 Much like with 'Iron Man 3,' 'Winter Soldier' is more of an update on the characters involved and the events they find themselves involved in after what by this time is dubbed the "Battle of New York", aka, the climactic events of 'The Avengers.' By this time, the MCU had also come to the small screen in the form of 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' At certain points, the show would cross over with the films; for example, S1/E8 has S.H.I.E.L.D. cleaning up the aftermath of the "Battle of London" seen in 'Thor: The Dark World.'
This film would be a much more in-depth crossover, with events unfolding simultaneously, and it was probably around the point where 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' was most worth watching. Nowadays, the show is more treated like a branched-off timeline from the main events of the MCU and has essentially become altogether unimportant to the overall story, but there for the fans who want to know everything there is to know. It all begins in Washington, DC, where Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) now works for S.H.I.E.L.D. as Captain America, providing them with a true and just super-soldier hero. When Cap is sent with Agent Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and S.T.R.I.K.E. (Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies), S.H.I.E.L.D.'s counter-terrorism unit, led by Agent Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo), on a rescue mission to free hostages from a stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. ship. During the mission, to his shock and awe, Rogers learns that Romanoff has been given a secret mission from S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is to extract some data from the ship where the hostages are being held. Feeling his trust in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s transparency shaken, Rogers confronts Fury about the secret data extraction, and is briefed on "Project Insight," which S.H.I.E.L.D. developed after the Battle of New York. It involved three Hellicarriers linked to spy satellites and was meant to preemptively eliminate threats worldwide, lest they end up with another Loki on their hands. The bad news, however, is that Fury is unable to decrypt the data Romanoff brought back for him, leading him to become suspicious of the project, which he doesn't realize S.H.I.E.L.D. official Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) is planning to use to a villainous advantage. In one of the more major events of the MCU's history, this is the point where S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised by the resurrection of HYDRA, led by Pierce, who also uses the title character, the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) to his advantage, which puts Rogers in a hell of a position, as the brainwashed Winter Soldier just so happens to be his old pal Bucky Barnes, whom he thought was KIA in a mission back in WWII. He was instead found, captured, and put through an MK Ultra-like program, transforming him into a deadly weapon at the saying of key words. When S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised, it forces Captain America and Black Widow to abandon S.T.R.I.K.E. and be dubbed fugitives for the first time, although they continue to work together along with Rogers' new loyal friend, Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to find answers as to why Hydra has taken control of SHIELD, how they recruited Bucky to work for them, how deep everthing goes and who they can possibly trust anymore. As Cap deals with all of this, he's just barely settling into his everyday "future" life and still adjusting. All in all, it's a solid execution that shows who Steve Rogers really is as the MCU's pure hero. Another part of this being a major part of MCU history involves the Russo brothers coming into play, who would essentially become the MCU's mainstay writers/directors of the MCU's bigger projects, returning for 'Civil War,' 'Infinity War,' 'Endgame,' 'Doomsday,' and 'Secret Wars.' It seems any time the Russo brothers show up, you're gonna be in for a treat (at least in my humble opinion). After the lesser-quality films 'Iron Man 3' and 'Thor: The Dark World,' it was nice to see this pick things right up and get me excited about what the future of the MCU had in store. 5/5 MID-CREDIT SCENE: Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) is at a Hydra lab, proclaiming that the "age of miracles" has begun. Scientists can be seen examining what appears to be Loki's sceptre. Meanwhile, two test subjects are shown caged up, one with super speed and one with telekinetic ability. We recognize them as Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). This is a tease for who will be featured in 'Age of Ultron'. POST-CREDIT SCENE: Bucky wanders through a war museum exhibit highlighting Steve Rogers as Captain America and discovers who he really is.
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 'Thor: The Dark World' follows in the footsteps of 'Iron Man 3' inasmuch as it is one of the MCU's weaker films, altogether. Although I will give this some credit for having some pretty funny moments, it's just not enough to save this from finding itself near the bottom of the proverbial MCU barrel. Of all the 'Thor' films, I would easily claim this chapter to be the most forgettable, even though it introduces us to our next Infinity Stone, gets the saga moving, and has audiences guessing what more was to come.
