I first started watching Bells Hells, Critical Role’s third campaign, at the end of 2021 when it first aired. I was trying to watch both The Mighty Nein and Bells Hells at the same time, and it was a lot. With most episodes being three and a half to four hours long or longer, it’s a lot to try to watch both campaigns. Towards the beginning of 2023, I decided to drop Bells Hells and focus on The Mighty Nein. Now that I have finished The Mighty Nein, and Bells Hells has finished, I feel like I missed something. Overwhelmingly in fandom spaces, Bells Hells was not as well-received as the other campaigns, so what happened?

I don’t have facts or numbers to back this up; this is simply based on what I have read online from other fans. I stopped watching Bells Hells at episode #40, and I’m on episode #10 of my rewatch. When I first started watching, I remember loving Laudna as a character. Laudna inspired one of my first Dungeons & Dragons characters at the time. I thought Bertrand Bell’s death was surprising, and Chetney’s quick introduction a few episodes later brought chaos to the party. There was a lot of potential to explore every character, their backstory, and whatever plot Matt was planning behind the scenes.

It sounds like the campaign took a turn regarding the gods of Exandria and the gods of Dungeons & Dragons lore. I know bits and pieces that were spoiled for me before watching, but not enough to explain what happened without watching it for myself. However, from what I learned, I’m not sure if I love the direction that Bells Hells or Critical Role took in that regard. I don’t want to say much more about it until I have seen it myself and can form my own opinions.

I think it’s important to note that you can still be a fan of something and not love everything from that fandom. For example, fans of Game of Thrones can still be fans even though they hated the last season. You can be a fan of Critical Role without loving Bells Hells. Sometimes I find that people take things personally when someone critiques something they love. A year or two ago, one of my friends was reading a book I loved. When she finished the book, she said she didn’t like it. I remember feeling defensive about it. It’s so silly when I think about this now because who cares? If she didn’t like something, it doesn’t change how I feel about it. She isn’t wrong, nor am I right. We both are allowed to like or dislike something, and it doesn’t change how the other views it. All of this to say, it’s okay if there are fans who liked Bells Hells or who didn’t like Bells Hells.

Getting back on topic, I am looking forward to Bells Hells and being fully caught up on all things Critical Role. I’m curious as to how I will feel about the campaign and the direction it took.

Critical Role’s fourth campaign is premiering on Thursday, October 2nd, which is already a week away. I’m curious to see what type of story Brennan is going to spin for the cast. When Critical Role announced their fourth campaign, it was unclear if they would play Dungeons & Dragons or Daggerheart, the TTRPG system they created. With their announcement of playing Dungeons & Dragons, some fans felt burned that they invested in Daggerheart and wondered if Critical Role isn’t invested in the success of their game. Is that the case?

I disagree with this take. I think it would have been a risk for Critical Role to make their fourth campaign tied to Daggerheart when the system had only been released for four months. On top of that, most Critical Role campaigns last for years, so to have a year-long campaign with a brand new system, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. I don’t think Daggerheart is bad. I have played it twice in one-shots, and while I did have some reservations at first, I felt that I was proven wrong. I think there is a lot of potential for Daggerheart to eventually be used in a Critical Role campaign, but it’s too early right now.

I’m also wondering if adding a new system would have been too big a change. This campaign will already spotlight Brennan when all previous campaigns have been DMed by Matt. I think it would be a lot for fans to also accept a new system. Listen, I have no doubt that Brennan could learn a new system. If you’re already asking Brennan to DM this campaign with a ton of players at the table, and make it Daggerheart, I think that’s a lot to put on Brennan, but also for long-term fans to be on board with.

In between Critical Role’s fourth campaign, I’d love to see more Daggerheart mini-series. Matt has teased that Age of Umbra is coming back. I’m wondering if that will be a focus in October for Halloween? I’d also like to see more mini-series with the other campaign frames. There have been some live plays on the Darrington Press YouTube channel of the other frames, but of course, I’d love to see Critical Role’s take as well. I’d love it if NADDPOD tried Daggerheart. Emily Axford can do no wrong, and I’d love to see her try to break the system. If anyone could, it would be her.

