Now I'm on the Second Phase of my #MCU binge watching before #Endgame. Phase two is kind of a hit or miss for a lot of people. After the #Avengers, there seemed to be a term called "Superhero Fatigue" going around. Is it real? I think it is. Is it potent? I don't think so. Did I get it? For a quick moment I did and it's mostly because of the first movie of Phase 2 that really got my jives down. But don't get me wrong! There were plenty of great things that came out of the second phase for Marvel! So with that said, let's get on with it!
Okay, I really wanted to like this movie a lot more than I do. When I knew I had to rewatch this, I wanted to get a fresh eye since I haven't really seen it since I saw it in the movies. But rewatching it made me realize that it had did a lot more bad things than good and it may just be my personal preference, but seriously, how dumb is Tony Stark in this movie? Gave away the address to his house without proper defensive measures. He blew up his hall of armor at the end of the day only to use it later anyways. The Mandarin? Aldrich Killian as the main villain? Maya Hansen a throw away character? The Silver Centurion (the actual Silver Centurion) disposed like some garbage second rate armor? Really? Okay, I know a lot of my complaints are very shallow but seriously.... the biggest insult to me is just how dumb Tony Stark was throughout the film. And people gave him gripe in Iron Man 2. After the Avengers, this movie tried to be a stand alone film and it's hard to see that especially when the Avengers could all be a phone call away, right? Not really. Tony Stark was literally on his own along with Rhodes who didn't even have a proper armor. Iron Patriot was definitely thrown away too. Not that the idea of Osborn in an Iron Man suit was really that great anyways.
Is it all bad? The battle sequence with the hall of armor vs Extremis was pretty cool (minus the Silver Centurion scene). That's about it for me. Oh, before I forget, there's the Mandarin. It didn't bother me as much as the other complaints I had.
Post Credit: Just Stark talking to Banner. Nothing special.
Grade: D+
I've heard a lot of arguments that Thor was one of the weak points of The Avengers. Those same people arguing that had fuel to their fire when Thor: The Dark World came out. It's definitely not the worst MCU film for me but definitely not up there. The one thing about this movie that I would certainly say it did best is continue with Loki's arc. He truly was the rising star of this movie. The one thing that is kind of disappointing about the Thor franchise is that the wasted potential of characters like the Warriors 3 and Sif. They were somewhat used in Dark World but other than that, they became throw away characters. But this film builds on the Infinity Stones arc... this being the place where we see the Reality Stone. All in all, I had a good time with this movie and it's not as much of a bore for me as it was for the majority.
Post Credit: I only count one which is that is Sif and Volstag giving the Reality Stone to the Collector. This definitely sets up the the Cosmic Marvel stage. I definitely think this is one of the most substantial post credit scenes up to this point. Oh, the other post credit is that Jotunheim monster running amuck in Midgar/Earth. More comedy relief than anything.
Grade: C-
The Winter Soldier.... regarded as one of the #MCU's best and for good reasons. It definitely had a dramatic change to the overall picture of the MCU. It did a great job juggling between Captain America's character progression from being a 'man-out-of-time', dealing with his philosophies and how it fits, his struggles with fitting in, and of course, the constant fight to get his friend back. The introduction of Falcon and Winter Soldier to the MCU was something that was done immaculately and not to mention, the addition to some of Black Widow's motives and character definitely heightened the enjoyment of this movie. If anyone truly thought that Captain America would not make a mark as a household Super Hero, his second movie, The Winter Soldier, definitely proved a lot of doubters wrong. Scarlett Johansson also looked damn good with that hair style. I suppose the only gripe I have with this movie is a common gripe I have with the other movies after Avengers: where the heck are the other Avengers? Were they not available to help each other out?
Post Credit: In the world of spies and soldiers, we are once again reminded with this post credit scene that we are part of a bigger universe. Baron Von Strucker observes as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch hone their powers. Set up for Age of Ultron. The other post credit scene also shows Bucky visiting the museum where the exploits of Captain America and his Howling Commandos are displayed.
