Current Events > Biscuit watches, briefly reviews, and eventually ranks the MCU *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Few things to start:

1) Try to keep spoilers for movies I haven't yet seen to a minimum. Even minor stuff would be fun to keep as a surprise.

2) Making #1 even more important is that I do know a few spoilers just by being exposed to pop culture, like I recognized the name Bucky Brooks in TFA so I know he's not dead, I know there's something about infinity stones or whatnot, and most critically I know about the snap in Infinity War.

3) So we know where we're starting, I just watched finished Phase One last night, so I'll type up some brief thoughts on the first handful of movies. The only ones I'd seen prior to starting were Iron Man, Black Panther, and snippets of Thor/Hulk/Thor 2/Avengers. Haven't seen any of the rest.

4) I'll stop to update rankings after each "phase."

5) These reviews will be mostly short, sweet, and to the point, but I'm looking forward to facilitating discussion and going a little deeper via conversation rather than long-winded write-ups on my end.

Off we go.
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Iron Man

The one that started it all. I remember being very skeptical when this movie came out, because I'd never heard of Iron Man and it sure seemed like a reach, but I vaguely recall watching it with my family and thinking it was really fun. So, I was happy to revisit it after all these years, remembering virtually nothing.

The humor in this movie is on point, and definitely recognizable as the start of a "witty banter" trend that lasts to this day. I know some people are sick of it, but I'm not... yet... so we'll see how I feel by the end of 17 straight movies or however many I'm watching here. All that said, the film is frequently hilarious, and Tony's robot extinguishing him repeatedly is probably my favorite recurring gag so far.

Visually you can see the age a little bit in these Phase One movies, but there is something so exciting about Iron Man that still holds up to this day. It's truly a comic book classic; even knowing that Obadiah was the antagonist Iron Monger, nothing was really ruined for me. I feared going in that the Marvel formula had been emulated so many times that the original Iron Man might not hold up, but it thankfully does. It truly feels like the beginning of something, still, even after all these years and all these movies and the beast the MCU has become.

Goes without saying, but RDJ is a phenomenal Tony Stark, and it was fun seeing his turn towards helping people rather than blowing them up. I have no real complaints about this movie -- it is a great one.
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The Incredible Hulk

When I was deciding whether or not to finally dive in on the MCU, I debated skipping this one for quite a while, primarily because I'd heard it was just okay, but also because I didn't want to get attached to an actor I knew would be recast. I'm ultimately glad I decided to watch it, because I do think it gets a little too much hate, despite not being quite as much fun as the first film in the series.

I thought it was a bold move to basically give the entire backstory in the span of the opening credits and dive right in; that was ballsy and refreshing. It was also very interesting to me that they chose to largely go for an individualized tone in this movie rather than just aping Iron Man's comedic beat, and this is a trend that I noticed continued throughout Phase One. It truly gave the movie its own heartbeat.

The strength of the film is probably Emil Blonksy/Abomination, who, despite being a pretty stereotypical bad guy, gets a hell of a performance from Tim Roth. He's quite captivatingly slimy and more than a little freaky, so he serves as a pretty fun villain. Another obvious plus in this one's favor are a couple really, really great fight scenes and a believable performance from Liv Tyler.

Again, I wouldn't say there were too many weaknesses, it was a fun enough film, but if I'm nitpicking, it felt a little repetitive to get right back to DON'T TRUST THE GUBMENT right after the anti-war message of Iron Man. Additionally, while he did fine, I gotta say I didn't exactly fall in love with Edward Norton's portrayal of Bruce Banner, which was actually helpful in the long term, because I almost immediately liked Mark Ruffalo more when he appeared in The Avengers.

Solid film; glad I didn't skip it, but I do get why it's on the list of what you WOULD skip if you were looking to catch up in a hurry.
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Bump, typing up some more if people are interested
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Iron Man 2

This was another film that I'd heard was skippable, alongside Hulk, but once again, I'm glad I did not because it set up quite a lot about S.H.I.E.L.D. and introduced Black Widow, so it helped with my viewing of future movies. As for the film itself, though, this was still an entertaining romp but was, for my money, the weakest excursion of Phase One.