I’m remaining optimistic. I think this campaign holds a lot of promise, and I have no reason to be skeptical. October 2nd can’t come soon enough.

I finally did it. I finished watching The Mighty Nein, Critical Role’s second campaign. I started watching The Mighty Nein in 2023 and completed it this year. It took me two years to watch Vox Machina, Critical Role’s first campaign, so the timeline fits. I’d argue that The Mighty Nein is the more popular campaign within the fandom due to the higher production value, amongst other reasons. The Mighty Nein had a slower start for me, but once I was in it, I grew to enjoy it. If you aren’t able to watch 141 episodes, but want to know what happens, this post is going to be an overview of the campaign as a whole. As such, there will be spoilers.

Spoilers for The Mighty Nein

This post will have four sections: the characters, the story arcs and the NPCs (non-playable characters played by Matthew Mercer), the romances, and my overall view of the campaign. Before I begin, I will reiterate that there will be spoilers for the campaign. If I’m going to deep dive into it, I want to talk about all of it. This will be my third and final time mentioning it.

The Characters

There were eight characters in this campaign, and they are as follows:

• Caleb Widogast, Human Wizard. Played by Liam O’Brien
• Nott The Brave / Veth Brenatto. Goblin / Halfling Rogue, Wizard. Played by Sam Riegel
• Jester Lavorre. Tiefling Cleric. Played by Laura Bailey
• Fjord. Half-Orc Warlock Paladin. Played by Travis Willingham
• Beauregard Lionett. Monk of the Cobalt Soul. Played by Marisha Ray
• Yasha Nydoorin. Aasimar Barbarian. Played by Ashley Johnson
• Mollymauk (Molly for short) Tealeaf. Tiefling Blood Hunter. Played by Taliesin Jaffe
• Caduceus Clay. Firbolg Cleric. Played by Taliesin Jaffe

My two favorite characters from this campaign were Fjord and Caduceus. I think Fjord’s character was interesting, especially his ties to his patron. His story gripped me right away, and I liked how Travis could be a character to help advance the plot. For Caduceus, I felt he fit in with The Mighty Nein, especially being a later addition. Caduceus offers great advice to the party, especially when it comes to Fjord choosing to serve The Wild Mother, which is who Caduceus serves. Caduceus was an excellent foil to the other characters as he was serious, which balanced Jester’s personality.

Jester, Caleb, Yasha, Beau, and Nott / Veth are all tied for me as far as which ones I like the best. Jester’s attitude and her approach to the group were sweet. She often offered levity in dire situations. Caleb’s tragic backstory shapes his character and why he is who he is. Caleb getting the vengeance he deserved was satisfying. Beau was abrasive and downright rude at times. However, I think Beau had the strongest character development out of everyone in The Mighty Nein, and that’s worth mentioning. Beau comes to terms with the Cobalt Soul and the work that she does, and I liked seeing Beau rise to the occasion. Finally, I liked the humor that Sam brought with Nott. Nott is a chaos gremlin at times, but when she has her chance to tell her story, it is really interesting to watch.

My least favorite character from this campaign was Molly. Molly’s personality rubbed me the wrong way from the get-go. I think Molly was pompous, and while that was probably an intentional choice by Taliesin, it didn’t work for me. It’s important to say that while I didn’t like Molly, I loved Caduceus, who was also created by Taliesin. Taliesin had my favorite and least favorite characters in this campaign.

The Story Arcs and the NPCs

As I mention Mollymauk, I think it’s a great time to talk about the story and Molly specifically. Molly was killed in episode #26, “Found & Lost”. During a standoff with Lorenzo, Molly tried to use one of their Blood Hunter abilities. Unfortunately, Taliesin rolled too high, and Molly went unconscious. Since Molly was right next to Lorenzo, Matt asked Taliesin what his last words were, and Molly spat blood in his face before being killed. The moment itself is brutal! When I watched it, I could see the emotion behind Matt as this played out. While I wasn’t a fan of the character, I never would have wanted Molly to go out like that. The Mighty Nein killed Lorenzo eventually, but this moment changed the tone of the campaign.

