It’s a rare and wonderful opportunity to be able to walk into a theater with almost no knowledge or expectations about the movie you’re seeing. To be fair, Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel’s latest superhero franchise starter, has been getting a ton of buzz, but I wasn’t quite sold, and, despite Marvel’s always-aggressive marketing campaign, I still had no idea what the movie was about. Guardians is not exactly a AAA comic book franchise, and there’s no characters to immediately identify with as in other Marvel projects like The Avengers.

As it turns out, that’s a very good thing, because, in a summer movie world inundated with sequels and reboots, it helps Guardians to feel even more original and refreshing. It’s the most visually stunning and consistently surprising movie to come out of the Marvel comics canon yet, not to mention the funniest.

Even in its opening credits sequence, Guardians displays its commitment toditching the superhero genre’s trend toward sober introspection when our main hero, earthling outlaw Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) who also goes by the moniker Starlord, puts on his trusty pair of headphones and rocks out to his retro cassette deck as it blasts “Come and Get Your Love.” Turns out he’s on the remote planet Morag for more than an uninhibited dance session; he’s eyeing a powerful and mysterious orb that plenty of folks in the galaxy would be willing to pay big bucks for. But lots of other creatures are looking for the orb as well, and some of them are after much more than a payday.

Guardians gives a fresh blast of originality to the Marvel comics universe.

It isn’t long before Quill finds himself in trouble with the law after a public brawl with a seedy cast of characters, including the green-skinned assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the bounty hunting duo of anthropomorphic raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and tree-like humanoid Groot (Vin Diesel). Turns out they all have their reasons for wanting the orb.

The gang, constantly at each other’s throats, ends up in prison, where they meet strongman Drax (Dave Bautista) and agree to break free, deliver the orb and split the profits. But they soon find that they may have a motivation beyond money for keeping the orb safe.

Ronan, a menacing member of the alien Kree race, knows the orbs world-destroying potential, and he’ll stop at nothing to get it.

One of the great joys of Guardians is its effervescent, irreverent energy. Although the movie’s main conflict still has dramatic weight, it never takes itself too seriously as it shoots out ‘70s pop tunes and a consistent barrage of sly pop culture references. In tone, it more closely resembles the original Star Wars—if every character was a permutation of the cynical Han Solo—than any of Marvel’s previous efforts. The members of this ragtag, uncouth group of unlikely allies flips the bird, constantly threaten one another with death and behave in a manner generally unbefitting a world-saving hero. And that is oh-so-satisfying.

In a breezy two hours, director James Gunn and cowriter Nicole Perlman accomplish the rare feat of introducing a new cast of initially unlikable characters, making them likable and giving them something important to do. The Avengers had the advantage of whole movies of buildup, which makes Guardians’ feat even more impressive. On top of that, every major character gets a chance to shine, showcasing both the strong writing and the pitch-perfect acting that give the film so much of its bite. Saldana gets to kick tons of ass as Gamora, capping off a string of impressive sci-fi roles in the likes of Star Trek and Avatar. Wrestler Bautista gets to show his acting chops in a surprisingly nuanced performance as Drax, who is seeking revenge on Ronan for slaughtering his family. But Cooper and Diesel steal the show in vocal performances that will have the audience buzzing. Cooper channels his best Robert Downey Jr. as the titular fast-talking, foul-mouthed raccoon. It seems like he and Tony Stark would get along swimmingly (hint, Avengers crossover, hint, hint). Diesel gets an amazing amount of mileage from just three words (“I am Groot”), showing the strange creature’s tender side as well as his occasional uber-satisfying Hulk-style freak-out.

The film is also the first superhero movie in some time that I believe has a truly distinct visual style. From the most recent Captain America to Man of Steel, the genre has struggled to find a colorful visual palette befitting its source material. Guardians’ world is bustling and alive, with entire worlds and races of creatures bursting with color and personality. It recalls everything from Star Wars to The Fifth Element to Blade Runner. In both its mind-blowing special effects and its imaginative art direction, it’s easily the most visually impressive movie of the summer, if not the year.

Unfortunately, Guardians continues Marvel’s negative trajectory of bland villains. Lee Pace is awesome, and he hams it up as best he can as the maniacal Ronan. But he’s no Loki. He wants to become all-powerful and destroy the planet Xandar because…he’s evil, I think? I don’t think comic villains always need complex motivations or an emotional backstory, but they do at least need personality, and Ronan sadly doesn’t pass the test.

