Comic Book Movies

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm kind of wondering if Infinity War will recreate the scene in which Thanos's shockwave wrecks entire landscapes, among which Trump Tower is submerged into the sea. It'd be pretty ballsy of Marvel.

[Dr. Insomniac]

It'd be as ballsy as the second season of Punisher recreating this scene.

[Daikun]

JL is the lowest-grossing DCEU movie so far.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So in preparation for Infinity War I've been revisting some of the phase one and two Marvel movies that I haven't seen in a while to both refresh myself on where we started from to get to this point, as well as to assess how well they hold up (or in some cases how poorly they've aged). I'm not doing the phase three movies since they are still fresh enough in my memory (and I've also re-watched all of them at least once, except for Black Panther). I haven't gotten around to all of the other movies yet, and I'm not doing them specifically in order, so I'll just keep updating which ones I re-watch as I re-watch them:

Iron Man- Holds up surprisingly well. It's funny in that it sets up much of the formula that MCU films still use to this day, but also still has some lingering bits of early 2000's superhero films in its DNA, so it still feels unique among the other movies of the MCU canon. It's far from perfect and does show its age in a number of ways, but for the most part it's still a solid combination of action and comedy.

The Incredible Hulk- So, fun fact: I haven't actually ever re-watched this movie since seeing it in theaters until now. While I still have yet to re-watch Iron man 2 and Thor: The Dark World (the latter of which I also haven't seen since it's theatrical run), I may just have to adjust my stance on those two films being ranked below this one. I must have been a lot more forgiving ten years ago, because while I always considered this to be one of the weakest entries into the MCU, seeing it in retrospect to all of the movies we've gotten up until now really puts into perspective just how bad this movie is. Ed Norton is OK as Banner, and the guy who does General Ross is also pretty good. That's about the most positive thing that I can say about this one. The story is uninspired and boring. The effects are pretty terrible even by 2008's standards, and I love me some Tim Roth, but he's pretty lousy in this movie (and really doesn't have anything to work with). It's very telling that Marvel has since tiptoed around ever directly referencing or acknowledging this film in any of their future movies past that one scene in Iron Man 2 at the end.

Thor: This one....hasn't aged so well, either. It's miles better than The Incredible Hulk and probably Iron Man 2 whenever I get around to re-watching that one, but here's the issue: The movie had two primary strengths- Thor and Loki and the chemistry between them. Hemsworth and Hiddleston were perfectly cast in these roles, and it's a saving grace of this film and it's sequel. However, everything surrounding them is bland and forgettable, and past this movie's first act, Loki is mostly sidelined and Thor is stuck with a bunch of boring Earth characters that pretty much drag down the entire middle act of the movie. And then the final act is pretty standard stuff. Had the film really worked more with the chemistry between the two brothers, it really could have stood out more, but the need to have Thor's story tethered to Earth really didn't do it any favors, IMO.

[Daikun]

Final Deadpool 2 trailer

[Dr. Insomniac]

Zack Snyder's been posting more shit about his DCEU work on his Vero, and um...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Thank you, Zoe Saldana: https://www.cbr.com/saldana-marvel-actors-sellouts-elitists/amp/

It's refreshing to hear someone from the industry talk about how bull-crap some of these Hollywood elitists are.

[Dr. Insomniac]

So Tom Holland's using mo-cap and CGI as Spidey, yet Nebula, whose costume I'd argue is more intricately detailed than Spider-Man's and requires countless hours for the makeup and effects artists to put on Karen Gillan, is done through practical effects? I don't understand.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

In Tom Holland's case his character is almost certainly using the Iron Spider costume in those scenes, which I imagine will have a lot of complex special effects associated with it (much like Iron Man or Black Panther's costumes), so having it be CG is probably necessary. Looking at the behind-the-scenes footage of Spider-Man: Homecoming he did use a practical suit for several scenes, so it's not like Marvel won't utilize those when they are appropriate.