On a lighter note, my favorite story moments were Fjord’s pirate arc, saving Yasha from Obann, Rumblecusp, and the final two episodes. This goes right into the NPCs, but Avantika is my favorite NPC from campaign #2. I loved her. She was flirtatous and every time Avantika would flirt with Fjord, my eyes would go to Jester because she HATED it. The drama, I’m here for it. I liked the combat sessions on and off the ship; they were entertaining to watch. I liked watching The Mighty Nein save Yasha from Obann. It helped explain Ashley’s time away as she was filming Blindspot at the time the episodes aired. When The Mighty Nein lost Yasha to Obann, it was a devastating blow to the group. That’s the thing with Dungeons & Dragons: sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. While the wins are exciting, the losses can also help shape the story. When The Mighty Nein finally took out Obann and Yasha rejoined, I was happy for them and to get to see more of Yasha.

The Rumblecusp arc, aka. TravelerCon is another standout story point for me. Seeing Jester’s love for The Traveler and how The Mighty Nein save this island from Vokodo were fun episodes to watch. I found myself flying through episode after episode at this point in the story. Also, this arc had a huge reveal when The Mighty Nein met Keyleth’s mom. This was spoiled for me before I watched it, but it didn’t ruin it for me. I liked the crossover from the first campaign and tying up a loose end from that story. The final two episodes from The Mighty Nein are also favorites. I liked the Lucian boss fight and all the eyes. Each eye had its own ability, and it was interesting to see what they all did. The final episode wrapped up the story in a heartwarming way. I found myself feeling happy at the conclusion instead of being sad that it was over.

Before moving on, I wanted to mention other NPCs besides Avantika. I loved Pumat Sol. Pumat owns “The Invulnerable Vagrant,” a shop that The Mighty Nein frequents. Matt’s voice that he comes up for Pumat is perfect, and every time The Mighty Nein finds themselves at “The Invulnerable Vagrant”, they seem to be in good spirits. Marion Lavorre, Jester’s mom, is another notable NPC. The love that Jester has for her mom shows no bounds. I think Marion abandoned Jester a lot in her childhood, but Jester still loves her anyway. The final NPC that I will mention is Dairon. Dairon serves as Beau’s mentor and pops in and out throughout the story. If I had to choose a second or third favorite NPC, Dairon would be in one of those spots.

The Romances

In TTRPGs, characters can romance each other or romance NPCs. In Vox Machina, there’s Percy and Vex, Keyleth and Vax, and Scanlan and Pike. In The Mighty Nein, there’s Jester and Fjord, Beau and Yasha, and Caleb and Essek. I’m not including Veth and Yeza since they were married before the events of the campaign. With the romances in campaign #1, I adored them. Percy and Vex were meant to be together, and I was giggling watching them get together over the course of the campaign. Keyleth and Vax were also cute together, although their romance ended in heartbreak. Scanlan and Pike were a later developed romance, but I liked them together, especially when Scanlan could mature into the man Pike deserved.

For The Mighty Nein, I feel that the romances were forced, and I think it detracted from the story. Starting with Jester and Fjord, I felt Jester was more into Fjord, and it wasn’t reciprocated by Fjord. While they kissed in the end, it didn’t feel genuine to me. Beau and Yasha, while I think they are cute together, it felt like they got together in the last few episodes of the campaign. It didn’t have the same effect that the romances from Vox Machina had. I felt Caleb and Essek were better off as friends than being in a relationship. I think this campaign was less about developing relationships organically and instead was more of “I like you, let’s date”. That’s fine! I prefer campaigns with romances where the romance develops over time, and it develops based on the events from the story.

Final Thoughts

The Mighty Nein was a fun, chaotic, and heartwarming campaign. I’d describe The Mighty Nein as a Guardians of the Galaxy type of story with a bunch of misfits teaming up together. This campaign is absolutely worth the time commitment if you’re able to dedicate the time. If not, there are several abridged recaps, including an animated one by Dani Carr that’s available on Beacon.