More than anything, however, I think Guardians of the Galaxy succeeds in being relatable. The Guardians are what we might call “sinners under one roof,” aggressively flawed, sometimes even nasty creatures who put aside their difference for the greater good. The Avengers touched on this, but how fallible is Captain America, really? Here, every hero is despicable in some shape or form. Yet, they’re able to bring out their redeeming qualities for the benefit of the universe. They’re not refined heroes in any sense of the word, but they get the job done just the same. And we have a hell of a time watching them. As Billy Joel sang, “I’d rather laugh with the sinners and cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun.”

Ten years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine a movie like X-Men: Days of Future Past ever getting made. Early genre efforts in the post Spider-Man millennial boom, including the successful X-Men 2, were just beginning to scratch the surface of what the comic-based superhero movie could do. It wasn’t until 2012’s wildly successful Avengers movie that filmmakers really began to show how much could be accomplished within the confines of a summer superhero blockbuster. That movie piggybacked off of multiple origin stories in an attempt to tie together what Marvel Comics likes to call its “cinematic universe.”

What director Bryan Singer is doing with the X-Men franchise is even more ambitious. After six previous installments, including two Wolverine spin-offs, the franchise has reached a similar zenith of universe-building. Singer, who helped kick off the superhero craze with 2000’s original X-Men, has teamed up with screenwriter Simong Kinberg to make, for better or worse, the most “comic book” movie ever made. It’s also far and away the finest X-Men film to date.

Days of Future Past, based off of a highly praised and successful run in the comics, brings together the original X-Men cast with the younger generation of First Class. In the year 2023, mutants are on the run from unstoppable killing machines called Sentinels, and the few remaining mutants, including familiar faces such as Magneto and Professor Xavier, make a last-ditch effort to send Wolverine (whose self-healing abilities allow him to make the trip successfully) back in time to 1973 to ensure that the Sentinels are never created in the first place. This involves reuniting the young (and feuding) Xavier and Magneto to help stop the rogue, shape-shifting mutant Mystique from assassinating a mutant-hating research scientist and thus setting off a vicious and bloody mutant/human war.

Days of Future Past is the best X-Men movie to date.

In story structure, Days of Future Past is indeed the most “comic book” movie ever made. When time travel is used as a plot device, it opens up a world of possibilities, and Singer has taken such possibilities to their ultimate extreme. In the comic world, characters may die and be reborn multiple times, and lengthy, alternate histories can be wiped away with one sci-fi twist.

This is the world the X-Men movie universe now resides in. Don’t expect an easy sit—this is ambitious, heady stuff, two hours filled with talk of teleporting consciousness and time ripples. It’s the most challenging entry in the genre since The Dark Knight Rises—it is, in more ways than one, the thinking man’s Avengers.

Thankfully, the movie also works as straight-up blockbuster summer entertainment. With all of the plot threads being juggled, it’s amazing how well-paced, engaging and, most importantly, relatable the story and characters are. A large part of that is as much do to the small details as it is to the impressive action set pieces. All the humorous in-jokes, asides and references will have longtime series fans rolling. The period details are also spot-on; the costumes, the music, even the retro, non-digital Times Square standing in stark contrast to the neon nightmare in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The production design rivals the best we’ve seen in the genre.

The acting is as brilliant as ever. Hugh Jackman turns in yet another pitch-perfect performance as Wolverine, who once again acts as the outsider to this strange world. He’s both funny and fierce; we thankfully get plenty of humorous Wolverine moments, something largely missing from the characters’ spin-off movies. James McAvoy has also really come into his own as the young Xavier, displaying a more ambiguous, dark devil’s advocate to Patrick Stewart’s bland do-gooder. Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence, two of the finest working actors, add depth to their characters’ actions and motivations (and get some bad-ass action scenes to boot).

Your enjoyment of the movie will largely depend on what kind of X-Men movie you’re expecting. As a sequel to First Class, it’s brilliant and harrowing. As a sequel to the original X-Men trilogy, it’s really a non-event. We get brief moments with returning characters like Storm, Iceman and Kitty Pride, but the film devotes the vast majority of its running time to the events of 1973, with the events of 2023 acting as a framing device. In other words, if you’re expecting any answers or character development from the original cast outside of Wolverine, prepare to leave empty-handed. After all, if Wolvie is successful, these future versions of the characters may very well no longer exist.

This leads to a series of unanswered questions that may alienate longtime series fans. How, exactly, is Xavier alive in 2023? How did Magneto get his powers back after getting the cure in X-Men 3? These and other major questions are not even addressed, possibly because Singer wants to distance himself from that third film, which he did not direct, and many saw as a big disappointment. He can certainly make those kinds of decisions, but all the previous X-Men films still exist, and refusing to even acknowledge some of their major events will frustrate some viewers.

