The next film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Thor: The
Dark World’, is set to hit theaters this upcoming weekend. So, instead of just
doing a single review on its predecessor, I decided to do a look back at the entire
Cinematic Universe as a whole from the first Iron Man film back in 2008 to ‘Iron
Man 3’, which was released back in May. Since I started this blog back in May
of 2012, I’ve actually only covered two of these films; The Avengers (which was
the very first review that I posted on this site) and Iron Man 3, for which I
did both a regular review and a Spoiler Post regarding the film’s controversial
twist. So now it’s time for me to talk about the other five films that were
released before ‘Avengers’; Marvel’s ‘Phase One’. Since I’ve talked about
Marvel’s success in creating this Cinematic Universe multiple times already,
I’ll leave it at that because otherwise you’ll know what I would say next. So,
let’s take a look back at the past seven films in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe.
IRON MAN (2008)
I can easily sum up the reason why this movie is so good in three
simple words; those three words are ‘Robert Downey Jr.’. This is easily one of
the best casting decisions in the history of superhero films, if not the best. If
it wasn’t for him, I have a feeling that this movie wouldn’t have turned out as
good as it did. Don’t get me wrong; this is still a really good movie, but it
is Downey’s performance as Tony Stark, billionaire turned superhero, which
really elevates the material. Admittedly, there’s really not much I can say
about this film other than it is a top-notch superhero film and it did its job
at establishing what was to come in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It hit all
of the right notes in terms of story and character development and as such, it
certainly stands as one of the best superhero films of the last few years.
Rating: 5/5!
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)
Marvel first brought the character of the Hulk to the big
screen in 2003 with Ang Lee’s ‘Hulk’. However, the film was sort of a flop at
the box office so Marvel decided to reboot the franchise, which would now be a
part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This Hulk film, directed by Louis
Leterrier, is much better than its predecessor for one key reason. Lee’s film
was more focused on the drama than the action. I’m not necessarily saying that’s
a bad thing because I do think that the dramatic material was at least
well-written, but it made the film rather boring at times. This one takes a
more ‘action-packed’ route and while that might mean that the screenplay is a
little lacking at times, it is still a very entertaining film. Edward Norton
and Tim Roth both do excellent jobs as Bruce Banner and Emil Blonsky (the
latter becoming ‘The Abomination’ by the end of the film), respectively. While
Norton was eventually overshadowed by his successor, Mark Ruffalo, in ‘Avengers’
in terms of their respective performances, he still does a great job at
displaying the character’s struggles and emotions. As for Liv Tyler and William
Hurt as Betty and General Ross, they do okay jobs but I think that Jennifer
Connelly and Sam Elliott were better in the roles in Lee’s ‘Hulk’. Still, this ‘Incredible
Hulk’, while not perfect, is at least better than the previous ‘Hulk’ film. I
do look forward to seeing another Hulk film with Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner. However,
that film unfortunately might not happen for a while, at least until after ‘Avengers:
Age of Ultron’.
Rating: 4/5
IRON MAN 2 (2010)
It’s common knowledge that sequels are never as good as the
original. Iron Man 2… is one of those movies. Now, while I do rank this film at
the bottom when it comes to ranking all of the Cinematic Universe films, I
don’t think it’s a bad movie; far from it in fact. It’s very entertaining as
most superhero films are and Robert Downey Jr. is still fantastic as Tony
Stark. So what’s the main problem, then? Well, it seems like the filmmakers
went a little too far in terms of ‘raising the bar’, as is usual with sequels.
There are just too many characters in this movie, which means that some get
less development than others, namely the main villain Whiplash. Mickey Rourke
is very good in the role, but at one point he is reduced to being the pawn of another
villain, Justin Hammer. On the bright side, Sam Rockwell steals the show
whenever he’s on screen but unfortunately that means that Whiplash gets thrown
to the sidelines. One thing that could have helped was if S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t
really overused in this film, which I feel they are. I’m fine with the inclusion
of Black Widow but I feel that Nick Fury should have just stayed as a brief
cameo. There are some other minor gripes that I have, one of them being that
Tony is a bit too arrogant in this film. Now, I can see where they were going, because
there’s this other plotline that Tony’s dying from palladium poisoning because
of the substance’s use in his arc reactor, but I’m not sure that plotline went
far. Still, despite its flaws, ‘Iron Man 2’ is still an entertaining superhero
film but it could have been much better.
