logo Sign In

The Marvel Cinematic Universe — Page 58

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Playing a little catch up with my rewatch reviews:
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Marvel’s second entry in the MCU. It’s an alright little adventure but there’s not a lot to it. Norton’s Banner doesn’t have much of a character arc here. He ends the story pretty much the same as he started. I had long been of the opinion that Norton’s Banner was superior to Ruffalo’s but I’m not so sure now. Abomination is just horrific and Tim Roth comes off as very one dimensional. The only real standout here is William Hurt’s General Thunderbolt Ross, it’s great that he’ll be returning soon.

Iron Man 2 (2009)
I remember not caring too much for this film when it originally released but coming back to it now, it’s surprising how much it managed to setup for the future. This is the film where we first meet Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanov and it’s a great first introduction to her character and her abilities. Similarly, this is Samuel L. Jackson’s first real time to shine after the very brief end credits scene in Iron Man. Jackson manages to inject a lot of flavor into Nick Fury here in a short amount of time and it’s here where we first start to get a hint of what S.H.I.E.L.D. is capable of.

The real standout though is Tony Stark’s impending death and how he does/doesn’t cope with it. RDJ does a great job of slowly unraveling as the film goes on. The party scene in particular is pretty disturbing as a drunken Tony puts all of his guests in danger. Meanwhile, we’re left lacking a bit in the villain side. Sam Rockwell makes for an interesting foil to RDJ’s Stark. Rockwell’s natural charisma did a lot to save a relatively forgettable character. It’s a shame they haven’t brought him back to expand the role. The only real let down here though is Ivan Vanko. While his character origins are fairly tragic, the character himself is pretty one note. Still though, the film delivers in terms of character arc, action and some surprising tension.

Thor (2010)
The first entry in the Thor series has some great material but is bogged down by the terrestrial portions of the film. Kenneth Branagh does a spectacular job of bringing Asgard and its people to life. The art design on display here is brilliant. As are all of the sections of the film set in it. Hopkins’ does a spectacular job of giving gravitas to his role here as Odin. Hemsworth and Hiddleston both also give solid performances and firmly establish their relationship to one another. If only the sections set on Earth were as good.

Forum Moderator
Author
Time

Is Black Panther as good as people are making it out to be? Marvel movies have recently been falling so flat to me (despite most of them getting great reviews) and feeling like basically CGI messes that I really am not excited even with all the praise.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Collipso said:

Is Black Panther as good as people are making it out to be? Marvel movies have recently been falling so flat to me (despite most of them getting great reviews) and feeling like basically CGI messes that I really am not excited even with all the praise.

I’ll be honest here. I enjoyed it well enough but it doesn’t live up to the hype. It’s nowhere near the Winter Solider or The Dark Knight which are my two favorites superhero movies. And there is a fair amount of crappy CGI throughout if your not fond of that. But it’s still a darn good movie. Just not great.

Return of the Jedi: Remastered

Lord of the Rings: The Darth Rush Definitives

Author
Time
  1. Black Panther
  2. Iron Man
  3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
  4. Thor: Ragnarok
  5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  6. Spider-man: Homecoming
  7. Guardians of the Galaxy
  8. Captain America: Civil War
  9. The Avengers
  10. Iron Man 3
  11. Captain America: The First Avenger
  12. Doctor Strange
  13. The Avengers: Age of Ultron
  14. Iron Man 2
  15. Thor
  16. The Incredible Hulk
  17. Thor: The Dark World
  18. Ant-Man
Author
Time

So, I re-watched all of the MCU movies as a preparation for BP.

  1. Iron Man 8/10
  2. The Incredible Hulk 4/10
  3. Iron Man 2 6/10
  4. Thor 7/10
  5. Captain America: The First Avenger 8/10
  6. The Avengers 9/10
  7. Iron Man 3 5/10
  8. Thor: The Dark World 4/10
  9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 10/10
  10. Guardians of the Galaxy 7/10
  11. Avengers: Age of Ultron 2/10
  12. Ant-man 7/10
  13. Captain America: Civil War 8/10
  14. Doctor Strange 7/10
  15. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 6/10
  16. Spiderman Homecoming 6/10
  17. Thor Ragnarok 5/10
  18. Black Panther 6/10
Author
Time

If it’s missing, I haven’t seen it.

  1. Iron Man
  2. Guardians of the Galaxy
  3. Guardians Vol. 2
  4. The Avengers
  5. Captain America: Winter Soldier
  6. Spider-Man: Homecoming
  7. Captain America: Civil War
  8. Iron Man 3
  9. Captain America: The First Avenger
  10. Ant-Man
  11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
  12. Thor
  13. Thor: The Dark World
  14. Iron Man 2
Author
Time

Were any of the movies in the MCU shot in 35mm?

Author
Time

Pretty sure Iron Man was. I’ve seen 35mm prints on Ebay.

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

Author
Time

darthrush said:

Collipso said:

Is Black Panther as good as people are making it out to be? Marvel movies have recently been falling so flat to me (despite most of them getting great reviews) and feeling like basically CGI messes that I really am not excited even with all the praise.

I’ll be honest here. I enjoyed it well enough but it doesn’t live up to the hype. It’s nowhere near the Winter Solider or The Dark Knight which are my two favorites superhero movies. And there is a fair amount of crappy CGI throughout if your not fond of that. But it’s still a darn good movie. Just not great.

I feel it tries and feels relatively competent in areas modern blockbusters tend to ignore or pay lip service to at best. And really nothing more than competent. There’s a basic thematic thread, decent characters that support that thread well enough, and everything devolves into a whole lot of punching in a way that’s slightly less detrimental to the piece than you’d expect from an MCU installment. That said, it’s still pretty safe, a bit bland and not even ankle-deep as far substance is concerned, and I don’t really have any need to see it ever again. Disposable MCU product - I don’t mean it in a bad way, necessarily.

The movie is most impressive from a purely workmanlike point of view that has more to do with project management than moviemaking.

Author
Time

It’s an OK movie, maybe even above average, the villain is surely above the MCU standards, the story is average, and most of the CGI effects are just horrible. To be honest I have seen it last week and if you asked me about any plot details, I would have problems remembering them, similar to highly forgettable movies like Age of Ultron or the Thor sequels. The fact that a group of people who doesn’t in reality care about superhero movies is trying to make it political, is just sad. It’s just a superhero movie

Author
Time

DominicCobb said:

All movies are political.

Depends what definition you have in mind.

The blue elephant in the room.

Author
Time

Could an apolitical movie still be political in its antipathy toward political discourse as a whole?

.

Author
Time

Mrebo said:

DominicCobb said:

All movies are political.

Depends what definition you have in mind.

True, and some are more political than others.

Black Panther would be one that is more political than others.

Author
Time

DominicCobb said:

Mrebo said:

DominicCobb said:

All movies are political.

Depends what definition you have in mind.

True, and some are more political than others.

Black Panther would be one that is more political than others.

But less political than some others.

Author
Time

I don’t think we have a general Marvel thread, but Stan Lee has revealed he’s battling pneumonia at the age of 95. I hope he gets well!

Author
Time

Handman said:

I don’t think we have a general Marvel thread, but Stan Lee has revealed he’s battling pneumonia at the age of 95. I hope he gets well!

Me too.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I’m known for immediately supporting accusers in most cases, but AFAIK the Lee accusers spoke only to the Daily Mail, so I have reason to doubt them.

.