That's mostly because the movie's great strengths -- laughs, Tony/Pepper, RDJ in general, fun Iron Man action -- can be found in better movies without the movie's weaknesses. Vanko/Whiplash was pretty vapid even by comic-movie-villain standards; I never found his motive or his character particularly compelling despite a good effort from Mickey Rourke. Hammer's gimmick was a little overplayed, in my opinion, though he did have some funny moments, and even Black Widow was a fun introduction but ultimately kind of just a walking cliche in this debut appearance. I also had some real "okay, just gonna roll with it I guess" moments like when Tony invents a new element. There was just a lot that wasn't super inspired or fleshed out, at least compared to the other films.

Highlights, though, include a solidly-recasted War Machine (though Tony saying "you wanna be the War Machine?!" was "you know, Ellie, we really are The Last of Us" tier), a fun Drunk Iron Man scene, a solid reveal that the droids were all coming to life to wreck shit, what I now have read was a Peter Parker cameo, and of course, that marvelous courtroom scene.

Still a fun movie, but the first one where I had some "ehh" moments.
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Before I keep going, is anyone reading/interested? Just wanna make sure before I keep smashing away at my keyboard
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Mr_Biscuit posted...

Before I keep going, is anyone reading/interested? Just wanna make sure before I keep smashing away at my keyboard

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I'm interested good sir
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Tag

Winter Soldier is my favorite so was wondering what you thought of that
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I mean if you haven't seen all of them at this point and aren't hardcore into the MCU then I can't respect your opinion on the movies. I never enjoy reading a casual's opinion on the MCU because you guys aren't the target demographic. There's a reason they made this into a huge anthology. That's why people who chose to see Infinity War on its own and have the nerve to say "there's too much going on and no character development" are the worst.
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I recently rewatched the whole MCU canon and agree with pretty much all your opinions, so far. I enjoyed pretty much every movie on a rewatch other than Thor 2. What a mess of a film. I'm interested to hear what you think of that one.

EvalAngell posted...

I mean if you haven't seen all of them at this point and aren't hardcore into the MCU then I can't respect your opinion on the movies..

Pretty silly opinion.

EvalAngell posted...

I mean if you haven't seen all of them at this point and aren't hardcore into the MCU then I can't respect your opinion on the movies. I never enjoy reading a casual's opinion on the MCU because you guys aren't the target demographic. There's a reason they made this into a huge anthology. That's why people who chose to see Infinity War on its own and have the nerve to say "there's too much going on and no character development" are the worst.

Get a load of this guy
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Keep going dog
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EvalAngell posted...

I mean if you haven't seen all of them at this point and aren't hardcore into the MCU then I can't respect your opinion on the movies. I never enjoy reading a casual's opinion on the MCU because you guys aren't the target demographic. There's a reason they made this into a huge anthology. That's why people who chose to see Infinity War on its own and have the nerve to say "there's too much going on and no character development" are the worst.

Lmao what

Im watching them all in order so that Im NOT the guy commenting out of turn after seeing one film

Anyway cool guys, glad theres some interest. Ill keep going
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Mr_Biscuit posted...

Before I keep going, is anyone reading/interested? Just wanna make sure before I keep smashing away at my keyboard

Im reading it now and Ill read whatever else you critique.
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Tag
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Thor

This was a bold step for Marvel to take a necessary one, but nonetheless, moving from sci fi to Nordic aliens ran the risk of weirding people out if they took it too seriously. Luckily, due to great casting and a good sense of levity, the film is mostly successful, with a few weaknesses.

Hands down the strongest part of this film was the cast. Being led by Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Portman, and Hopkins, it was kinda hard to whiff on that, and they all delivered in pretty magnificent fashion. Loki was the first Marvel villain Id seen (except Killmonger, but thats skipping ahead out of context quite a ways) that truly had captivating staying power and I was very glad to know he wasnt a one-off. He gives an absolutely deliciously hammy and evil performance, especially faking begging Thor for help and then stabbing him in the back. Got a gasp from me. The whole cast and the script itself also did a great job with the absurdity of inserting Thor into 21st century society with lots of good laugh lines (ANOTHER!).

Another thing about this film that I feel might go underappreciated was the cinematography. It was a beautifully shot film, and the repeated use of off-kilter angles when Loki was speaking gave a great sense of unease. Asgard was gorgeous, the costumes were excellent, and overall it was an extremely attractive film.

