Justin Bell's Blog, page 6

May 2, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 10 – Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy really isn’t my kind of film. While I love elements of science fiction, the full-blown different universes, strange alien races thing really doesn’t appeal to me. Star Wars is an exception of course, but beyond that I’m not drawn to many of those films, and had this not been a Marvel movie I may not have even seen it.

I seem to remember not being exceptionally excited about this film the first time I saw it. It ventures full steam ahead into the most cosmic corners of the Marvel Universe, which is a part of the comic that I don’t have any appreciation for. I’ve always liked my comics with a foot firmly in the real world, and beyond Peter Quill’s heritage, there is nothing about this that feels familiar. It was a fine theater going experience, but it certainly didn’t blow me away.

I rewatched the film over the past two nights, and holy cow was my initial reaction completely off base. I’m not sure where I was coming from originally, but watching Guardians of the Galaxy for the second time I was completely captivated, interested, amused, and totally in love with nearly every single character on the screen. The immediate rapport between the main characters is amazing and happens organically, coming together to form a cohesive team by the end of the film. The art direction and effects are spectacular, with 95% of the film taking place in strange other worlds that still manage to look and feel real. Chris Pratt’s Quill is fantastic, all at once being charismatic, yet assholish, and the interesting character quirks of everyone blend together perfectly.

With this movie the Marvel Cinematic Universe really jumps into the comic realm, introducing us to many other worldly entities, and tying it into the MCU continuity with the Power Stone. For the first time, we get some serious Thanos screen time, which is very much appreciated, and helps give him some gravitas as we churn forward through Phase Two and prepare for Phase Three.

Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy
L to R: Ronan (Lee Pace) and Nebula (Karen Gillan)
Ph: Jay Maidment
©Marvel 2014

Ronan is…okay. As a villain he’s pretty forgettable and I’m really not wild about his costume design, something the MCU folks generally excel at. Nebula is cool and is a great foil for Gamora, the two daughters of mad titan Thanos. The introduction of the Nova Corps obviously sets some seeds for future growth of the cosmic universe, something that Marvel has been doing perfectly.

Rocket and Groot are fantastic, much more appealing than I remembered them being in the theaters, when I actually seem to remember finding them a little irritating. I’m really not sure what went wrong during my theatrical experience, but whatever negative feelings I had about Guardians of the Galaxy there are pretty much wiped clear with this second viewing.

By far my favorite character in the main cast is Drax. The super literal strongman is an excellent addition to the cast, and I have to admit, a professional wrestler being part of this film put me off a bit originally. He nailed it, though.

Marvel Studio takes its time building out this universe and is so much the better for it. Taking so long to jump into the cosmic realm which is setting up an entire next phase of the Marvel Universe has created this awesome slow burn that has elevated Thanos to near legendary status while he’s only spent 10 minutes or less on screen.

It’s an amazing progression and has set us up perfectly for the upcoming Dr. Strange film as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, which logically also sets up the big Infinity War 2 Parter on the horizon. It really is nearly perfect and I’m thrilled to say that Guardians of the Galaxy doesn’t just hold up on the second viewing, it actually ends up being even more successful.

Ongoing Rank:

#10 – Iron Man 3

#9 – Thor (The Dark World)

#8 – Iron Man 2

#7 – Thor

#6 – Incredible Hulk

#5 – Guardians of the Galaxy

#4 – Captain America: The First Avenger

#3 – Iron Man

#2 – Avengers

#1 – Captain America: Winter Soldier

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Published on May 02, 2016 06:43

April 29, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 09 – Captain America (Winter Soldier)

Somewhere along the way the Marvel Cinematic Universe shifted, and it’s tough to figure out exactly where it happened. When things got kicked off at the beginning, there was little doubt that Iron Man was the catalyst of the Avengers and the lynch pin of the MCU at large. By the time Winter Soldier hit, in my mind, anyway, it’s clear that the central figure of the Marvel movie world is no longer Stark, but Rogers instead. If that wasn’t final at the beginning of Captain America: Winter Soldier, it sure as heck was by the end.

Winter Soldier is pure cinematic perfection. It’s an almost effortless blend between taught action/political thriller and super hero film, proving once and for all that “comic book movie” is NOT a genre unto itself. That’s the beauty of what Marvel Studios has accomplished, they’ve managed to create sub-genres within the genre and develop films that aren’t shoehorned just as super hero movies.

