And now there's me wondering if the Unagi warriors are a Friends reference...
The most disturbing and at the same time sensitive movie I ever saw. With comedic parts that made me cringe and gritty stuff that made me feel bad, this movie sends the message quite harshly. Massive performances and Phoenix left an impression that's comparable to Ledger. Yet their portrayals are both so different.
I love how they introduce the lesser-known comic book characters in the MCU. Phase 2 is clearly the phase with some of these kinds of introductions. In Guardians of the Galaxy, for example, a whole range of lesser-known characters have already been presented to us. The majority had never heard of Star-Lord and co. But because of the humour and fantastic music in that film, everyone was really excited about it, and you quickly wanted to go watch it too. That's why these unknown superheroes suddenly became very popular!
Ant-Man also had to rely on mouth-to-mouth publicity. That's why the humour here had to be on-point, and fortunately that was the case. Not only the strange situations caused by the shrinking and enlarging of people and objects sometimes led to hilarious scenes, but the big star here was of course Luis. How cool would it be if he were in Endgame to recap everything that happened before in his own way?
In general, I don't like this film as much as Guardians or Iron Man, but it comes very close. And the way Ant-Man is introduced here is great.
A mercenary, a raccoon, a tree, an autistic and an American walk into a bar. It may be the beginning of a cheap joke, but it certainly isn't! Though sometimes a joke it is, but not in the bad sense of the word. Because this film is comical and at times even hilarious, but it is much more than just a comedy. This sci-fi/fantasy/space-opera/superhero/action-comedy is b-e-a-utiful! I even dare to say that this is the best MCU movie I have seen so far.
Rocket Raccoon: Oh... yeah!
I was immediately hooked straight from the intro of the movie. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) explores an alien ruin - alien creatures included - with the song Hooked on a Feeling in the background: AWESOME! And throughout the movie this great soundtrack full of 70s music remains a common thread. That music is not simply chosen because, but also serves as a reference to the deceased mother of Peter Quill. Before she died she had given him a mixtape, and he wouldn't give it away for a billion Units.
Besides the music, humour is also what gives this film its character. The sarcasm of Rocket and the absurd ambiguous confusions of Drax are not really revolutionary. But it is used in a very good way as a binding tool for the characters. The intense and emotional moments may certainly be there, but thanks to the well-placed jokes, the film never gets too cheesy or overdramatic. And I know this is not the first story of the solitary misfits that eventually become a group of heroes, but James Gunn has tackled this in a unique way.
After the post-credits scene in Thor: The Dark World, we get to see The Collector again. And after the post-credits scene of The Avengers we also see Thanos back. Who knows, who knows, after the post-credits scene of this movie, we might see some more of Howard The Duck (cross your fingers for a Howard The Duck feature film).
What we will definitely see again are the Infinity Stones. After the Tesseract (Space), the Scepter (Mind) and the Aether (Reality) we get to see the Orb with the Power Stone. And with this we feel Infinity War gradually approaching.
Director Joss Whedon is back for some extra Avengers action! An introduction and explanation of how the Avengers are assembled is not necessary in this sequel, so this time they fly right into it. I like this, because that way they go straight to the point: They have to get the scepter, containing the Mind Stone, back. And meanwhile they save the not so common twins. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are from the X-Men comics, but in the MCU they are not Mutants. This is mainly due to copyright issues, since Fox has the rights for the X-Men. But fortunately that doesn't matter at all, and they're a great extension to the Avengers. Their plot is even better than Ultron's main plot. And that's mainly the reason why I place this movie a bit lower than the first in the series.
But apart from the twins, we also get some other new characters. Both Ultron and Vision get an introduction to tell you. Both as a kind of yin and yang of the Mind Stone. Also introduced is Ulysses Klaue, and he has Vibranium from Wakanda. More about this in the film Black Panther I guess...
As mentioned above, not as good as the first Avengers, but definitely worth it! With some nice chemistry between Wanda and Vision. And some forced chemistry between Natasha and Bruce (sorry that was really not necessary...). Herewith also a new beginning for The Hulk. That promises more Hulk action in phase three!
To put it briefly, this movie was a bit Ehh... in comparison to the first Guardians.
