The Olive Opinion

I have had a busy week with Christmas but I am finally here to review that last piece of Marvel content of the year. The Hawkeye served us with conclusions, shocking moments, and a lot to digest. In this season finale (hopefully there is a season 2 with this), Clint and Kate attempt to take down the Tracksuit Mafia once for all, which also involves Kate's mother, Eleanor, and the secret villain of the show - SPOILER ALERT!- Wilson Fisk AKA the Kingpin. You'd think that's it but how could we forget the return of Yelena, attempting to inflict her revenge on Clint, led to believe that he was responsible for Natasha's death.  This finale, although, not the strongest episode of the season, does successfully tie up the loose ends that were brought up in the first place. Whether excuted properly or not, is hard to say as most of the story arcs did not have time to properly get us wondering let alone rooting to learn more about due to the number of episodes and episode runtimes

It has taken me 2 days to be able to write this and I finally gained the courage to do so. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has provided us a year full of content after a year of not having any. Now, the 2021 slate of movies has come to an end with the most anticipated release of the year, Spider-Man No Way Home. With Tom Holland returning as the titular role alongside Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, and Jon Favreau, we welcome some familiar villainous faces. Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe, and Jamie Foxx's from the Raimi and Webb Spider-Man movies return to introduce the repercussions of the Multiverse.  No Way Home takes place immediately after where Far From Home left us in the first credit scene where Mysterio reveals to the world that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. This leaves Peter to be known as the most famous person in New York and not in a good way. This affects not only his life but everyone who is a part of his life which includes MJ and Ned. To make things right, he heads

  As expected, episode 5 was a game-changer. Hawkeye is not only paving way for the character, Clint Barton, and the moniker itself as well as Barton's past as Ronin but also widening the MCU canon. With the picture above, you can clearly see that I am revealing a returning character from a previous film, Yelena Belova, from the Black Widow movie. I might be tackling a number of SPOILERS in this review. SO THIS IS YOUR WARNING.  ONCE AGAIN...  FINAL SPOILER WARNING AHEAD.    In this episode, we learn Yelena was dusted and fills the gap between the events of Black Widow film and the credit scene where she is hired to assassinate Clint Barton. At present time, it is clear that they are setting up Kate Bishop and Yelena to eventually have a friendship that Natasha and Clint had. The episode features a conversation between the leading women and it can be easily considered as the most refreshing and most tense moment so far. With that said, the chemistry between the two also makes this

This show gets better and better. Hawkeye episode 4 does not create the waves we expect it to (they are apparently saving that for next week's penultimate episode), but this latest installment to the last series of the 2021 Marvel Studios features a great narrative.  Episode 4 is easy to be considered as the filler episode amongst the 6 but there was nothing uncompelling about it, fortunately. This new episode gives us a quieter approach to the show as Clint and Kate connect for the sake of the holidays since Clint can't be with his family on the days leading up to Christmas. The episode features a montage of the both really considering themselves as 'partners' and this was touching to see, especially when it comes to Clint's struggle to open up to another 'partner' since he blames himself for Natasha's death in Endgame.  Pointing nods towards Clint's past and relationship with Natasha is apparently the main motivation for Clint's deep-rooted nee

I've been pretty busy with finals but finally made time to write the review for Hawkeye's third episode. Taking place immediately after the second episode, we are given an action-packed and one step further to the bigger conspiracy that was established. We get more comic book-adapted scenes especially the big action sequence that happened to be the highlight of the episode.  What made this episode so compelling was the opening sequence. We were finally given a peek at Alaqua Cox's character, Echo at the premiere and we were given quite an origin story in this one. Other than the fact that she was given some relevant character changes, the inclusion of Maya Lopez in this show and the MCU - especially the street-level parts of the franchise at least - has made things more interesting.  We also get to see more of Hawkeye's trick arrows. According to Clint Barton, we only got to see the less dangerous ones which included the likes of a sludge arrow, a kind-of-USB arrow, and

