It takes a while to feel like a new year is finally happening — that, oh, right, we’re into this year. And sadly, I think the arrival of the first big, shiny, corporate IP tentpole flick is one of those signs that the year has finally arrived. Now, of course, I do love me some corporate IP-driven entertainment, but there’s a continuum these things ride, with one end being “this is film-shaped content,” with all the negative connotations that cursed word brings, and the other being, “oh wow, some poor fools poured their soul into this thing they don’t own.” Having just gotten a Marvel flick that fits more-or-less into the latter category, I guess — and yes, I suppose I’m tipping my hand here — the former was due.