As far as Nebula goes, it's because her look is so finely detailed that it needs to be practical. Unlike the more technologically intricate costumes, though, there are no real moving parts on her get-up, so there's no reason to CG it.

[gunswordfist]

So Tom Holland's using mo-cap and CGI as Spidey, yet Nebula, whose costume I'd argue is more intricately detailed than Spider-Man's and requires countless hours for the makeup and effects artists to put on Karen Gillan, is done through practical effects? I don't understand.

Holland suit has tech/is basically a lo-fi Iron Man suit.

[Daikun]

Venom trailer is out.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, the reviews for Infinity War are out and to the surprise of absolutely no one, they are mostly pretty favorable; though I have no doubt that the mobie snobs will start tearing into it once it gets its wide release this weekend.

However, what has me the most excited beyond the unanimous praise for Josh Brolin's Thanos is how many people have remarked about how emotional the movie gets for longtime fans and how devastating it all feels by the end, which is exactly what I wanted to hear about a movie built-up this much for as long as it has been. I'll be seeing it tomorrow night at my local theater, so I'll let you all know what I think of it after my viewing.

[Avaitor]

If I'm lucky, I will be able to see Infinity War on Saturday. I didn't set up anything earlier, and I work the next few days, but I get off early enough on Sat that it might work out for my girlfriend to meet up with me. We'll see.

At my local trivia tonight, we were asked to rank our top 10 MCU films. It took me a minute to agree on the rankings, but I think I'm happy with how this one turned out:

10- Avengers: Age of Ultron
9- Captain America: Civil War
8- Iron Man
7- Spider-Man Homecoming
6- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
5- Captain America: The First Avenger
4- Thor Ragnarok
3- Guardians of the Galaxy
2- Avengers
1- Black Panther

Kind of wish that I could have also put Guardians Vol. 2 in, but I'm still team Pro Ultron, and thought that it deserved at least one slot. And I may still be running on a Black Panther high, but it still hits all of the right check boxes to be a good comic book flick. You could probably switch #'s 4-6 around and I'd still be pleased.

And just for fun, here's my friend's list (I might also share my girlfriend's later).

10- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
9- Captain America: Civil War
8- Avengers: Age of Ultron
7- Avengers
6- Spider-Man: Homecoming
5- Doctor Strange
4- Black Panther
3- Thor Ragnarok
2- Iron Man
1- Guardians of the Galaxy

Or granted, the list she made with a couple of coworkers. The top four are very likely her very favorites, but I know that Doctor Strange was added on because it's one of their absolute favorites. She doesn't fully lineup with his taste, though. I know that she's also not a big Ultron fan, but that went on because both of the coworkers she was talking to really like it. She said that if it was her own unaltered list, First Avenger would have made it on.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Really glad to see some First Avenger love on your list. I still consider it to be the most underrated MCU movie. It'd personally rank as my second favorite, right behind The Winter Soldier.

Black Panther is pretty great, IMO. While some people can definitely go overboard with the praise, the backlash to its critical and commercial success is equally ridiculous. I can understand not liking the movie, but to insist that this is just another factory churned out Marvel product without any heart or personality to it is just flat-out wrong, IMO. The movie has earned its praise.

Anyways, as for Infinity War, I see it tonight, so I'll be sure to post my initial thoughts on it later in the evening.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just got back from seeing the movie. I still need time to process how I feel about it, but as a first reaction I personally loved it. Marvel didn't pull their punches here, and you really feel the weight of 10-years worth of movies building up to this event. That said, regardless of calling them two separate films, this definitely still does feel like part one of two, IMO.

I'll post my more detailed thoughts on the weekend, but for now I'm tired and need to go to bed to get up for work tomorrow.

Oh, BTW, if you're also a big fan of Captain America: The First Avenger like I am, there is a REALLY cool easter egg reference to that movie in here. It completely caught me off guard when I saw it.