Thirty Minute Reviews

The countdown reaches Spider-Man's MCU debut and the first film of the Sony-Marvel deal. Adam digs into why Michael Keaton's Vulture is one of Marvel's best and most sympathetic villains, why that homecoming car ride is one of the great scenes in the Infinity Saga, and the problem underneath it all: Peter Parker never gets to be the hero of his own movie because Tony Stark's shadow swallows the whole franchise. Plus the argument the MCU keeps refusing to make about Stark's legacy, from the Vulture to Mysterio to Damage Control.

Twelve state attorneys general have sued to block Paramount's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Adam read the entire complaint. A breakdown of the market-concentration math that makes this deal presumptively illegal, why a single company controlling CBS, CNN, HBO, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network is a blackout waiting to happen, and the receipts on what happened to Fox's output after Disney swallowed it. Plus the argument that actually decides the case: nobody can start a new Warner Bros., and the Backrooms and Amazing Digital Circus success stories prove it.

The countdown reaches the last film James Gunn directed before the firing, and Adam makes the case that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is better than the first, and the entry most burdened by the machine around it. Why nearly every character arc here exists to clear the decks for Infinity War, how the Yondu rehabilitation works despite its setup, why the found-family theme rings hollow for a team that acts like coworkers, and why Guardians is the sub-franchise the crossovers damaged most. Plus the Awesome Mix Vol. 2 and the needle-drop grammar it taught the entire MCU. A full 5 out of 5. Next week: Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The countdown reaches the MCU's first real foray into magic. Adam argues that Doctor Strange is one of Marvel's most visually stunning films, the Mirror Dimension, the reverse-destruction climax, a hero who wins by outsmarting rather than outfighting, and also one of its most structurally broken. Why the movie's whole arc about learning humility is undercut by a plot that rewards Strange for ignoring everyone, how that contradiction becomes the entire franchise's pattern, and why the endless lore-dumping turns a good movie into a textbook. A visually-carried 4 out of 5. Next up, things get colorful.

With a new Supergirl in theaters, the revisionist history is coming, and so is the inevitable claim that the 1984 Helen Slater film was secretly great all along. Adam watched it the night after the new release to head that off. Let's look at why the original is a one-star mess of missing urgency and plot-convenience, how its passive, paragon-of-femininity Kara has no agency in her own story, and why the new film's jaded, active Kara is a vastly improved character by comparison. Plus: why the Star Wars prequel rehabilitation probably won't happen here.

Adam revisits Captain America: Civil War as part of the Countdown to Doomsday and looks at why the movie was such an important turning point for the MCU. The episode covers how Civil War steadied Marvel after a bumpy Phase Two, introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man without derailing the story, and created the fracture that made Infinity War and Endgame possible. Adam also digs into the wider 2016 context, including the way Civil War arrived alongside Batman v Superman and helped turn Marvel vs. DC from normal franchise debate into a larger culture-war proxy fight. From the airport battle to the rise of Snyderverse discourse, this episode uses Civil War to unpack how superhero movies became more than just superhero movies.

Adam revisits James Gunn’s Superman one year after its release and looks at how it holds up as DC heads toward Supergirl. We discuss why the movie’s relentlessly positive take on Superman works, why the character needed to be rebuilt before being deconstructed, and how David Corenswet’s Superman fits into a modern, complicated world without losing the “big blue boy scout” core. Adam also talks through the film’s weaker third act, the Superman clone problem, the hypno-glasses explanation, and the standout Mr. Terrific sequence. From there, the discussion shifts to DC Studios’ bigger issue: the messy selective continuity left behind by The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, Amanda Waller, Rick Flag, Harley Quinn, and the old DCEU baggage James Gunn’s reboot still has not fully escaped.

The countdown closes out Phase Two with the unlikeliest success in the run. Adam makes the case that Ant-Man works for the same reason the best MCU films always do, it follows Stan Lee's old rule and emphasizes the human, grounding a shrinking-suit heist in a father trying to do right by his daughter. Along the way: the eight-year Edgar Wright saga and the Peyton Reed handoff, the Quantum Realm and Sokovia Accords groundwork that paid off all the way through Endgame, and why Quantumania forgot everything this movie understood. A definitive Phase Two ranking and a full 5 out of 5. Next week: Civil War.

