Films of Marvel Comics 1998-2014
By: TFG1Mike
So I’ve already talked about The Films Of DC….
The Marvel Comics films for most people have been hit or miss. There have been blockbusters, and then there have been complete and utter failures. I like a lot of the Marvel character films, and in this bunch there are only two I have not seen. One film I refuse to see, and the other I want to, just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
This is solely an opinion piece, I’m not covering all the history of each of these films.
I’m gonna be giving my opinions on the films I have seen, and just my first impressions on the ones I have not seen. A lot of people gripe at me that I don’t watch things and have a “uninformed” opinion on them. That I judge films by trailers. Well that’s what trailers are for goddamnit. There are some films I’m absolutely stoked for, and then there are others that the trailers make me cringe. I will not waste money on films I have no interest in seeing in the theater. Hell there are even some that I won’t waste a dollar on at RedBox, because said film just isn’t my thing.
Also note for the Marvel films, most of my knowledge comes from the 90’s Marvel cartoons.
Just so you know I’m only focusing on the comic book/superhero mainstream franchise live action films released to theaters. AND. HERE. WE. GO.
1998: Blade
Wikipedia states that this is a vampire superhero action film. OK I can go with that, and I know the Blade films are not considered true Horror films, but this as close to the Horror genre I ever wanna get. Reasons for the statement I just made I’ll talk about in a future blog post.
So Blade, the only exposure I had to this character was his brief appearance in the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon. I’ve always been a fan of Wesley Snipes acting, so this was a no brainer for me. This is the way a true vampire big screen film should be, not that sparkly bullshit.
Blade is the DayWalker he has all the strengths, but none of the weakness of a vampire. Stephen Dorff and Kris Kristofferson also stars as Frost the villain, and Abraham Whistler, Blade’s mentor respectively.
I really enjoyed Blade for the most part, outside of the scenes that made me jump. Yes I did see this in the theater. The action sequences are amazing.
2000: X-Men
“You actually go outside in these things?”
“What would you prefer Blue and Yellow spandex?”
This film was the 1992 X-Men cartoon brought to life for me. YES I LIKE THE 92 X-MEN CARTOON!!! GET OVER IT! At the time when I’d heard that this film was being made, I was cautiously optimistic. I had a vision of what the X:TAS characters were in my head, and I was wondering how Bryan Singer would bring the classic mutants to life.
Well with actors such as James Marsden, Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin, Famke Jansen, Halle Berry, Sir Ian McKellan, and Sir Patrick Stewart in the cast, this film is set to be awesome! When I saw the film it was like the XTAS came to life for me. Sir Patrick Stewart is now known for two of the best characters ever! Those being Captain Picard and Professor X! Sir Ian McKellan’s Magneto was and still is to this day amazing. James Marsden pulled off the perfectly cool, yet emo Scott Summers. Anna Paquin as a young Rogue didn’t really do it for me. I mean going from this sexpot….
to this confused teenager…. nahhh
I love how Singer nailed the love triangle between Jean, Scott, and Logan. Speaking of Logan Hugh Jackman will forever be the best Wolverine ever in live action.
There was an X-Men 1.5 DVD release as well that gave a sneak peek at x-2.
Overall X1 is one of my favorite Marvel films, I’m sure there are nitpicks, and other issues, however looking at the wide scope this was a very well executed film.
2002:
OK so Marvel, Fox, and Sony started releasing multiple films in one year between 2002-2005. So between those years I’ll have each film under that years entry.
Blade II
Here we have the continuing adventures of Blade. This time around he has been searching for his mentor Whistler who survived his suicide attempt in the first film. Now a epidemic is spreading through the vampire community the Reaper Virus, which changes and gives new characteristics to vampires.
Blade II is a nice follow up to the original. I think that it takes vampirism to a whole new level with the Reapers. Boiled down to one sentence though it’s a science experiment film. While I can rewatch Blade 1 from time to time, I tend to skip over Blade 2.
Spider-Man
As X-Men was the launchpad for the Marvel current era films. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man was the Marvel Universe explosion in film. My only gripe about this first Spidey film is the crappy Goblin mask. Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Willem Dafoe, J.K. Simmons, Cliff Robertson, and Rosemary Harris round out the main cast.
I liked Maguire’s Spider-Man, but his parker was on nerd overload in my opinion. I understand that’s how Peter Parker is, but looking back on this film, I felt Tobey just put wayyy too much nerd into Peter. I guess that was to balance out the quips as Spidey. Joe Manganiello whose career has taken off since this film, plays Flash Thompson.
The action and effects in this are very well done, and Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osbourne/Green Goblin is a very unique acting job. The Spidey/Gobby fights are great. I think what I love most about this film is the Spidey vs J. Jonah Jameson aspect. J.K. Simmons is the DEFINITIVE JJJ. The other thing I loved was BONESAW!!!! EVERYONE LOVED BONSAW!!!!!
BONESAW ISSSSS READDYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!
Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott lead singers of Nickelback and Saliva respectively lead this soundtrack off with Hero. Again another thing that sucked me into the film, and soundtrack was where I found Theory Of A Deadman.
Speaking of music, this film franchise is scored by Danny Elfman. Who also scored Batman 1989. I love how Elfman’s score gave the first movie an even more epic feel.
I’ve told this story before, however I’ll tell it again. In 2002 on opening day of this film I saw the movie six times in one day. First off because I really loved it, secondly I was having a huge fight with my now ex girlfriend and didn’t wanna go home, and thirdly I just loved the film so much. I bought one ticket then theater hopped the other five times.
2003:
This year had 2 awesome comicbook films, and one that was Crouching Tiger with a Hulking Dragon.
Daredevil – Theatrical and Director’s Cut of the Film
I saw this on opening day February 14, 2003 with my mom, cousin Rachael, and her future husband Joe. Actually Rach and Joe got married the very next day.
Theatrical Cut Thoughts:
For what it is the theatrical cut of Daredevil was kinda amazing to me. Just the way they made blindness a visual medium. Being someone who has been classified as “legally blind” my entire life I can relate a bit to the whole having to use the other senses. Granted my eyesight is not totally gone, but there are moments where I do feel blind. This focuses on the story of Matt Murdock a blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen.
Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Colin Farrell, Jon Favreau, and Joe Pantoliano star in this. Affleck really brings Matt Murdock to life I think, as does each of the rest of the cast in their respective roles. I mean Michael Clarke Duncan as Wilson Fisk, just WOW! That was an amazing performance. Colin Farrell as Bullseye was great too, and this was the first film where he could actually use his real Irish accent.
The wire work and effects in this are very well done, but they aren’t on such a grand scale as say a Spider-Man film. I am not saying that they are bad, it’s just that in this they are more subtle. I really enjoyed that.
The movie runs the gambit of beginning, middle, and ending. However I will say that at times the film seemed very fast paced. One of the things that I was absolutely stoked for when it came to Daredevil was the soundtrack. With bands like Fuel, The Calling, Saliva, Nickelback, 12 Stones, and breakout stars in the band Evanescence. The soundtrack was made to rock. Heck during the film in the bar scene where Nickelback’s Learn The Hard Way plays I had to do a triple take, because in the film they slow the song down. It was just so awesome.
A final thought for the theatrical cut: it gets wrapped up in a bow too fast.
Director’s Cut Thoughts:
While the theatrical cut gave us the general origin story, Bullseye, The Kingpin, and more…. The Director’s Cut tells a much better story. The added footage of Coolio as a client of Matt’s really wraps this film up nicely. If I was to watch a version of Daredevil it would be the Director’s Cut.
X-2
Enter The Dark Phoenix….. oh is that a spoiler?
I seems that Marvel knows how to make sequel films very well. X-2: X-Men United continues the story of Professor X’s X-Men and Magneto’s brotherhood. It also shines a light on Wolverine’s origins. X-2 has great character development between the first film, and what is in this sequel. We also get introduced to Nightcrawler, and Stryker. The conflict between humans and mutants is on the rise in this film. Magneto wants to use Cerebro to eliminate all humans, while Stryker wants to use it to eliminate all mutants.
This film has sooo many plot points, and multiple stories going on, but it feels like it is all a part of one giant sized X-Men story. I love the X-Mansion invasion, the bits with Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike, as well as the Magneto escape from jail.
There was an X-2.5 DVD that had a look at X-3.
Overall X-2 is one of the best Marvel films that has been made. Fox and Bryan Singer really knew what they were doing with the first two X-Men movies.
Hulk
My only two exposures to The Hulk before this film were the 1996 animated series, and the 1978 TV series with Lou Ferrigno. What’s the first thing you think of when you see the name Ang Lee? For me it’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A film I am not that much a fan of. So when it was announced that Ang Lee would be directing the first Hulk movie, my first thought was oh great Crouching Thunderbolt, hidden Hulk.
This is not a good movie at all. Is it the worst thing in the Marvel line of live action films? No, but it does rank up there. I will say that Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross was great.
2004:
Ahh 2004 the year we get punished with a trinity of Spider-Men. See what i did there?
The Punisher
Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Rebecca Romijn, Will Patton, Roy Scheider, among others star in this telling of Frank Castle’s story.
Theatrical Cut:
This film is by far the superior Punisher movie in my view. I loved the locales that they used, the action and acting are all well done. The story flows very well, however it’s very police procedural like to me. I say that as a compliment, because I like that style of storytelling.
Again the soundtrack is a promotional piece for this, just as the soundtrack for Daredevil was for that film. Nickelback, Seether Featuring Amy Lee, Drowning Pool, 12 Stones, and more comprise the soundtrack.
This film was more real then the other Marvel superhero films. One reason is Frank Castle has no powers, he is Marvel’s Batman, but he doesn’t mind killing.
This is definitely a movie I watch for the sheer enjoyment of it all.