Now that I’m finished with The Mighty Nein, what’s next? I am planning on watching any remaining Mighty Nein adventures, including the one-shots, the campaign recap, and the Vox Machina vs. Mighty Nein one-shot. Once those are done, I’m going to recommit to Bells Hells, the third Critical Role campaign. I watched it on and off in 2022 and 2023, but then left it behind to go watch The Mighty Nein, which was absolutely the right choice for me. On top of that, Critical Role’s fourth campaign is set to premiere in October, so I will be balancing that on top of Bells Hells. Eventually, I will reach a point where I can say that I’m caught up on all things Critical Role. Today is not that day.

It seems that The Fantastic Four have been difficult to adapt to a movie. Personally, I didn’t think the early 2000s Fantastic Four films were that bad. They were cheesy, sure, but I think there were far worse superhero movies than them. There was that one reboot, which I’m not even going to bother looking up. Now, Marvel has finally decided to take on the Fantastic Four, so they can be incorporated into their cinematic universe. It makes sense; the Fantastic Four are a huge part of the comics and the Avengers’ storylines in particular. The Fantastic Four: First Steps was excellent and has a unique approach to the superhero franchise.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps follows the Fantastic Four, comprising Sue Storm (played by Vanessa Kirby), Reed Richards (played by Pedro Pascal), The Thing (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and Johnny Storm (played by Joseph Quinn). They have been established superheroes for a few years, and the world has grown to love them. During the evening, Earth is visited by the Silver Surfer (played by Julia Garner), and she warns Earth that Galactus is coming for them. The world looks to the Fantastic Four, who fly off into space looking for Galactus and hoping to stop them. When Galactus asks for something that the Fantastic Four can’t give, they rush back to Earth and try to figure out how they will protect the planet.

If you’re going into The Fantastic Four: First Steps hoping for some action-packed fight scenes, you might be disappointed. At the center of this film is science, and using science to solve a problem. I think it’s endearing that the Fantastic Four genuinely do not know what they are going to do. The world looks to them to fight everything, but it also makes this movie more real that the heroes don’t know what to do. After watching Superman recently, I feel The Fantastic Four: First Steps offers a different approach to superhero films.

One thing that I feel this movie captures that previous Fantastic Four films did not was the importance of family. Sue realizes that Galactus wants her child and refuses to give him up. She speaks to Earth in an eloquent speech that she will protect her son, but she will also protect them. The last half of the movie, when Sue is fighting Galactus, and it’s clear that she is motivated to protect her son, I was getting emotional. To be fair, I cry at most movies, but I think it speaks to a mother’s love for her child.

I’m glad that this movie wasn’t terrible. Similar to Superman and how James Gunn had a lot riding on this, I’d say there was a lot on Marvel for making this movie good. Fantastic Four has been all over the place, so I’m glad to see that it is possible to make a great adaptation for the Fantastic Four. This movie also sets up Avengers: Doomsday, and I’m excited to see the Fantastic Four appear with the other heroes.

I was scrolling on Instagram as one does, and I saw news that The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood was being adapted into a movie. I read The Love Hypothesis in 2021 when it was released, and loved it. Ali Hazelwood is one of my favorite authors, and I have enjoyed every book she has written. To say that I was excited for the film adaptation would be an understatement. The cast was also revealed, with Lili Reinhart posting on Instagram with The Love Hypothesis. Lili is playing Olive while Tom Bateman is playing Adam Carlsen. I can’t wait for this movie.

The Love Hypothesis was inspired by a Reylo fan fiction story. For those who have no clue what that means, Reylo fan fiction is short stories where Rey and Kylo from Star Wars end up together. I’m not here to shit on what other people love, but I am not a fan of Reylo. Kylo Ren is not a good person, and I find Reylo fan fiction glosses over all the evil atrocities Kylo’s done. If there were any Star Wars fan fiction that I’m in favor of, it would be Finn and Poe. Anyway, reading The Love Hypothesis and the way the characters are described, Olive has brown hair, and Adam is tall, dark, and broody. This tracks considering what I just said.

