These past few weeks, I had been watching MCU movies that I was not able to in the past.  As we all know, the End Game is about to be released tomorrow and I don't want to go to war empty handed.  I haven't read a single Marvel comic in my life even when my brother had them.  As a kid, I'd just run through the pages looking at the pictures.  As for the series, all I got in my belt are just Iron Fist and a few episodes of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.  Which isn't really connected with the Avengers movie.  Its not, right?

There has been a lot of talk going around regarding Hawkeye turning into the Ronin.  I think that this is going to be true, because of the costume change, which I have read is similar to what other character's use when they use the Ronin persona.  Its interesting to know that they are developing Clint Barton's character which I kind of am looking forward to.  I wonder if there will be a separate movie about him and Romanoff. 🤔  I'd love to see that.  

Okay... so last night I took a break from Marvel and watched Wind River starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen.  Still the Avengers' stars eh? hahaha  If I could use one word to describe this movie it would be this - heavy.  The last film that I had a similar reaction to was 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.

A great poster made by @RicoJRCrea

Wind River really struck me deep so I decided to write my reflections and look in to a couple of things.  I don't know much about the United States so I was not aware of this prior to the movie- Wind River Indian Reservation is not a fictional place.  It is in Wyoming where some Native American tribes live.  There has been severe impacts on transportation, agriculture and the likes due to severe weather and it can be seen in the movie how harsh the conditions in Wyoming can be.

Jane Banner,  Elizabeth's character, is an FBI agent sent out to solve the death of an American Indian, Natalie Hanson, in Wind River.  Personally, I think that it really is important to do a little bit of research before going to a different place where culture can be different from mine so I can avoid offending others.  I guess she did not have time to do it since she went there in a hurry and even went without having weather appropriate clothes.  So for travelers, wherever you go take time to get to know where you are going, what the people are like and how the weather is going to be when you get there.  At the start, I can say that Jane was somehow ignorant of other people's feelings (and a couple of other things too, like the shootout could have been avoided if she listened ) and just wanted to get her job done.  She did a good job in disrespecting Natalie's father.  She somewhat finds herself in a situation where she realizes that it is more than just a case.  Overall, I think Jane is pretty hardcore despite of how her character started in the movie.

All along, I thought that Natalie's boyfriend, Matt Rayburn assaulted her and tried to kill her, that is why she ran away barefoot in the snow and died as her lungs gave out due to the extreme weather.  But the reason of her death was later shown in a flashback when Jane wanted to investigate the sleeping quarters of Matt.  I am not going to go deeper in to this as there might be some of you are probably reading this without having watched the movie yet so I am not giving it all away ;)  Other than the history of war and concentration camps,  I realized in this flashback that isolation can be a part of a recipe that can turn people into ravaging animals.  I remembered the news on how people became zombie-like and stole whatever they could when Yolanda struck Tacloban, a town in Visayas here in the Philippines.  It is because of Natalie's death I became more aware of the importance of letting our parents in.  I'm not a child anymore (sometimes childish tho) but I still think it is.  It is not just about letting them know who we are dating, where they work and live, but it is more about being safe and well.  

And now to Cory Lambert,  Jeremy's badass character.  I really admire how calm, collected and confident he is in his skills.  He could have solved the case single-handedly without anyone dying at all.  But the fact that he was not even a police officer and was able to close in on the case because of his excellent tracking skills is amazing.  I think that his troublesome past also paved the way for him to want to help solve the mystery of Natalie's death.  With it, it felt like he was also honoring Emily's death too.  You'll find out who she is when you watch it ;)  The near ending scene where Cory was comforting Jane is somewhat similar to the Age of Ultron part where Hawkeye was telling Scarlet Witch "it doesnt matter what you did, what you were... If you step out that door, you are an Avenger."  Still goes down to the Avengers, eh? hahahah 

Lastly... I just felt the need to point this out.  The Asian American movement is becoming strong and people are telling more stories about the Asian culture and how they are being perceived in the world are opening the eyes of many.  But it is really sad to know how overlooked the Native Americans are, and this movie is delivering that message very hauntingly.  I think that it is very critical that Taylor Sheridan wrote this story and made this film to let it be known to us that missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW) has become an epidemic.  This is not only affecting those that are in the US but in Canada as well.  I certainly do hope that government leaders look more into this grave issue.  

Thats it!  I really recommend that you guys watch Wind River and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.