Disney has always been all about magic and most of the time, family with its memorable animated features and Encanto is no different. Focusing on Colombian Latinx roots, we are introduced to the enchanted Madrigal family. Everyone in this 'miracle' family has a gift, a set of powers that include the likes of super strength, shapeshifting, healing, etc. However, Mirabel, our main character is the only one without powers, which leaves her out of place amongst the magical members of the family. Mirabel finally gains purpose when she is given the chance to investigate why the magic that keeps them together is threatened. To save her enchanted home and family, Mirabel goes on a journey of self-discovery and soul-searching to find her rightful place within the family tree even despite being not gifted.  Encanto is a fresh original story to come out of the minds of Disney but as original as it gets, it does not surpass the originality that made Moana or Zootopia special. Encanto provi

Marvel Studios has had a busy year and now as we are coming to the end of this MCU-filled number of months, Hawkeye is officially the last Disney Plus feature Marvel Studios will be putting out before the anticipated release of Spider-Man No Way Home. Taking place during Christmas, this show is finally providing fans a story that finally puts Marvel's most underrated and underused characters in the spotlight of the live-action MCU alongside introducing a new character that is known to be quite integral for the future of a particular superhero teen-filled team.  Jeremy Renner returns to portray the world's greatest archer as he finally spends time with his family this Christmas (we get to see his kids and Linda Cardellini once again as Laura Barton) while we meet Kate Bishop for the very first time, played by Hailee Steinfeld who is a fan of Hawkeye and wants to become a vigilante hero like him. A threat surfaces through the eyes and world of a young Kate which forces her and Cl

  It's hard to write this as someone who is not a musical theater buff and yet here I am reviewing Tick Tick Boom! In his directorial debut, Lin Manuel Miranda adapts Jonathan Larson's autobiographical stage musical for Netflix that tells the story of the days leading up to Larson's 30th birthday. Larson is known to be a revolutionary for musical theater after the one-night-only show that this movie is based on and his posthumous Tony-winning musical, Rent that ran on Broadway for 12 years.  The film, like the original production performed by Larson himself, tells his point of view of the events that take place as he attempts to write the crowd-pleasing song for his latest creation called Superbia. In the days that lead up to his workshop to present the music and story to a potential producer, he strays his focus away from his friends and social life to write the missing song that leads to heartbreaking consequences.   Tick Tick Boom is just as unconventional as Larson was

Marvel has been considerably busy this last whole year with a major release almost every month but that does not mean that Sony's Universe of Marvel characters wouldn't join the party as well. Venom Let There Be Carnage is a sequel to the 2018 immediate cult classic that introduced our favorite anti-hero symbiote in the best way possible.  The sequel takes place a year later where Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock is a written journalist for the Daily Bugle? (or so, I think) He also juggles a double life as a vigilante when Venom takes over to beat up bad guys... and occasionally eats them as well. As a perfect example of symbiosis, the two start to get sick of each other and want to try going their separate ways. Whilst at San Quentin Prison, Woody Harrelson returns as Cleatus Kasady from the 2018 post-credit scene, helping Eddie Brock solve closed cases the police department never finished but after one last attempt in cracking one of the bigger cases, the police decides to reinsta

The Marvel Cinematic is only expanding from here. After a year's worth of content, Marvel Studios has released their penultimate adventure of the year before the highly anticipated Spider-Man No Way Home. Marketed as an event itself, Eternals has been the only topic on any moviegoer's mind recently due to the number of reactions and reviews that have been surfacing the internet since its world premiere two weeks ago. Now, the all-new Marvel adventure is out worldwide and it is one hell of a ride, whether audiences end up loving or not. This 26th Entry to the MCU introduces 10 new characters that have been alive for the last 7000 years. Each of them has a different set of powers with 5 of them being the heavy hitters' AKA the warriors while the others have powers that are considerably... tamer. They are led by Ajak (Salma Hayek), the healer and she is the only one able to communicate to the Celestials, their 'boss' essentially. The team consists of Ikaris (Richard Ma

