Phoenix is Arthur Fleck, a clown working in streetside advertising by day and wannabe stand-up comedian by night. He cares for his ailing mother and fantasises about his neighbour Sophie (Zazie Beetz). An altercation with some street toughs will set Arthur on a downward spiral that eventually leads to violence and mayhem.

Phoenix deserves all of the plaudits he receives for his nuanced turn as the troubled anti-hero. Fleck is a sad and lonely man, lost in a big city that doesn’t care about its downtrodden but celebrates the success of billionaires like Bruce Wayne. Phoenix creates a character that the audience will care about, even though he does awful things that should repulse us. It is a rare actor who can walk this tightrope and yet Phoenix has a track record of achieving just that.

Phoenix hasn’t been nearly as prolific as many of his peers in the past decade or so, but consider some of the films he has featured in and the performances he has unleashed. As Johnny Cash in Walk the Line through to Her and You Were Never Really Here, he is reliably one of the best actors to watch for the pure enjoyment of seeing someone completely engaged in their character. That quality is again present in this film.

Joker is a critical commentary on social isolation and the disconnection the mainstream feel from the ruling elite. Although it seemed a bit of a stretch to suspect widespread violence as a consequence of this film, that fear does speak to the power of the medium to provoke. Were Phillips’ film any less potent, those fears would have been completely unfounded: it is a compliment that some feared its quiet power.

The cityscape (and film more broadly) pay homage to the films of Martin Scorcese and Robert De Niro, in particular, Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. The streets of Joker’s Gotham City are more disturbing to this viewer than those of Taxi Driver, however, and perhaps this is because they feel more modern in their grime. As someone who came to Taxi Driver as an adult, there is a different sense looking back at New York versus looking at Joker’s Gotham that makes Arthur Fleck’s milieu more immediate. Older viewers might disagree.

Todd Phillips has created a masterpiece of modern cinema, that features a wonderful leading performance and speaks with urgency about social isolation and the plight of the mentally ill. This is easily one of the best films of 2019.

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I’m sure the Justice League reshoots necessitated some last-minute fiddling with this film, because whilst Aquaman has very few links to the DC films that preceded it, there are a couple of moments that made me go “huh?” For instance, here he doesn’t even know Mera’s name, despite their conversation in Justice League suggesting some kind of history between them.

But the thing is, it doesn’t really matter, because this film is almost entirely self-contained. It worked for Wonder Woman, and it’s clear that DC decided this was the way to go here, also. Sometimes people don’t want to worry about whether they’ve seen the 19 prequels before they go to the next superhero blockbuster (not naming any studios there, whatsoever. Oh no, I would never!)

One thing’s for sure: James Wan knows how to go big. I didn’t see his Fast and the Furious sequel, so for someone like me who’s only really known him for his horror movies, it’s surprising just how many stunning, large-scale VFX sequences impress. In fact, they’re pretty much the best parts of the film.

Because, to be honest, Momoa isn’t the greatest actor in the world. He’s amazingly good looking and definitely charismatic, but he doesn’t strike me as someone who has a genius acting instinct. Basically, he’ll do what he’s told by the director – and sometimes, despite his best efforts, it just doesn’t work. They’re at pains to explain that Arthur is a laid-back, cool dude who you’d sink a few beers with at the pub. But such moments always feel forced. He’s spent too much time at the gym for someone who apparently doesn’t have any aspirations. And considering he spends much of the film ignoring the hero’s call, this conceit has its work cut out for it.

The other performers succeed to varying degrees. Patrick Wilson is excellent, and manages to act convincingly even when half his face is obscured by a helmet (training in Watchmen must have helped). Dolph Lundgren also does a great job, whilst Nicole Kidman and Temuera Morrison are simply okay. Willem Dafoe struggles, however. He never looks comfortable. Finally, Amber Heard is…decent. She won’t blow you away, but there’s nothing poor about her performance either.

A lot about this film is just fine. But what really works is just how outlandish it all gets. Aquaman dials it up to 11 for much of the runtime, and isn’t afraid to go full fantasy. And when you have High Elves wielding laser guns whilst riding giant seahorses, you just have to sit back and let it happen, you know?

We’ve come a long way from Batman Begins, which was at pains to explain how such outlandish things could exist in the real world, or even Thor, which resorted to the “fish out of water” story so that the really fantastical stuff was pushed to the side. Now, a film like Aquaman can come out looking like a mash up of TRON, Lord of the Rings and HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. And…I’m kinda okay with that.