At this point, it can be noted that following the events of 'The Avengers,' the Tesseract (or "Space Stone") was brought to Asgard to be stored in Odin's (Anthony Hopkins) vault for safekeeping, whilst Loki (Tom Hiddleston) was imprisoned for his crimes on Earth. While away from Earth and the rest of the Avengers, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his Asgardian friends have become protectors of the Nine Realms of our universe. Meanwhile, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) tries to move forward from her relationship with Thor, as Thor can't always be on Earth for her. With that set up, the film opens with a backstory taking place ages ago. Odin's father, Bor (Tony Curran), clashes with Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), a Dark Elf, chasing after another potentially powerful weapon called the Aether (aka the "Reality Stone"), which Malekith could use to alter the universe into having eternal night, thus allowing the Dark Elves to thrive. Bor manages to safeguard the Aether within a stone column after defeating Malekith's forces, buried where it will "never be found" (which always means it'll be found). Malekith and several other dark elves manage to escape. On Earth, Jane and her intern and friend Darcy (Kat Dennings) discover an anomaly that, long story short, leads to the Aether, which, upon Jane discovering it, manages to conceal itself within her body. With Heimdall (Idris Elba), the all-seeing, all-hearing guardian of Asgard and the Bifrost Bridge no longer able to see Jane, Thor heads to the Earth Realm to find her and bring her to Asgard to be looked after. However, the presence of the Aether awakens Malekith, who still wishes to find and use the Aether to bring everlasting darkness to the universe. The whole thing feels like a plot straight out of 'Care Bears.' The anomaly in question has to do with the Convergence, which, according to Odin, is an extremely rare event in which the Nine Realms align, causing odd portals around the world. Jane stumbles into one of these portals, which leads to the location where the Aether was sealed away by Bor. It then conceals itself inside of her, acting as some sort of sentient parasite, requiring a host in order to defend itself. Thor is thrust into the role of her protective bodyguard, as the Aether cannot be removed from her, and it provides a target for a Dark Elf raid, led by Malekith. As I mentioned before, despite some gripes I have with this movie, it's not without its moments. I can appreciate the role Loki plays here, having recently unleashed chaos in the city of New York on Earth while still asking for the audience's sympathies. Somehow or another, I have to admit, he even gets it to some extent, and really starts shaping into the anti-hero type. However, I can't help but feel like this chapter of 'Thor' asks you to take it a touch too seriously, despite its sense of humour. It still feels a bit like what the early 2000s thought was awesome, but it's not quite at the fun level of 'Ragnarok' yet. When all is said and done, 'Dark World,' more than anything, seems to be meant to introduce us to the second known Infinity Stone in an attempt to get things rolling. I can also credit it for further developing Loki's character. But the rest of it feels like an old Saturday morning cartoon, complete with an over-the-top and, frankly, forgettable villain. It was around this point in the MCU that I began to wonder if things were a little too buried under the spectacle of 'The Avengers.' Luckily, however, 'Iron Man 3' and 'Thor: The Dark World' turned out to be mere hiccups in what was to come. 2/5 MID-CREDIT SCENE - Volstagg (Ray Stevenson) and Sif (Jaimie Alexander) deliver the Aether to The Collector (Benecio Del Toro) with the thought that having it so close to the Tesseract in Odin's vault could prove dangerous. The Collector is heard to say, "One down, five to go". The scene is a tease to events that may occur in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. POST-CREDIT SCENE - Thor returns to Earth to see Jane, and they embrace with a kiss. Meanwhile, it's shown that a creature that emerged through a portal in the film's climactic scene is still running around London, England.  After 'The Avengers' was released, we learned that 'Iron Man 3,' 'Thor: The Dark World,' and 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' were in the works, providing some aftermath for these characters. Following the events of 'The Avengers,' our heroes have gone their separate ways until the next time some sort of planetary threat pops up. I still recall having this inner feeling of excitement, knowing that after 'The Avengers,' a whole cinematic Marvel superhero world had been established.