From the opening scene with the fantastic charisma between Captain America, Falcon, and the Black Widow, continuing on to the spectacularly well choreographed infiltration of the Lumurian Star, Winter Soldier is simply three steps ahead and above what we’ve seen in Phase 2 up to this point. Everything is ratcheted up as the entirety of SHIELD hangs in the balance.

Fury and Cap never end up having that brotherly association they had in the comics, as almost immediately they’re at each other’s throats discussing Project: Insight and the three next generation super Helicarriers being designed. Before we can even catch a breath, Fury has been shot, the Winter Soldier introduced against the backdrop of his haunting theme music, and we’re off to the races.

Captain America faces off against SHIELD themselves, soon revealed to be Hydra, then uncovers the most sinister secret in the MCU to date, the fact that Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD all along and choreographed some of the worst catastrophes in modern history over the past fifty years. Cap, Widow, and Falcon are on the run, forced to fight against the entire might of SHIELD with only their will.

Well, Fury comes back to help, too.

Every single action scene in this film is so well designed and orchestrated with Steve Rogers callously kicking his enemies twenty feet in the air, balancing between normal hand-to-hand combat and fantastic examples of his super soldier infused abilities. The way the Russo brothers orient the action sequences in this film is the stuff of legends, and I can’t remember being inspired by so many great fight scenes in a film in a very long time.

Not to mention the scenes of Falcon scorching through the air, dodging heavy artillery and balancing perfectly between airborne and ground combat. The fighting is impactful and dramatic and, for lack of a better term, really adds some punch to the film.

The importance of the events in Winter Soldier can’t be overstated. SHIELD crumbles under the weight of Hydra’s infiltration, an event that is still being felt in the Agents of SHIELD television series nearly two years later (not to mention Avengers: Age of Ultron). Secret Hydra agents are revealed everywhere from Senator Stern and Jasper Sitwell, all the way to Alexander Pierce and the Strike team themselves.

Like my previous #1 favorite MCU film (yes, Winter Soldier dethrones Avengers here) the best parts of the film aren’t necessarily the action scenes (though these are truly spectacular) but the charisma and familiarity of the characters as well. Widow and Cap feel like they’re long time friends, even though at the end of Avengers they didn’t necessarily seem that way. You can tell that time has passed and that bonds have developed since the incident in New York City.

Seeing the return of Bucky as Winter Soldier felt like it was important, not just tacked on, and the subtle birth of Cap villain Crossbones was a nice element to work in there, too. Falcon’s introduction was worked to perfection, and I’m thrilled to see him making a big return in Civil War in the next few weeks as well (not to mention his awesome scene in Ant Man).

Captain America: Winter Soldier isn’t just my favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe film, but it may very well be one of my favorite films of all time. The characters, the action and the high stakes all blend together to weave a fantastic tale of intrigue, super powered action, and character driven plot. I really struggle to find any faults whatsoever.

“Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson)
Ph: Zade Rosenthal
© 2014 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.

While Phase 2 started rocky with both Iron Man 3 and Thor (The Dark World), it suddenly sprang to life with Captain America: Winter Soldier. Joss Whedon is apparently done with the MCU as of Age of Ultron, but I can’t think of anyone I’d like better rather than the Russo brothers who have proven their worth. I cannot wait to see them handle Captain America again on May 6th when Civil War hits theaters.

Ongoing Rank:

#9 – Iron Man 3

#8 – Thor (The Dark World)

#7 – Iron Man 2

#6 – Thor

#5 – Incredible Hulk

#4 – Captain America: The First Avenger

#3 – Iron Man

#2 – Avengers

#1 – Captain America: Winter Soldier

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Published on April 29, 2016 02:00

April 26, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 08 – Thor (The Dark World)

Thor (The Dark World) has the dubious distinction of being the only film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that I didn’t see in theaters. Granted, I did buy it on Blu-Ray the day it came out and watched it within the couple of days afterwards, but for whatever reason I never found the time to actually go to the theater while it was there. Maybe it was overdue disappointment from Iron Man 3, or maybe it’s just because Thor has never been my favorite Marvel hero, but the fact remains that it has been the only film (and likely will be the only film) that I didn’t consider important enough to see theatrically.

