Comic Book Movies

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

But really... are any of the villains other thanVenom underdeveloped? Sandman got a lot of screentime and story, and Harry of course had the whole trilogy to build on, and his story arc was fine. Venom was the only one who seemed underdeveloped (and I'm pretty sure Raimi only put him in to please fans). They complain that Venom only appears at the end of the movie... but quite frankly, I think that exact reason is why the other two villains are fine. Since Venom only takes form in the last 15 minutes, that means the other villains do still get 90+ minutes to work from.

Fully agreed. People just love to say complaints for the sake of saying them because it's popular to say them. I've always found the complaint about the villains in SM3 being under-developed to be BS, though. Yes, Venom is definitely underdeveloped. What about Sandman? He has an entire character arc devoted to him, complete with a back story, a transformation into being a villain, and capped off with being forgiven by Peter in the end. Harry's character arc was developed over three films, and the third film is appropriately the final act of his character arc. It's the pay-off after all of the build-up in the first two movies, and contrary to how silly the tone of the Raimi Spider-Man films are, I found this part of the story to be its strongest point, as it was taken pretty seriously for the most part, and really went into the dynamic of Peter and Harry's longtime friendship, and the increasing tension between them. That was executed really well when they became enemies, and admittedly Harry's face turn to help Peter out at the end happened a bit too abruptly for my taste. I feel like if there was ever a 4th Raimi film, that should have been where Harry had his redemption arc. That said, it was still really awesome to see Peter and Harry working together as heroes to take down a bigger threat. I mean, yes, I know that this was completely out of character for the Green Goblin character in the comics, but in the context of Sam Raimi's films, the scene fit just fine, and made for a really cool final battle for the trilogy.

What sucks is that this movie can just never win. People will hold things against it that, when analyzed, weren't really done nearly as badly as they say, and some of the really good parts of the movie get completely overlooked just so that people can bitch about how Venom was butchered. Yes, one of Spider-Man's biggest foes was executed poorly, but I'll take the bad Venom along with the well-done parts of the movie. And if we're complaining about too much being crammed into a movie, how come more people don't berate Iron Man 2 for it's numerous subplots which go nowhere and the fact that it does absolutely nothing to develop the characters any further.

Do I think Venom needed to be in this movie? Not really. But I do think Sandman and Harry perfectly survived his inclusion and had good roles in the movie.

The funny thing is that Raimi was never even planning to put Venom in the movie. As I recall, he just wanted to do Sandman in this film, and focus on further developing Harry's character arc without having him featured as a villain in this film. I read this stuff a long time ago, so I could be wrong, but I think that had things played out his way, Harry would have only completed his transformation into a villain by the end of the film, and a 4th film would probably pit him against Peter. Either way, the attention being split between three villains had more to do with studio interference rather than Sam Raimi's own oversight.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Technically what happened to Harry in the Raimi films is what happened to Normie (Harry's son) in Spidergirl. They just decided to give it to Harry instead of his son.

Also, in regards to Venom in TSSM, I do wonder if Eddie would have been redeemed or at least shifted up to anti-hero status that he had in the comics. Knowing Mr. Weisman, I think it would have been very possible for him to go down that road. Especially since Eddie does have a seed of a good person in him.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just re-watched X-Men DOFP with my brother (who was watching it for the first time) last night. Yep, still my favorite X-Men movie, and one of the best films in the genre, IMO. I've heard some people say that movies like this and X2 aren't that great because they aren't nearly as "exciting" as something like The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy. As someone who absolutely LOVES all of those films, I'd say that where those two X-Men movies succeed over those two MCU movies for me is in terms of nuanced characterization and much more elaborate and intriguing stories and concepts. Mind you, The Avengers and GOTG are also among my top 10 favorite superhero films of all time, and I'm not saying that I consider those two X-Men movies to be better than them, but that they are on the same level of quality to me for an entirely different reason, as they offer something that I haven't really seen any other superhero films offer, or even come close to, personally. If I only had one gripe with DOFP, it's that Trask was a bit too underutilized for how much he was built up, but overall it's really a pretty minor complaint for me.

[talonmalon333]

Is Agent Carter the girl from Captain America?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yes.

[talonmalon333]

Thought so. Today, while doing my annual Christmas decorating, I saw on television a few ads for Agent Carter. I haven't seen the original Captain America since the first time I saw it a while back, and I don't recall her appearing in the sequel, but when I saw the ad I was pretty sure it was her. And the Marvel logo basically confirmed it but I just needed to be sure.

EDIT:

Actually wait, I think she did appear in the sequel.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

She had a brief appearance as an old woman in The Winter Soldier, and also had a flashback scene in AOS.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I have no hope for it as I have no hope for Marvel's TV studios as they are.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, pretty much my thoughts exactly. Which really bums me out, considering that Captain America: The First Avenger is my favorite superhero movie, and a TV series exploring the lore of that time-period of the MCU would normally be an amazing prospect to me. But instead I'm highly expecting this to just be Agents of Shield: World War II Edition.

