Marvel Marathon

After seeing the marvel films again, in some sort of order, it's really nice to see the tapestry they're building. Also, watching it after seeing the TV show and delving a bit into the comics made it much more rewarding and engrossing, to me. Hres my thoughts while watching the marathon:

Captain America

 

They actually mention yggdrasil, and we even see the serpent underneath it, which was in the "Loki" comic. Very nice touch. Steve Rogers medical conditions include asthma, scarlet and rheumatic fever, htn, palpitations, nervous trouble of any sort, contact with tb, family history of dm, and oddly, right and left ear discharge. How'd this guy get so sick? I feel like I've gained a greater appreciation for cap after reading the comics, as few as I've read admittedly, and by watching the animated series. I also love the montage of cap trying to sell bonds. You can see the defeat in his face, the utter dejection at what he's doing. The whole aspect of the government hiring to sell bonds, putting him in films, was done so well. Also, i liked the comparison of small steve watching movies, and now we see cap watching himself in the films. Also nice touch with him drawing the dancing monkey. Tucci was fantastic, but jones has the best choice lines, like "if youve got something to say, nows the time to keep it to yourself" or something like that. In the end, a fantastic movie that I enjoyed a lot, lot more this time around. I feel like they got the tone, the character, and the whole setting pretty much right. The only issue is that things moved fast, and we don't exactly realize that caps story takes place over maybe months to years. Especially the mission montage when the destroy the hydra science camps, that seems quick, but it's probably an extended series of missions. But, for the sake of time, it sans done as well as it could be, I suppose. And the ending.... I still would've ended it before ca wakes up, but I suppose it'll ease "The Avengers" a bit easier; I do hope they focus on caps struggle dealing with the modern world, though. And I want to see his first interaction with stark's son, tony. The end credits were also nicely done, use ping classic war imagery. I feel like this movie was underrated. Even I felt, intiallwy, that the depiction of caps origins was a bit contrived, as we've seen it done similarly in the other marvel films, but I've changed my mind. First, this is true in spirit to the real story, from my understanding. Also, it's different. Iron Man was a rich guy who had a change of heart. Cap was a good guy at heart, who finally had the power to do something. By the nature of it being an origin story, we had to see events the they happened. That way, in "The Avengers," we can see the origin of a team, not of an individual hero. That work's already been done. The music was also very apt and fitting for cap, and a very nice superhero theme that, to me, sounds like it comes from an older age, fitting his origins. This is definitely a solid marvel film, not my favorite only because there are aspects I just enjoy more about IM, like the humor, and "Thor," the fantastical elements. But I'm glad marvel did right by Cap, in my opinion, and I look forward not only to his time with the avengers, but his next solo outing. And I love the bond-esque endings: "Captain America will return in The Avengers"

 

Iron Man




"Iron Man" remains a hugely fun film to watch. It doesn't focus on the brooding, dark Tony Stark. Because that's not Tony. Tony is both tony and iron man. Not like Wayne, who is batman with the face of Wayne, so I'm glad Favreau didn't take a page from the Nolan handbook with IM. The way they took a involved plot, with a lot of stuff going on, and not only paced it well but made us actually care for the characters is a sign of Favreau's skill. Theres a reason IM spearheaded the marvel cinematic universe. The villains are a little bit on the extreme evil side, with no sympathetic qualities. Which is fine, as I've said before, we should have all spectrums of villain, and loki gives us enough complexity to obviously last for "The Avengers." this movie was about stark anyway, and it's not like x-men and thor, where Xavier and magneto, and thor and loki, respectively, are kind of tied together. Iron Man is who he is, regardless of his villain. It's his captivity that changd him. The music is so well done too, but Ramin Djawani, who also does "Game of Thrones." Overall this remains the textbook marvel film, for good reason, and it's just to much fun to arch, but has substance underneath. Maybe not as subtle or nuanced as Nolan's bat-verse, but still, its there, and mixes comedy, action, and deeper stuff well. And that last scene, the first with Sam Jackson, is still killer.

 

Iron Man 2

 

I like how it started, showing the alternative to Tony, almost at what-if, if Tnys life had turned out differently. And I like the way they showed the recap of events between the last film, by showing news articles, depicting Iron Man helping nations become more peaceful, etc. I like how this film did something different. The two villains are almost foils of Tony. One being the guy who was just as smart, but not as successful as Tony. And the other, a jealous competitor trying to outshine someone who has taken the world by storm. Both different villains, but almost present a unique look at what Tony could've been. You also see how arrogant stark has become after revealing himself as Iron Man. It's almost as if he sees himself as untouchable, a flaw to the character which I like. With him being so close to what he thinks is his death, with him planning who to take over the company and all, it's understandable how some of his actions are not based on logic or longevity, but on sadness or living for the moment. As a standalone villain, whiplash is weak, but the villains in IM2 are three: Hammer, Whiplash, and Tony himself, whether it's from depression or alcoholism. I liked vanko's line, about how if he just makes Tony bleed, people will know he's fallible, and the world will consume him. That all he needed to do, not kill Stark. Rockwell played his character so well, as evidenced by the fact that he's so freaking annoying. Hammer has the same idea as Vanko; don't destroy the man, destroy the legacy, the legend. IM2 is not as cohesive a film as the first, but it's also trying to tell multiple stories: that of Hammer and Vanko, Tony and his mortality, the legal ramifications of having weaponized suits, war machine, and of course, trying to infuse some SHEILD into it. Jackson is so funny as Fury, it's just Jackson with an eyepatch basically, as Jackson is in most films. Even as Mace, he had that Sam Jackson attitude to him, but I love how he delivers his lines, it's like instant comic relief. I also like cheadle as Rhodes better, he's more no-nonsense and serious. He more gravity to his personality and to the character. I don't like the way some of the action films were filmed, namely black widows's attack on hammer's HQ. A bit too choppy and seemingly too real, like 120hertz real, to me. The action scenes, especially with whiplash, we're a bit too short but well done. I wanted some spiderman level of comic book action, but perhaps "The Avengers" will provide that. And was that Stan Lee as Larry King?