I vaguely recall thinking the movie was pretty much fine when I saw it on Blu Ray a few years ago, but nothing special. It felt unremarkable, in fact, very few moments within the film stuck with me, which is partly why I was somewhat excited to watch it again. Perhaps it would kind of feel like the first time?

In fact, it did feel that way to a degree, and I found myself enjoying Thor (The Dark World) quite a bit more than I remembered originally.

The film really centers around the Aether, a mystical energy that was the source of generations of battle between Asgard and the Dark Elves. As we all know now, the Aether is really one of the Infinity Stones, and certainly plays havok with the world in this movie. After a flashback to the battle which banished Malekith the Accursed and his crew, we end up in London where Jane Foster is trying to forget the events of the first film, but as one might expect, she gets wrapped back up in cosmic craziness, stumbling across the fragile link joining universes. The Aether is at the core of this link and while investigating the phenomenon, Jane ends up becoming “one” with the Aether of sorts, and as a result becomes dramatically ill. Thor arrives and brings her back to Asgard, where the adventure really begins.

A lot of the film takes place in Asgard and we see some great interaction between Thor, Odin, his mother, and Loki with some beautiful scenery from Asgard itself. We also see that when Jane interfaced with the Aether, it sent a signal, waking Malekith, who creates Kurse and vows to hunt down the Aether and reclaim it.

Lots of action takes place here, with the Dark Elves bringing the fight to Asgard, resulting in the death of Thor’s mother and the temporary defeat of the Dark Elves. Knowing they won’t give up until the Aether (and Jane) belong to them again, Thor frees Loki and goes to the Dark World to lead them away.

Amidst all of the action (I really love the fight between Thor and Kurse), Loki is believed to have been killed. Meanwhile, the link between worlds completely breaks down and the final act traverses different universes, with London taking the brunt of the damage. As with the first Thor film, there’s a healthy helping of humor to balance out the action, and in this sequel, Thor obviously is a more developed and well-rounded super hero. I love how Marvel handles his powers, really lifting him above even his Asgardian peers, and shows how even a small event in the grand scheme of things can impact the fragile Earth that serves as its battleground.

There’s a lot more Asgard here than previously, for better or worse, and Malekith and Kurse aren’t especially captivating villains. Loki chews up every second of screen time, and really plays to his strengths here. The Dark World certainly moves the MCU forward, bringing in yet another Infinity Stone, and introducing the Collector in one of the mid-credits scenes. In fact, we finally see the whole story unfolding around the Infinity Stones for the first time here, and totally solidifies the Dark World’s place in the MCU mythology.

SHIELD really has no major place here (at least in the film, they certainly get brought into the action in an episode of the Agents of SHIELD TV series, which features an awesome crossover by Sif).

The Dark World was considerably more enjoyable than I remember it being originally, but still ends up not feeling necessarily like a “must see”. Maybe the heavy infusion of Asgardian culture turned me off somewhat, since that was never something I was drawn to in the comics themselves. The ending of the film was extremely interesting, of course, and leaves an open end that still has not been tied off, so it will be really fascinating to see where that whole angle goes.

As we look at the film as a whole, it was fun, it was entertaining, but not revolutionary, and especially compared to the next two films, Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, feels like a second rate MCU installment. There aren’t really any low points like we saw in Iron Man 2, but also not as many high points, which leaves it near the bottom of the list of favorites, even though the film itself wasn’t bad.

Ongoing Rank:

#8 – Iron Man 3

#7 – Thor (The Dark World)

#6 – Iron Man 2

#5 – Thor

#4 – Incredible Hulk

#3 – Captain America: The First Avenger

#2 – Iron Man

#1 – Avengers

Check out the Other Posts!

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Published on April 26, 2016 15:00

April 25, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 7.5 – All Hail the King

If there was one central theme to the complaining about Iron Man 3, it would be that his most nefarious villain, The Mandarin, was more or less reduced to a joke in the form of Trevor Slattery, an out of work actor who was a caricature and little more in the third Iron Man film. I’ll admit, that was one of my complaints.

All Hail the King, was a 13 minute Marvel One Shot that at least attempted to carry the mythology of the Mandarin to a different level, or at least make some assumption that Slattery’s use of the name didn’t necessarily mean that the real villain did not exist. With Slattery (a minor celebrity) in prison, a reporter arrives to do a documentary on him, and ends up within the course of the short film, revealing himself as an agent of the Ten Rings, a terrorist organization first revealed in the original Iron Man film.