Extended Cut DVD:
The only difference between this and the theatrical cut is that we find out that it was Jimmy who sold Castle out to Howard Saint. Then Frank essentially leads Jimmy to commit suicide. This extended cut adds 17 minutes of additional footage.
Spider-Man 2
Enter The Octopus!
After the blockbuster hit that was Sam Raimi’s first Spidey movie, there is Spider-Man 2. Now you’ve seen in this post I separate the theatrical cut from the extended ones. I’m not gonna do that here for two reasons. Reason 1 is that there is only 8 minutes of additional footage on the extended cut, and reason 2 is there are completely different bonus features on the Spider-Man 2.1 DVD.
Spider-Man 2 sees the introduction of Dr. Otto Octavius aka Dr. Octopus aka Doc Ock. The plot centers around Peter dealing with his superhero duties versus normal life. We also see the story of how Doc Ock was created. We see how Otto really just wanted to further science, but everything went wrong when he couldn’t control the experiment, and unintentionally killed his wife. Carrying over from the end of the first film is the Harry story of how he thinks Spider-Man killed his father.
The new cast in this is perfect. With Alfred Molina as Doc Ock and Dylan Baker as Dr. Curt Connors. The returning cast members all do a superb job as well. This just goes to show ya when you have a great cast, amazing storytelling, wildly awesome special effects, there can be a goddamn awesome comic book/superhero movie.
I freakin loved Spidey 2, it is a film that has heart, and furthers Peter’s story. It has every aspect that a Spidey film should have. We get more quips between Spidey and JJJ, amazing action set pieces, a thrilling score by Danny Elfman, and a villain that seems ripped from the pages of the comics.
Blade: Trinity
So Blade III…. I enjoyed it more then the second film, and I think it’s on par with the first film. The basic plot is Dracula aka Drake is the villain this time around. This makes sense for a film series based on a vampire hunter. The plot of the vampires is to have homeless humans in medically induced comas, so they can feed on their blood for all time. Blade learns of a cirus called Daystar, but in order for it to kill all vampires he must infect Drake. The reason being is the Drake is the purest of all vampires.
Now there are apparently three different endings for this:
Theatrical ending: As Blade fought honorably, Drake gives him a “parting gift” by transforming his body into a replica of Blade’s just before he dies. The FBI captures the body of who they think is Blade and thus call off their manhunt for Blade. In the morgue Blade’s body reverts into that of Drake’s. Hannibal’s voiceover tells the viewer that Blade is still out doing what he does, having rejected Drake’s hopes of him prolonging the vampire race, and that the war will never end.
Unrated ending: The body captured by the FBI is Blade, but he’s not really dead. He sits up abruptly in the morgue, attacks the FBI agents, and appears ready to bite a nurse on the neck. The ending is ambiguous as to whether Blade is actually Drake surviving The Daystar Virus or the real Blade retaining his humanity or giving in to his vampire thirst, or becoming the new vampire messiah as Drake predicted. This is the ending seen on the director’s cut of the film, and commentary on the DVD indicates it was the ending director Goyer intended.
Werewolf ending: The Daystar virus circles the globe and wipes out all vampires. Blade walks off into the sunset, his long battle finally over. The final shot is of the Nightstalkers battling a new enemy… werewolves. This version of the ending was used in the novelization of the film and is included on the DVD as an extra;[citation needed], it was rejected for use in the film itself early on in production, due to similarities to the vampires versus werewolves in the Underworld series, the discontinuity with the back story, and for simply being too silly in Goyer’s opinion.[1]
I have only ever seen the theatrical ending, and hearing about the unrated ending I can see why some people might like that line of the end of the story. I felt what was used in the theatrical version was a decent ending. That Werewolf bullshit was just too silly, and I’m glad that they never used it.
Overall Blade: Trinity has a great story, well done acting yes even by Ryan Reynolds, I loved Jessica Biel in this, and holy shit Triple H as a Vampire… who da thunk it? Wesley Snipes steps up his game as Blade also, I loved all the new gadgets and weapons that were used.
2005:
In the mainstream of comic book/superhero movies for Marvel in 2005 we have the following two films. One which I’ll never ever ever watch ever again, and the other that I quite enjoyed seeing, and can watch on repeat viewings.
Elektra
WORST COMIC BOOK MOVIE EVER!
Elektra should have stayed dead at the end of Daredevil I think. This film felt like a badly translated Bourne story, that has a female assassin with necromancy and precognitive powers.
The targets she is intended to kill well of course she saves them, because the daughter of the guy is just like her. Abby is essentially the Neo of this film. Meaning that she is the chosen one yadda yadda yadda.
Elektra to me felt like a cash grab, there was no heart in the film at all. Granted Jennifer Garner looks hot as all get out in red leather, but to me this film never fucking happened.
I triple dog dare anyone to attempt and succeed at changing my mind about this pile of shit.
Fantastic Four
My only exposure to the Fantastic Four before this was the 1994 cartoon, which I did enjoy. The reason I enjoyed the FF 94 cartoon was because it made me want to read the comics as a kid.