Interestingly enough, Tom Bateman is married to Daisy Ridley, who played Rey in the films. With The Love Hypothesis’s origins, I find it hilarious that Tom is playing Adam and is married to Daisy in real life. I have no idea if that played a role in Tom Bateman getting the part of Adam, but that feels too perfect to me. The other ask I’d like from this movie is for Adam Driver to have a cameo. I don’t care where he is in the movie, but he needs to be there. The budget for the film may not be able to afford Adam Driver, but I think it would make the film even better. Quite frankly, throw Daisy Ridley into this, too. It wouldn’t be too much to ask, considering her husband is one of the leads.

I don’t think I have been this excited for a book-to-movie adaptation in a long time. The Love Hypothesis absolutely deserves a movie, and I cannot wait for this movie to have a release date.

Spoilers for Superman Below

I remember watching Man of Steel the summer after my first year of college. I didn’t mind the movie, but a common critique I saw online was that Man of Steel didn’t feel like a Superman movie. There were discussions about the tone of the film and how Henry Cavill’s suit was darker than the usual bright blue and red suit from the comics. As a comics fan, I like how each era of superhero films has its own take on the characters, and Man of Steel’s take was a grittier, more realistic superhero if Superman were to exist in the real world. James Gunn’s Superman film was under considerable pressure. If this film were bad, it would be a terrible way to launch his DC movie universe. It’s safe to say that Superman was a delightful take on the character, and Krypto is the real star of the movie.

Superman (played by David Corenswet) revealed himself to the world three years ago. During a fight, Superman is defeated and crash-lands near the Fortress of Solitude. Saved by Krypto, Krypto drags him to the Fortress, where he’s exposed to the sun and is partially healed. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (played by Nicholas Hoult) discovers the Fortress and gathers additional information about Superman that he can use to take him down. A video is revealed where Superman’s parents tell Superman to take over Earth. Superman feels he has no choice but to give himself up to Lex. Lex imprisons Superman in a pocket dimension where his true intentions are revealed, including helping to start a war in another country to make a profit and defeating Superman.

For the most part, I never had any doubts over the casting choices for this film. David Corenswet has the look of Superman, and I found he had natural chemistry with Lois Lane (played by Rachel Brosnahan). The only casting choice I was a little torn over was Nicholas Hoult. Granted, I thought Jesse Eisenberg was a mis-cast for Lex, so that set me up to be a little more picky this time around. With that said, Nicholas Hoult was phenomenal, and as soon as he threatened to kill Krypto, the whole theater gasped. How dare he kill Krypto? Nathan Fillion played Guy Gardner, and that bowl cut is horrendous, even though it’s comic book accurate. Mister Terrific (played by Edi Gathegi) played a huge role in this film and is instrumental in breaking Superman out of the pocket dimension. The cast made the movie as great as it was.

Let’s talk about Krypto. Krypto acts how you would think any dog with superpowers would act. During the climax of the film, there’s a scene where Krypto breaks into a pet food store and is eating biscuits and treats. How cute is that? There’s another scene where Krypto viciously attacks Lex, and Superman tells him to put him down. To be fair, Lex did imprison Krypto. It reminded me of the scene from The Avengers where The Hulk smashes Loki around. Krypto’s look is really scrappy. He isn’t this perfectly manicured dog; he looks like a dog you would adopt from a shelter. I like that a lot. Krypto is so well-loved that there was a 500% surge in dog adoption interest after the movie was released. Krypto was a highlight of this movie.

There were a few cameos throughout the movie that were fun. Peacemaker (played by John Cena) was being interviewed on TV. Rick Flag Sr. (played by Frank Grillo) is one of the political players that Lex talks to when trying to get approval to attack Superman. For those who haven’t watched Creature Commandos, Rick Flag was animated, but not seen in live-action. I think the most surprising or least expected was the appearance of Supergirl (played by Milly Alcock). James Gunn is working on the Supergirl film now, and I think Milly was a good choice to play the character. I love how she’s off partying in outer space, and Krypto is misbehaving because of that. It also means that Krypto could appear in her movie, too, and I’m here for it.