The name “Ten Rings” is obviously a pseudo link to the Mandarin as well, the popular villain known for his use of various rings, all with different super powers. This secret agent of the terrorist group tells Slattery that he’s setting him free so he can meet the REAL Mandarin.

The point of the short seems to be to settle fandom fears that the Mandarin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is just a joke, and does a decent job setting him up as some insidious, sinister character, though even as Phase 3 is set to begin, we’ve never truly met the real Mandarin. Will we? Who knows, but with rumors seeming to point towards the Iron Man solo film franchise winding down, it becomes questionable as to whether or not we will ever see a true face off between Iron Man and who is arguably his arch villain.

There was plenty of humor infused into this One Shot, and an interesting cameo by a character labeled “White Power Dave”,who, interestingly, is played by Matt Gerard, the same actor who plays Melvin Potter in the Marvel Daredevil series. One might look at that as a goof on Marvel’s part, however the character is so minor that it’s more or less a non-issue, I’d say.

The best part of this short film might have been the cameo by Justin Hammer at the end. I freaking love that guy.

A nice short, I liked what it did for the Mandarin, but it doesn’t necessarily further develop the cinematic universe, and I would not consider it a “must watch”, even though it is the final One Shot that has been produced to date.

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Published on April 25, 2016 07:03

April 23, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 07 – Iron Man 3

I often find myself in somewhat heated conversations with fellow geek friends who enthusiastically sing the praises of Iron Man 3. I clearly remembered when I first saw it in the theater, I really didn’t like it much, so I was looking forward to diving back into it for this recap so I could finally maybe see what my friends see.

Nope, still don’t see it.

Movie poster image for IRON MAN 3 starring Robert Downey Jr.

Even the second time through, Iron Man 3 is a strange, almost nonsensical, jumbled sprawl through Iron Man’s recent history, trying to cover too much ground and not doing any of it well.

I’d like to say it’s merely the representation of the Mandarin that bugs me, but it goes way beyond that. It goes to the fact that in this third film it felt like Marvel tried to “tick off” a bunch of different check boxes. Iron Man “drones”? Check. Iron Patriot? Check. AIM? Check. Extremis? Check. Mandarin? Check. Pepper as “Rescue”? Check. It felt like it was frantically clamoring from one fanwank to the next to the point where long stretches of the film simply did not make sense. In a blockbuster like this, occasionally the big action set pieces will save the day, but in this case, Tony barely ever even dons the Iron Man armor, and when he does, it’s generally turned into a farce by some “cheap pop” body humor which involves him getting unexpectedly hit by something. One of the main focused action scenes involved Iron Man saving 13 people from falling out of the plane, but the climax of the whole sequence feels so silly and unrealistic that I just don’t buy how it could possibly work, even in a comic book universe.

Iron Man 3 leans very heavily towards humor, so heavily that way in fact that events in the film that are supposed to have emotional impact have none. Stark’s vehement outrage at the Mandarin feels so artificial and forced, even though his best friend is in a coma (is Happy really his best friend, we barely see him throughout all three films). His sudden spill over into reckless rebel just doesn’t feel like Tony Stark.

I will say Gwenyth Paltrow is great in this film, as she is in the other two, all at once playing the damsel in distress as well as the ass kicker who has to save Tony at the end of the day. The moments with Rhodes and Iron Patriot are relatively successful as well.

As for the crux of the film, the whole Extremis/Aldrich Killian angle, I’ve now seen the film twice and I still don’t even understand what “Extremis” is. I know Killian talks to Pepper about this “slot” in the brain, so that makes me think that these are genetic enhancements, but why would these genetic enhancements give people heat powers? And why would heat powers heal limbs? And what makes them explode or makes the process unstable? None of this stuff was adequately explained, and the people “infected” with it seem to run the gamut from a little tougher than normal to damn near indestructible, with no particular reason why.

Ben Kingsley makes an excellent Mandarin, when he’s actually playing that character and not as Trevor Slattery, a soccer loving drug addict. I know the Marvel One Shot “All Hail the King” delves into that whole angle a little bit, and I will talk about that next. It takes some steps to salvage the Mandarin character, but does nothing to save Iron Man 3 as a film.

