And I stick by this statement after watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie yesterday. Mario is much worse, yet it is consistent as a drug-fueled oddity even for Hollywood. I have no idea what they were thinking making that movie other than they wanted to rip off every shot and plot point from popular movies from the last 5 years.
The sad part was if they didn't call it the Super Mario Bros movie, it would have been pretty solid movie. It's still bat-shit insane, but you're not expecting it to look like a Super Mario Bros game.
Due to Avengers suddenly not being on Netflix, Juliane said "Fuck it, let's watch The Incredible Hulk." We gave up after an hour and came back to it the next night.
The Credible Hulk is actually not too bad, have you seen it? Edward Norton isn't a bad Banner. It's just Hulk is nailed so well in Avengers it's hard to look back.
It is very bad. REALLY bad!
There is no levity. There are long sections of no action or story or ANYTHING. The acting is TERRIBLE. Liv Tyler is pathetic, just mumbling and breathing and sighing and crying. Tim Roth is wasted, and given no good lines. Edward Norton isn't a bad Banner, but that really isn't enough to save this movie.
Then, part way through the movie, it seems like random jokes and quips are added, merely to make it less depressing. Suddenly Bruce and Betty are trying to do the Tony Stark and Pepper Potts thing, like some executive watched Iron Man and said "Audiences like the Nick and Nora dynamic".
Three jokes about splitting pants? Really? And suddenly jokes about not being able to have sex? Really?
The worst thing about the movie is the music. Holy shit, it is sooooo dull. Just strings all the time. With a fun soundtrack, this could have been at least bearable.
References to other MCU movies: Stark is mentioned, I think, before turning up at the end. A WWII super-soldier program that was cancelled? I guess I didn't understand that was Captain America the first time I saw it. I was sure I'd seen William Hurt in another MCU movie, and I wasn't mistaken. General Ross becomes Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross in Captain America Civil War.
Weird: Are SHIELD the good guys or the bad guys? I guess the ambiguity is explained in later Captain America movies.
Main bad guy: a guy who is first given the powers of Captain America, and then, presumably because Cap can't beat up Hulk, he becomes a Hulk. And at the end? He just gives up! He isn't killed, just mildly subdued.
Comments from Juliane: "Liv Tyler's top lip is very distracting." "Nothing has happened in the movie yet!" "How did he get from Guatemala to New York with no money?" "Everyone wearing helmets and body armor in the helicopter dies, but the two named characters in civilian clothes survive. Right." "So he goes from being a man in hiding at the start of the movie to a man in hiding at the end of the movie?" "The last minute when Tony Stark turned up was the only good part, and I don't even like Tony Stark."
Stan Lee cameo: An old man who drinks Hulk blood.
Overall: Fuck this fucking movie. The opening credits and the last two scenes (of Banner in hiding and Tony Stark turning up) are worth watching, but the rest? Nope! Leave it OUT of your MCU movie marathon.
Literally nothing happens except Blonsky becomes Captain AmeriHulk, Bruce Banner destroys his ex-girlfriend's new relationship, and... that's it. I guess Banner can control when he becomes Hulk a bit better now? Betty is never mentioned again in any of the following movies, nor Blonsky, so I guess none of this story mattered at all.
This movie is so bad I now have very fond memories of Ang Lee' Hulk, but I'm sure that can't be right. Do you think we'll get to see a good Hulk movie one day?
Deadpool I was not expecting to enjoy watching this film as much as I did. The producers, directors and script writers have to be commended for bringing Deadpool to the screen as well as they did.
There are many slight nods to the comics which literally should be unnoticeable to anyone who hasn't read or seen frames from which they are listed. You can easily bring anyone who has never watched or never wants to watch a super hero film to this one. The 4th dimension breaking is established well, the story is complete and edited well. The story telling is interesting and non linear.
On par with some of the best movies of the last 12 months. For me it's the best film since Mad Max: Fury Road.
Star Wars: Episode 7 On re-watching this I found the film to be incredibly mediocre. All the flaws which I glossed over in my initial viewing popped up. It's a great, monumental film for people who base their lives around the first 3 films of the series. For everyone else it's a passable adventure / fantasy film with mediocre performances from an aged cast. The things that can't be taken away from the film - cinematography, soundtrack and special effects. Strip these qualities away and you have a progressive but weak version of Star Wars: Episode 1. Every character seems to be on their own side story. The characters I want to follow are Rey and Fin but to make money their stories are chopped up to insert the retired cast. The movie banked on nostalgia and special effects and won the box office, can't fault them for that. Personally this film is just passable.