It was a feeling reminiscent of being a kid, looking forward to the further adventures of superhero cartoons like 'Spider-Man' or 'X-Men,' where bringing in outside Marvel heroes and villains was easier. We were finally at a point where crossover in film wasn't such a problem, and everything was looking great - except the first couple of films out of the gate just so happen to be two of the MCU's weakest, in my humble opinion, and it's not just because they follow in the shadow of 'The Avengers.' We start here, with 'Iron Man 3' - the MCU's Christmas Movie, if it ever really had one (not counting the 'Guardians' Christmas Special). Following the events of 'The Avengers', Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), as one of the most grounded characters in the MCU (as in no real powers), he now has to deal with the idea that aliens exist, along with Norse Gods, and there are much bigger things out there than his battles around the globe since becoming Iron Man. His dread about the unknown causes him anxiety attacks, and he creates a whole whack of Iron Man suits in his spare time, hardly giving his now full-on romantic interest, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), the time of day. Meanwhile, a terrorist who calls himself "The Mandarin" (Ben Kingsley) commences a series of bombings around America. When Stark's trusted confidant Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) nearly gets killed by one, Stark, not thinking clearly, calls out the Mandarin to go toe-to-toe and gives him his home address; a move that always sort of irked me, because despite his cockiness, Stark ought to be smarter than that. Anyway, the Mandarin launches his attack on Stark's Malibu abode, and Stark soon finds himself wandering alone, trying to get to the bottom of who the Mandarin is and what he wants. As I mentioned earlier, 'Iron Man 3' is one of the MCU's weaker entries, but it has some things to credit. For starters, it doesn't shake Stark's sense of humour we've all grown to love, despite this entry being a little heavier than the previous two. I also enjoy the introduction of James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) as the new "Iron Patriot," replacing "War Machine," as the rebranding offers something a little more hopeful and less intimidating - after all, these guys are meant to be heroes. In some ways, the film is relatively entertaining, but other aspects bring its quality down for me. This is a classic example of a movie whose trailer is misleading. By all accounts, it looked like a darker, more emotional film in which we would see Iron Man fight his nemesis, The Mandarin. Instead, we hardly see Stark wear the Iron Man armour, he's made to hang out with a kid named Harley (Ty Simpkins) we all ended up forgetting existed by 'Avengers: Endgame,' and it comes with a rather disappointing "big reveal" which I still remember getting frustrated about when I first saw this, hoping for one thing, but getting something I felt was much weaker. I will admit that, at this point, the MCU has certainly released weaker titles, and it's a bit easier to watch nowadays since the release of 'Shang-Chi,' which addresses a few things left over from this film. However, when you put it alongside the first two 'Iron Man' films, it feels easy to consider this one the weakest entry. It's not without its nostalgic charm at this point, but it still could have been a whole lot better. Add having next to nothing to do with the brewing "Infinity Saga," and it's ultimately one of the more forgettable titles within the expanse of the MCU. 2/5 POST-CREDIT SCENE: It's revealed that Tony Stark has been chatting with Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) the whole time, which suggests the movie is narrated. It's just a little bit of added humour that suggests Stark and Banner will work together again soon.  I can still remember the hype between my peers and me on this project coming to light. I mean, this was it! A movie that so many people thought would never come to fruition finally came to the big screen, and there was no way it wouldn't be glorious. We don't think about it much nowadays, but at the time, this was completely unprecedented. Although we had team-up movies like the 'X-Men' films already, this marked a handful of separate intellectual properties crossing over in a way we never really thought possible.
Mr. Kevin Feige took this idea that comic book movies could potentially cross over with each other because comics do it all the time, ran with it, and it was one of the simplest yet groundbreaking ideas, not just in comic book movie history, but, from my perspective at least, in overall cinematic history. The formula of introducing heroes over the course of a few years, only to have them come together in the end, worked out beautifully, as there was no real need for a lot of character intro and development throughout the film. We already knew what we needed to know about all of these characters going into this. The plot digs up the Tesseract (from 'First Avenger') for SHIELD to study. Remember that, back when this came out, this was the big MacGuffin, and what it would become later was just one of six powerful Infinity Stones. The Tesseract turns out to function as a portal through space, and fast than you can say "assemble," Loki (Tom Hiddleston) turns up, aiming to use the Tesseract to summon an alien army known as the Chutari to attack Earth, and allow him to rule it with an iron fist because he's still hurt about getting denied that Asgardian throne. This ends up being the threat that brings the Avengers - Earth's mightiest heroes- together. Going back to what I said about "there was no real need for a lot of character intro and development throughout the film," of course, that only truly applies to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Bruce Banner (now and since portrayed by Mark Ruffalo). Though side characters in previous films, they do manage to give us a bit more background on Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), as we learn that they're old friends who have worked together on covert missions in the past, a friendship that would later become very important. With Thor's brother, Loki, as the central villain in the film, one might assume Thor would take centre stage as the primary hero, thereby tilting the team dynamic. Surprisingly, however, they nailed it with the dynamic. Something about watching geniuses Banner and Stark work together always intrigued me, and they play pretty well off each other. You also get the first personality clashes between Stark and Rogers here, which would eventually lead to 'Civil War.' Interestingly enough, going back to this, you can see a lot of seeds planted for things to come. To me, this is pretty much the epitome of a great, not so much a "superhero film" but a comic series adaptation. The way I see it, 'Thor' put his fist through that wall of "keeping it grounded", but 'The Avengers' demolished the wall clean through and said "it's time to make things actually look like a comic book". It was truly a breath of fresh air and ushered in a whole new standard when it came to letting superheroes loose, and for once, not completely grounding them. There was even this crazy thought of "it can only get bigger and better from here." And it did (well, for the most part)! 