This dichotomy between old and new also extends to the film’s new characters. Those introduced in the future timeline, such as Bishop (who can absorb energy) and Blink (who has some awesome action scenes involving her ability to create portals) are hardly even introduced beyond some visually impressive displays of their powers. New characters introduced circa 1973 fare much better. Even Peters gives a brilliant turn as Quicksilver, the mutant version of The Flash. The less I say about his character, the better, but he gets the best comedic lines, and he even manages to play a scene involving a very intense prison break for laughs, in what is sure to go down as the single greatest scene in the entire X-Men saga. Peter Dinklage continues his hot streak as antagonist Bolivar Trask, and he does wonders with an underwritten role.

But, what makes Days of Future Past so damn good—if you can look past some admittedly steep plot holes—is just how fresh and bold much of it feels. The cheesy one-liners of Singer’s earlier X-Men films have been replaced with unrelenting emotional intensity. It’s not exactly revolutionary, but in embracing a truly “comic book” story structure, it opens itself up to interpretations, alternate theories and even criticism that most by-the-numbers superhero movies would never subject themselves to. It willfully flaunts the continuity of its previously established universe, it contains no consistent villain or even hero and it occupies a world of moral greys, even as many of its characters speak in blacks and whites. The ending feels a bit too happy and convenient, but I hear from comic fans that it’s true to the original story, and opens up the universe in some intriguing directions.

More than that, it’s just plain fun; reaching Avengers level heights with its crowd-pleasing spectacle. But there remains much to ponder beneath the big-budget glitz. The film’s revelations (or lack thereof) will either leave you enthralled or frustrated. But they will not leave you bored.

In my mind, the criteria for a good Godzilla movie is this: do the necessary human characters and plot get in the way of Godzilla smashing and burning stuff, or does it mostly stay out of the way? If the last serious American effort at adapting the iconic Japanese monster, Roland Emmerich’s 1998 bomb, is any indication, finding that balance is even harder than it looks.

The new Godzilla film, a franchise reboot of sorts, seems to be in a much better position, at least on paper. Whether it succeeds as a good Godzilla movie depends on your idea of what constitutes Godzilla in the first place.

Some fans will love the newest reboot of the classic monster franchise; others may cry foul.

No one has ever really attempted to make a Godzilla movie with compelling human drama or reaching some kind of rich meaning behind the destruction, but that’s exactly where this film positions itself. With the Legendary production label backing it up, it’s very much a “gritty” interpretation, in the vein of Man of Steel or The Dark Knight. If the idea of a gritty Godzilla movie sounds ridiculous, that’s because it probably is. But it’s also what makes this incarnation worth a second look.

The surprisingly heavy plot concerns a Japan-based nuclear plant supervisor (Brian Cranston) who is obsessively investigating the seismic activity that killed his wife when it caused a powerful power plant to collapse. He believes the government is hiding something big, and has soon pulled in his Navy engineer son, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), along with a pair of research scientists (Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins). Soon enough, they find a giant chrysalis containing a MUTO (massive unidentified terrestrial organism); and there would be no monster movie if the darn thing didn’t hatch and start wreaking havoc. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), there is an ancient beast that has been awakened, hell bent on destroying the MUTO itself.

The human elements of the film start off surprisingly emotionally resonant thanks to standout performances from Brian Cranston, as well as a sensitive performance from the underrated Elizabeth Olsen as Ford’s wife, Elle.

But other elements bring it down. The vast majority of the dialogue is either complex scientific jargon or painfully obvious foreshadowing. A character actually says “It’s not the end of the world” before all the smashing begins. Cute. I didn’t ask for Christopher Nolan-esque ponderings on man and nature in my monster movie, but I’m sure we’ll get them anyway.

The globetrotting nature of the plot doesn’t help, either. The film jumps around from location to location so frequently it’s easy to lose track of what you’re supposed to be focusing on. The jarring editing, especially when cutting to different characters, adds to the frustration.

It’s a slow burn getting to the giant lizard in action, but it’s definitely worth the wait. Godzilla’s new design is beyond awesome, and the creatures he goes to bat against are impressive in both scope and design. The quality of an incarnation of Godzilla and its monsters should be directly proportionate to how many “wows” the audience utters whenever it’s on screen. I emitted several. This is some of the most visually impressive destruction and creature design I’ve seen in years.

Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t feel the need to show that much of it. Every time we think we’re going to get a really good Godzilla fight, the movie cuts away to the increasingly boring humans trying to figure stuff out (we need to stop a nuclear bomb and multiple rampaging terrors? Why don’t we follow them around on a giant, slow moving ship?). There is a lot of devastation (including a particularly awesome leveling of Las Vegas), but we often get to see only the aftermath. While last summer’s Pacific Rim got 4 or so fully visualized giant monster showdowns, we maybe get 2 here. At least they’re shot well and convey an appropriate sense of weight; these are, after all, the equivalent of rampaging skyscrapers knocking each other around. If the action’s slow pace throws off modern audiences, that’s only because the blockbuster’s overindulgence in shaky cam and fast cutting has desensitized us to the allure of good, solid, classic combat. Whether the last 20 minutes of Godzilla truly strutting his stuff is a suitable payoff for the hour and a half of build-up is up to you. For me, it was.