Rating: 3.5/5
THOR (2011)
This film was easily the biggest risk that Marvel was taking
during ‘Phase One’ because this could have ended up being a very campy film,
which would not have been good for Marvel if Thor was to be one of the
Avengers. But in the end, this film turned out to be much better than expected,
mainly because of two reasons. One is director Kenneth Branagh, whose
experience with Shakespeare translates to this film. The themes of honor and
family are constantly present in the film and are very well-handled. The other
is the performance from Chris Hemsworth in the titular role, who flawlessly
displays both charm and arrogance as Thor. The rest of the cast is great as
well, although some could have been given a little more to do, including
Natalie Portman as Thor’s love interest Jane Foster and Tom Hiddleston as Loki,
though for the record in the case of the latter that’s just in this film.
Obviously, that changes with ‘Avengers’. Another positive about the film is the
surprising amount of humor in the screenplay and it works very well. My only
major complaint with the film is that if feels like it is mostly setting up
what’s to come later. For a film that takes place in a universe like the Nine
Realms, we only see three of them; Asgard, Jotunheim, and Earth… and we spent
more time on Earth than in the other two worlds. The one thing that I want to
see in the next film is that they explore this universe more. Thankfully, the
trailers seem to indicate like that will be the case. But as a whole, the first
‘Thor’ movie is another great entry in the Cinematic Universe.
Rating: 4/5
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011)
Out of all of these films, ‘Captain America’ probably seems
the closest to an old-school summer blockbuster, being set in the 40’s during
WWII for the majority of the film while still having some of the more modern
storytelling aspects from the other Cinematic Universe films. This film manages
to find the right balance of the old and the new; director Joe Johnston is at
his best whenever he does period films, like ‘Rocketeer’ or ‘October Sky’ and
this film is no exception. Like with the other Marvel films, the filmmakers did
a great job at casting the lead hero, in this case Chris Evans as Captain
America/Steve Rogers. As Rogers, Evans is extremely likable and charismatic,
and his ‘never give up’ attitude is very admirable. Even after he becomes
Captain America, he maintains that likable persona throughout the film. This
film has perhaps the best ensemble cast (aside from ‘Avengers’ of course) of
Phase One. How can you go wrong with a cast that includes Hugo Weaving, Tommy
Lee Jones, and Stanley Tucci? This film also one of the best, shall we say, ‘superhero
couples’ in Cap and Peggy Carter (played by Hayley Atwell). Their chemistry
feels genuine and this helps make the ending scene of the film quite emotional.
All in all, while I can’t say ‘The First Avenger’ is the best of the Phase One
films, it is my personal favorite.
Rating: 5/5!
THE AVENGERS (2012)
For a more ‘detailed’ review of the film, here are links to
both my original review and the post where I listed this film as the best film
of 2012 (which I still stand by, for the record):
Do I really need to talk about this one? You probably know
what I’m going to say, seeing how I named this my number one favorite film of
2012. So, I‘ll keep it short. ‘The Avengers’ is one of the finest superhero
films to date. You really have to hand it to Marvel on this one. They took
their time, developed their universe and the characters, picked the right cast
to play these heroes, and finally brought them all together under the direction
of Joss Whedon for one of the most epic films to date. Whedon, a director who
does a great job at working with a large cast, gives equal time and development
to each of the main heroes. No single hero is more important than the others
and some get better development that what they had in previous movies, namely
Black Widow and Hawkeye. Tom Hiddleston also establishes himself as a premier super
villain in the role of Loki. Admittedly, it takes a while for the film to get
going but once it finally does, it’s incredible. The screenplay is full of
witty dialogue, leading to a lot of funny moments. My personal favorite scene;
when Hulk and Thor crash a Leviathan down into Grand Central. Once they get up,
Hulk suddenly punches Thor off-screen. It’s so unexpected and yet so funny at
the same time. The bottom line is that if you haven’t seen this film yet, I
strongly urge you to do so because it is one of the best of the superhero
genre.