The weaknesses all stem from one big central issue, which is being overcrowded. As such, nothing really is QUITE as fleshed out as it shouldve been. I wouldve liked to care about the Frost Giant conflict and what the Casket was, but couldnt really. I truly wanted to love Thor and Jane together because they had great screen chemistry, but we didnt actually get much of them interacting and growing close. Most critically, I wouldve REALLY liked to buy Thor smashing the Bifrost to spare the Frost Giants, but I never got any really backing for why that made sense. If we got any sort of hint that they werent all 100% evil, then it would make more sense, but ultimately it felt like Jon Snow smashing some immensely valuable object to save the White Walkers from genocide. I didnt get it. His journey from warmonger to more mature leader was valuable, but the arrival point of sparing the Frost Giants didnt really work for me. All that said, she searches for you (paraphrased) was a great, heartwarming last line, and I hope we see Jane again so we can follow up on and develop that relationship.

Really fun movie, but suffered from having to do TOO much and as such not fleshing things out super well. Hurt it a bit, but still enjoyable.
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Muffinz0rz posted...

lebron.gif
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Captain America: The First Avenger

Honestly, I went into this thinking it was just gonna be "fine" and that it would be an exercise in getting to know the hero I was least interested in before we hit The Avengers. I was, thankfully, very incorrect, as it turned out to be a really fun film. It was fun to get a period piece, and again, Marvel impressed me with how they imbue each film with its own aura -- the classic musical score really drove the era home, and I appreciated it greatly. I was skeptical about how you could sell Captain America as a cool hero with his ridiculous costume, but I thought the idea that he was given that costume to be a 1940s propaganda machine worked very well (not sure if that is always how the origin goes in the comics).

Hayley Atwell did a great job as Peggy, perhaps the most believable Marvel girl to date in terms of a combination of femininity and capability rather than ending up in a stereotype. Chris Evans turns in a solid performance too, if unremarkable, and the two play off each other very well. Loki was a tough act to follow, but Schmidt/Red Skull was given a great amount of hammy life by Hugo Weaving (can we get him and Liv Tyler on screen together again for old times' sake?); I was a little skeptical of the stereotypical Nazi bad guy, but not only did he end up feeling rather nostalgic in that sense, he also subverted expectations by defecting from the Nazi party and, you know, ripping his own face off.

As a bonus, it was also really fun to see more of Howard Stark and how he played a critical role in the origins of Cap, as well as revisiting the Stark Expo at the beginning of the movie... we're really starting to see all these films tie together, and I gotta admit, the effect is excellent. Also, Cap saying goodbye to Peggy as he crashes the ship was one of the more moving moments so far in the MCU.

Critiques are limited; mostly a matter of not finding Bucky particularly captivating, which makes me wonder what kind of role he's going to play when he returns, as I've heard he's a favorite later on, and overall a lack of info on the Tesseract and what it was doing buried in a wall in Norway. Given that the Tesseract was again the object of interest in the following movie, however, and what is then teased from there, I assume that will be a long arc and eventually be explained.

Really fun flick that jumped right towards the top of the list.
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The Avengers

I mean... c'mon. What's not to love? I was blown away by this movie. Was it an Oscar-tier drama? Of course not, but holy crap, it was so immensely fun. I have primarily enjoyed each movie so far, but this was the first one that truly made me think "oh shit, I wish I'd gotten into this series ten years ago" and urge me to catch up as fast as possible so I don't entirely miss the moment with Infinity War (or at least be more than ready for Avengers 4).

First off, Hiddleston outdid himself as Loki. I found him entertaining in Thor but just outrageously good here, and watching him scheme and maneuver his way through the film was truly a joy. The greatest strength of all, though, was just how amazingly well all these characters managed to interact. I had concerns that it would be a fun but chaotic mashup of characters without much attention paid to blend, but the team truly felt like an organic group of characters struggling to come together. Most impressively, not only did they manage to bring them all into a room and make their personalities shine, they also managed to introduce a new Bruce Banner and make Black Widow into a little more than just a caricature, which was appreciated. Her scene punking Loki with the interrogation was one of my favorites of the whole film.

