Thor: The Dark World Review

        It was only a matter of time before I talked about this one. Just odd how the second entry within the first two phases where the second entry is the weakest. Now, it’s not downright bad by any means, more so that it was a hard pivot for the character to be more action packed than the Shakespeare inspired first entry. And it would be a recurring thing for the character to have more pivots as we’ll talk about later.

1. Worst of Both Worlds

        As I said earlier, the studio wanted to have the sequel be more action packed. So Kenneth Branagh didn’t come back and they brought in director Alan Taylor to helm the movie. He’s not too well known, only for directing episodes of Mad Men and Game of Thrones. The latter is basically what the whole movie is seemingly going for. It comes at a cost where there’s a lack of wonder and jubilation that we saw with Branagh’s take. 

        Even with how the movie looks, it has that very glum look to it with a brownish tint when we’re in Asgard and a gray look whenever we’re in Earth. Then again London does have a drab look to it. With that, we follow Thor as he tries to restore order within the realms due to Loki destroying the Bifrost Bridge in the prior film. Meanwhile, we get a look at the new villain named Malekith who looks to plunder the universe in darkness with something called The Aether. 

        Also, Jane Foster comes back and becomes tangled with the action. And we have yet another thread involving Loki who’s been punished for his crime invading Earth, inevitably helping Thor as the film continues. So, yeah, we have a lot of things to juggle with in terms of plot. The whole film has a lot going on where Thor is wrestling with the idea of being a King and still having the hots for Jane. 

        But what weighs it down is the other stuff that’s going on that’s world ending. What made the first one so successful is that the whole film is about Thor and him becoming worthy. While also focusing on Loki and his want to become King. All of it worked within the grand scale of both these characters. With the new one, it’s more that Jane is the central figure since she becomes entangled with The Aether.

        I’ll elaborate more on the missed opportunity of Thor and Jane’s relationship, but it’s completely bonkers on why exactly we split time from Asgard to Earth again. Specifically on the new-fangled reason as to why to have them involved. Additionally, every scene on Earth is mostly used for comedic purposes that are hard tone shifts. Like, we see an elaborate funeral for Thor’s mother and how it’s kind of moving, only to smash cut with scene to explain what we already know. 

        But I think it’s worth bringing up on how the movie doesn’t do a good job villain wise. Malekith is basically a by the numbers villain. It’s a massive downgrade from Loki, so much so that Loki is the only saving grace in the film. He continues to be duplicitous that he still wants the throne. Only to help Thor as he wants to take the fight to Malekith. The banter between them is good since it’s continuing from The Avengers, and it can get comedic sometimes. I wished that we would have a moment with them prior to the second half of the movie to basically talk and then lead up to when they reunite. 

2. Love and Blunder

        I feel that the romance part is part of the reason why the movie doesn’t work. It ties itself to the movie when we shift from Asgard to London. But before I get into that, I feel that the missed opportunity was to have a love triangle between Thor, Jane and with Sif. Sif is one of Thor’s friends aside from The Warriors Three. We see her trying to console Thor after a battle but knowing that something is bothering him. 

        I think we only see both Jane and Sif just make eye contact once when Malekith and his army invade Asgard. Aside from that, there’s literally not another moment when they talk. I think the main thing that I have trouble with is that the story basically dictated how Jane reunites with Thor. We see weird gravity stuff where Jane investigates and gets entangled with The Aether. But only when her assistant Darcy tells her something is happening. 

        It would’ve worked I think where Jane takes the initiative and then becomes part of the action that kicks off everything. Setting up a situation with Thor that comes against Asgard and the villain himself. Aside from that, I love how one line basically sums up Jane’s role in the whole film. She’s having a lunch date with a new man, and she says quote: “Why does there have to be a story? There’s no story.

        Perfectly and briefly explain just her forced entry into the film. And I kind of find it ironic where they break up in the sequel. With everything that I’ve mentioned, I want to at least keep it brief where this isn’t one of the strongest sequels in the MCU. But the mid credits scene basically sets the hype for the new entry of heroes. Which we’ll talk about within a week. 