Rating: 5/5!
IRON MAN 3 (2013)
Here are the links to the two ‘Iron Man 3’ posts I did back
in May:
Like many 2013 summer blockbusters (e.g. Star Trek Into
Darkness, Man of Steel), ‘Iron Man 3’, despite receiving solid reviews from
critics and becoming the second Marvel film in a row to gross over 1 billion at
the box office, has received a rather mixed reception from audiences. From what
I’ve seen, some of this negativity is a little unfair, namely from those who
hated it just because of the controversial twist surrounding the film’s ‘main
villain’. Yes, it is a big change from the comics, but it actually did work
from a story perspective. As for another ‘complaint’ about where S.H.I.E.L.D.
and the other Avengers were during the events of this movie, I can answer that…
they had their own s*** to deal with. Remember that the biggest reason why ‘The
Avengers’ worked so well is because Marvel took their time and developed their
universe and the characters in it by doing solo superhero films. Not every
Marvel film can be ‘The Avengers’ and directed by Joss Whedon; solo superhero
films are still effective. Besides, aren’t the ‘Iron Man’ films the highest
grossing solo films in the Cinematic Universe?
Okay, rant over, back to ‘Iron Man 3’. The reason why the
film works so well is because it has a solid character-driven story, as Tony
tries to deal with the anxiety from his near-death experience at the end of
‘Avengers’. This is perhaps Robert Downey Jr.’s best performance in the role;
he still maintains the arrogant attitude that Tony is known to have, but it’s
dialed down (which is a huge improvement over ‘Iron Man 2’) because of what he
went through. This is a Tony Stark story; the fact that he’s not in the Iron
Man suit as much doesn’t hurt the movie (another sort of unfair criticism if
you ask me). The suit doesn’t make the man. It is the man who makes the suit. The
ending, while definitely raising questions of how Tony will play into the next
two Avengers films, serves a fitting conclusion to both this film and the whole
trilogy itself.
Another big improvement over 2 is that Don Cheadle finally
gets time to shine in this film and his camaraderie with Downey Jr. is much
better. The whole cast is terrific, particularly the two main villains. As for
Ben Kingsley, he succeeds at working with the major twist surrounding his
character, being very intimidating while he’s The Mandarin, and goofy when he’s
the actor Trevor Slattery. As for Guy Pearce who, spoilers, is basically the
main villain, he’s also great. I like how the character was set up as an
effective ‘demon’ for Tony. My one complaint about the film is that the female
parts are rather underwritten. Yes, Gwyneth Paltrow still has fantastic
chemistry with Downey Jr. and she does don the Iron Man suit for the first time
in the film… for about 2 minutes. Aside from that moment and the finale, she’s
once again stuck in the damsel in distress role the whole time. Rebecca Hall is
stuck in a similar situation; not given anything to do. In fact, the movie
really doesn’t make it clear about whose side she’s really on, especially
considering that they kill her character off. But in the end, ‘Iron Man 3’,
while not the best Iron Man movie, comes pretty damn close to being on the same
level as the first film.
Rating: 4.5/5
As an added bonus, here are my further thoughts on ‘Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ now that a few more episodes have aired and my thoughts on the
first trailer for ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’.
Agents of SHIELD- 5 Episodes In
A couple of weeks ago, I gave a very positive review of the
pilot for ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, where I praised the show’s more humanistic
approach to the Cinematic Universe and for its terrific cast, especially Clark
Gregg as Coulson (obviously) and Chloe Bennet as Skye. Now, there have four
more episodes since the pilot and at the time I am posting this, the next
episode will be airing tonight. Unfortunately, this show has now been hit with
the same curse as ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’; pretty solid
critical reviews, but audiences have been mixed and, like ‘Into Darkness’, I’ve
been hearing more negative reviews than positive.