Sooo, Guardians 2.... I will not say that everything about this film was weak, but what was good about it is not so special. To start with, I love the soundtrack of this movie! Besides that there are (only) 3 good scenes. The first is the introduction where they have to kill a space monster, and where Baby Groot happily dances on. The second is the battle at the end between Peter and Ego. And the third was the farewell to Yando. That was it, now we can proceed to the criticism.
Taserface! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Taserface?!
Sidenote, this movie is not that bad, and certainly not the worst of the MCU (wassup Incredible Hulk?). In general, this is an average action comedy. The pacing of the film is a bit weak, and the humour is more often than not out of place. Because of this, the story they want to tell unfortunately doesn't come across well. This film could have been much better, and then it could rightly be seen as the Empire Strikes Back of the MCU. But it was not meant to be...
Nice though, those similarities with the second Star Wars movie. The general structure of the film, the asteroid field and the 'I am your father' moment are of course the most striking.
The directors Anthony and Joe Russo are already finishing their fourth Marvel film. But we haven't forgotten their first one yet. With Winter Soldier they have a very strong debut. After Iron Man and The Avengers, we get another high quality superhero film! Thanks bro's!
The film immediately kicks off with an introduction. Not from Captain Rogers, because we already got it in The First Avenger, but from The Falcon. I admit that I also found Cap's intro very decent, especially compared to the rest of that movie. But how they execute the introductions in this sequel, I'll take off my hat for that! Firstly, it is immediately clear that Steve is not quite up to date with modern times. The idea of a guy who was on ice for 70 years and suddenly has a whole arsenal of pop culture at his disposal, can indeed be frightening. But Sam "Falcon" Wilson helps him out, and that quickly forms a basis for the friendship between the two. After that we get an introduction of Black Widow and Nick Fury and that means we are immediately on board in a few minutes. And the good thing is that the pace of the film is not disturbed a single time. The biggest praise to the screenwriters.
The overall tone of this film is much less humorous than any other of the series, but that doesn't bother me at all. It's an excellent conspiracy-action thriller. The story-telling with the different plot twists is very good. And this forms a good basis for what the Russo Brothers will do with this universe. I love how the character Winter Soldier/Bucky was presented, especially the relationship between Cap and Bucky is very convincing. The relationship between Cap and Black Widow, on the other hand, I think is cringy and superfluous, but that might be the only downside.
Besides Bucky we get to see some other familiar faces. The moment with Peggy Carter, for example, was very enjoyable. But especially the revelation of mad dr. Zola was brilliant. And (major spoiler) Agent Sitwell has been exposed as a mole, but also tells us casually that they already have Stephen Strange on their radar. But more about Doctor Strange will follow in Phase 3 of course.
Finally I would like to say that I am a fan of the gravestone of Nicholas J. Fury.
I won't waste too many words on this film. If you want to see total destruction, definitely check this sequel. Because apart from the destruction of Greenwich, and the occasional scenes with Loki, this fantasy/sci-fi flick offers nothing to write home for.
What do we remember? That Jane Foster is only good for the looks, for the rest you notice that she behaves like some kind of Alice in an alien Wonderland. Feel free to call this film Jane in Dark-Elf-land.
From the Dark Elfs we remember that they just want to destroy everything. But we have no idea why they want that... I can understand that they want to destroy Asgard out of revenge. But shroud the entire universe in eternal darkness to then rule over ... nothing? Would you care to explain that to me?
Then we remember that the security of Asgard's prison is terribly weak. I mean especially that the prisoners are not even searched properly.... Because how exactly could that Kursed escape just like that?
Finally, we remember how the Aether or Reality Stone ended up in the Collector's possession. There you are, that's all folks, now it's time to watch some decent films.
The first Iron Man was super, the second one was bad, and number 3 was a bit better again. Although I didn't like Iron Man 3 as much as Favreau's Iron Man, I did like it as a good action thriller. Because while in Iron Man 2 there was no character development, in this first movie of Phase 2 there was fortunately! In the overall story the events in this movie don't have a big influence, but it was a strong personal story of the main character. And therefore it is certainly not a punishment to watch this film again.
We get the story of a traumatized Tony Stark, who has yet to overcome the events of The Avengers. I think this story of the hero who has to process his PTS is a very good one, and told in a good way. I also liked the fact that there came a moment when he had to rely on his ability as a mechanic and could no longer rely on his wealth.