Before Las Vegas, we meet a locksmith nerd who becomes a wanted criminal that will be chosen to crack open the Gotterdammerung amongst the likes of zombies. Not only does he reprise his role as the locksmith, but Matthias Schweighofer also directs the film alongside producer Zack Snyder. Army of Thieves serves itself as a direct prequel to Snyder's Army of the Dead that premiered on Netflix earlier this year, providing a narrative that puts the most underrated characters of the film into the spotlight.  Army of Thieves possibly takes place a few months before Army of the Dead where the zombie outbreak has just occurred and Sebastian is in Germany living his mundane life by eating a banana muffin and working at his boring job. On the side, Sebastian makes video blogs on YouTube about his talent and knowledge of cracking the lost locked safes, especially ones made by Hans Wagner that were collectively called the Ring Cycle. The video gets attention from an anonymous source which lead

  From 20th Century Studios and a new animation company called Locksmith (or at least one I haven't heard of before today), comes an all-new animated film that does not only subtly reference the dangers of Artificial Intelligence attempting to take over our reality but also shows that technology with the right hands, can bring about a bright future for responsible and reliable smart tech. Ron's Gone Wrong tells the story of Barney, a middle schooler who has trouble making friends at school. Due to this, he is especially excited about the creation of the B-Bot, a 2 feet AI robot that goes through your interests through media in order to help you find friends that have common interests through an algorithm created by the CEO of the Bubble company. When Barney gets his B-Bot, however, it is damaged and faulty. Although different from other B-Bots his classmates own, the two attempt to make a real friendship where Ron (later named by Barney) connects with Barney through getting kno

Denis Villeneuve attempts to adapt the inadaptable Frank Herbert classic, Dune for the big screen. After being delayed twice due to the pandemic, Dune is finally in theatres around the world. Starring the likes of Timothee Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, and many more, Dune does not only feature a stellar ensemble cast but finally gives moviegoers a reason to head back to the theatres.  For those who don't know, Dune is based on the infamous sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert, first published in 1965 which follows a franchise of books, that is still being established long after Herbert's passing. Dune has been considered as inspiration to a lot of iconic sci-fi stories we know and love such as Star Wars and Star Trek when it comes to space opera elements but it has also inspired stories like Game of Thrones with its political themes. Although adapted once before into a movie and miniseries (both of which I have never seen), this adaptation might just make itsel

Now, that a part of me has somewhat gotten over Shang Chi (although not completely, since I plan to watch it again) but it's about time I reviewed the most recent episode of What If...? the penultimate part to next week's finale. To explain last week's cliffhanger, we see the origin of Ultravision who actually is Ultron himself. In this branch timeline, we witness what happens if Ultron succeeds in transferring his consciousness into Visions body without the Avengers interfering whicb allows him to take over the planet just as planned. But he does eventually take over the Galaxy as well after gaining the power of the Infinity Stones. This is where shit gets crazy. This episode is basically what everyone expected Age of Ultron to be when the Avengers sequel first was released back in 2015 but were instead given an age that barely included Ultron. Instead, we were given the birth of Vision, a character who has sacrificed himself for the sake of the world - and occasionally Wa

It's been a year since I've been in a theater and I am so happy that the first movie I got to welcome myself into cinemas is through an installment of the ever-expanding MCU movies. Although, Shang Chi was released almost a month ago, and luckily, I succeeded in saving myself from most spoilers on social media, getting to enjoy parts of the other surprising parts of the film - even if they weren't as surprising.  For those who don't know, Marvel Studios presents Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings which tells the story of Shang Chi who is now living in San Francisco as Shaun as a valet parker with his best friend Katy. After years of hiding out in the states, Wenwu, his villainous father, sends his Ten Rings army to go out looking for Shang Chi and his sister to bring them home to fulfill a plot he had been trying to work out for years. Just like the early days of Marvel Studios, this all-new original entry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe sticks with the superher

You're probably wondering why I'm writing a review for Free Guy when its due to release in Malaysian cinemas by the 14th. Well, just like we all feared, Free Guy would probably lose a bit more of its ticket sales due to it's digital copy being out, online, today. But for those who want to stick it out until it's out in theatres to finally catch it, be my guest. But for those who are planning to watch it now or at least have already watched it... Welcome and here is my review for Free Guy Free Guy stars and is produced by Ryan Reynolds as his latest project that is not apart of the Hitman's Bodyguard or Deadpool franchises. However, expect Free Guy to pay homages to those respective franchises, whether subtle or not. Helmed by Shawn Levy, (one of the men behind Stranger Things) tells the story of an NPC named Guy in a famous video game called Free City. Due to him being NPC, his purpose is limited and is stuck to doing the same three things everyday. He decides to ch