Overall, I stand by my thoughts on the series. Sure, it may
not be the best TV show ever but it continues to do a great job at developing
its characters and the universe that they now live in after the events of
‘Avengers’. As far as the main cast goes, the only characters I think who
haven’t really got much opportunity to shine in the show so far have been Fitz
and Simmons. Both De Caestecker and Henstridge are doing great jobs, but for
the most part, they’ve only played minor roles so far in the series. On the other
side of the spectrum, Agent May, Agent Ward, Skye, and Coulson have been given
more to do so hopefully they give more to Fitz and Simmons down the road. I do
like that this series has actually started to establish future villains; one of
whom being the character of Graviton (played by Ian Hart, who you might
recognize as Quirrell from ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’). I also
appreciate how the writers are still using the Extremis serum plot-point from ‘Iron
Man 3’. It’s good to see that this series is continuing to establish its place
in the Cinematic Universe.
Like in the pilot, the writers continue to do a very good
job in developing its characters and, more importantly, some of the mysteries
surrounding them; the biggest being whether or not the Coulson we know really
died in ‘Avengers’ and the reason why he somehow miraculously survived. In
Episode 4, ‘Eye-Spy’, the team tracks down a thief who turns to be a protégé of
Coulson. At the end of the episode, the protégé speaks with May and mentions
that ‘something’ is different about Coulson, giving further speculation to what
really happened after Coulson was stabbed by Loki. Could he be a life-model
decoy, perhaps? Another interesting storyline is revealed in Episode 5, ‘The
Girl with the Flower Dress’, where Skye reveals to Coulson why she joined his
team. She’s looking for her parents, who were connected with S.H.I.E.L.D. When
Coulson mentions that she might not like what she finds, I get the feeling that
this could spell trouble down the road. Could this possibly lead to some future
villains on the show?
Admittedly, the second episode was a little lackluster
compared to the pilot (except for the awesome cameo from Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury), but recently the show has really started to take off and
it’s become one of my favorite shows currently on television. I’m excited to
see what routes the writers take in future episodes and how they might connect
with the upcoming Marvel films, namely ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ because
of how big of a role S.H.I.E.L.D. will play in that film. I do hope this series
stays running for a while. The show did get a full-season order from ABC, but
with the decreasing ratings and the increasing ‘meh’ response from audiences, a
second season may be doubtful. I for one hope it does happen, especially
considering how unlucky Whedon shows have fared in the last decade (‘Firefly’
after only 1 season and ‘Dollhouse’ after 2).
Speaking of Winter Soldier…
Captain America: The Winter Soldier- First Trailer Review
The first thing that hit me about this trailer is that it
seems to eliminate the biggest fear I have about this movie; if directors Joe
and Anthony Russo could handle a big summer blockbuster (albeit one coming in
April, but that’s beside the point) when they have been mostly known for
television work. On that note, the action looks really incredible and the film
looks great from a visual standpoint. My other big praise about this trailer is
that the film really feels like a true sequel to ‘The Avengers’. No offense to ‘Iron
Man 3’ and ‘Thor: The Dark World’ (I’m guessing not much S.H.I.E.L.D. involvement
in the latter, though I won’t hold that against it) but considering the level
of involvement that S.H.I.E.L.D. has in this film, this one feels the closest
to being the follow-up to ‘Avengers’. I’m also interested in seeing how they
handle the more political aspects of the story because Cap is not entirely
supportive of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s methods as we saw in ‘The Avengers’.
My sole complaint is how they portray the Winter Soldier in
this trailer. For those of you who haven’t read the comics, the Winter Soldier
is actually Captain America’s best friend James Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)
who apparently died in ‘First Avenger’. As you can see, he actually survived
and is brainwashed to become an assassin. The trailer doesn’t make any mention
about how Barnes is the Winter Soldier so unless you knew about it going in,
you might not recognize who the Winter Soldier is. However, I’m pretty sure
that they will establish the relationship between him and Cap in the movie. But
aside from that, the movie looks very good and I think it actually has the
potential to be the best of the Phase Two films.
A review of ‘Thor:
The Dark World’ will be out soon.
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