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This is definitely a step up from the last time we saw Jessica (Krysten Ritter), in ‘Defenders’. She may have been the best thing about that team-up show, but here she’s surrounded by great characters. As with season 1, the most important supporting character is Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor), Jessica’s adoptive sister/best friend – everything else is just narrative garnish. It’s their drama that keeps me coming back to this series.

The show’s feminist credentials are perhaps unsurprising – considering you could call it a mash-up of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Veronica Mars’ – but season 2 takes it a step further, with a policy of women-only directors. And it pays off. This is a show about relationships between women. The Bechdel test may be a rather primitive tool in 2018, but this passes with flying colours. Sure, Malcolm (Eka Darville) is still present and correct, and there are newcomers Pryce (Terry Chen) and Detective Costa (John Ventimiglia) that shine in smaller roles, but it’s Jessica, Trish, Dorothy (Rebecca De Mornay) and other surprise appearances that make up the core of the story.

And we can’t forget Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth, who’s been a mainstay of the Marvel Netflix shows. This season really puts Jeri through the wringer, and Moss’ performance might even be a career best.

There’s a lot less action here, which is disappointing. In fact, if you go in expecting a superhero show, you might be disappointed. Instead think of it as a private eye themed drama cum thriller – or just a superhero show for those of us who are a little sick of superheroes. Another disappointment: is it just me, or are the Marvel Netflix shows getting smaller and smaller budgets?

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that there aren’t any wonky moments. I honestly can’t decide if I liked Janet McTeer’s performance here or not; sometimes her portrayal feels nuanced, other times it’s more pantomimic. Suffice to say, she may be a contentious character.

At the centre of all this is Ritter, whose character is just so damn brilliant. Jessica is fascinating, powerful and damaged, and an absolute arsehole to everyone around her. She’s a woman so compelling that I can’t look away, even when she’s at her self-destructive best. Though this doesn’t reach the heights of the near-perfect season 1, this is a good continuation of her story. Long may this show continue.

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You may have heard that Joss Whedon was overseeing reshoots this year. It coincided with original director, Zack Snyder, taking time off for personal reasons, so it didn’t seem that sinister to begin with. What is surprising, however, is just how much of the film feels like the result of said reshoots. The giveaway, of course, is first of all Henry Cavill’s weird CGI mouth (for those who don’t know, they had to digitally remove a moustache he was sporting for another film). But secondly, the banter, the generally hopeful tone and, above all, the abundance of comic book fun feels like a deliberate change after the mixed responses to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Man of Steel.

The score features not only Danny Elfman’s Batman theme from the 1989 film, but John Williams’ Superman theme! Elfman himself is on scoring duties, and he combines these classics with the Hans Zimmer themes that dominated the DCCU so far. And that mish-mash is a good example of the mutated film that made it to screens.

But here’s the thing: I enjoyed this a lot more than expected. Whilst I didn’t hate Batman v Superman or Man of Steel, this film feels a lot more like the DC comics I read as a teenager. It’s entertaining, filled with amusing banter and some excellent action scenes. Whilst the chaos behind the scenes is apparent, it never overwhelms the finished product like in Suicide Squad. And I should be clear: though I think I could go through scene by scene and put moments in the Snyder or Whedon column, I may well be wrong. After all, many critics who pointed out the Spielberg versus Kubrick elements of A.I. Artificial Intelligence turned out to be wrong…

I don’t think this film does justice – ahem – to Jason Momoa’s Aquaman. We’ll have to wait until his solo entry before we see if his take on the character is going to succeed. Ray Fisher was the big surprise though. He’s excellent as Cyborg aka Victor Stone, and his digital (or digitally-enhanced) costume looks great in action – which is a relief after the awful posters. The same goes with The Flash/Barry Allen, and Ezra Miller provides some much-needed levity. But the film also manages to take itself seriously. Whedon is known for his punchlines and witty dialogue, but he never lets it get in the way of the drama.

The edit has had all the fat trimmed off. Seriously, there isn’t a second to waste in this two-hour film. And that also made for a pleasant change. Instead of a bloated mess, we got an efficient, light-weight popcorn adventure…

…which is bizarrely what I’ve been criticising Marvel about recently. So take all of this with a grain of salt. To lay my biases bare: I’m sick of Marvel’s safely middle-of-the-road output, undermining every dramatic beat with a joke, and I’ve always enjoyed DC comics more than Marvel ones.