At the end of the day, I excitedly popped the Blu Ray for Iron Man 3 in the player tonight, anticipating that I would finally see what my friends see, and that I’d get over my irritation with the film, but in fact, the opposite happened, and my frustrations were magnified, as a result, catapulting Iron Man 3 to my least favorite Marvel film, even topping Iron Man 2.

Which is a shock really, when you look at it. Considering the role that Stark plays in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the fact that 2/3 of his solo films register so poorly with me is a testament to just how great his first film is as well as his roles in the other group films, to the point where I still enjoy Iron Man in spite of being somewhat annoyed with 66% of his film adaptations.

Ongoing Rank:

#7 – Iron Man 3

#6 – Iron Man 2

#5 – Thor

#4 – Incredible Hulk

#3 – Captain America: The First Avenger

#2 – Iron Man

#1 – Avengers

Check out the Other Posts!

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Published on April 23, 2016 04:58

April 22, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 6.5 – Item 47 and Agent Carter

As the dust from The Avengers settles, I went back and took a look at two more Marvel One Shots, small films that were released with the Avengers and Iron Man 3 Blu-Ray movies. I’m looking at Agent Carter here, because from a continuity perspective, it seems to match up closer with post Avengers than post Iron Man 3, even though it technically happens way before anything else (except the first Captain America film).

Item 47 could arguably be considered one of the most influential Marvel One Shots. Running at around 12 minutes, it picks up where Avengers leaves off, showing how two normal folks stumble across a discarded alien weapon and use it for their own nefarious purposes. As a result, SHIELD is called in and the two are captured, but rather than being imprisoned, they’re brought into the SHIELD organization. Agent Sitwell makes a return in this short film, and we first introduced to Agent Blake, played by Titus Welliver, a character, who gets nicely developed in the Agents of SHIELD television series.

I say this is an influential one shot, because I believe it was really the initial genesis of Agents of SHIELD, and really kick started the mentality of a film spin off into a more “on the streets” television series. Now in its third season, Agents of SHIELD has garnered very mixed reviews among geeks and comic fans, but any time a series can spin off a continuity into 60+ additional hour long installments, it deserves to at least be called significant.

Lizzy Caplan in Marvel One Shot: Item 47..TM & © 2012 Marvel & Subs. All rights reserved. www.marvel.com..

Item 47 was released on the Avengers Blu-Ray.

Meanwhile, released on the Iron Man 3 Blu-Ray was Agent Carter, probably considered the second most influential one shot, for the same reason that Item 47 is the first. It focuses on Hayley Atwell as agent Peggy Carter and takes place after the events in Captain America: The First Avenger, showing the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and focusing on agent Carter, who now works for the reserve, and while alone in the office one night intercepts a call and manages to single-handedly retrieve an experimental serum. This is our first indication that perhaps Agent Carter’s gender isn’t doing her any favors in the 1940s, which holds true as Agent Carter evolves into a mid-season replacement for Agents of SHIELD, recently completing its second season of 13 episodes. We get cameos of Howard Stark and Dum Dum Dugan as well as Stark revealing his connection with the fledgeling SHIELD for the first time.

AGENT CARTER: Katrin Marchinowski © 2013 MVLFFLLC. TM & © 2013 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.

It’s a great one shot, if somewhat quick, and was obviously the genesis for the Agent Carter TV series, which is a period piece set in the 1940s as well, looking at the less serious side of the MCU in many ways. It has interesting connective tissue to the modern day MCU and is a fun little romp through the 40s as it stands.

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Published on April 22, 2016 10:52

April 21, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 06 – The Avengers

This is where it all came together for the first time. Quite possibly one of the most landmark events in super hero cinematic history, the first Avengers film was proof positive that Marvel Studios could actually make this thing work.

I’m pretty sure I was in full denial of this fact up until I was actually sitting in the theater and watching the film unfold in front of me, an amazing feat of coordination, writing, acting, and plain old Hollywood blockbuster muscle.

Rarely has something with the years long build up of the Avengers actually managed to pay off, but I say without hesitation and without equivocation that the first Avengers film wholeheartedly stuck the landing.

I’m an immense fan of Joss Whedon and have been for a very long time. The minute his name was attached to this film, I was fully on board, and I was not disappointed. What surprised me the most about Avengers wasn’t the action or the blockbuster special effects, it was the heart. The dialogue and the rapport between the main cast members was truly spectacular and felt incredibly natural, in spite of all of these disparate pieces being cobbled together into a single, functional film.