[gunswordfist]

it could be great if done right...but don't count on it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I forgot to mention that a while back I spent a spare day watching some X-Men movies with my mom (who is a big X-Men fan herself) as she missed some of them. We watched, in order: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, First Class, and Days of Future Past. I figured I would do a post with some of my experiences with the films watching them so close together and contrasting them with the rest. My comments are nothing earth-shattering, but I thought they were neat tidbits.


X-Men Origins: Wolverine

-The title implies there are other X-Men Origin stories. I'm waiting, Fox.
-The movie is not the worst in the series. I mean, it's not particularly great, but it's watchable on a mindless action level. Sure it's convoluted and overstuffed, but only one character really got assassinated here compared to the massacre of X3.
-Sabretooth deserved something beyond this one appearance. I mean he is absolutely jobbed post-adamantium. One of the characters cast the best, honestly. His power-level is nonsensical, though.
-Deadpool and the other team members were well cast. Shame they were all murdered off with one having fan outcry leveled at what was done to him.
-Some of the action sequences are pretty cool. The one where he is chased by Zero is pretty cool, too.
-Somehow this is Gambit's only appearance in the movies. They got a good actor, and his powers are quite well done. Shame they haven't used him again.
-How does Professor X find the mutants, exactly? And why does he not know about Logan or Gambit being there? If he used Cerebro to find them, then he would have spotted them as they are also mutants.
-I've always liked Stryker in the movies, and here is no exception. He makes a good villain.
-The amnesia explanation makes no sense. It would have made more sense for the adamantium operation to have done it.


First Class

-The 60s spy theme meshes really well with X-Men.
-The movie takes a loooooooong time to start up.
-Some of the lines are cringeworthy and none of the villains aside from Shaw and Frost really stand out. I didn't really remember that so much.
-That said, the direction in this film is really class. Whether following Eric getting revenge, or Charles being a brat, or the action, it's really engaging.
-So, how many Emma Frost's are there? Fox can't seem to keep it straight.
-Darwin's death is pointless. It would have made sense had they done something with it, but he just dies and . . . that's it.
-Banshee, Havoc, and Beast are really well done. Shame they aren't really in the sequel save for Beast and one cameo from Havoc.
-Charles and Eric's relationship starts out so strong here, that I might call it the highlight of the movie.
-The usage of stock footage from the era is a nice choice.
-Everything about the final battle is so well done.
-Mystique kind of came off as a brat to me here, which is fine because of what happens next.


Days of Future Past

-Everything good about First Class is here and even better.
-Everything good about the Wolverine movies is here and even better.
-Everything good about the core X-Men films is here and even better.
-Banshee and Emma Frost are two of the dead mutants. Strange choices to kill of considering they are core X-Men.
-Quicksilver is a clever addition to the story, even if he doesn't stick around.
-I really like Trask. He gets a bit more focus and scenes to himself, and his motivations make a lot of sense. He's not just evil bad guy #81.
-The future team is masterfully chosen. Blink, Bishop, Sunspot, Warpath, Iceman, Shadowcat, and Colossus, are all core X-Men that have never quite gotten any focus in the X movies. Every scene with them is pretty good. Not really a fan of Ellen Page, though.
-James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender bring it to the next level from First Class. While that film say their friendship grow and shatter, here we see them become what they are now.
-The themes of hope and second chances are all over this story. Some characters choose the right thing, some don't.
-That is probably the best ending of any superhero movie I've seen. If this was the last X-Men movie, I think I'd be okay.


Obviously, I liked the last one the best. It's easily the bet X-Men movie to me now, and I really hope the next one can live up to it (since Singer is directing, I have faith), but I have to say that the X-Men movie series isn't half bad as a whole. Of all the non-Marvel Studios Marvel films, X-Men has gotten the most good stuff.

[gunswordfist]

i've been thinking, if cyborg is getting a movie then that likely means he'll be justice league and green latern will be hal. good good.

[Avaitor]

Now that I have a job, I finally bought the Phase 1 set. It also helped that I found a place which had it for only $80, with basically everything in tact. For all of the trinkets alone, it's basically worth the price. I've spent a surprising amount of time looking over the little extras and playing with the Cosmic Cube.

And last night, I watched Iron Man, which really is a good movie. I'm not one of those people who think the MCU formula peaked with it, and prefer a decent amount of the films since (then again, Iron Man has always been my least favorite by a significant amount of the three MCU movie leaders, so take of that what you will). But it does still feel pretty fresh years removed, and RDJ's performance is excellent.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I find it really odd that some people think Iron Man is the best and only real good MCU movie. How anyone could think that every movie between it and now is a disappointment is just bizarre.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The original Iron Man is a great movie and still holds up, IMO. That said, I'd say that I personally find both Captain America movies  and Guardians of the Galaxy to be better, as far as MCU films go.