After the epic fail of The Incredible Hulk, how well would the Avengers get rid of the sour taste in our mouths? Very well, thank you! I'd seen parts of this at various times since I originally watched it, but I'd not seen it all the way through. It's a lot of fun, and reminded me why I had such bad thoughts about Age of Ultron and such good thoughts about Civil War.
MCU watching: While Hulk was completely skippable (only a few references in this movie, like "Last time I was in New York I broke Harlem"), the best reason to watch it is to see how much better Hulk is in this movie that in his own. Hulk, like Bond, is a blunt weapon. You point him at a problem and say "Hulk smash". There is no other story!
Are SHIELD the good guys or the bad guys? Them wanting to nuke New York seemed like a plot hole the first time I watched this, but now it seems clear that later Winter Soldier revelations were already planned and baked into this movie.
I'm surprised at how well Hawkeye and Black Widow (Clint and Natasha) hold up as interesting characters alongside the big stars with movies of their own.
Another thought about Hulk. In this movie we see Pepper Potts flying off to Washington to get away from the trouble. We see a note about Jane Foster going off to Norway. But what about Betty Ross? Nothing! I guess for the purposes of this movie and the next he is in, Bruce Banner's love interest is gone.
Main bad guy: Loki! Also an alien army to provide cannon fodder.
Comments from Juliane: "Ha ha, this is awesome." "Why did Captain America give Nick Fury ten dollars?" "The Hulk looks way better in this one." "Noooooo Coulson!"
Stan Lee cameo: In the press roundup at the end, playing chess.
Overall: While it takes a lot of investment in time and getting to know the characters in other movies, The Avengers pays it off with the best movie in the MCU so far at this point.
Iron Man 3, Really liked everything but the climax of that movie. Are you watching the marvel short movies that were included on the disks? There are some great shorts.
I'm not sure if we're going to watch the SHIELD tv show. I think I'd like to see a few either side of The Winter Soldier, but I've only heard bad things about early season 1. Then I looked up a few lists of which episodes to skip to get up to speed with the series without spending too much time on it, and all are conflicting. Some say one episode is the only one worth watching, and another will say it is skippable. If anyone has opinions on SHIELD up until S01E16, I'd love to read them.
My wife loves Agents of Shield, I've liked it but it's deeply flawed. Hard to recommend unless you invest in the characters (Like Fitz and Simmons who really grow with the show). The show doesn't start hitting good eps till 1.6, but without the character moments of the first couple eps, the character moments that work in 1.6 would not be very effective. The eps before that are all ok, but ep 1.2 is a complete trainwreck and is where the show really lost a lot of people. Judging from your tastes I assume it's probably not worth it. But if you are looking for movie connections the end of Season one has some cameo's from SHIELD movie characters. I've enjoyed the show though but I'm a huge Marvel Fan.
TL:DR Probably not worth it unless you really like Marvel lore or get invested in the characters. Just read the wiki's of the eps to get an idea what you are missing.
Watched Odd Thomas for the next ATW9K movie night. It was better than I expected. It reminded me of Dresden Files, which made me realize that Odd Thomas is based on a book series, that I will get into.
It's a shame that the movie didn't do well and no more Aton Yelchin. If a movie can get me into reading the books, that's a plus. It definitely has potential with world building in regards to just seeing him use his powers to right wrongs and how he goes about it. It's nothing new, but it's fun. It's on Netflix and not bad spending less then two hours to watch. It also gave me some serious feels for something I barely knew.
Iron Man 3 is up there along the likes of Iron Man, and Captain America "Winter Soldier" in quality. I believe that the Captain America Trilogy was better developed than Iron Man's. But let's not forget that Iron Man started it all, and its trilogy happened during the transitions from Marvel to Disney. If you enjoy the characters I will totally recommend
Avenger's Mightiest Heroes, which I believe it should be readily available through Netflix, is an excellent show. In my opinion is the best Avenger incarnation on TV so far, almost as good as Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Young Justice.