3. Overall

        Thor: The Dark World is the weakest in all of first three phases. It’s supplemental to seeing the third infinity stone, but it can be skipped. 

Iron Man 3 Review

        We are now in Phase 2 of the MCU. Who else to lead the new slate but with Iron Man of course. This would be the first in a lot of them where we see the effects of The Avengers affect the heroes. Naturally, we follow Stark who’s the unofficial mascot of the whole franchise. To me, this is the only good sequel involving just Iron Man. 

1. The Man and his Suits

        Just seeing the trailer, it was going to be a personal one for Tony. Just the shot of seeing his own home being blown up and his suits as well told us that this is going to be a different Iron Man movie than what we are accustomed to seeing. The the film is told via Tony’s narration in a therapeutic way and one can assume that it’s a flashback for Stark. 

        We immediately see him tinkering with his new suit until he gets alerted that a terrorist named The Mandarin is coordinating random bombings. Meanwhile, we see that someone from Stark’s past attempts to partner with his product called Extremis, a revolutionary healing agent. Amid this, Tony is going through a mental psychosis after the battle of New York. 

        The main highlight for this one is seeing Tony going through the motions of what he went through in the last movie. Right down to seeing him not confronting his problem by building his suits. It gets to a point that Pepper calls him out on it and Tony admits that he has a problem and admits that his suits are a part of him. Of course, we have a tease of the suits before the final battle. 

        It’s one thing to have a character attempting to be heroic, and then we have those rare moments of humanity for the character. I’ve only ever seen this with Spider-Man in his trilogy in the 2000s. For here, it’s the first time in the MCU where a character is sort of deconstructed. He has panic attacks and inevitably his own home and suits are taken away from him. It would be a recurring thing within the main Avenger's members solo films where they lose something. I'll bring that up later but it's an observation of what we see in this one. 

        I might as well talk about the deconstruction part. It was a thing I noticed when I watched: this movie, Man of Steel and The Wolverine. All of them to some extent were deconstructions of the main heroes. Since I’ve already talked about Man of Steel a while back, with this one we see if Tony can be a hero without his suits. Since he's a genius and a mechanic, we see him create his own makeshift armory without the need for his suit. 

        People have complaints when he’s in Tennessee and when he meets with the young boy Harley. To me it didn’t really bother me since it helped Tony with his predicament, and it helped progress the overall story. Harley isn’t a standard fan boy but is realistic enough where he keeps it grounded. More so that he reminds Tony of who he is and manages to help him overcome his problem.

        One last thing is that I wanted to mention the director. Shane Black may not be a big name in terms of Hollywood, but he has made an imprint in the action genre. He started as an actor and then turned into a director. This film is a reunion for his first film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Robert Downey Jr. teaming up with him again for this movie. His main thing is his use of buddies in his films. It’s evident with Tony and Harley and with Rhodey respectively. And I talked about his creation Lethal Weapon before it clicked that he created the series.

2. The Mandarin

        Before the twist that split the fanboys, I thought it was a unique take on a classic Marvel villain. Just the way he appears with the broadcasts made him a seemingly invincible threat. Especially where he interrupted all of the broadcasts and threatened the President, like it was a interesting to where it was all going to lead to. Just with how the broadcasts harkens back to the terror group that was featured in the first Iron Man. 

        Then or course we see who “The Mandarin” really is. I remember when my cousin told me that when the whole thing played out in theaters, some members in the audience left in a huff. Completely flabbergasted and disappointed that they didn’t get an authentic villain representation. With how I saw it, it was hilarious since it was a good red herring that I wasn’t expecting. Mind you, I didn’t read the comics so seeing it how it played out and seeing how butthurt some fans were was hilarious. 

        It was then that it all clicked that the whole thing was representative of the whole film. I’m not the only one to say talk about this interpretation but I would like to credit a YouTube channel for reframing the whole film in a new context. With everything that happened in the film, it’s all in the context of imagery and iconography. 