The film follows the main plot of how the FF and Dr. Doom were created.
The cast I thought really brought the characters to life. Especially Chris Wvans and michael Chiklis as Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. Jessica Alba adds the eye candy and the calmness of Sue Storm, and Ioan Gruffudd brings the wacky, yet brainy scientist bit to the FF. While Jullian McMahon embodies what Doc Doom is minus the accent.
There was an extended editioon DVD done, it added 20 minutes of additional footage. This footage focussed on Human Torch’s failed womanizing, Doc Doom’s manipulations of the team, and Ben’s blossoming relationship with Alicia. While the theatrical cut is an amazing movie, I gotta go with the extended cut as my choice to watch. It adds more to the story, and I like that.
I love the friendship/rivalry between Ben and Johnny, it’s lighthearted, fun, and yet serious all at the same time. The special effects were very well done I thought, and the buildup of how the teams powers emerge is great.
2006: X-Men: The Last Stand
Again I know I’m in the minority of people who like this film. I will agree that there are way too many stories going on. Between Jean’s, Warren’s, and all the other stories going on X-3 just doesn’t flow that well. On top of that Brett Ratner is in the director’s chair this time around.
I did like all the action in the movie, I absolutely loved Kelsey Grammer as Beast, even though he was kinda under used. There was too much politics, not enough fighting with Beast. The sad thing is I can watch X-3 more times than X-2. I think the reason why is because X-2 mainly focuses on Wolverine’s backstory. There’s only so many times you can watch that.
I am by no means say X-3 is better than X-2, it most definitely is not. However the larger scale and scope of X-3 is why I like it so much.
2007:
This year is filled with fantastical ghostly Spider Surfers!
Ghost Rider
Let me get this out there right now. For me there are Nicolas Cage films I like, love, and others I just won’t watch. I do enjoy a majority of Nic Cage movies, but moreso the ones where he’s there, and not the real focus. Like Con Air, sure he is one of the main characters, but he is stuck in the story.
Anyways Ghost Rider. I did not see this in theaters, and I do not regret that. I actually think that the first time I saw the film it was the extended cut DVD. Again my only exposure to Ghost Rider was when he appeared in the 1996 Hulk cartoon. So this was a jumping off point for me getting to know the character.
It amazes me how accurate the young casting is to the adult casting. Those kids look just like the young versions of Cage and Mendes. There are some films that cast kids, in the young roles, that look nothing like the adult actors.
I did enjoy the look of Ghost Rider, and the effects that were used. However in the overall scope of Marvel films, it isn’t one I’ll step up and say, “hey lets watch Ghost Rider!”
Spider-Man 3
The final chapter in the RaimiVerse. I know a lot of people can’t stand this film. They say that there are too many villains, that the film is poorly paced, and that either Venom should have never been in it, or vice versa in the favor of The Sandman.
I did see this on opening day, at the time I was so hyped from Raimi’s first two Spidey films. I was super excited to see what would happen in SM3. I can still enjoy this on a “popcorn movie” level. The symbiote effects are cool, and fight scenes are well done. I also love the team up scene at the end when Harry and Peter are quipping back and forth to each other.
Those are really the only good things I can say about the film. Tobey Maguire’s performance of arrogant Peter is annoying as hell to me. Going from the Super geeked out Peter in SM1 to the arrogance that the suit infuses him with is just irritating. I understand the story of the black suit and all that, but Tobey Maguire made it annoying. The little bits of him being flashy towards women are fine, but the dancing ugh. Shoot me now.
So Danny Elfman did not do the scoring in this one, yet it feels like he did. I have to commend Christopher Young on the scoring in this. The Spidey 3 score is just wonderfully well done. I think this is my favorite scored film out of the RaimiVerse. The reason why I say that is Young paid attention to the tiny moments in the film with musical notes. It was just genius composing.
I understand that Raimi didn’t want Venom in the movie, and that was the studio forcing it one him. I think that if they toned down the Flint Marko story to maybe the first five minutes of the film, and then focused on Brock and the symbiote it would have made a better movie.
Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer
OK let’s get this outta the way now. YES even I questioned Galactus being a cloud! However I have heard that if there was a third FF film under Tim Story that he would have been an actual character.
The plot of the sequel here boils down to the Surfer coming as Galactus’s herald to prepare the Earth for destruction. Meanwhile Doc Doom is back, and wants to harness the Surfers powers. The other plotline in this is that Reed and Sue are getting married. Apparently Stan is not on the guest list lol.
I love all the effects in this one once again. I think the surfer was very well executed. Seeing the Fantasti-Car was great as well. I even loved Doom as the Surfer, that was damn cool. I again really enjoy the Ben Vs Johnny playfulness. And at the end when Johnny had the entire team’s powers that was well fantastic!!!!
2008:
The year that a Dark Knight fought an Iron Man. Obviously dark knight made more, but it was truly a Marvel Vs DC year in film.