Mike Flanagan is known to write the best storylines within the horror genre by creating characters that are not only haunted by their pasts, whether literally or metaphorically, but also creating characters that are suffering from loss, mental health, and checkered beliefs influenced by parental figures. Flanagan returns with an original limited series for Netflix after the success of Hill House and Bly Manor. With some of the cast members from those respective shows including Flanagan's wife Kate Siegel, comes a new story that will definitely leave you with chills by the end of each of the hour long episode.   Midnight Mass is set centered around the residents of an island that take their faith a little too seriously (well, at least most of them do). When a new priest comes to take over their parish, miracles occur along with mysterious outcomes that involve the well-being of these new and old residents. Although marketed as a supernatural horror show, Midnight Mass tackles faith

  This week's What If...? episode was considerably more fluff compared to the last week. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the doom and gloom of the wider MCU multiverse. In this 30 minute entry, we meet an alternate version of the God of Thunder himself where Odin never adopts Loki as Thor's brother. Without Loki in his life, Thor becomes the sole heir of the throne and never becomes the selfless hero he learns to be by the end of the first Thor film. He, instead, becomes Party Thor, who accidentally destroys planets by having the biggest parties and has a best-bro-like relationship with Loki for a change.  A handful of returning actors reprises their live-action roles from the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Kat Dennings except for Carol Danvers who makes a memorable appearance in this episode. The voice acting proves itself way better compared to last week's abysmal 'Wakanda Forever' chant by Michael B. Jordan, whether intentional or not.  L

Based on the Tony-winning Broadway musical, Dear Evan Hansen returns to grace our lives with its stellar music and controversial storyline, now in a form of a motion picture featuring Ben Platt himself, reprising the titular character. From director Stephen Chbosky (Perks of Being a Wallflower and Wonder) and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land and The Greatest Showman), Dear Evan Hansen deems to make audiences possibly cry whilst watching this movie like most people did when they watched the original Broadway production.  For those who don't know what this will be about, this musical tells the story of Evan Hansen, a boy suffering from anxiety and depression who writes encouraging letters to himself as an assignment given by his therapist to help him get through the day. On the first day back in school, one of his letters gets taken by Connor Murphy, a bully-like character that suffers from his own demons. Fearing that Connor had posted the letter, Evan lives in par

What If...? returns with yet another surprising episode that revamp the events of the opening scene of the movie that started it all... Iron Man. In the movie, Tony is driven through the desert of Afghanistan with an escort of US soldiers on their way back to the airport after a weapon's demonstration of Stark's Jericho Missile. On the way there, Tony's unit gets attacked and in an attempt to escape, a bomb of his own explodes in front of him, causing shrapnel to cut through his chest, which will lead him to have the arc reactor built within him to keep him alive until the events of Iron Man 3.  However in this alternate universe, instead of Tony getting hit by shrapnel, Erik Killmonger, T'Challa's long-lost cousin, had been on an undercover mission to take down the Ten Rings organization and finds himself saving Tony. The two meet and Tony brings him back to Los Angeles. Erik reveals early on that it was Obadiah Stane's plan to kill Tony in Afghanistan and Tony

  For years, we have been given many amazing movies about badass women whom kill brutally from Angelina Jolie's Salt to Luc Besson's Anna. Last week, Netflix presents us Mary Elizabeth Winstead in her most violent role yet, playing the titular role of Kate. This action packed assassin thriller portrays a child turned killer, Kate sent by her handler, Varrick (Woody Harrelson) to murder a high-profile Japanese business man leaving his daughter to watch. 10 months later someone attempts and succeeds in poisoning Kate as revenge for her last murder as learning the victim's brother is a member of the Yakuza. Kate has 12 hours to avenge herself in an unforgettable night.  Kate is produced by David Leitch, as expected considering how bloody the fight scenes were, and the film manages to keep audiences hooked with this predictable journey as much as fans were entertained with the John Wick movies and Leitch's recent release, Nobody. Kate only suffers as it recycles the story o