Every character and every story had its place. Banner’s demons were present and a part of the story, and this features Mark Ruffalo’s first appearance as Banner/the Hulk and he does…well…exceptional to say the least. Stark’s rise to prominence as Iron Man played its part. The Thor and Loki dynamic was transferred from the Thor film to perfection, yet didn’t take over the story. Captain America’s “man out of time” worked on the big stage, and in many smaller moments as well. Even relative small time players like Black Widow and Hawkeye had their times to shine. Coulson became the focus, and the martyr, while Fury and Hill strode through the Helicarrier making their own presence known.

For pretty much the first time, SHIELD and the superheroes co-existed in lock step, setting the stage for the MCU and creating a launching pad for any number of future events. Focusing once again on the modern day search for the Tesseract, first made known in the Captain America film, Loki enlists the aid of the Chitauri, an ancient alien warrior species who is only to happy to help take over the planet. Controlled by Thanos, the revelation of these aliens is actually treated like a huge event, in this film, and going forward, completely changing the mindset of Tony Stark. So many things we, as comic readers, take for granted, it’s really refreshing to see something like the revelation of beings outside our world being treated with the kind of awe and respect that you’d think.

Even a tiny piece of the puzzle like Powers Boothe’s place as Gideon Malick (a role he has now transferred to perfection to the Agents of SHIELD television series) played its part in the overall narrative arc here and going forward.

Of course mixed within all of this character and story development was a crazy amount of high octane action at various different points in the film. The final 30 – 45 minutes featuring the battle in New York (also perfectly balanced among all the various cast members) remains one of the most impressive feats in blockbuster action film history in my mind.

Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy..Thanos (voiced by Josh Brolin)..Ph: Film Frame..©Marvel 2014

Along with the Tesseract, Loki’s alien staff brings together a second Infinity Stone, really starting to develop the over-arcing tale of these ancient cosmic relics and their potential power over mankind.

Four years of build up. Not a sudden “HEY HERE’S A SHARED UNIVERSE, LOVE IT” but an actual slow and steady interwoven burn between several different Phase 1 films culminated in this huge event, a summer blockbuster the likes of which not only was ever seen previously, but an event that shaped Hollywood’s mentality going forward. Since that time we’ve seen and have heard of other studios trying to emulate the Marvel philosophy, but time will tell what level of success they have. First and foremost, Marvel has developed this shared universe by creating quality entertainment above all else.

Fans don’t love the shared universe just because it’s a shared universe, they love it because even the individual films tend to be high quality and lend themselves naturally to the overall narrative. Studios who try to mimic that formula risk sacrificing the inherent quality of the individual parts and I worry that they will not match the Marvel success story.

That being said, I was thrilled with the end result of The Avengers, and found the film to be totally deserving of its hype and its four year build up. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new #1!

Ongoing Rank:

#6 – Iron Man 2

#5 – Thor

#4 – Incredible Hulk

#3 – Captain America: The First Avenger

#2 – Iron Man

#1 – Avengers

Check out the Other Posts!

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 06 – The Avengers Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 05 – Captain America (The First Avenger) Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 04 – Thor Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 3 1/2 – The Consultant and Thor’s Hammer Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 03 – Iron Man 2 Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 02 – The Incredible Hulk Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 01 – Iron Man

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Published on April 21, 2016 06:50

April 19, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 05 – Captain America (The First Avenger)

Captain America and Daredevil often ran neck and neck throughout my childhood for the race to be my favorite comic book superhero. At one point in my collecting youth I had every issue of silver age Captain America from #100 on up (it was in its mid 300’s at the time) and the Gruenwald/Dwyer era of Cap greatness pretty much defined the rest of my love for comics at the time.

That being said, I remember my initial reaction to Captain America: The First Avenger to be lukewarm at best. My Captain America was the 80s and 90s Cap, a relatively modern hero with modern enemies, and I didn’t have much of a desire to see a glorified period piece, even though I knew it represented a critical point in the juncture of Cap’s history. I enjoyed First Avenger to a certain degree, but considered it just the next step towards Avengers and onward.

So, it was with moderate hesitation that I went and rewatched it this past weekend, expecting once again to like it, but not love it.

Boy were my initial reactions off the mark.