        What I mean is that with how The Mandarin is played out, it’s just a boogeyman for the real villain of the film, Aldrich Killian. He’s someone from Stark’s past who helped with the healing agent. Since it’s volatile, he used the boogeyman to cover his tracks. It’s clever and it represents the villain in the film. He’s the opposite to Tony where his invention is part of him and is prideful as Stark before his capture. 

3. One-Shots

        This is one thing where I didn’t mention back when talking about the Phase 1 films. They’re not prominent in the grand scheme of the films, but just supplemental material. What they are is just short films that help expand on the movies. Such as seeing Agent Coulson talking with an associate about Stark being a consultant. And seeing where Trevor Slattery who portrayed The Mandarin is up to. It’s one thing where he does get brought up again in the later films. 

4. Overall

        Iron Man 3 completes Tony’s arc in the MCU and is a competently good superhero film. 

Marvel's The Avengers Review

        There’s no other way to say that when this movie was coming out, the level of hype was immense. It was the most anticipated film coming out with good reason and it was kicking off the summer slate of 2012. No one could’ve expected just how much of an influence it would have on Hollywood and pop culture in general. I won’t be wax poetic when reminiscing about the theater experience I had with my own Dad. With that, this is what I think about the Phase 1 finale The Avengers. 

1. Assemble

        Where do I even begin starting for this movie. For starters, it’s the finish line for the slate of movies to introduce the characters and the plot threads that was mentioned in the prior films. Part of it did feel like it was squeezed in the entries, but what ultimately made up for it was just the camaraderie of seeing the characters and having them be well rounded where we know who they are and ultimately care about. 

        We see that it picks up after the events of Thor. Loki has been given an army to command at the behest of his shadowy master. After his invasion at a SHIELD location, Col. Fury calls upon the Avengers to assemble. By that, having Agent Coulson, Romanoff and himself getting the heroes ready to stop Loki. 

        If there’s one thing where the film does so well is just how we slowly get a reintroduction to the heroes. While we saw them before, it makes the world livelier to know what it is they’re up to and how they are caught up to speed with everything. Of course, there’s yet another recast with Bruce Banner/The Hulk. Mark Ruffalo does a good job where he’s sort of cautious but he keeps to himself.

        Even the way the movie starts is the only way for the whole thing to work. We get an reintroduction to Loki and that he’s technically not the main villain. But he’s basically doing a favor so he can be a King for another world. Continuing the plot thread from Thor, but here we see how Odinson is attempting to bring back his brother. Not knowing of the overall bargain that Loki did. I really love how Thor didn’t disregard his brother but still loves him even though they aren’t blood. 

        What makes the movie work is the camaraderie of seeing the individual heroes interacting with each other. It’s basically a massive ego trip when Stark interacts with the others. More so than that he wants to know why exactly SHIELD wants them as a team. It’s the individual threads that break away from the main Loki plot where I find it interesting, and it gets brought up again in the future films. Like, it’s one thing where one of Cap’s discovery didn’t click with me when watching his sequel. 

        If there’s one thing where the film sort of fall short is that we don’t have an equal enough screen time for the heroes. I feel as though we mostly focus on the human characters and Thor gets put in the backburner. It’s a tough task regardless that a movie is around two hours but is juggling the character dynamic and screen time. Does it derail the movie, of course not. 

        On the flip side, the secret sauce to how this movie works is to dispense with the team’s win/loss record in the film. What do I mean by this? Well, it would be pretty boring to have the team consistently win against Loki, a brainwashed Hawkeye and the ensuing alien invasion. All of it is peppered in where the team “wins” a small win and loses big when the flying SHIELD helicarrier is damaged. 

        It's one of those things that reminds us that aside from Thor, everyone is human. The final fight is the main highlight of the movie. Additionally, we see how the action sort of ebbs and flows with how the team is fighting against the horde. For one, we see them seemingly winning and of course we have the moment where it’s the opposite. So much so that we see the battle damage that the heroes are taking. 

        Just those moments practically humanize everyone where there’s no God mentality about them, even with a God of Thunder. That sort of thing is why people tune in to see them since they have moments of humility and reflection. It’s a thing to see in retrospect to have a cinematic project that gambled on the idea of caring for heroes no one outside a comic bookstore knows about made an immediate impact on people. 