At the end of the day, Justice League is not the unmitigated triumph that Wonder Woman was. But nor is it the mess that was Suicide Squad. We may never know if Snyder’s original vision would have been a good film, but this is one of the best last-minute re-edits that I’ve seen.

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Taika Waititi has yet to make a bad film. Here’s he’s effortlessly become part of the Hollywood machine whilst still retaining his directorial voice. The third Thor outing sees the God of Thunder attempting to avert Ragnarok, finding himself on an alien planet and settling yet another family squabble.

Cate Blanchett’s Hela should be the most significant new character, but she’s not at her best here. Much like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Blanchett on villain duties comes across as…a little tacky? I’m sure we can’t lay the blame at her feet – after all, the script gives her very little to work with – but all the same, she looks more like a Power Rangers villain that anything else.

In comparison, “Dear White People’s” Tessa Thompson very nearly steals the show as Valkyrie. This is someone I’m excited to see in further sequels. Jeff Goldblum is having a fun time, but his character doesn’t go anywhere, whilst Karl Urban is good value, as always.

As far as action comedies go, Thor: Ragnarok is doing what Marvel movies do best. I do wish they’d aim for some more serious moments, however. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had the unfortunate habit of undermining every potentially emotional moment with gags, and whilst this film isn’t quite that bad, there are certainly some missed opportunities. If it’s all jokes all the time, there’s no reason to ever worry about the wellbeing of our heroes.

There is some really shoddy VFX work here, and some incredible moments too. Marvel need to get their act together – their movies are some of the most inconsistent Hollywood productions, visually speaking. There are some beats where the CGI effects look great, but then they’ve just plonked some flesh-and-blood actors in the middle of it, and don’t seem concerned about concealing the seams.

If The Dark World disappointed you, then Ragnarok is a definite improvement. Waititi hasn’t fixed all the problems with the Marvel movies in one fell swoop, but he’s crafted a competent feature. Sooner or later, however, these releases will have to become more than box-ticking exercises, and shake up the formula…

Eventually, I’m going to skip a Marvel film’s theatrical release. And that day feels closer than ever.

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Charlize Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, an MI6 agent working in Berlin on the eve of the collapse of the wall. Regularly hopping from one side of Berlin to the other, she’s embroiled in a particularly complicated state of affairs. David Percival (James McAvoy) is another agent in deep cover, and together the two of them have to recover a piece of information that threatens to blow the actions of multiple foreign powers in the city wide open.

This was basically advertised as the female John Wick, and that sounded great. Charlize already stunned us with her action prowess in Mad Max: Fury Road (and years back, in Aeon Flux) so we knew she would be capable. Unfortunately this is one of her most underwhelming performances. She handles the action fine, but the rest of the time she’s saddled with delivering boring dialogue in a shonky English accent.

And it’s really boring. Every time we weren’t watching Lorraine beating people up, I struggled to pay attention. We’re never given a glimpse into her mind, so we don’t really know what she’s fighting for. Any narrative momentum is completely absent, so we’re left with a movie that looks really good, but does very little.

However, the action is incredible. Atomic Blonde makes up for the bizarrely bland action scenes we saw in John Wick 2, and whilst it doesn’t have as many minutes of arse-kicking, every single beat is a masterpiece of choreography, stunt work, tricksy editing and visual effects. There’s a 15-minute sequence where this film comes alive, only to have things grind to a halt immediately afterwards.

The soundtrack is on point too. There are a tonne of era-appropriate needle drops, but Tyler Bates’ score gets the job done too. As a frequent collaborator of Marilyn Manson’s, it’s unsurprising to see good ol’ Brian turn up here with a cover of Ministry’s “Stigmata”. The film oozes style – and Theron looks great smoking cigarettes under neon light – but style counts for nothing when you care not a jot for your protagonists, or when their story is so palpably dull. Atomic Blonde deserves to be added to a list of films that didn’t deliver on their potential.

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That being said, Homecoming is a good time out at the cinema. One of the first things that strikes the viewer is just how steeped this film is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first 20 minutes makes it clear that Marvel and Sony are making the most of this union. You don’t have to be well-versed in MCU lore, but you certainly get a lot out of having seen the prior cinematic outings.

And of course, Tony Stark is present. A little too present, if you ask me. I was prepared for a bit of Iron Man, maybe to top and tail the film, but Robert Downey Jr. has a significant role to play in Homecoming as Peter Parker’s fatherly stand-in. The problem is that all of Peter’s school life gets pushed to the side whenever things get serious.