I think a great Godzilla movie might get made someday, and I think this Godzilla is a giant clawed footstep in the right direction. The balance between wanton destruction and telling a compelling (and, more importantly, coherent) narrative may need some major work, but the big guy himself can’t help but garner a giant, childlike grin every time he’s on screen. And, coming from someone who has never even given Godzilla a glance, that is impressive. Some fans may be fundamentally opposed to a serious take on Godzilla, but if, like me, you never could get past the inherent cheese factor of most previous incarnations, this might be the monster movie for you.

Captain America is probably the only superhero that would have his own museum exhibit. In an early scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans) goes to the Smithsonian to look at his own display, detailing the history of the Captain, from his WWII era bravery to the bold part he played in the Avenger’s defense of Manhattan during an alien invasion. It’s a credit to the film and the universe it creates that we fully believe that the Captain would have his own museum exhibit. He’s not some flying, mutated monstrosity or eccentric mechanized billionaire. He’s a flesh-and-blood hero that just happens to have super-strength.

The Winter Soldier is a thoughtful and engaging addition to the Marvel canon.

The first Captain America movie did a fantastic job of setting up the Captain and his place in the Marvel universe. He was the patriotic one (obviously), the one who stood up for his traditional values and his clear-cut concept of right and wrong no matter the circumstances. That’s easy enough when you’re fighting Nazis.

But in the Winter Soldier, the Captain is more of a hero for our time. He questions what it means to be a hero, and feels lost in a modern world 80 years ahead of his time. It’s here we find the Captain, working with returning SHIELD teammates Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to protect the organization from outward attack. But new forces threaten to compromise the organization from within, and the Captain soon has to contend with the shadowy agent Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) as well as the mysterious Winter Soldier, who seems hell bent on putting the Captain down for good.

The movie’s action is, dare I say it, marvelous. The Captain’s shield bounces off of baddies’ skulls with the ease of your favorite childhood bouncy ball. The directing team of Joe and Anthony Russo give the film’s many intense fight scenes a sense of weight and drama that help to render realistic something as ridiculous as a ricocheting trash can lid. One thing missing from recent Marvel fare has been good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat, and The Winter Soldier has it in spades. But that doesn’t mean the level of destruction has gone down. In particular, a car chase involving Nick Fury is easily one of the coolest and most exciting in recent memory.

If The First Avenger played out like a techno-tinged patriotic war movie, The Winter Soldier plays out like a ‘70s spy espionage thriller. The Captain moves quickly from one revelation to the next (and boy are there some doozies) in his attempt to unravel the mystery of the Winter Soldier. It’s at times unrelentingly intense.

The movie also stands out from the comic book crowd in its tackling of the real-world, modern day themes of security and military protection in the digital age of widespread surveillance. From the NSA to Facebook and cell phone companies, these are timely American fears, and I’m pleasantly surprised to find a superhero movie tackle them with such gravitas. It adds a welcome shade of moral grey to the Marvel cinematic universe.

But, before this review gets to dire, the best thing about The Winter Soldier is that it’s incredibly fun. Johansson and Jackson have never been better, and their characters get some of the film’s best scenes and lines. Evans has truly embodied his role as the iconic American hero. Redford has a ton of fun with a meaty villain role, and newcomer Sam Wilson (aka the Falcon) is a welcome addition to the team. It’s also a very important movie in the Marvel cinematic universe, jam-packed with several bombshells that will deeply shake up the future of all the comic juggernaut’s Avengers-based franchises.

Comic movies with this much going on tend to collapse under their own ambition (Iron Man 2, anyone?), but The Winter Soldier can march on with little care for building up to an Avengers movie. In fact, there are times where it doesn’t feel much like a Marvel movie at all. That’s a very good thing. The meta-references to the Marvel universe that the filmmakers were surely obligated to include are somewhat distracting and drag the film’s pace down a bit, but they’re rare and not especially obvious for those not looking for them.

The “Marvel Machine” has been accused of sometimes churning out bare-minimum efforts to satisfy its desire to expand its universe in order to make even more movies (and more money). That complaint may be justified, but this supercharged sequel is prime evidence that Marvel still trades in thoughtful, timely and engaging blockbusters. You’ll want to see it again the second it’s over.