Adam revisits Lightyear, the 2022 prequel built on a premise it never delivers: that this was the movie a kid in 1995 fell in love with. A look at why the film feels nothing like a mid-90s kids' movie, how Buzz Lightyear of Star Command did the job better twenty years earlier, the Sox problem, and what Lightyear's absence from the Toy Story 5 trailer tells you. Plus the corporate context of the Investor Day that birthed it. As a standalone sci-fi it's a 3 or a 4, but chained to Toy Story, it's a 2 out of 5.

The countdown reaches the most divisive Avengers title. Adam makes the case that Avengers: Age of Ultron isn't a bad movie so much as a conflicted one, the first Marvel tentpole that put serving the wider universe ahead of being its own thing. Along the way: the tonal whiplash that kills every death scene, the Whedon dialogue problem, and a deep dive into how the Agents of SHIELD and Inhumans experiment, a Perlmutter mandate born of X-Men envy, was the original dry run for the "homework" problem that would later sink the Multiverse Saga. A solid but bottom-of-the-Avengers 4 out of 5. Next week: Civil War.

Two stories, one episode. First let's revisit Toy Story 4 seven years on, the weakest and least memorable entry in the series, and argue its real significance is strategic rather than narrative: this is the film where Pixar figured out it could mandate a sequel and have it work, the opening move in the inoffensive Pixar hit era. Then we turn to this week's box office, where an A24 horror movie made for ten million beat a four-billion-dollar Star Wars brand, Mandalorian and Grogu cratered seventy percent in its second weekend, and Masters of the Universe opened soft. I break down why creator-driven IP is eating corporate IP transplants alive, what the coming rush on YouTube properties will get wrong, and why the superhero movie is on life support rather than dead.Succession Planning is available for pre-order wherever you get your e-books: https://books2read.com/u/bzE9g9

Another month down, another slot in the Best of the Year Tournament to be awarded. Who is going to take the spot? The Devil Wears Prada 2 or The Mandalorian and Grogu?

The countdown continues with the film that redefined what a Marvel movie could be. Adam makes the case that Guardians of the Galaxy is the moment the MCU stopped being a factory of serviceable hits and started trusting filmmakers to author something, and why that lesson is exactly what the Multiverse Saga forgot. Along the way: how the film quietly built the Infinity Stones mythos and Thanos himself, why Ronan is the one weak link, the franchise's death-fakeout problem, and what Disney's hunger for Disney+ and the Fox deal did to the golden goose.

The children who watched Toy Story in 1995 were teenagers when Andy packed his boxes. That timing is not an accident, and it is worth asking how much of Toy Story 3's legacy belongs to the film itself and how much belongs to the audience that grew up alongside it. On today's Thirty Minute Reviews, Adam makes the case that Toy Story 3 is brilliant, moving, but the third best film in its own franchise.

The Countdown to Doomsday continues. Before the Avengers can face what's coming in December, we have to reckon with the film that broke everything: Captain America: The Winter Soldier. On today's Thirty Minute Reviews, Adam revisits the MCU's best political thriller, the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., and why this is the movie that made the stakes of Doomsday possible in the first place.

Toy Story 2 was never supposed to be a theatrical release. It started as a direct-to-video mandate from Disney, went through a near-total creative overhaul with less than a year left in production, and still came out as the best sequel Pixar has ever made. On today's Thirty Minute Reviews, Adam breaks down how that impossible production history shaped the film, and why the result holds up more than 25 years later.

Thor: The Dark World is one of the MCU's weakest entries but it matters more than you think, even before the Endgame connection. Adam takes a look back at the film that quietly marked a turning point for Marvel as a franchise, what it got wrong, and why it still deserves a place in the Countdown to Doomsday. Full review on this week's Thirty Minute Reviews.Follow Thirty Minute Reviews on Spotify and find our full archive at MWPNews.com.

Toy Story is a classic for a reason. On this week's Thirty Minute Reviews, Adam revisits the film that launched Pixar, changed animation, and somehow still holds up completely as a story about jealousy, friendship, and growing up that works on every level it tries. Follow Thirty Minute Reviews on Spotify and find our full archive at MWPNews.com

Adam discusses the third Iron Man movie and the fact that it really gets a bit of misguided hate.

Adam discusses whether or not The Avengers ages well.

April kept us busy, and now it's time to settle the score. This week on Thirty Minute Reviews, we're ranking all three films we covered this month: The Christophers, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and The Drama Which April release surprised us most? Which one didn't quite stick the landing? Tune in to find out where each film lands and whether our picks match yours.

As phase one draws to a close, Adam discusses the first Captain America movie (in the MCU) and what has been missing from the Multiverse Saga.