And Peter’s life at school is where this film comes alive. It helps that Sony have cast someone who can actually pass as a high schooler this time (Tom Holland), and surrounded him with a great bunch of child actors. Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier and Tony Revolori are all excellent performers, and the ensemble really pops. It’s so good that I wish Stark wouldn’t keep getting in the way of what should have been even more of a high school movie than it actually is. The script – written by approximately 300 people, as far as I can tell from the IMDb entry – is razor-sharp, and its ability to impart a heap of information about a lot of people in record time is impressive.

Michael Keaton shows us how the Hollywood circle of life is now complete: he’s gone from Batman to Birdman to playing the Vulture in this film. He’s as strong a presence as you’d expect, hamming it up just enough to make it work without veering into pantomime, unlike previous Spider-Man villains *cough*Willem Dafoe*cough*. And the story is suitably small scale. I have been critical of Marvel’s tendency to play it safe, but at least they’ve learned how to scale down their superhero movies when required (see also Ant-Man.)

At the end of the day, however, this won’t stave off any Marvel fatigue you may be suffering. I’m well aware that a lot of my disappointment is because we’ve been spoiled with so many great superhero movies in the past decade; I can assure you that if this had appeared in 2002 I would have been much more appreciative. Homecoming is a good deal better than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but it isn’t quite the breath of fresh air you may have been hoping for. The funny thing is, I would have liked this movie just fine without all the Marvel crossover stuff that the fans have been dreaming of for the better part of a decade. Only time will tell whether Spider-Man gets to stand by himself on his own two (eight?) feet, but in the meantime we at least have this amiable time-waster to enjoy.

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Ever since Warner Brothers passed on Joss Whedon’s take on the third part of DC’s trinity, we’ve been denied this movie. After dazzling us in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Gal Gadot has her own film, and it’s brilliant.

Gadot is radiant as the hero of the piece – kick-arse, compassionate, naïve, determined – and they’ve paired her with a fantastic script that results in the best superhero movie we’ve seen in years. Beginning with her upbringing on Themyscira, we get see her meet Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) and travel to the world of men, which is currently in the grip of the Great War. I really can’t stress enough how good Gadot is in the role. Every single movement she makes, every small expression conveys a complex yet powerful hero.

This is probably my favourite Chris Pine performance too. I sympathised with him a lot more than his lead roles (Star Trek, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit) which have a tendency to be a little bland. Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen play kick-arse Amazons Antiope and Hippolyta, whilst Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner and Eugene Brave Rock shine as a motley crew of soldiers-for-hire.

The script arguably contains elements of both Captain America (the World War setting) and Thor (the fish-out-of-water comedy), but it’s better than both of those films. Each of the soldiers-for-hire, for instance, have depth, and it’s worth reiterating just how unique a hero Wonder Woman is. There are elements of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, but she was always a reluctant hero. Diana relishes her task, despite the odds. Patty Jenkins’ direction is spot-on, and whether it’s the big action set-pieces or the quieter moments, both the narrative drive and the passion of the characters really hits home. The stunt work is fantastic – Diana’s fighting style exudes power and is incredibly cinematic. Every single comedic beat lands too.

The only disappointing aspect of the film would be the visual effects. The first ten minutes feature some woeful moments of digital trickery (that were perhaps last-minute additions), but thankfully they soon reach the standard you’d expect in a $149 million film. Rupert Gregson-Williams’ score works well, yet only truly came alive for me when Hans Zimmer’s main theme appeared.

It’s absurd not only that we haven’t had a female-led superhero film since 2005’s Elektra, but also the fact that Marvel are 15 movies in and still haven’t made one. Whilst we had to wait way too long for this film, the good news is that Wonder Woman is awesome. If you only see one superhero movie this year, make it this one.

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Long-time readers will know that I didn’t really see all the fuss about the first Guardians film – despite other viewers finding it a breath of fresh air, for me it failed to stand out from the other Marvel films. So it comes as little surprise that returning writer/director James Gunn doesn’t do anything different here.

Actually, that’s not fair. Vol 2 is different insofar as it’s essentially rudderless until the last half hour. In a very strange storytelling decision, everyone’s just bumbling along without direction until right before the climax. At that point, the story suddenly begins, and then it’s one epic VFX explosion after the other until it ends.