'The Avengers' stands out as one of my all-time favourite films, largely due to what it represented at the time and what has come out of it since. When you get right down to it, it's one of the most important (like it or not) films ever created, heightening everything superhero films could be. While it's understandable that superhero fatigue has set in among most people nowadays, one still can't deny the power this movie had at the time, making the box office explode with sales, becoming ultimately successful, and going down in history as a benchmark for the superhero genre, which, itself, would also explode after this. 5/5 MID-CREDIT SCENE: Failing the first attack on Earth, Thanos is notified and teased to be a part of the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the 'Infinity War' storyline was coming. POST-CREDIT SCENE: Perhaps more famous than the mid-credit scene, The Avengers sit around eating shawarma in the aftermath of the Battle of New York.  After 'Thor' was ultimately successful, and 'The Avengers' project we were all champing at the bit for was approaching, one of the most famous faces of the squad still needed his movie. I speak, of course, of the Star-Spangled Man, Captain America, who, despite seemingly facing a lot of trash talk from people I meet, nevertheless provides us with someone who, unlike most of the rest of the characters in the MCU, doesn't need to learn what it is to be a hero, as his heart is already in it.
I believe that Cap gets a bad rap from a lot of people because he's a little too "pure." Let's face facts: we like the darker/or more human side of our superheroes, and "imperfect" feels a lot more relatable than what Mr. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) offers, so one's opinion will be what it will be. I, however, enjoy a hero who was written to be, in simpler terms, a "good guy." As someone who, in my youth, went through a fair share of troubles at school, characters like Steve Rogers were the ones I truly appreciated. Although I was more of a 'Spidey' guy, I still liked seeing the true meaning of "good" in my heroes. 'First Avenger' is, more than anything now, where the true beginning of the MCU starts. Taking us back to World War II, we meet Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his best friend, Sgt. James "Bucky" Barnes (Sebastian Stan). With a desire to do some good, Steve tries to enlist in the military but is rejected time and time again due to health problems, likely stemming from bad CG that, at this point, is a bit cringey to look at. However, I feel that dated CG doesn't ruin an otherwise great story, and I stick to my opinion that 'First Avenger' may be one of the best superhero origin stories ever made. Taking notice of Steve's desire to take part in the war effort, Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) invites him to enlist in a "Super Soldier" training program. There, Steve shows incredible honour, courage, heart, and bravery, saying he wants to fight in the war so badly because he "just doesn't like bullies." He wants to do what's right for the sake of doing what's right, and that's the sign of a true hero. Anyway, as we all know, he’s tested with the Super Soldier Serum, becoming Captain America and amplifying everything within him, granting him incredible abilities. Meanwhile, an offshoot of the Nazi order known as "Hydra," led by Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), finds a powerful artifact known as the Tesseract, which we now know is the "Space Stone" within the six Infinity Stones. However, for a little while yet, the Tesseract represents the "MacGuffin" of ultimate power. We didn't realize it at the time, but 'First Avenger' is our true introduction to the Infinity Stones. Back to the plot, however, the energy within the Tesseract is to be used to power Dr. Arnim Zola's (Toby Jones) inventions and weaponry, allowing for a massive offensive that would aid the Nazis in victory. From there, it's your basic good vs. evil story: Cap tries to put a stop to Schmidt's technological advances, only to find himself going toe-to-toe with Schmidt, who has become the Red Skull after injecting himself with an unstable Super Soldier Serum. Not to give too much away on the "how" and "why" of it all, but eventually, Cap finds himself frozen within ice and thawed out during present-day 2012. This is the film that leads up to his frozen state, and though bits and pieces of it are fairly par for the course (ie, using powerful objects to supercharge weaponry, etc.), it still works very well. In some ways, I think the, for lack of a better term, "basics" within the film's plot sort of lend themselves to what the movie is as a whole. It does a good job of showing us a superhero movie for the era in which it takes place while still making the property its own thing. For example, the film explains why he wears his mask, since today it looks kinda corny. Some things, like the CG, haven't aged too well, but I still find the film thoroughly entertaining and the perfect lead-in to 'The Avengers.' 4/5 POST-CREDIT SCENE: Essentially a clip from 'The Avengers', Rogers is found in a gym, working out, and is approached by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) for the "upcoming mission." This is followed up with a quick 'Avengers' teaser trailer.  Following the release of 'Iron Man 2', it seemed abundantly clear that 'The Avengers' was definitely a project that would one day come to light. However, one upcoming title that put me at unease was 'Thor'. Being that this was a comic book character who was, in essence, a God, lived in a whole other world, and was always one of Marvel's more fantasy-based characters, I wondered how it would be pulled off, considering superhero movies up to that point always seemed to be required to stay somewhat grounded.