Iron Man
Comic-Con exploded when this was announced. The first thing I thought of was oh hey Foggy Nelson is directing! For those that don’t remember Jon Favreau was in Daredevil. I did see this in theaters on opening day. I thought the film was incredible. The funny thing is the only role I really remembered Robert Downey, Jr. in was in the 1989 Cybill Shepard film Chances Are. So RDJ is Tony Stark/Iron Man, a role I thought he did very well in. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the ever loyal Pepper Potts, Terrence Howard plays Rhodey, although he never gets a chance to become War Machine. Jeff Bridges is the conniving, sneaky, underhanded business man Obadiah Stane. JARVIS is voiced by Paul Bettany, who does a comical yet serious job in the role. There’s also Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, whom I really didn’t care for at first, but he grew on me, Shaun Toub as Dr. Yinsen, Leslie Bibb as Christine from Vanity Fair, and Faran Tahir as Raza, who is leader of a terrorist group called The Ten Rings. So far that has been the only reference to The Mandarin.
If I really broke it down to a simple sentence Spider-Man 1 and Iron Man 1 are kinda the same. Granted they are two completely different characters, but honestly look at Peter and Tony. They both are irresponsible people, and then they realize they must be responsible. I only bring this up because that’s what I noticed after multiple viewings of both films.
The action, effects, and suits are amazing. The story of redemption for Tony, and trying to keep himself alive are all well present. The aerial battle between Tony and the jets was great, the chemistry between all the actors makes this movie so much fun. The lines that Tony has, and the overall scope of the film make this so well received. Everyone wanted to be in that suit, and no one will ever deny that.
I freakin loved the score done by Ramin Djawadi. It was such great instrumental music that fit the film so well.
I don’t think that there is a bad thing I can say about Iron Man.
The Incredible Hulk
Oh yay another Hulk film.
This one I actually enjoyed, well enjoyed for what it is. I have always liked comedic hulk, like in The Super Hero Squad Show. I’ve never really had any attachment to the character at all. I did not see this one in theaters.
The plot of this Hulk movie centers around Thunderbolt Ross wanted to recreate the “super soldier” forumla that gave birth to Captain America. Thundervolt Ross enlists the help of Bruce Banner, but the experiment goes wrong, and Banne is exposed to gamma rays. This eventually turns him into the Hulk. As we all know the angrier Banner gets the stronger he gets, and becomes the Hulk.
As far as the casting in this, I like Ed Norton as Banner, but I think Eric Bana did a better job of it in the 2003 Hulk. Although Liv Tyler is hot as hell, and I love her as an actress I feel that Jennifer Connelly is a better Betty Ross. Tim Roth is an amazing villain in this as Emil Blonsky/Abomination. I thought that he really brought the character to life. This marks the third time Lou Ferrigno has voiced the Hulk. I think that is why I liked this movie so much more then the 2003 version.
The effects and visuals are great in this for what they are. I guess I just wasn’t that into Hulk films.
Punisher: War Zone
SECOND WORST MARVEL COMIC BOOK MOVIE EVER!!!!!!!
WORST COMIC BOOK REBOOT EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like action films and violence to a certain extent, this film just went overboard on the violence. Ray Stevenson does not have the saddened and heartfelt emotion that Thomas Jane had as Frank Castle. And while reading up on the film I realize why. Because this has the feel of a sequel. Even though it’s not, it is just a reboot. UGH Just by the trailer and other TV Spots when this came out I knew I wasn’t gonna like it. To this day I have never seen it, and only would give it a slight chance if it was on netflix.
I understand the Punisher is a vigilante and all, but holy christ this film should have been rated NC-17 not R. Granted The Punisher back in 2004 was rated R, but that had just enough violence to make it an R rated film. This film takes violence to a whole new gruesome level.
Let us just move on and NEVER speak of this again.
2009: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I love Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, but even I as a X-Franchise lover was skeptical about BONE CLAWS! It’s safe to say I didn’t feel compelled to see this in the theater like the other X-Men films. Hell I think i even waited until I had a FREE RedBox rental code in order to see it. Yeah now that I think about it I didn’t see this until the middle of 2010.
The action was great in this. Hugh Jackman brought it as he always does with playing Wolverine. This is not however a film I will actively rewatch. The plot was sooo far under subpar, that it really is a bad Wolverine movie.
I think I’m just sick of Wolverine’s origin in film by now. Move on tell other stories from Wolverine’s life damnit.
2010: Iron Man 2
After the blockbuster success that Jon Favreau had with Iron Man, he follows up with Iron Man 2. I was super stoked for this sequel. I had as much fun watching it in the theater as the first film. I think why this is, is because I have a connection to the storyline of Iron Man 2. That connection being Season 2 of the 1994 Iron Man cartoon. The armor wars story to be exact, because that is what IM2 is. Well there’s also Whiplash, but sadly he and his story were underutilized.