Just finished watching Spotlight on Netflix, about the Boston Globe's investigation into the sexual abuse by Catholic priests and the institutional cover-up. Really powerful and excellent movie.
I saw this movie for the first time last year. I thought it was fine, but watching it again in its proper context, as part of this MCU catchup, it seemed a lot more enjoyable.
The special effects are the best of any MCU movie so far.
The story is focused and narrow in scope. I like how they say something very close to "This isn't a problem for Thor and the whole team, this is a problem for us two."
A lot of time is spent with Tony Stark, not with Iron Man, and it's fun to see him get up to no good without the suit. While the PTSD thing isn't particularly convincing, it does give his character somewhere to go after he's not a misogynist playboy any more. Although, of course, we get a flashback to old Tony.
The annoying kid is just on the edge of being too annoying, but isn't, and stays entertaining.
There's still the massive plot hole of "why didn't he call in the suits earlier?" but it's such a big plot hole I'm sure I must be missing something.
MCU watching: Moves on Tony and Pepper's story, but not much else. At least I knew who War Machine was this time through!
Main bad guy: Not the opposite of Tony or Iron Man. The villains are all pretty good, too. The Mandarin is a lot of fun, and burny people are suitably dangerous and ominous.
Comments from Juliane: "She's actually a bad guy, isn't she?" "Isn't there a retina scan for the suits to work? How could they be stolen?" "Noooo, Pepper!"
Stan Lee cameo: Playing Bingo.
Overall: A better movie than Iron Man 2 by a long stretch, about the same as Iron Man 1 but with Tony being a lot more likeable.
I'm not sure if we're going to stick with it. It's just that Juliane was really upset when Coulson died (not real upset, but in the spirit of the movie upset), and she doesn't know he's brought back to life to head up the TV show. I think it will be a fun surprise for her.
Oh ok. That should be fun then. But yeah there are some really fun characters in the show and interesting storylines with MCU. It's just one character that annoys me from time to time.
Yea, LOVE HATE relationship is perfect for that show. It actually demonstrates the problems with network TV, the show would have probably been so much better limited to 13 eps a season on Netflix, instead of 26 on TV. The way Coulson is brought back (and the plot around it is really cool but.... it's really drawn out)
Though this season was the best of AoS thus far, I only really enjoyed the first half. To date, I only liked a third of the total AoS episodes. I stopped watching several midway (they were dull, predictable, and inane) and skipped some episodes entirely because the plots and character developments were obvious - they felt like fan-fiction written by a teenager who hay yet to learn learn the rule of "show, don't tell." I doubt I will make time for it in the future.
The Big Short is excellent. Between this and Spotlight, I've really been on a theme of "Large Institutions Completely Fucking Over the Average Person." By the end of the movie, even though I'm a lawyer and I know just how impossible it would have been to try and bring charges against anyone, I was still livid that no one went to jail over the Great Recession of 2008. That was some serious shady bullshit going on.
Real Steel is a decent movie, even on the second watch.
The kid in me really wanted the robot to have some sort of consciousness by the end. Same way I wanted Giant Robo to have feelings by the end of the 6th OAV.
Wow, all that hype for The Boy and the Beast fell because that movie was painfully mediocre. The dialogue is just nonstop exposition and characters explaining how they/should be feeling and detailing all the cause/effect of emotions. The bond between Kumatetsu and Kyuta is clear as day through his student teaching the master type scenario. What sucks is that when the movie was starting to turn me around midway when Kyuta had to address his relationships in the real world...one character makes a complete heel-face-turn to become the antagonist for no really good reason. I mean, I knew where the movie was going based on the nature of the story and the reviews but I didn't think it would get so lazy with characterization or blatant from the Moby Dick text.
Star Trek Beyond was exactly the Star Trek movie I wanted. It suitably made up for all the failings of Into Darkness, even doing some similar scenes but just way better. Not perfect, but there was never a point I wasn't enjoying myself, and I must admit I teared up a bit at one point.
Notable was that nothing in Into Darkness was referenced at any point, and there seemed to be quite a bit of retconning to "fix" some things that lazy script writing had spoiled in that movie.
All this makes me look forward to the non-JJ Abrams Star Wars movies coming up in the next few years. I hope the pattern follows:
The Mission Impossible franchise is in trouble after a a bad movie (MI:II) and JJ Abrams is brought in to revive it. He does a decent job, though it is quite derivative of previous movies. The series is then handed over to other directors who do better things with it, and have more of a unique stylistic approach beyond retreading old ground (Rogue Nation in particular).