And the effects follow the tried-and-true big-budget Hollywood trend: some are extraordinarily good, others are awful. Being set in space or alien worlds for the most part, Guardians can cheat a lot – it’s not like things have to look too “realistic”, but this film really does throw everything at the wall. It feels like the actors would have spent most of their time in front of a greenscreen.

Speaking of the actors, they all fill their roles capably. The characters from the first film aren’t really taken out of their comfort zone, excepting perhaps Michael Rooker’s Yondu. Kurt Russell continues to enjoy his recent return to the limelight, and he puts in a decent turn as Ego. Three other cameos are actually the ones that piqued my interest the most, but I’ll leave their names out for fear of spoiling things. My hopes are that said mystery people will have a bigger role in the third film.

The complete lack of threat is really what kills this film for me. People dangle off the end of spaceships that are crashing through forests, or fall several stories to the ground with nary a bruise. The best part about the short-lived ‘Firefly’ TV show (and, by extension, Serenity) was that Mal Reynolds looked like he was getting hurt when he exchanged blows. (A habit Nathan Fillion picked up from Harrison Ford.) Here, Peter Quill/Starlord is fine no matter what kind of apocalyptic scrapes he gets himself into.

Lack of consequences is something that the MCU often comes under fire for (looking at you, Captain America: Civil War) and you’d think that Guardians’ narrative distance from the rest of the films would allow them to take some risks. Not so, here.

Look, if you loved the first Guardians, chances are you’ll like this one too. For me, it’s a case of forgettable characters jumping around an action film that’s entirely lacking in insurmountable odds – something that I’d argue is a required element of any superhero movie.

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Set in the year 2029 – I’ll never understand why anyone makes futuristic films set only a few years ahead *cough*Predator 2*cough* – this sees Logan down and out, making ends meet as a limo driver whilst looking after the ailing Professor Xavier. When someone approaches him seeking aid, he’s forced to get the claws out one last time.

A sense of finality hangs over proceedings, even if we hadn’t had Jackman’s insistence that this is his last appearance as Logan after a 17-year run. And for the most part, it works. He’s beaten and bruised, and his healing skills aren’t what they used to be. The MA rating also means that this is our X-Man as we’ve never seen him before. I’m not one that’s been clamouring to see an ultra-violent version of Wolverine, but it just makes sense, doesn’t it? If you’ve got knives coming out of your knuckles and you like to punch people, you’re bound to do some damage. So, be warned, parents: Logan is a very, very gory film.

We’ve come a long way since Brian Singer arguably made superhero movies viable with 2000’s X-Men, so it’s good to see a film that finally shakes up the formula for Fox. The increased rating not only means we get violence and naughty words, but it also means the script can talk to us as adults. We don’t get ridiculous exposition scenes, we don’t have important plot points reiterated time and again. There were even some subplots I completely missed and have only since discovered online; this is a great change from the usual superhero cinema experience. Deadpool may have got mad props for its comedic and self-referential take on the genre, but underneath was quite conventional.

Jackman is excellent, but he always has been, even through all those dodgy films. Patrick Stewart is reliably great too, showing us a much more insecure and frail professor. The duo feel reinvigorated by their change in circumstances.

Newcomer Daphne Keen is brilliant, and you can bet that Fox have her in mind for any future films. Stephen Merchant also sinks his teeth into playing Caliban, a turn that will hopefully see him move away from purely comedic roles.

Marco Beltrami’s score is fantastic. The fact that he previously specialised in horror films is put to good use here, and if anything his harsh, industrial work reminded me of Brad Fiedel’s Terminator scores.

There are several excellent action scenes, but more importantly, the film isn’t afraid to have quieter moments. I may have been imagining it, but it didn’t feel like the action had been strategically inserted at regular intervals, with an eye on the clock. (2013’s The Wolverine was a particularly poor example of that, with the bullet train sequence that served very little purpose.)

If, like me, you still haven’t got around to seeing X-Men: Apocalypse, don’t worry about doing your homework beforehand. Logan only really references events from the first X-Men film, and as always with Fox’s franchise, the timeline is a mess anyway. If they’re not going to worry about continuity, why should we worry about seeing all the films in the proper order?

Logan is a definite high point for X-Men, and a great send-off for Jackman’s take on the character. If you’ve drifted away from the franchise, this one’s worth a look if for nothing other than the sheer conviction behind it. My only criticisms would include the dearth of female characters – even in 2017, the few actresses present are either innocents or murder victims – and the fact that the journey is much more enjoyable than the destination. But this is still an impressive comic book movie.

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