This is stating the obvious, but the film was also frequently laugh-out-loud funny. Favorites would have to include "what is this, Shakespeare in the Park?" and "he's adopted," but there were a million great moments that got a legit laugh out of me and the wife. Mark Ruffalo was an immediate winner as Bruce Banner, endearing me to him more than I got attached to Edward Norton in the span of an entire film dedicated solely to the Hulk, so that was impressive.

I could ramble about this forever, but it was just an extremely excellent superhero film. If I'm critiquing, I guess I would wonder if you could've shaved 5-10 minutes off somewhere, but man, this was good. I can't wait for more and more crossovers to start occurring, as that's where this whole thing has really started to be SPECIAL and not just fun.
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PHASE ONE COMPLETE

Rankings So Far:

1. The Avengers
2. Iron Man
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
4. Thor
5. The Incredible Hulk
6. Iron Man 2
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i, too, was surprised at how good cap 1 was

my second favorite phase 1 film

this is a good topic. please continue.
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Tag

Immma read this TC
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I'm glad you watched The Incredible Hulk. I won't spoil, but it actually does eventually impact things in a meaningful way much later.
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Captain America was also the one main Avenger I was skeptical of as the movies were coming out, and now I can't believe I ever thought that. He's easily my favorite Avenger and I can't picture future Avengers movies without him at this point
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Tag for later
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DarthAragorn posted...

Captain America was also the one main Avenger I was skeptical of as the movies were coming out, and now I can't believe I ever thought that. He's easily my favorite Avenger and I can't picture future Avengers movies without him at this point

Same, although with Chris Evans leaving I hope they don't get any ideas for Avengers 4
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Mr_Biscuit posted...

Favorites would have to include "what is this, Shakespeare in the Park?" and "he's adopted,"

I've ALWAYS hated this 'joke' and hate that it gets used again in a few more movies.

>_>
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How do you guys do that that? Ill watch a movie and give you like three sentences afterwards lol
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HeyPuff posted...

How do you guys do that that? Ill watch a movie and give you like three sentences afterwards lol

Review? I dunno. Ive always loved analyzing things.

If anything, Im being simplistic/reductive; its not my best writing, kinda just mishmash of thoughts.
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Iron Man 3

I'd heard mixed reviews about this movie, so I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but I gotta say, I really, really enjoyed it. While perhaps not as pure, streamlined, and sleek as the original, I thought it was leaps and bounds ahead of Iron Man 2 and would fairly easily fall on the top half of my list so far.

Starting with a negative this time, I will say that the plot was a little convoluted. Perhaps this was just me falling asleep at the wheel, but I was having a rather hard time following the point of the fire-breathing, exploding veterans, their junkie habits, and how that all tied together, though reading a synopsis afterwards tied it all together. It works, but it was a little silly and I feel I can pretty safely say it was hard to follow, as I'm not really an absent-minded viewer. My wife is watching these movies with me, and it was a case where we both were able to fill in some gaps for each other afterwards, here meaning it was likely all explained, but just a bit convoluted. I also was a little taken aback by the Mandarin twist because I thought it undermined a cool performance from Ben Kingsley, but I adjusted and ended up quite liking it. It's my understanding that this got some backlash from fans, but to be transparent, I'm not exactly a comic reader so I didn't have any expectations coming in. I think there is something to be said about the movie preaching that perhaps we should be more afraid of the shady CEO manipulating things behind the scenes than we should of the Big Bad Other. I enjoyed that. Plus, hey, Ben Kingsley knocked both parts of the character out of the park.

For more positives, as always, RDJ killed it and I like him and Pepper more every time I see them together. The "barrel of monkeys" sequence plus the reveal that Tony wasn't in the suit was one of my favorite setpieces of the MCU so far, and all the fiery veterans were, while almost too silly, still good for fun, creepy villainy. I loved Tony's relationship with the kid and also loved Tony's struggles with PTSD, two angles I could see people not liking but that I truly enjoyed. I loved exploring what makes Tony Stark tick, and diving into how he would cope with how thoroughly his world had been rocked in The Avengers was more interesting than avoiding it entirely, IMO. Props for the bonus scene revealing he was confiding all this in the Hulk, which got a good laugh out of me.

This gave the original Iron Man movie a run for its money, though it is held back by a little convolution, but easily surpassed the first sequel and is probably the next best standalone film I've seen so far outside of perhaps Captain America. That said, I'm glad to be done with Iron Man solo adventures for now, as three of the first seven movies being devoted solely to him is a pretty hefty chunk.
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I know it's considered one of the worst but I'm pretty much with you entirely on IM3.

