This blog entry may not be as thorough as some of my other Marvel reviews as the movies have struck me as blah lately, too reliant on special effects and fight scenes with the occasional plot point and/or humor to glue it together.

I found Thor Dark World to be overstocked with fantasy and ignorant of any attachment to reality. And perhaps the best part of the movie is when Erik Selvig has gone crazy enough to refuse to wear pants, a great piece of connective tissue to the first Avengers movie.

And the Captain America Winter Soldier proved to be better, but didn’t really hold my interest. The idea — spoiler alert — that Hydra took root within S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fantastic one, and much of the plot pleased me, but again, too many fights, special effects and showing off of technology that doesn’t exist.

Today we were scheduled to watch Guardians of the Galaxy, and we are, but the teenager discovered two Marvel one shots: Agent Carter and one about the Ten Rings and the Mandarin.

The one involving Trevor Slattery in prison provided some good information about the background of The Mandarin from the Iron Man franchise.

But the best part of all of this was Agent Carter. We learn that Peggy, Captain America’s crush, had to force her way into active duty and proved to be a insubordinate bad-ass.

Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the teenager’s favorites. I don’t remember being impressed the first time I saw it, so here goes…