Invincible (Amazon, 2021) - 3/5

This show takes the Spider-Man high school drama, combines it with a broader Avengers-style narrative, and wraps it all up in the gore that is much more realistic to the physics at work. The story isn’t as clever as it thinks it is, but it keeps the audience sufficiently curious and pays it off decently well in the end. It certainly lags in the middle and a few of the main side characters are insufferable, but they’re not a big enough part to ruin it completely. If you can stomach the extreme gore, it’s a fascinating watch.

Content warning: extreme violence, extreme blood, extreme gore

Closest comparison: It’s like Spider-Man by way of Kick-Ass with a Dexter (2006) plot woven in.

Setting: Marvel-Adjacent Super Heroes
Plot: Super Hero Origin
Tone: Brutal Action

American Ultra - 2/5

This movie is a good example of what happens when a thriller gets bogged down with exposition. The tension loses its snap, the action is too little and too spaced out to be a main draw, and the unsubstantive characters make the main plot twist equally uninteresting. It has a good idea at the base of it, which makes it all the more disappointing when the delivery is botched.

Closest comparison: It’s like Pineapple Express by way of the Borne Identity.

Setting: Rural Drama
Plot: Secret Agent
Tone: Tragedy