Comic Book Movies

[Avaitor]

I have to admit, I was afraid for it being the next Iron Man 2, since they seem to be packing SO much in, but I'm glad that my fears are proving to be negative.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Update:

Top Tier:
1. Captain America: The First Avenger
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (basically tied with TFA, but I need to re-watch it at least once before I can rank it first)
3. The Avengers
4. Iron Man

Upper-Middle Tier (basically a tie, but I had to rank them, so this is what I came up with):
5. Thor
6. Iron Man 3
7. Thor: The Dark World

Middle Tier:
8. The Incredible Hulk

Shit Tier:
9. Iron Man 2
10. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

(Yes, I know that AOS is not a movie, but it's still part of the film canon, so I decided to rank it based on what's out so far. Since it's a show, there's always the chance that it could improve, but as of right now, I sincerely doubt it).

Overall, Marvel Studios has done quite well for themselves. Out of 9 feature-length films, only 1 of them is bad, which is actually a pretty amazing thing considering how much could go wrong with these movies. The Incredible Hulk is actually a pretty decent flick, IMO, but it does feel a bit lacking in comparison to the rest of the MCU. Everything else are all good to great films.

[Avaitor]

I wouldn't call Iron Man 2 shit per say, but I can't argue that it's easily the weakest of the films.

But of course, it seems like Marvel learned their lesson there, since they didn't fast track a quickie cash grab and pad it with unnecessary build-up to a later film just so "it all makes sense." Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 have issues, but they both feel more genuine than IM2 did, and it seems like they're rightfully mot rushing things for the next Thor and Cap movies, so I hope that it's a while until we get a film on that level.

And Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Unsalvageable for a good reason, and that rhymes with meff cobe.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I'm sure this is a very unpopular opinion....but I don't really care for the first Thor. I found it to be a rather straight-forward, and rather predictable super hero movie, and I didn't really find interest in any of the characters besides Loki (though Chris Hemsworth's performance as Thor is awesome, even if the character himself didn't do much for me in that movie). The one-day romance between Thor and Jane also kind of irritated me. I could guess what was going to happen throughout the entire movie, and I didn't find myself attached or invested in what was going on, so I found it a rather tedious viewing experience. Like, I don't hate it or anything, but somehow I just really didn't get much out of it.

I haven't seen Dark World yet, but I will watch it sometime since I do want to watch all the MCU movies before Avengers 2 comes out to appreciate that better. Still need to see the Iron Man trilogy...(though I'm guessing I should just skip 2)....

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I agree that the romance was tacked on and badly done, but I enjoyed the rest of the movie. The conflict between Thor and Loki was done really well, IMO. On the one hand, I love Loki's back-story, and I can understand how he felt betrayed when he learned of his origin, being that he always felt (at least from his own perspective) that Odin preferred Thor to him, despite Loki clearly being the smarter of the two and the one best suited to succeed Odin as the King of Asgard (once again, in his mind). The problem is that for all of Loki's cunning, he was still to brazen and arrogant to really be a responsible leader. The interesting thing is that Thor basically had the exact same problem. It's just that through his journey, he learns to overcome his hubris, and instead learns to adopt humility. Loki on the other hand regresses, clearly deluding himself into a false superiority complex, and ends up going down a path that will only cause him to further suffer in the long run.

I also love the brief but very essential exchanges between the two brothers in the film. In the beginning, aside from Loki's mischief, the two of them do seem to get along to a degree. Granted that, it is more of an act coming from Loki, but it's still nice to see him on friendlier terms with his brother. When Thor is banished later on in the movie and Loki comes to visit him and lies about their parents to Thor, you can see that Thor still has complete trust in his brother, and at that point he has developed enough to accept his fate. At the end of the movie, even when Loki's plot has been revealed and Thor confronts and defeats him, he still shows compassion for his brother, and pleads with him to give up in his ploy. At this point he has come a long way since the beginning, and you can tell at this point that he now has a greater deal of respect for the title of King. He realizes that he cannot allow Loki to annihilate the Frost Giants based on the actions of a limited amount of their race. Furthermore, he has now gained a greater understanding of the responsibilities of a King, and what he formerly thought of as an entitlement, he now views as a complete commitment that he is not yet ready for.

That, to me, is the heart of the movie. As for the romance plot, I don't like it, but Jane Foster does at least serve as a catalyst for Thor's character development, and I felt that his character development, although predictable, is handled well. In that regard, a ton of the movies in the MCU are predictable, but what matters is the execution. We all knew where Avengers was going with the plot, but it was a great movie because it was a downright fun movie. If you try to view that or Thor in the same regards that you would try to view something as The Dark Knight or a more plot-heavy comic book film, then you're not going to get what you want, because that's not what any of these movies are about. They are, above all else, supposed to be fun (Captain America: The Winter Solider maybe being the one exception, which is a shit-ton of fun, but is also probably the most plot-driven MCU film to date).

Captain America: The First Avenger was the best in this regard, IMO, because the movie took advantage of its period time and was modeled like an old-fashioned adventure movie in many ways. Looking at it in that regard rather than a typical superhero movie, it's, IMO, a lot more entertaining than most of the other superhero movies that I've seen. That isn't to say that it didn't have genuinely good character moments, as it had that in spades. It just wasn't so hell-bent on trying to be super original or epic. Instead it was focused on presenting the back story of an American icon in a way that captured the feeling of his origin in the comics, and they did a splendid job of that. For instance, Captain America was originally created as WWII propaganda, and the movie cleverly mimics that with how Cap is first utilized in the film. Later on he comes into his own as a character, just like in the comics, and in the final encounter of the film we get to see him reach the status of the legend that he's known as.

Of course, I also went into these films after seeing season 1 of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, so having that extra back-story and exposure to the characters really helped me appreciate them and their specific themes more than if I had went into them blind.

[gunswordfist]

That reminds me, I don't care for Thor's and Jane's relationship in the Thor movies. The short lived Thor First Avengers comics did an infinitely better job at making me give a damn.

[Avaitor]

Jane isn't the best written character in the movies, which is probably why her relationship with Thor comes off as kind of flat.

Natalie Portman tries her best, but the writers seem to have more fun writing for just about everyone else.

[Daikun]

Guardians of the Galaxy poster.

[gunswordfist]

Lmao, Vin Diesel is Groot? What horrible casting.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Considering that Groot only has one possible line ("I am Groot") I don't see how anyone could possibly fuck that up. If Vin Diesel could play The Iron Giant, he can do Groot. What baffles me instead is the casting of Dave Bautista in this movie. With the exception of Roddy Piper in They Live, I don't think I've ever seen a case where a professional wrestler being cast to act in a movie has ever turned out well.

[gunswordfist]

Groot talked more than that in the comic I read. Anyway, yeah I was thinking it wasn't that bad after the post. It's just the coupling with Bautista and Zoe playing an alien post-Avatar memes just made me think it was immediately ridiculous though. I actually do like Diesel's voice actor (thanks for the Riddick games)

[Foggle]

Honestly, this is the first MCU movie I've been legitimately excited for pre-release.

[gunswordfist]

Weirdo. I guess I should be excited myself since I did like the newer GotG comic I read that had everyone on this team, minus Gamora.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It looks like Indiana Jones meets Star Wars, so it's definitely something to be excited for.

[gunswordfist]

I just noticed that it looks like he has two Plasma Rifles.