As far as the acting, RDJ is great as Tony once again. Bringin in Don Cheadle as Rhodey this time around I was very skeptical, because I did like Terrence Howard’s performance. However I do feel that Cheadle fills the role of War Machine very nicely. As far as Sam Rockwell goes as Justin Hammer, I think he did good playing the loser, underhanded business man without a real plan. However the douche baggery of the character shines through. Dancing? Really?!! Cmon!!! I love the Gary Shandling cameo that was funny as hell. Mickey Rourke as Whiplash was great, but as I said before very underutilized. Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury, and Scarlett Johanson plays Natalie Rushman aka Natasha Romanoff. The new cast is very well put together with the returning cast, and I have no issues with the choices.
The action is well paced, and superbly done. I loved the silver armor in the Monaco scene, I love the fact that they bring in the story of Howard Stark as well. Just the whole angle of the current way Tony lives is killing him, and he needs to find a new way I really thought that it made the film heartfelt.
Iron Man 2 is definitely one I can rewatch for the sheer enjoyment of it.
2011:
Thor
Shhhhhh don’t tell anyone, but I never ever paid to see this. How I saw Thor was someone sent me a link to a ustream channel where it was being broadcast live. Now I do not condone bootlegging anything, but hey I was sent the link, it wasn’t like I sought it out. Even if I saw Thor the legal way it wouldn’t have been in theaters. I would have waited til the DVD hit.
Like Hulk, I prefer comedic Thor in The Super Hero Squad Show.
To me this film felt like a bad He-man sequel. Loki is adora, Thor is Adam, and the frost giants are the evil horde. And Padme, oh I mean a wimpy damsel version of Teela, oh wait I mean Jane Foster is caught in the middle.
Other then bringing Thor into the marvel films continuity for Avengers, this movie for me is just blah. The plot sucks, yet the action and effects are good. Maybe it’s because I never had a connection with the Thor chacter, but I just don’t get how anyone can be excited about this film. I’d say it is a bad movie just under Elektra and Punisher: War Zone. Hell you even have Ray Stevenson in this as Volstagg.. uh WHAT?
Chris Helmsworth does a great job acting as Thor, I barely recognized Anthony Hopkins as Odin. Tom Hiddelston as Loki was a very well done acting job. Stellan Skarsgard as Selvig was cool, partially because I think the last time I saw the actor was in Good Will Hunting and The Glass House.
The special effects in Thor are well done, and that’s all I really liked about it. The action scenes were great, but great action scenes don’t make up for a bad plot. Thor is not a film I’ll actively rewatch.
X-Men: First Class
When I first heard about this, I was hoping for an X-4, and the further adventures of the team in the first three X-Men films. When I found out it was taking place before X1, I was ok with it. For the simple reason is that I love origin stories. Sadly I did not see it in the theater, and honestly I’m not regretting that choice. At the time it didn’t feel like “MY” X-Men movie, like the previous three felt to me.
So talking about the cast and characters, we have James McAVoy and Michael Fassbender as Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr respectively. I like the casting of these two, because it’s going back to a time when they were friends. X-Men are now part of the 26 million degrees of Kevin Bacon who plays Sebastian Shaw. Rounding out the rest of the cast we have, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Oliver Platt, Ray Wise, and many others as well. Hell even Hugh Jackman does a cameo as Wolverine, that was funny. I know I didn’t list every single actor or actress who are the new mutants in the film, but there were a lot of them!!! I did enjoy the dynamic between all members of the team.
Everyone was blown away by the trailers for this, or at least the people I talked to. I was blown away by how cool the story seemed to flow very well. I did not feel like this was a astonishing reboot for the X-Films. Now don’t jump down my throat here, I felt that it was a great X-Men film, just as I liked X-3. But it did not jump out at me as this could be a whole new direction that they were going in. This felt like it fit before X-1. However this does Beast sooo much better than was done in X-3, and it pains me to say that because I loved Kelsey Grammer as Beast.
The action and set pieces were wonderfully done, and all the special effects were very visually stunning. Kevin Bacon plays an amazing Shaw, however this film jumped the shark for me the moment Bacon put the helmet on. That was just tooo cheesy with bacon!!!!! I did really love all the jokes and great lines Fassbender and McAvoy got with Xacier and Erik. It really showed the friendship that they had, and when the line was drawn in the sand as they each went their own way.
Overall I enjoyed X-First Class, but it wasn”t mind blowing for me. It was just another great Marvel superhero film. It is something I would rewatch.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Cap has never been a character I was very exposed to. Outside of his brief apparances in the Spider-Man 1994 cartoon. I loved the comical portrayal in The Super Hero Squad Show, and I’ve seen several of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heros episodes with cap.
We’ve seen before within this post that Fox/Sony/Marvel whomever, reuses actors. I have to admit when I first heard Chris Evans was gonna be Steve Rogers, I was like wait why is Johnny Storm gonna be Captain America? I did not think negatively about him being cast, it just threw me for a loop. After seeing the film, I have to admit Chris Evans is Captain America! I think his acting skills were used so well, that you almost forget he was Johnny Storm. Although when the FF films get the reboot treatment I wish he’d return to be Johnny.