But unfortunately there were a few things that I found less compelling. For example, I have a double feeling about The Mandarin. First of all, I don't mind that the character we first saw as a villain turned out to be an actor. I even think the way Ben Kingsley plays the role of Trevor Slattery is brilliant. But it's a pity that the real Mandarin eventually didn't seem so credible because of a weak revenge motive. It seemed rather laughable, especially when he suddenly started to spit fire... Does anyone even believe that this guy is the mastermind behind The Ten Rings?
In general I put it with the better MCU movies. This is a good origin story with a slight twist. We find out how she gets her powers, but not in the way you would normally expect from a Marvel flick. The story is well put together and has an interesting plot twist. We get a nice soundtrack with 90's hits, honest humour without over-the-top slapstick, and 100% cuteness factor with Goose the cat. The end of the film is a bit cringy, but I can handle it.
The only downside is perhaps the character development of the lead role. Well, we would all like to immediately become best friends with Carol Danvers. We also understood that she pretty sharp toungue. But we didn't see a flawed personality, no sharp edges except a good sense of humor. And that does take away some credibility. Hopefully we will see this in the sequel (or in Endgame). Because don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of this film. And I can't wait to see more Captain Marvel!
From a classic we immediately switch to one that you can skip. The only reason why you would like to see it is for the introduction of Black Widow. Because what else does this movie contribute to the MCU? In the first film Tony Stark has evolved from a naive arms dealer to a self-proclaimed world improver. But in this sequel his personality hasn't changed a bit. The challenges in this film did not lead the main character to find himself again. Ivan Vanko wasn't even a convincing villain, only an annoying obstacle that at times let out a bit of a Russian gibberish. Although he did give us this memorable quote:
"If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in Him."
We'll think about this again in Avengers: Infinity War.
It all began with this film, more than 10 years ago. And I can tell you convincingly that it is worth watching! This is a superhero film as it should be: about the egocentric and narcissistic Tony Stark who becomes an iron (or metal) hero, but doesn't lose his ego. A superhero classic, without a doubt!
Did you know by the way, that director Jon Favreau also took on the role of Happy Hogan? The driver and assistant, who leads the way! Funny, innit?
I think the comic book character Thor is awesome, but despite that I find this film a lot less. I had too little connection with some characters and the dialogues were often overdramatic. However, I did enjoy this Viking-Steampunk / Science-Fiction mashup, but maybe that was more because of the appearance of Nathalie Portman... And Tom Hiddleston, of course, as the perfect impersonation of Loki!
The film itself did not really convince, but is a good introduction to Thor, Loki and Hawkeye.
The beginning of this movie is super! We start off with opening credits that show us the origin of the Hulk. Then we see that Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is in the favelas in Rio, which is all nicely portrayed. The story is about a scientist on the run, looking for a cure to a dangerous infection. I'm hooked right away.
But as soon as the story takes us to the US, the plot goes downhill. We ended up in a freakshow, with the army following a green monster and a Spec Op (Emil Blonski) that buffs up and becomes an Abomination. And unfortunately the CGI was as abominable...
Not bad for an action movie, but certainly not Incredible.
We go back in time, to 1942, and we get to see a generic origin story. A simple boy becomes a superhero in a red-blue spandex. All very nice and so, but were they not allowed to laugh with the situation from time to time? Come on, Steve, why so serious?
Aside from that, I did enjoy this introduction of Cap, Bucky, Hydra and Red Skull. This film contains many classic elements: the 40s costumes, the mad professor, the love interest, the fanatical Nazi villain. And if you listen attentively, you'll hear an occasional touch of Wagner in the soundtrack! Amusing.
We end phase 1 with the best film of the six! Action, humour, drama, Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson) and Tom Hiddleston: that's all a human being needs, right? Except maybe Edward Norton. Because he has now been replaced by Mark Ruffalo, and personally I find him a little less suitable for the role of Banner. But I won't go into it any further, you just have to watch it and enjoy. And wait until the after-credits for a first glimpse of Thanos.
Great movie for having a good time! Funny how everything gets destroyed and you keep laughing. A dark theme, but the jokes make it an enjoyable family movie.
Though the beginning is a little awkward, overall a good marvel movie. To be honest, one of the best I've seen so far (along with Iron Man and guardians of the galaxy)