2. One Great Scene

        Aside from the final fight, I think my favorite scene in the whole film is when the team argues just before Loki initiates his plan. As I mentioned earlier, Stark hacked into SHIELD to find out why they want them. Same with Rogers who makes a terrifying discovery. All of it  boils over when everyone is in the lab and basically start an argument amongst each other. And it works because Loki had a hand in it. 

        It would be one thing where everyone gets chummy and that’s that. What I like that in this one, no one really earns their trust. Everyone is divided instead of being in sync with each other. Which makes the first moment where they’re united such an ironic thing where Tony lets out his spite to Cap. Thor thinks everyone is beneath him when they’re arguing. Right down to Banner admitting that he tried to kill himself and the Hulk spat out the bullet. 

        Everything about is great from the character dynamics to even the camera showing just how dysfunctional everyone is. Just seeing it once again was so uncomfortable since everyone was unloading the dirty laundry of why SHIELD needed them and specifically the camera abetting for the tone that it was trying to go for. One more thing I wanted to add just for the bigger context is that Fury is following orders from a Security Council.

        All of them on the screen are under the shadows and it sort of gives them that power that's even beyond Fury or SHIELD. I honestly wanted to know just thinking about it more if the producer already had in mind that SHIELD was under control from a more quiet malevolent force. Now, that thread involving Rogers finding the weapon is carried over but it's interesting for me that they thought that by assembling the team, they had control over them. 

3. Legacy

        To accurately describe the level of accomplishment the movie did is like this. You couldn’t turn away without seeing a commercial for the film and even get bombarded with the commercials with how many records it broke. Grossing a billion dollars and maintaining its status as one of the highest grossing films aside from Titanic was basically earned. I think this film started an inflection point where now people started to view this realm geekiness as tolerable and normal. Like it has a level of respectability since people came in droves to see these characters and have the unique theater experience. 

        The post credits scene even got everyone hooked, because it was seemingly revealed who the next villain the team would face. Unfortunately, we all had to wait a little while longer for that. While Phase 1 was the introduction to the core team, Phase 2 brought in new elements with new characters that was going to paid off. Especially introducing new plot MacGuffins that would lead into the succeeding Avenger films. Of course, there’s bumpy roads but its something where the journey was more fun than the adventure. 

4. Overall 

        Marvel’s The Avengers is one of the best comic book films and influential films in Cinema. It isn’t high art, but one where it made an immediate impact in the art of celluloid. 

Captain America: The First Avenger

        Out of all the characters in the comic book medium, Captain America has probably the most interesting background. He was created prior to the United States entry to World War 2. Mostly used as propaganda in comic form and then faded into obscurity after the fact. It wasn’t until Marvel had their heyday in the 60s that they brought him back and reinvented him in the contemporary era where he’s a man out of time. This movie is on par with the first Iron Man by showing the man and the origins of the hero.

1. Steve Rogers

        Rounding out the heroes that we’ve seen, it was only natural to introduce the last founding member of the Avengers. We see him small as he attempts to join the armed services. He’s given a chance to try a new serum to be the new super soldier that is needed. Meanwhile, we see the scientific Hydra organization led by Johann Schimdt. They’ve uncovered a new energy source from a cosmic cube which they begin to weaponize it. You know where that whole story thread goes.

        As with Thor, The First Avenger is so different than what the other origin films had going. For one thing it’s a war film fused with a comic book film. That’s why the film has a sepia tone look despite having colors, all of it is muted to reflect the war time. This is one of the examples where it stays true to the time it takes place in. Albeit, there's a more fantastical element since this is a comic book movie, but just the vibe is that it's a war movie.

        Steve Rogers is one of those heroes where he isn’t overtly patriotic, but he simply wants to do good. Seeing his whole story play out as he tries to be enlisted to taking the serum and making a sacrifice is just a clear example of hero that has selfless service written all over him. This isn’t Chris Evans’ first rodeo as far as portraying a hero since he was The Human Torch in Fox’s Fantastic Four duology. He embodies who Rogers is to the T. 