Hugo Weaving IS THE RED SKULL!! Hugo Weaving I first noticed him as Agent Smith in The Matrix Trilogy, then as the voice of Megatron in the Transformers live action films. The film also stars Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips, and so many more. I think all the roles were cast very well.
As far as the plot I thought it flowed very well, and the action sequences were awesome. It was great seeing Evans’s transformation from Steve Rogers into Cap. I thought that was a neat twist on getting powers, this time not a radioactive spider, or gamma rays, but a serum that was tailored to create a super soldier. Captain America is a character that reminds me of Superman, but without all the added powers of flight, x-ray, heat vision, and ice breathe. I mean seriously they both stand for truth, justice, and the american way, they both can jump high as hell, and both have super strength. Cap vs the Red Skull has always been a classic battle, and this film brought an amazing version of that to the big screen.
Overall Captain America: The First Avenger is a film I really enjoyed, and will watch again.
2012:
Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance
I’ve yet to see this one, I know people have bad mouthed it, but I liked the first film enough to check this out eventually.
The Avengers
My first statement after seeing this on opening day was, “DC TAKE NOTES A TEAM UP MOVIE CAN WORK DAMNIT!”
Marvel has been building us up to this, they’ve done it gradually, and it has been amazing! You have RDJ, Chris Evans, Chris Helmsworth, Scarlett Johansen, Samuel L. Jackson, and Hiddelston all reprise the roles they’ve done in the films leading up to this. With newcomers in Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk and Jeremy Renner as Haawkeye. The cast is very solid! Every role is well acted, and I love all the quips and comedy bits in the performances.
I’ve never really been a fan of the Avengers team dynamic, I blame that shitty United We Stand cartoon. Before researching some of the team’s history, I knew more about the Justice League then the Avengers. I do like each of the team members individually though. After Thor and Captain America I knew Loki would be the villain in this, but I was like Loki? Really? what can he do? Maybe it was the fact that I’ve had more experience in seeing the DC BIG Villains then Marvel’s villains I dunno, however after seeing the film I was pleasantly surprised in what Loki attempted to accomplish. Basically he makes a deal with The Other to get the Tesseract for him, and in exchange he’ll get an army to invade and conquer the Earth.
Because Joss Whedon directed The Avengers I can’t help but flash to his other work. Specifically Angel, because in Avengers we have a similar storyline. In Angel they made Fred’s death matter, and here in Avengers they are gonna make Coulson’s death matter, by savin the world. Just because I’m connecting these two plots, does not mean I’m saying it’s a bad thing. Everyone who has watched a Whedon show any of them, knows someone always dies.
I only saw the Thanos after credits scene, and my interest is peaked as to where the film story will go from here.
I loved all the action pieces, and the special effects. I thought that Hulk was very well done, and of course you know Iron Man is gonna bring it. I think what stood out to me were Black Widow and Hawkeye’s stunts. They were very well executed, and Hawkeye being an archer I really love that aspect of the team.
Overall Marvel’s The Avengers is the best superhero team up film ever. The story was well thought out, and there wasn’t a dull moment in the film. I will definitely be watching this again
The Amazing Spider-Man
Well I did just review this, but I’ll try saying something different here.
I think I’ve cut Spidey a lot of slack in film. I’m in the minority that actually enjoys Spider-Man 3 for what it was, and I definitely agree that it needed a reboot. However most of the people I’ve been talking with say the reboot came too son off the heals of SM3. I disagree with this, it’s been 5 years since SM3, and 10 years since SM1. I am glad that there is a new Spidey Film now.
The new casting choices I agree with wholeheartedly, and I even prefer Garfield over Maguire as Peter and Spidey. Thank fucking god Gwen got recast. Having Martin Sheen and Sally Field as slightly younger versions of uncle Ben and aunt May is good, Denis Leary as Captain Stacy works too, however I think the only recasting that threw me for a loop was Dr. Curt Connors. I understand why he was recast with Rhys Ifans versus using Dylan Baker again. However as Dr. Connors I liked Dylan Baker’s acting job better. I think the reasoning for that is that the Connors in ASM doesn’t feel like a sympathetic character or a real villainous threat.
Basic plot for ASM in a nutshell is Peter essentially creates the Lizard by giving Connors the equation to get the formula to work. Throughout the entire film there are hints at Norman Osborn, but he is never seen. It seems that he is pulling the strings though. Once Connors goes mad as the lizard he wants to have everyone be lizard people. This is reminding me of Power Rangers Dino Thunder where Mezzagog wanted to return the earth to prehistoric ages. Oh wait this plot is also seen in that 1990 classicly hated video game film Super Mario Brothers where Koopa wants the dinosaurs to take over the world. Lizard damage… nah Dino damage sounds better.