With how far the MCU (among other superhero franchises) has come, it's almost weird to think that there was actually a time when producers didn't seem to think that making a comic book movie look like its respective comic book pages could possibly work, as if being too fantastical was "out of bounds," so to speak. Much to this film's credit, it turned out that the formula needed to make this work was really quite simple; do the 'Fish out of water" cliche, but give the fantasy world within the movie an ample part of the story instead of the lead character simply leaving their world to get to Earth for *insert reason here*. The film hits the ground running when Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her friends, Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) and Darcy (Kat Dennings), happen upon what seems to be some sort of meteor crash, but turns out to be some guy named Thor (Chris Hemsworth) who had fallen from the sky. From there, the film recaps the events on Asgard, Thor's home world, that lead to his banishment to Earth and to his unworthiness to wield the hammer, Mjölnir. He then spends his days in exile, befriending and getting to know Jane, Erik, and Darcy better, and realizing that human beings are more than meets the eye. Meanwhile, on Asgard, Thor's brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) learns his true parentage from the man he has considered “Father” all of his life, Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Feeling betrayed and desperate for approval, Loki wants to prove his worth and show he deserves the Asgardian throne more than Thor. He seeks Odin's recognition and a place in Asgard. When Odin enters the deep "Odinsleep" to recover, Loki seizes the chance to take the throne. Eventually, however, his rule becomes too much for Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and the Warriors Three: Hogun (Tadanobu Asano), Fandral (Josh Dallas), and Volstagg (Ray Stevenson). Sif and the Warriors Three soon find the motivation to bring Thor back from Earth to put an end to Loki's rule, with the help of the bridgekeeper, Heimdall (Idris Elba). With all of this layed out, however, years have passed, and at this point 'Thor' isn't a hell of a lot more than an origin story for both Thor and Loki, who has since gone from the MCU's greatest villain with 'Avengers', to anti-hero, to guardian of the multiverse, making him perhaps the single-best developed character within the MCU. In fact, today I would almost use this first 'Thor' film more as a Loki starting point, since Thor's overarching story feels much simpler. No matter how I see/review this film nowadays, however, it doesn't change the fact that, for its time, it was a pleasant surprise. Upon learning through trailers and online chatter that this would, indeed, be a "fish out of water" story, my mind leapt to '87's 'Masters of the Universe', which was the same deal, but far more focused on whatever was going on on Earth, grounding what is otherwise a whole world of fantasy. I figured the same thing might happen here, and 'Thor' was a sort of "make or break" title for the success of the 'Avengers' film we were all hoping to see. Luckily, not only was just about half of the film set in the fantastical realm of Asgard, but whatever happened on Earth was essential to developing Thor's character and, more often than not, was done hilariously. It was easy to embrace this movie for what it was, and I'd probably consider it the very beginning of when the MCU took the wheel of Marvel and finally said, "See this comic book? See these frames? Bring that to life!" They tested the waters of epic superhero fantasy with 'Thor,' and let's face it, things succeeded more than we ever could have thought possible. 3/5 POST-CREDIT SCENE: Erik Selvig is brought in to meet with Nick Fury. Fury shows him the Tesseract and mentions its immense power. We then see Loki, eavesdropping on the conversation, setting the upcoming plot for 'The Avengers'  After 'Iron Man' and 'The Incredible Hulk' were ultimately successful, it was time to drive the point home that the Avengers movie was most definitely happening. Before we knew it, we had a few upcoming titles to look forward to, including 'Thor' and 'Captain America: The First Avenger' to be released in 2011. However, 'Iron Man 2' would provide a decent "bookmark" for it all, and become the first grand-scale advertisement for 'The Avengers' in the form of the film's B-story.