        It was a little jarring seeing Chris Evans’ head in his body double pre-serum. I’ll give credit to the double Leander Denny for at least providing the look. Just the few minutes that we see Steve and his friend Bucky Barnes really emphasize Rogers’ predicament. More so, where in the Stark Expo, we see that Bucky has two girls side by side whereas Steve is just behind him. The little things involving a subtle camera shot to emphasize the underdog nature that Steve has got going for him. 

        For one thing he’s humble even after getting the serum. There are a few scenes of him where he really expands on his personality and it’s the secret sauce to making the people who haven’t heard of him care. For instance, when he meets with the scientist Dr. Erskine, he asks Rogers if he wants to kill Nazis. To which Steve responds that he doesn’t like bullies, it gives us a reason why he wants in. It furthers his character by just having it all be grounded and realistic. Since he's not avenging anyone or humbling up, but that he wants to be a good man. 

        The few moments we see him with Erskine is the most endearing parts. As I mentioned before, we get a reason as to why Steve wants to join the military. Additionally, we see the real reason as to why Erskine chooses him instead of another soldier who’s more physically fit. It showcases in terms of characters just the overall difference between the main hero and the villain. Of course, it’s a trope to have the villain be the opposite, but just the dialogue was good despite having to kill off Erskine. 

        One more thing is that this is probably the only film where it has a great secondary characters. A lot of them are good with what they are given, especially Tommy Lee Jones and Hayley Atwell who portray Colonel Phillips and Agent Carter respectively. I love how Philips was despondent of Rogers that he ultimately earns his respect when he sacrifices himself. Roger’s friend Bucky was good despite having a short appearance, don’t worry he’ll pop up again. 

2. Prop to Hero

        I think the main highlight aside from the action sequences is seeing Steve become a member of the propaganda to prop up morale in the country. To me, it’s utterly ingenious to tie in his beginnings and show how it would happen. Within the context of the story, it makes sense as well once Steve is gifted his newfound strength, how would they apply it?

        Just seeing the montage where he’s sort of nervous and eventually finds his footing with “portraying” Captain America is great. And I love how within the montage we see how it’s more elaborate and we do a hard edit when we see how it doesn’t work within the front lines. It’s clear that Rogers wants to be a hero, but not just a showman. Just seeing him draw a caricature of himself just emphasizes his predicament. 

        The whole act and his own character are representative of his overall character, he’s an underdog. There’s no spectacular background in comparison to his other brethren, he’s just a humble man from Brooklyn who was delt with a bad hand. Once he gets his gift, he’s used to get people to buy war bonds. Just seeing him mount a rescue and confront Schmidt takes a lot of courage. 

        If there’s one detail that I notice whenever he fights against Hydra and their many goons is that the weapons sound like Iron Man’s. I don’t know if that was used as a sort of stock sound effect, but I would be hard pressed to know if they used that sound to eventually set up the differences between Stark and Rogers. We got a lot of ways to go to talk about Cap’s third film, but it’s one of things where I pay close attention and I don’t know if it was deliberate. 

3.     Payoff

        With the films that we just watched, it only begs the question if the following film would pay off. Well, I won't sugar coat what I think about the prior entries, I mean I tore Iron Man 2 to shreds I think, but it's important to note that world building must constantly rely on the characters. Having it be where it's mostly just set up slightly derails the whole approach. What matters more is seeing the characters and prep them up to when they'll meet the others. 

        With the individual characters that was just introduced, it could've gone in any direction. That's why when we invest more in the characters, we see how they gel and how they'll inevitably fight. It's a battle of the egos for one thing and how they will act heroic when the time comes. All of it, I feel is the ultimate payoff with what the franchise went for. It got shaky due to creative meddling, but the fodder was tossed with more character development, which we'll get to come the next film. 

4. Overall

        Captain America: The First Avenger rounds up the introductions to perfectly set up the following film. As a stand-alone it’s a great film but underrated given the context of the first phase of the MCU.