Grade: A
I still remember some of the heat Marvel Studios was getting because they were going to release a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. For the common movie goer, this was a total "wtf". For comic book fans, it was a total head scratcher. For old school comic book fans, the question was: why this version of the Guardians? Okay I'm generalizing because there were plenty of people open to the idea or lukewarm, but honestly Guardians of the Galaxy raised a few eyebrows. But when the movie came out, it more than impressed and astonished people. There was something within this movie that people didn't expect and for me, it was actually pretty good. Somehow, a talking raccoon, a talking tree, and a bunch of c-list characters became something more than just throwaway characters and it's all due thanks to the story that was set up for them; also, this is the first movie that the comedy was really "over the top" and it was just downright hilarious. Speaking of set up, this movie really directed the MCU to the cosmos, which is a integral part of the Infinity Saga. I mean, this is the movie where we see Thanos outside his post credit cameo (though he didn't do much aside from just sit there) and another introduction of another important Infinity Stone. All in all, I had fun watching this movie. It surprised me and it made me believe that Marvel was going to do just fine introducing cosmic entities like the Celestials into the larger universe.
Post Credit: Eh, Howard the Duck? Not really that interesting but it was comedic. Definitely does not set up anything grand.
Grade: B+
The second Avengers movie centers its story around the artificial intelligence known as Ultron--a program created by Tony Stark in the hopes of ending the fight. Basically, his post traumatic syndrome due to him flying to outer space with a nuclear bomb in the Avengers final battle led him to believe that there was no way to win the war. In his own words: "a suit of armor around the world" was his answer to the threat from outer space. For anyone who cared about comic book accuracy, one can already tell that the #MCU deviated from the source material a bit but honestly I didn't care. I liked this movie. I like the introduction of Scarlet Witch (wearing a skirt in battle? Yeah. I adore), Vision, and maybe Quicksilver. The Hulksbuter vs Hulk scene? Fantastic. The final battle? That was marvelous! I also like the small windows with the human side of some of the Avengers--Hawkeye's family, the conversation between Steve and Tony while chopping wood, and then, of course, one of the best scene in the MCU: the "Who is Worthy?" scene; casual Avengers at the after party hanging out and seeing if anyone can lift Thor's hammer. Love the part where Cap was able to budge Mjolnir! But this movie also gets heat from a lot of people but I had fun with this. Also, I love Iron Man's second suit that he wore to fight Ultron.
Post Credit Scene: Thanos finally getting off his butt and grabbing the Infinity Gauntlet. When I first saw this scene I thought Thanos raided Asgard. But judging from where Eitri was in Infinity Gauntlet, it was pretty obvious he was in Nidavellir. Pretty good scene. Really riled up the idea that Infinity Gauntlet movie was coming!
Grade: A-
Now this is a character I would never have thought could do a stand-alone movie. I think when his name popped up as part of the Infinity Saga line up, I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought: "really?". BUT, all things considered, this movie performed. Paul Rudd is hilarious in the character and the modification of Hank Pym as an older generation operative rather than a current one really puts a twist into the character of Ant Man. Also, Mr. Pym isn't an abusive ass. Sure there isn't anything grand with the story or the plot but it does have a heist theme that just shows another theme that MCU is proving they can put into their Super Hero genre! It had heart, it was funny, and the action played well with Ant Man's power! All in all, I had fun! Apparently so did others. It beat Justice League! Oh and by the way, Anna Akana is in this!
Post Credit Scene: This was a lead up to Civil War. Not bad. Falcon saying "I know a guy" is definitely great.
Grade: B-
Phase Two definitely expanded on the playing fields of the MCU. We are getting cosmic now and we have more characters introduced to us like Dr. Strange(mentioned in Winter Soldier), Wanda, Ant Man, and so much more. It had a very weird beginning that seemed kind of 'odd' and slow especially after Avengers. Phase Two also had Iron Man 3, one of my hated MCU films. The number of movies fall the same line as Phase 1 with six movies. For having origin stories late halfway through the game, I think they did pretty good considering the expectations of MCU at the time/this time. All in all, I had a blast rewatching Phase Two that's for sure! Now on to Phase 3!
Until Next Time!
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