The central plot, however, takes place about six months after Stark has announced to the world that he is, in fact, Iron Man. Wallowing in his own newfound glory and pride, he successfully uses the Iron Man suit to continue fighting for peace and refuses to sell his designs to the American government. However, in secret, the palladium core powering the Iron Man suit is slowly poisoning his heart, and much of the film focuses on him trying to find a suitable substitute, using his genius and a little help from Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Meanwhile, in Russia, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) creates an arc reactor very similar to Stark's. Discovering this information, rival weapons manufacturer, Hammer Tech, led by Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), hires Vanko to create weaponry for him. However, Vanko has his own plans for revenge against Stark and means to bring down Iron Man, driven by Vanko's father, who once worked with Howard Stark (Tony's father) on the original arc reactor and was deported after being caught trying to sell nuclear secrets to Pakistan. Vanko blames his father's disgrace solely on the Stark family now and is out for vengeance. Soon, Stark finds himself up against Vanko (who becomes "Whiplash") as well as, in a sense, himself. A big chunk of this movie involves a look into Tony Stark's character, as Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and newcomer, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), known first as a new assistant to Stark named Natalie Rushman, look for the right reasons to recruit him to the "Avengers Initiative." Throughout the film, Stark shows off his more selfish side and proves he has a lot to learn about his personal life. 'Iron Man 2' makes for a decent stepping stone for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it doesn't come across as a hell of a lot more these days. One should also know that this isn't so much an Iron Man movie as a Tony Stark movie. That said, the climactic sequence over the last half hour or so of the film is a lot of fun to watch as an action-packed scene, primarily thanks to the introduction of War Machine; another Iron Suit piloted by Stark's friend, Lt. Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes (now played by Don Cheadle), giving the film a little extra umph. Speaking for myself, 'Iron Man 2' finds itself in the mid-lower area of my list when it comes to the MCU. While perhaps necessary for its time, it's a straightforward setup for 'The Avengers,' and I've always found it to be one giant commercial for things to come. Truth be told, on its own, the movie is just okay. Still, it was ultimately successful in getting me excited for what was coming next, chatting with my fellow geeks about the possibilities of what 'The Avengers' would be like, how it would change cinema, and what we might expect to see in the future of the MCU. Despite how I feel about 'Iron Man 2' as a whole, I can't deny that I sometimes wonder what might have happened if it wasn't released to not only get people excited for the MCU's future endeavours, but bridge the gap in time, so we wouldn't let go of that first tinge of excitement we got from the post/pre-credit sequences seen in the first 'Iron Man' and 'The Incredible Hulk', respectively. It also solidifies Stark as the MCU's leading player. It may not be among my favourites, but I can't really deny that, in some ways, it may have been necessary for the MCU to succeed fully. 3/5 POST-CREDIT SCENE: Agent Coulson gets called to a job in New Mexico in the middle of the film. This scene shows us what he was called in for. A crater has been discovered in the middle of the desert with Thor's hammer in the middle of it.  I think to review this movie fairly, it should be mentioned that when it was released, it was still part of a little test run, attempting to launch the MCU, and as far as we were concerned, it was just the next superhero movie; another attempt to bring the Incredible Hulk to the big screen, and hopefully a better attempt than whatever that 2003 Ang Lee disaster was. We now know Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk throughout the MCU, but in this film, Edward Norton takes on the role, and for my money, does a good job.