 

The Incredible Hulk

 

I like how they mention Rick Jones at the start. Those news clippings in the recap wee actually quite interesting. The film has a grim sort of tone from the start, maybe not grim, but sort of like a lost feeling. As if it's very somber, lonely almost, which I guess is right in tone with the character. Blonsky as super soldier lite was very nice. I read somewhere online where someone felt that CA should've had more of cap's abilities as a super solider, more akin to what we saw with Blonsky, but we never really saw it in CA. I think that's partially because cap never fought a large villain like hulk, but hopefully "The Avengers" will show him in true form. I also like the frequent SHIELD references. I dont think I've ever seen a cabbie act like so far in NYC though. The transformation to the hulk in the lab was done very nicely, and looked quite real. The fight with abomination was nicely done. I wish the last scene with Stark was a postcredits scene though, because if felt just like one. Overall a good, if rather somber, film.

 

One-Shots




The one-shot dealing with Tony convincing Ross to let the abomination join the team was cool. It explained exactly what his purpose was there, because at the end of TOH, it's unclear whether tony is there to get hulk for the team. And if so, why is he along Ross? The other one-shot, describing what happened to Coulson on his way to NM, wasn't as informative, but showed his skill set as an agent. It was more of a fun aside. The best overall glue that connects these all together was that prequel comic.

 

Thor

 

I love the way "Thor" begins. Not the time in NM, but the narration that brought us up to speed with what's going on, but was actually just a story told to thor and loki as kids. The whole set design, the tone, it really impresses me how fantasy like they make it. And I didn't realize that ice box was actually the casket of ancient winters! Tom Hiddleston plays loki so well, it's hard to tell when he's lying and when he's being truthful. For instance, when he said he had no idea thor would be banished, was he real? Or did he plan that all along? I think one of the SHIELD agents in the mjolnir site was the same guy from the one-shot talking about Stark as the consultant. I didn't realize they actually mentioned yggdrasil in the film as well, when he's explaining stuff to Jane by the campfire. The scene where he gets his power back, still epic and fantastic. I'm telling you, the music here was so apt, so well done and fitting of the epic fantasy nature of the story, it's really commendable. The again, Patrick Doyle is a really good composer, having done "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" last year as well. And maybe the best line? When thor calls Coulson "son of Coul." ah, love having subtitles on board. Loki is a tragic character; he did what he did to gain his father's love, even moreso as he feels like doesn't belong given his adoption. Is still tough to tell.... was that really his only motivation? Thats what makes him s interesting, we don't quite know what his motivations are. Although I don't it's just to cause chaos, like the joker. In his mini speech before they starting fighting, you can see his hurt, his anger, and his rage; excellent acting. I think this actually is my favorite marvel movie to date. Its really the epic fantasy aspect that appeals to me. Is just so well done, and the music, art direction, set design, acting, it all just adds j to make such a cohesive, beautiful whole. I only hope future sequels maintain the same balance. I even buy thor's change in character more now. I feel I appreciate this movie even more after reading those comics about loki, watching the TV show, etc. and the end credits were nice, I think they even showed yggdrasil. I can't wait to see how thor returns to earth, although according to the prequel comic, as year passes between these events and the finding to Cap, so there's time for lots of stuff to happen. Oh man I cant wait, I only hope loki is handled with just as much care this time around. Man, this movie was so good, almost caused some unexplained emotional reactions. And in the special features, Doyle says he tried to create a theme that could be tender at times, powerful at times, just like the main character; I'd say he succeeded!

 

Avengers Assemble!

 

Lots of questions as we start "The Avengers." Will we see asgard? How does he end up on earth? How did loki survive, was is in the cosmic cube somehow linked to when the red skull touched it? What's that army all about? Creations of the cube, or maybe still they are the skrull or kree? Although I kind of feel that should be its own storyline, not linked with loki per se. I really hope the reviews live up to the hype, and that the movie really is this good. After IM and "Thor" and "Hulk" and CA, the bar is set pretty darn high. Each film with a different feel, epic to somber to period piece, but each so well done. How they mix together the different styles into one owill be very interesting to see.