Another thing I read online was how some people hated Superman because they felt it was “too woke”. First of all, I think it’s perfectly fine if some people (like myself) liked this movie and some didn’t. That’s a part of being a fan of anything. I hate to break it to you, but comics have always had political messaging throughout. Captain America punching Nazis. The X-Men are fighting for mutant rights. Superman is an immigrant. I always laugh whenever I see this pop up again in various fandom spaces. Comics have always been political; hell, Star Wars has been political. If you didn’t notice the message, that’s on you because it’s always been there.

I would not want to be James Gunn. The amount of stress of trying to relaunch a movie franchise sounds awful. With that said, Superman was a solid start, and I thought it was worth seeing in theaters. It gives me hope that DC can finally have a successful and solid film franchise.

I have been watching various Vampire: The Masquerade live plays. I am currently watching Private Nightmares, which is Alexander Ward’s chronicle of thin-blood vampires. On top of all that, I have been listening to the World of Darkness live-plays featuring Jason Carl as the storyteller. I finished NY By Night, and it was so good that I have to talk about it.

NY By Night is a two-season web series featuring voice actors playing Vampire: The Masquerade. The first season features an Anarch coterie, while the second season is a coterie devoted to the Camarilla. As a quick definition, Anarchs are a type of faction within Vampire where these vampires don’t want to play into the political system run by the Camarilla. The Camarilla coterie is more loyal to the vampire political system in New York. Each season focuses on the players interacting with each other’s story points. NY By Night is unlike any Vampire chronicle I have watched.

Both seasons are solid within their own right, but I think I preferred the Anarch coterie in the first season. The characters all seemed to get along and respect each other. Rey (played by Joey Rassool) was fascinating to watch. Rey was an Anarch, but wanted to get back with the Camarilla, much to the other player’s chagrin. This led to some back-and-forth conversations between Rey and the other characters. Margo (played by Aabria Iyengar) was a classic Ventrue. Both Alexander Ward and Mayanna Beren did a great job of bringing their characters to life, especially Mayanna. Before Ny By Night, she had never played Vampire before, and I wouldn’t have thought that when watching her portions on the series.

The second season was diabolical and chaotic. While the first coterie got along, the second coterie was ruthless to each other. While Margo was charming, Khalida was manipulative in a way that Margo wasn’t. Noura Abrahim (who played Khalida) was riveting. Cynthia Marie played Coco, and this was the first live play I watched where someone played a Lasombra. I want to play one now. Oh Brawn. Brawn was such a sweetie and was taken advantage of by the other members of the coterie. This coterie proved how evil the Camarilla can be.

Another cool thing about this series is how it connects to the Vampire video games, such as Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York and Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York. Characters from the video games appeared, played by other players. I played the video games first before watching this series. I want to go back and play them now, knowing the lore that I know now. I’d love to see more of this in World of Darkness and now White Wolf. With the upcoming release of Bloodlines 2, it would be awesome to see Jason Carl be a storyteller for a series that plays into that game.

I’m watching out of order because now I’m watching LA By Night for the first time. In theory, I should have watched LA By Night before NY By Night, but too late for that now. If anyone has any Vampire: The Masquerade podcasts or live stream recommendations, let me know in the comments! I always need new things to watch or listen to.

Major spoilers for Thunderbolts* Below

Thunderbolts* was a Marvel movie that I was looking forward to. I read some of the Thunderbolts comics as single issues last year to help prepare for the movie. Another thing that I was looking forward to was seeing both Bucky and Yelena in one movie. If that wasn’t enough, I like how this is a less intense version of Suicide Squad. Thunderbolts* held up to the hype and adds a lot of good themes and commentary about a variety of topics.

Thunderbolts* focuses on Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh) as she struggles to find purpose in her life. She has been doing paid work for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), but the jobs only give her the money she needs to survive and nothing else. Yelena wants out, so Valentina says that if she does one last job, she will be free to walk. Yelena is tasked with finding a thief who’s attempting to break into one of Valentina’s storage facilities. When she gets there, she meets John Walker (played by Wyatt Russell), Ghost (played by Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (played by Olga Kurylenko). They were all sent to capture a thief and quickly realized that Valentina had set them up to kill each other. After fighting each other, they realize they have to escape with help from a new friend, Bob (played by Lewis Pullman). The group, naming themselves Thunderbolts, has to stop Valentina and expose her illegal activities.

