.

Marvel's Inhumans - ...And Finally: Black Bolt

What a colossal mess of an episode. What a mess of a series. Absolutely nothing was resolved in an even remotely satisfying way. I knew from episode one that the bad guys were going to win, because the writers inexplicably thought they were the good guys, but literally everything about this ending was terrible.

Marvel's Inhumans - Havoc in the Hidden Land

The plot actually moved forward a bit this week, and they seem to have saved everything for right near the end. I hate when shows do this. Spread your story out over the whole season, don't drag your feet and then suddenly sprint to the finish. That's a terrible idea.

Marvel's Inhumans - The Gentleman's Name is Gorgon

I just watched this episode and I can't remember what even happens in it. I think nothing? Everyone's still terrible, Maximus is still right, thyere was a big fight scene and Gorgon died. Oh right, that's something. The big dumb guy who I didn't care about died. He was barely a character, he accomplished nothing, and now he's gone.

Marvel's Inhumans - Something Inhuman This Way Comes...

They're really leaning hard into the "Maximus is a terrible person" angle, and I do agree with that, but I still think he's the good guy of the story. Whatever his motives, whatever his methods, he overthrew a tyrant and freed the slaves. Come on. You will not convince me he's the villain here.

Marvel's Inhumans - Make Way for... Medusa

In episode four, some of Maximus's personal motivations come out and he starts to seem like more of a dick - but I'm still on his side, because even if he's doing it for the wrong reasons or going about it the wrong way, he's still doing the right thing. You might not like him at the time, but looking back on it years later you'd have to say he was a hero.