I think the film's real draw today, however, has more to do with it being not a Hulk origin story (which we can glimpse in the film's opening credit sequence), but a movie about Bruce Banner's struggles with his Jekyll & Hyde-like condition and his search for a cure. The film opens with Banner hiding in South America, corresponding with someone named "Mr. Blue" in search of said cure. In the meantime, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) actively hunts Banner with a desire to harness his gamma radiation, which he believes could be the key to a *new* Super Soldier Serum. As Banner (going by "Mr. Green") and Mr. Blue correspond, Blue requests that he come home to New York to meet and work together on formulating a cure, as he can't help him without a hands-on approach. Going home, however, means putting himself and others in danger, namely his former flame, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), who also happens to be the General's daughter, complicating things quite nicely. But of course, Bruce Banner is suffering, so he's willing to do whatever it takes to find a solution to his ailment. Meanwhile, General Ross brings a war-hungry soldier into play named Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), using a variant of the Super Soldier Serum on him to be able to fight the Hulk and attempt to bring him down, as he's just too much for his general army. This unorthodox testing, however, leads Blonsky to crave excessive power, and, with a drug addict's mentality when it comes to the Serum, he eventually becomes The Abomination, culminating in a fun climactic scene: a one-on-one monster fight in the middle of Manhattan. I will credit Ed Norton for giving a good performance throughout the film, but as we all know at this point, his role as Banner wasn't meant to last. Between Norton's differences with the studio and some CG that hasn't aged incredibly well, this chapter in the MCU isn't often regarded as a high-ranking Marvel title. Personally speaking, however, I go against the grain on a lot of people's perspectives when it comes to 'Hulk' here. The MCU has definitely come up with worse titles over the years. In its entirety, I actually like this movie and find it works for a time when the MCU was still on the horizon, as opposed to what it has become. The only honest criticism I have of it is that I didn't realize I had it until Ruffalo took things over. The way the Hulk character has played out since the first 'Avengers' movie feels a little more self-aware and has a humorous edge to him. Despite this film working fine for what it is, returning to its more serious, dramatic tone can be a little jarring. And although I enjoyed Norton's performance here, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like Ruffalo's performance more. To be fair, though, nothing about the future of the MCU could have been known at this point. On the whole, I place this movie as an upper-middle title within the MCU. There's only so far you can take a Jeckyll & Hyde concept blended with a creature feature before things start to feel cliché. On the other hand, the Bruce Banner side of this is pretty solid, and I feel like they made the right decision by focusing more on Banner than Hulk. That's all just my opinion, though, and I tend to find most people see this movie as just plain old news at this point. I have to admit that, although I enjoy this movie, I get where they're coming from. 3/5 PRE-CREDIT SCENE: Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross sits at a bar, drinking shots and contemplating his newfound "incredible" problems. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) enters and informs him that a team of special people will be put together, hinting once again at a possible 'Avengers' movie that will at least feature Iron Man and the Hulk.  It's hard to imagine, but back around April 2008, a lot of us had mixed feelings about the next superhero title, and the term "superhero fatigue" wasn't quite there, but hovering over us as studio interference made titles like 'X-Men: The Last Stand' and 'Spider-Man 3' relatively weak. When we saw photos and trailers for the upcoming 'Iron Man' movie, though, opinions were a bit split. Was this going to be another weak superhero title, or were they gonna do something "right" this time?
Either way, word of mouth got our butts back in those seats for another superhero romp, and when it was all said and done, complete with a loose tease to the possibility of an 'Avengers' movie, we were just a little mind-blown that the filmmakers took such good care with the project. Of course, we now know how successful this 'Avengers' stuff all became, and now here I am doing an all-out marathon of a total of 37 movies from the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" in preparation for what will be the franchise's 40th film, 'Avengers: Secret Wars.' The world of the MCU begins, however, with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a wealthy weapons manufacturer living with his loyal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). After a test run of something called the Jericho Missile in Afghanistan, Stark's convoy is attacked by weapons of his own making, and he is taken prisoner by a terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings. A fellow captive and doctor named Yinsen (Shaun Toub) fits Stark with an electromagnet that keeps shrapnel from the attack away from his heart, keeping him alive. This eventually becomes the small arc reactor we all know and love. Spoiler alert, but Stark escapes by creating a mechanical suit under the guise of building the Jericho for his captors. Once Tony gets back, he takes a publicity hit by telling the world that the manufacture of weapons will ultimately be on hold until he figures out what he wants to do, likely by looking into clean, safe arc reactor technology. In the meantime, however, his experiences led him to create the Iron Man suit, initially using it as a weapon against terrorists. However, his father's old partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), has