The Star Trek franchise is in trouble after a series of bad movies. Abrams is brought in to revive it. He does a decent job, though it is quite derivative of previous movies. He then makes another movie that is even more derivative and retreads even more of the same ground. The series is then handed over to another director who do better things with it, and have more of a unique stylistic approach beyond retreading old ground.
The Star Wars franchise is in trouble after a series of bad movies. Abrams is brought in to revive it. He does a decent job, though it is quite derivative of previous movies...
Comments
There is no levity. There are long sections of no action or story or ANYTHING. The acting is TERRIBLE. Liv Tyler is pathetic, just mumbling and breathing and sighing and crying. Tim Roth is wasted, and given no good lines. Edward Norton isn't a bad Banner, but that really isn't enough to save this movie.
Then, part way through the movie, it seems like random jokes and quips are added, merely to make it less depressing. Suddenly Bruce and Betty are trying to do the Tony Stark and Pepper Potts thing, like some executive watched Iron Man and said "Audiences like the Nick and Nora dynamic".
Three jokes about splitting pants? Really? And suddenly jokes about not being able to have sex? Really?
The worst thing about the movie is the music. Holy shit, it is sooooo dull. Just strings all the time. With a fun soundtrack, this could have been at least bearable.
References to other MCU movies:
Stark is mentioned, I think, before turning up at the end.
A WWII super-soldier program that was cancelled? I guess I didn't understand that was Captain America the first time I saw it.
I was sure I'd seen William Hurt in another MCU movie, and I wasn't mistaken. General Ross becomes Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross in Captain America Civil War.
Weird:
Are SHIELD the good guys or the bad guys? I guess the ambiguity is explained in later Captain America movies.
Main bad guy: a guy who is first given the powers of Captain America, and then, presumably because Cap can't beat up Hulk, he becomes a Hulk. And at the end? He just gives up! He isn't killed, just mildly subdued.
Comments from Juliane:
"Liv Tyler's top lip is very distracting."
"Nothing has happened in the movie yet!"
"How did he get from Guatemala to New York with no money?"
"Everyone wearing helmets and body armor in the helicopter dies, but the two named characters in civilian clothes survive. Right."
"So he goes from being a man in hiding at the start of the movie to a man in hiding at the end of the movie?"
"The last minute when Tony Stark turned up was the only good part, and I don't even like Tony Stark."
Stan Lee cameo:
An old man who drinks Hulk blood.
Overall: Fuck this fucking movie. The opening credits and the last two scenes (of Banner in hiding and Tony Stark turning up) are worth watching, but the rest? Nope! Leave it OUT of your MCU movie marathon.
Literally nothing happens except Blonsky becomes Captain AmeriHulk, Bruce Banner destroys his ex-girlfriend's new relationship, and... that's it. I guess Banner can control when he becomes Hulk a bit better now? Betty is never mentioned again in any of the following movies, nor Blonsky, so I guess none of this story mattered at all.
This movie is so bad I now have very fond memories of Ang Lee' Hulk, but I'm sure that can't be right. Do you think we'll get to see a good Hulk movie one day?
Next up: Avengers Assemble.
I was not expecting to enjoy watching this film as much as I did. The producers, directors and script writers have to be commended for bringing Deadpool to the screen as well as they did.
There are many slight nods to the comics which literally should be unnoticeable to anyone who hasn't read or seen frames from which they are listed.
You can easily bring anyone who has never watched or never wants to watch a super hero film to this one. The 4th dimension breaking is established well, the story is complete and edited well.
The story telling is interesting and non linear.
On par with some of the best movies of the last 12 months. For me it's the best film since Mad Max: Fury Road.
Star Wars: Episode 7
On re-watching this I found the film to be incredibly mediocre. All the flaws which I glossed over in my initial viewing popped up. It's a great, monumental film for people who base their lives around the first 3 films of the series. For everyone else it's a passable adventure / fantasy film with mediocre performances from an aged cast. The things that can't be taken away from the film - cinematography, soundtrack and special effects. Strip these qualities away and you have a progressive but weak version of Star Wars: Episode 1. Every character seems to be on their own side story. The characters I want to follow are Rey and Fin but to make money their stories are chopped up to insert the retired cast. The movie banked on nostalgia and special effects and won the box office, can't fault them for that.