I thoroughly enjoyed the special effects and action in Amazing Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield’s acting as both Peter and Spidey is very well done. Overall I’ll be watching this again.
2013, 2014, and Beyond:
Iron Man 3, The Wolverine, Thor 2, Captain America 2, ASM 2, and X-First Class 2, are all stated as being in development. Obviously only time will tell on how these future movies are done.
I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with IM3, ASM 2, Avengers and Cap America 2. Thor 2 is meh for me, and X-Second Class or whatever the X-Men sequel will be called I’m also looking forward to seeing what is done with the story.
Now we need to talk about…..Stan Lee The Master of the Cameo:
Stan has had cameos in almost all the superhero based films. I always enjoy catching when Stan appears. Here’s a list of his cameos.
In X-Men (2000), Lee appears as a hotdog stand vendor on the beach when Senator Kelly emerges naked onshore after escaping from Magneto.
In Spider-Man (2002), he appeared during Spider-Man‘s first battle with the Green Goblin, pulling a little girl away from falling debris. In the DVD’s deleted scenes, Lee has an expanded cameo in which he plays a street vendor who tries to sell Peter Parker a pair of sunglasses “just like the X-Men wear.”
In Daredevil (2003), as a child, Matt Murdock stops Lee from crossing the street and getting hit by a bus.
In Hulk (2003), he appears walking alongside former TV-series Hulk Lou Ferrigno in an early scene, both as security guards at Bruce Banner’s lab. It was his first speaking role in a film based on one of his characters.
In Spider-Man 2 (2004), Lee pulls an innocent person away from danger during Spider-Man’s first battle with Doctor Octopus. In a deleted scene that appears as an extra on the film’s DVD release, Lee has another cameo, saying, “Look, Spider-Man stole that child’s sneakers.”
In Fantastic Four (2005), Lee appears for the first time as a character that he created for the comics, Willie Lumpkin, the mail carrier who greets the Fantastic Four as they enter the Baxter Building.
In X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Lee and Chris Claremont appear as two of Jean Grey‘s neighbors in the opening scenes set 20 years ago. Lee, credited as “Waterhose man,” is watering the lawn when Jean telekinetically redirects the water from the hose into the air.
In Spider-Man 3 (2007), Lee appears in a credited role as “Man in Times Square”. He stands next to Peter Parker, both of them reading a news bulletin about Spider-Man, and commenting to Peter that, “You know, I guess one person can make a difference”. He then says his catch phrase, “‘Nuff said.”
In Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Lee appears as himself at Reed Richards’ and Susan Storm’s first wedding, being turned away by a security guard for not being on the guest list. InFantastic Four Annual No.3 (1965), in which the couple married, Lee and Jack Kirby are similarly turned away.
In Iron Man (2008), Lee (credited as “Himself”) appears at a gala cavorting with three blonds, where Tony Stark mistakes him for Hugh Hefner.[74] In the theatrical release of the film, Stark simply greets Lee as “Hef” and moves on without seeing Lee’s face; another version of the scene was filmed where Stark realizes his mistake, but Lee graciously responds, “That’s okay, I get this all the time.”[75]
In The Incredible Hulk (2008), Lee appears as a hapless citizen who accidentally ingests a soft drink mixed with Bruce Banner’s blood, leading to the discovery of Dr. Banner’s location in a bottling plant in Brazil.
In Iron Man 2 (2010), during the Stark Expo, Lee, wearing suspenders and a red shirt and black and purple tie, is greeted by Tony Stark as “Larry King“.
In Thor (2011), Lee appears among many people at the site where Thor’s hammer Mjolnir lands on earth. He tears the back off his pickup truck in an attempt to pull Mjolnir out of the ground with a chain and causes everyone to laugh by asking, “Did it work?”.
In Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Lee is again used as comic relief, this time portraying a general in World War II. When Captain America/Steve Rogers is queued to a stage to receive an award, a man goes on stage to tell the presenter that Rogers will not be attending. The general mistakes the man for Rogers, commenting, “I thought he’d be taller.” Lee said in April 2011, “Marvel Studios has upgraded my cameo for the Captain America movie! They’ve given me one more word of dialogue than originally planned!”[76]
In The Avengers (2012), Lee makes a cameo appearance as a man interviewed by the media about his opinion concerning the Avengers thwarting the Chitauri‘s attack on Manhattan Island. Lee’s character responds with, “Superheroes in New York? Give me a break”, and then returns to a game of chess with a fellow senior citizen. [77]
In The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Lee makes a cameo appearance in an action scene where he plays a librarian oblivious to the fight between Spider-Man and the Lizard happening behind him
So there ya have it. That’s my thoughts on the Marvel films. The only two I have not seen are Ghost Rider 2 and Punisher: War Zone. I will see GR2 as stated, but I don’t think I’ll ever attempt to see Punisher: WZ. Maybe if it is on netflix, but as stated I think the overt use of violence is the main thing that makes me not want to see it. Be sure to check out the final blog in this series. DC Vs Marvel: Film Franchise Face Off.