other ideas about this new technology. As far as older MCU movies go, this movie holds up perfectly fine. With it being somewhat grounded in more of a real-world scenario, long before the MCU would visit places like Asgard or Knowhere, it managed to kick things off for the MCU almost perfectly by bringing in a broad audience who could appreciate this guy about as much as Batman, who would parallel this film with 'The Dark Knight,' opening up the real tug-of-war between Marvel and DC. Both films are responsible for bringing superhero movies right back to the top. However, 'Iron Man' had something 'The Dark Knight' didn't, and that's the all-around tease for 'The Avengers'. Stark and Potts are followed around by Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) throughout the film, who wants a moment of their time. Once he gets his chance, Coulson clearly states he's from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, better known as SHIELD. On top of that, although a bunch of us missed it at the time, the first MCU post-credit scene came along, involving Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) telling Stark about the potential formation of a team of incredible people. This is still a lot of fun to watch today, and it has aged well because it blends its elements well. It's often humorous but just as frequently dramatic, and once again, its grounding in something more realistic helps make Stark only human and thus easier to root for. We all love a good revenge story, too, and when he first fully uses the suit to attack terrorists, it's probably the most badass scene in the whole movie, even in comparison to the climax. It's nice to see that it's withstood the test of time, even after a couple of decades, which indeed can't be said of some further MCU titles. 5/5 POST-CREDIT SCENE: There is a break-in at the Stark mansion. Tony, checking things out, comes across Director Nick Fury, who lets him in on a secret project SHIELD has been working on called the "Avengers Initiative". This scene provided the spark that set it all in motion.  The Fantastic Four, a classic Marvel property, has always had trouble getting off the ground as a motion picture. For crying out loud, there was a '94 version that never got released because it was so bad, yet it was supposedly the most faithful to the source material. From that, one must wonder how it could ever be anything very successful. These characters are among the most delicate to work around in filmmaking because, at their core, they're downright cheesy and straight out of the '60s.
Much like 'Superman,' these heroes need to be of the more light and colourful variety instead of dark and brooding, which has its place in things like 'Batman' or 'Venom,' but not 'Fantastic Four,' as the 2015 film so brutally illustrated. I always thought the 2005 film was not quite as bad as people let on, but its sequel, 'Rise of the Silver Surfer' dropped the ball entirely with their horrendous take on Galactus. Most critics have the opposite view, but that's just another example of me "going against the grain." All in all, however, 'Fantastic Four' seems to be one of those things destined to fail, unless someone can get the right formula down; enter the MCU's 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' which I think is probably our best 'F4' movie to date because they finally found some filmmakers who thought outside of the box and bring baby Franklin (Ada Scott) into the mix. I'm not gonna get into detail about how that can change everything as we know it in the MCU, but he's a big deal. This story takes place on Earth 828, where the 60s are a little more advanced in technology, and things look like what a 60s-based future may look like to us. However, here, it's around 1964, and The Fantastic Four, consisting of genius scientist Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), his wife, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), best friend and pilot, Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and brother-in-law, Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) are a well-established Avengers-like group for this particular Earth. It's soon revealed that Sue is pregnant. Before we know it, the Silver Surfer, Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner), the Herald for Galactus (Ralph Ineson), shows up, and warns Earth that they've been targeted for extermination. Galactus is a powerful cosmic entity with an insatiable hunger for other planets, chosen by the Surfer. As Earth's protectors, the Fantastic Four head into space to make contact with Galactus and negotiate for the safety of their planet. However, Galactus asks for too high a cost; their son, Franklin, whom Galactus has his reasons for wanting, without giving too much away. What I appreciate about this chapter of the MCU is that nothing gets complicated, and it feels like the film brings things somewhat back to basics. This didn't require any prior TV or film viewings to work. It feels like a good beginning to the end of the Multiverse Saga, introducing us to a whole new yet classic team that we're bound to see fighting alongside our favourite MCU characters in the upcoming 'Avengers' back-to-back. All in all, this was a solid superhero movie, and it finally felt right when it comes to bringing Fantastic Four to the screen, namely with that '60s aesthetic. I enjoyed this for its incredible visual effects, which provided a lot of badass scenes, like, for example, the Silver Surfer riding on a wave of Johnny Storm's fire during a chase sequence. It combined that '60s feel with a powerful cosmic feel incredibly well. As far as the heroes go, they all showcase their abilities quite well, thanks to montages that don't require an extensive origin story. I will say this, however. I went in overhyped, imagining various possibilities and potential outcomes, but didn't quite get what I wanted. But that doesn't mean the film isn't a solid addition to the MCU's recent history. 4/5 |
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