Okay, but can we stop bringing characters back only to kill them? Taskmaster was brought back, which was cool, only to be shot in the head by Ghost. Why bother? I’m fine with Marvel tying up loose characters from all of these films, but not if they are going to be killed. Both my husband and I thought this was a waste of the character. Olga deserved much more than this.

Going into this film, I thought Bucky would be the star of the show, but this is clearly Yelena’s movie. I’m perfectly fine with that. Yelena fills the void left by Natasha’s death. I like her as a character and how her grief is explored. Yelena confronts Hawkeye in Hawkeye, but it doesn’t give her the closure she needs. Yelena feels alone in the world, and while Red Guardian (played by David Harbour) shows up later, he could have shown up earlier. There’s good dialogue between Yelena and Red Guardian where he apologizes for not being there for her, but wants to be there for her now, and it’s really sweet.

While this is Yelena’s movie, Bucky does make a grand entrance. In his position within the government, he’s also investigating Valentina’s activities, which coincides with Bucky aligning with the team. He attacks several convoys, and it was the entrance that Bucky deserved in the movie. I think it’s clear that Bucky wants to make a difference as a politician, but maybe that’s not where he needs to be.

Thunderbolts* has excellent commentary on mental illness, grief, and how heavy loneliness can feel. Bob’s powers are unlocked thanks to Valentina manipulating him. After beating the Thunderbolts, Bob is betrayed by Valentina. This darkness washes over him, and he starts to cloak New York in shadow. Yelena is the first to help by entering the darkness to find Bob. Bob is a victim as he agreed to undergo medical testing to rise above his addiction and his trauma. There’s a moment where Yelena runs to Bob and tells him she’s here for him, which empowers Bob to put away the darkness. Thinking of all the characters within Thunderbolts, they have had tragic back stories in which they are stronger together. This movie didn’t have an epic hand-to-hand combat finale; instead, this movie had a softer approach in the latter half, which I thought fit the characters within the team.

Thunderbolts* was worth the hype. I’m looking forward to seeing these characters pop up in future Marvel projects.

When I think about my love for movies, I can’t help but think about my mom. Growing up, I was exposed to a lot of different movies. I grew up on Harrison Ford action films, the Bond films, and dramas. I wouldn’t be the moviegoer I am today without my mom. When I think about my favorite genre, it would have to be action films. My mom had wanted to see The Amateur, an action film that came out in April of this year. The Amateur was a solid and entertaining movie.

The Amateur focuses on Charles “Charlie” Heller (played by Rami Malek) as he gets ready to go to work. He kisses his wife, Sara (played by Rachel Brosnahan), as she is leaving overseas for a work trip. Charlie works for the CIA as a cryptographer. Charlie is called into his director’s office, as he is told that Sara was killed in London during a terrorist attack. Charlie is heartbroken and angry and researches who killed Sara. When he brings this information to his director, he’s told that they will handle it, but they clearly have their own agenda versus bringing in his wife’s killers. Charlie pushes back and gets specialized training from Robert Henderson (played by Lawrence Fishburne). Charlie is forced to go on the run as everything he’s doing isn’t sanctioned by the government. He plans on taking out his wife’s killers once and for all.

The draw for this movie is that Charlie isn’t built to be a killer. His area of expertise is computers, tech, and putting together explosives. The government dismisses Charlie and doesn’t think he’s capable of doing what he does. In one scene, Charlie kills a man by causing the glass pool to break, sending the man crashing down several stories. There’s an element of creativity to what Charlie does because he doesn’t have the experience of killing anyone. I wouldn’t say that this makes the film unique, but I think it makes the viewer want to root for Charlie.

The cast in this movie is great. I have been a fan of Rami Malek for some time. I think he’s great in anything he’s in. This can be said about Lawrence Fishburne and Rachel Brosnahan, although Rachel is barely in the film. In these action films, the cast is important. Casting actors who have a big following will bring interest in wanting to see this film in theaters.

The Amateur was a solid action film. It was entertaining from start to finish.