Maybe it’s because I’ve now see Captain America in the modern era a few times over and now see the value in his World War II backstory, but whatever the reasoning, I was absolutely captivated and entertained by The First Avenger the last time through, even though I’d seen it previously.

Of course the obvious draw of the film is that it builds the history of Captain America, arguably the most important Avenger, not to mention the Strategic Scientific Reserve, an organization that has become the centerpiece in the Agent Carter television series. Pile on to that the fact that this is where Hydra was essentially born (an organization that has become immensely pervasive in films and in the Agents of SHIELD television series) and you have a 1940’s set piece that literally creates the foundation for the entire MCU.

I will never get over the effects work that created the pre-Captain America Steve Rogers, a scrawny and sickly looking “kid from Brooklyn” who is realistic enough to never draw your attention from the film’s continuity. Chris Evans brings an insane amount of charisma and toughness to the character that’s present even when he’s all bones and skin, getting his butt whipped in an alley, proclaiming that he could “do it all day”. It’s an excellent turn of phrase that has defined the character so much so that it’s present in trailers for the upcoming Civil War film.

Hayley Atwell makes a splash in the MCU here as Agent Peggy Carter, an immensely popular character who not only starred in the Agent Carter Marvel One Shot, but almost based purely on the popularity of the titular character, has developed Agent Carter into a two season success story on ABC as well. She does great work here as a tough, no-nonsense secret agent who is a huge part of the Captain America experiment, and is a big reason why the final few moments of the film are emotional and memorable.

Along with Atwell, both Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving do fantastic work in their roles, too, with Weaving expertly crafting a Red Skull that truly lives up to his comic book namesake. Of course, along with this, we have Sebastian Stan playing Bucky, a guy who is a bit more than a footnote in First Avenger, but who has evolved into a fantastic on screen iteration of the Winter Soldier, a conflicted and melancholy character who at once instills fear, but exudes sympathy.

Even the tiniest characters in the film have strong pop culture ties from Natalie Dormer (as the secretary who lip-locks Steve Rogers) to Neal McDonough who plays Dum Dum Dugan, and is more infamous now as Arrow villain Damien Dark. I’m pretty sure his character name having lots of “D’s” is somewhere in his contract.

Hugo Weaving plays Johann Schmidt in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, from Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment.

Even as a movie set in World War II, the characters and action remain timeless. The Hydra super weapons, the 40’s era US soldiers, and the propaganda version of Captain America becoming the first real life super hero. Not only all of this, but it’s the birth of the Tesseract, a lynchpin of the films going forward, and the first of the six Infinity Stones revealed. The way the Skull uses the Tesseract works great, and is also a very cool tie to the Cosmic Cube back in the comics. While Captain America uses his super abilities sparingly, the effects are spectacular and much more enjoyable than I remembered them being. I much prefer his more modern uniform and am not a big fan of the World War II look, but the importance of this film to the overall MCU cannot be overstated.

It was a great, fun film, and my initial reactions were completely and totally misaligned.

Ongoing Rank:

#4 – Iron Man 2

#3 – Incredible Hulk

#2 – Captain America: The First Avenger

#1 – Iron Man

Check out the Other Posts!

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 05 – Captain America (The First Avenger) Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 04 – Thor Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 3 1/2 – The Consultant and Thor’s Hammer Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 03 – Iron Man 2 Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 02 – The Incredible Hulk Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 01 – Iron Man

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Published on April 19, 2016 03:00

April 17, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 04 – Thor

Throughout the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I remember Thor being the first film that I wasn’t necessarily all amped up about. As a younger comic reader, while I was a pretty avid fan of Captain America and Iron Man’s individual stories, the Avengers as a group never really appealed to me. I was much more in tune with the “real world” as a comic fan, and the frequent side trips into Asgard and Norse mythology really did not appeal to me. I fully expected to not care much for Thor as a film, but was willing to sit through it go get to the good stuff.

In my mind, Captain America was certainly the “good stuff”. Besides Daredevil, he was my bread and butter as a comic fan in the 80s and 90s, and if I had to suffer through 2 hours of Thor to get to him, I could do it.

A funny thing happened, though. I really ended up enjoying Thor, and looking back at it now, it’s easy to see why. Not only was it a really entertaining film that perfectly aligned Norse mythology with a more real world story, but it also put together some serious building blocks for the MCU as a whole.