My only gripe is AIM seemed like a relatively small operation and was likely wiped out in the aftermath by the US Gov't and SHIELD... meaning we'll likely never see MODOK in all his ridiculous, giant head with tiny limbs glory on the big screen.
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Tag. These are good so far, and if you've enjoyed Phase 1 this much, I'm quite keen on reading your reactions to later Phase 2 and Phase 3.
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masterpug53 posted...

Tag. These are good so far, and if you've enjoyed Phase 1 this much, I'm quite keen on reading your reactions to later Phase 2 and Phase 3.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I wouldn't say any except Iron Man, Avengers, and maybe Cap have transcended "fun" into "great" territory, but I'm having a good time.
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your name is shred
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Anyway, the movies start to get really good after IM3 since they (mostly) have a central theme. I'm talking mainly WS, CW, GotG2.

Enjoy
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tag
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im tagging
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Also, you mentioned the cinematography in Thor. Since you seem to have an eye for things like this, I'm really curious about your opinions regarding a certain scene in Winter Soldier. Eagerly looking forward to that write up from you.
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Von_Miller posted...

Also, you mentioned the cinematography in Thor. Since you seem to have an eye for things like this, I'm really curious about your opinions regarding a certain scene in Winter Soldier. Eagerly looking forward to that write up from you.

I'm real excited for WS, I've heard good things about it for years. I'll keep an eye out for this mystery scene.

Up next is Dark World, which I've heard isn't very good, but I also heard that about Hulk and IM2 which I still found enjoyable.
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Tag
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Tag
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For the record, were now caught up to where I actually am. IM3 was last night. Dark World this evening, so a review tonight or tomorrow
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There's nothing wrong with thor 2, it just pales in comparison to the other MCU movies
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Tagging

Mr_Biscuit posted...

Dark World this evening

I'm sorry
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I watched the first Thor for the first time the week after seeing Thor 3, and it was hilarious how bad Asgard looked in contrast. You're seeing it the right way though, so you'll be thoroughly impress with what 5 years of tech improvements and a higher budget can do.
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Thor: The Dark World

That was supposed to be the bad one? Damn, the MCU must be better than I thought. While certainly not a classic in any regard, I found this entertaining, funny, and at times even moving, and my initial impression would be that it was stronger than the original Thor flick.

What doesnt work is another vague existential darkness threat and a villain fairly devoid of personality, who I wont remember in a week. The convergence and Stonehenge stuff was also kinda just babble, admittedly. Those being the driving factors of the overall plot do hold back the movie from being truly memorable, and I gotta say, Darcy has had two movies to make me give a single shit, and she so far remains a big waste of screen time. Its not so much that she is so terrible, but another critique I have of both these movies is that I want Thor and Jane to have more time talking and establishing their relationship. I look at what could be cut for a little more time spent with our hero/heroine, and...

That said, to kick off strengths I should mention I do still really like Jane (possibly a bias towards Natalie Portman, but you cant blame me) and I think she plays well off of Thor, especially given not a ton to work with. Truly, though, the relationship you come to see here isnt Thor and Jane, its the brotherly relationship of Thor and Loki, and BOY does that work. Their entire buddy cop adventure was tremendous, and they truly got me with the fake betrayal. I almost bought his death, but I did have my doubts (though Im hoping we get an explanation later, because Lokis illusions tend to be holograms. Loki tangibly died in Thors arms). Loki is a great character and, selfish as he is, I cant help but feel a little of his affection for Thor is genuine. The ultimate twist with him on the throne didnt do much for me, but Im still excited to see where that leads. Additional props are due to Thors mom (the real MVP) and that beautiful Viking funeral scene. Dragonheart vibes.

That mostly sums up my thoughts, but Id be remiss if I didnt mention how much I loved the interplanetary battle at the end, complete with Frost Giant Monster cameo. That was really great fun. All in all, not my favorite MCU film for sure but not nearly as bad as Id feared.

P.S. Was that a boxed up Aether at the end? Think thats the first mention of infinity stones, cool to hear the Tesseract is one too. If the Aether is basically an infinity stone, Im... confused but intrigued.
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