Rewatching that film this week, I was really surprised at the level of humor, which is something that somehow I’d forgotten along the way, not to mention the ingrained charisma between the lead actors. Not only did Chris Hemsworth do a fantastic job, but as with most Marvel movies, the supporting cast of Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kat Dennings was fantastic.

Forget the fact that amazing actors like Anthony Hopkins and Idris Elba did their part, too, not to mention Ray Stephenson and Jaimie Alexander.

It’s almost unfathomable to consider the fact that at this point, nobody even really knew who Tom Hiddleston was, and at this point, he’s one of the lynch pins of the entire Marvel Universe. His subtle trickery, and effortless playing of both sides is just amazing here, and even though he’s utterly evil he ends up being almost likeable, too. You feel sorry for him, almost as if Loki is reaching through the screen and tricking the viewer as well.

As for the MCU as a whole, there’s a lot to love with Thor. SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell makes his first appearance, working throughout this film as a pure good guy (though he’ll turn nasty by the time Winter Soldier is released), and Coulson is sprinkled heavily throughout the entire movie. SHIELD as a whole is a constant, pretty much from beginning to end, a huge progression from where they were in the first Iron Man film as barely a footnote.

Of course we can’t forget Hawkeye who makes his first easter egg appearance (though Coulson just calls him “Barton”) and it’s a blast going back and watching all of this slowly come together as the world builds. I’m just as fascinated by the Asgard angle as I am the Earth angle, which is amazing for me, someone who has always been somewhat dissuaded by the more outlandish and supernatural aspects of the Marvel comics universe.

Thor holds up, without a doubt. Funny, engaging, action-packed with some spectacular set design and really fun costumes. Loki is great, and I truly enjoyed going back and revisiting this one.

Ongoing rank:

#4 – Iron Man 2

#3 – Thor

#2 – Incredible Hulk

#1 – Iron Man

Check out the Other Posts!

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 04 – Thor Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 3 1/2 – The Consultant and Thor’s Hammer Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 03 – Iron Man 2 Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 02 – The Incredible Hulk Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 01 – Iron Man

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Published on April 17, 2016 02:00

April 16, 2016

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 3 1/2 – The Consultant and Thor’s Hammer

Wedged in among big screen releases, Marvel Studios took an interesting turn in 2011 and starting doing what they called One Shots, which were short, direct-to-video stories, mostly focused around SHIELD, designed to support the larger narrative and tell little stories with some of the supporting characters.

I’m focusing on two of those One Shots here – The Consultant and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer.

The Consultant was produced to air sometime after The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, and features a heavy dose of Phil Coulson. It was included with the Blu-Ray of Thor, so even though in continuity it feels like it comes before Thor, if you saw Thor in the theaters, you didn’t get a chance to see this One Shot until afterwards.

That can be an important distinction when you think about “First Appearances” because infamous SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell (revealed to be a Hydra sleeper agent in Captain America: Winter Soldier) appears in both Thor and in the Consultant. I’d say Thor should be considered his first appearance, even though within continuity, The Consultant happens first.

This One Shot is interesting as its shot with a combination of new footage as well as recycled footage from the previous films. This allows Tony Stark, General Ross, and Nick Fury to tell more of their story alongside Coulson and Sitwell, creating a pretty neat tale which considers whether or not Emil Blonsky should be freed from prison and considered as part of the Avengers Initiative. It’s a neat little “one off” story that is by no means required watching, but it certainly extends the Cinematic Universe nicely and fleshes out some minor characters a bit more fully.

Like The Consultant, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer is a release that was included with Captain America: The First Avenger, yet within continuity certainly appears to occur either before or during the Thor film. It features Coulson interrupting a robbery of some kind and showing off some of his fighting skills rather than just focusing on his “Secret Agentness”. It’s a short one shot, and certainly fun to watch, though like The Consultant should not be considered required watching.

For folks who have been watching Agents of SHIELD it may not seem like a big deal to see a pair of One Shots focusing on Phil Coulson, back during the early days of the MCU, he was a popular (but under utilized) character, and the fans were eating up every little appearance he made. Funny how things can change, and now you can pretty much watch him every single week on ABC.

Neither of these One Shots are “must watch TV” to be sure, but they’re short little snippets that add just enough little spice to an already rich universe, and considering they came bundled with the Blu-Ray, it’s tough not to appreciate the extra touch.

Check out the Other Posts!

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Published on April 16, 2016 14:00

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