Personally this film is just passable.
MCU continues...
The Avengers/Avengers Assemble
After the epic fail of The Incredible Hulk, how well would the Avengers get rid of the sour taste in our mouths? Very well, thank you! I'd seen parts of this at various times since I originally watched it, but I'd not seen it all the way through. It's a lot of fun, and reminded me why I had such bad thoughts about Age of Ultron and such good thoughts about Civil War.
MCU watching:
While Hulk was completely skippable (only a few references in this movie, like "Last time I was in New York I broke Harlem"), the best reason to watch it is to see how much better Hulk is in this movie that in his own. Hulk, like Bond, is a blunt weapon. You point him at a problem and say "Hulk smash". There is no other story!
Are SHIELD the good guys or the bad guys? Them wanting to nuke New York seemed like a plot hole the first time I watched this, but now it seems clear that later Winter Soldier revelations were already planned and baked into this movie.
I'm surprised at how well Hawkeye and Black Widow (Clint and Natasha) hold up as interesting characters alongside the big stars with movies of their own.
Another thought about Hulk. In this movie we see Pepper Potts flying off to Washington to get away from the trouble. We see a note about Jane Foster going off to Norway. But what about Betty Ross? Nothing! I guess for the purposes of this movie and the next he is in, Bruce Banner's love interest is gone.
Main bad guy: Loki! Also an alien army to provide cannon fodder.
Comments from Juliane:
"Ha ha, this is awesome."
"Why did Captain America give Nick Fury ten dollars?"
"The Hulk looks way better in this one."
"Noooooo Coulson!"
Stan Lee cameo:
In the press roundup at the end, playing chess.
Overall: While it takes a lot of investment in time and getting to know the characters in other movies, The Avengers pays it off with the best movie in the MCU so far at this point.
Next up: Iron Man 3.
TL:DR Probably not worth it unless you really like Marvel lore or get invested in the characters. Just read the wiki's of the eps to get an idea what you are missing.
It's a shame that the movie didn't do well and no more Aton Yelchin. If a movie can get me into reading the books, that's a plus. It definitely has potential with world building in regards to just seeing him use his powers to right wrongs and how he goes about it. It's nothing new, but it's fun. It's on Netflix and not bad spending less then two hours to watch. It also gave me some serious feels for something I barely knew.
I believe that the Captain America Trilogy was better developed than Iron Man's. But let's not forget that Iron Man started it all, and its trilogy happened during the transitions from Marvel to Disney.
If you enjoy the characters I will totally recommend
Avenger's Mightiest Heroes, which I believe it should be readily available through Netflix, is an excellent show. In my opinion is the best Avenger incarnation on TV so far, almost as good as Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Young Justice.
Iron Man 3
I saw this movie for the first time last year. I thought it was fine, but watching it again in its proper context, as part of this MCU catchup, it seemed a lot more enjoyable.
The special effects are the best of any MCU movie so far.
The story is focused and narrow in scope. I like how they say something very close to "This isn't a problem for Thor and the whole team, this is a problem for us two."
A lot of time is spent with Tony Stark, not with Iron Man, and it's fun to see him get up to no good without the suit. While the PTSD thing isn't particularly convincing, it does give his character somewhere to go after he's not a misogynist playboy any more. Although, of course, we get a flashback to old Tony.
The annoying kid is just on the edge of being too annoying, but isn't, and stays entertaining.
There's still the massive plot hole of "why didn't he call in the suits earlier?" but it's such a big plot hole I'm sure I must be missing something.
MCU watching:
Moves on Tony and Pepper's story, but not much else. At least I knew who War Machine was this time through!
Main bad guy: Not the opposite of Tony or Iron Man. The villains are all pretty good, too. The Mandarin is a lot of fun, and burny people are suitably dangerous and ominous.
Comments from Juliane:
"She's actually a bad guy, isn't she?"
"Isn't there a retina scan for the suits to work? How could they be stolen?"
"Noooo, Pepper!"
Stan Lee cameo:
Playing Bingo.
Overall: A better movie than Iron Man 2 by a long stretch, about the same as Iron Man 1 but with Tony being a lot more likeable.
Next up: Agents of Shield pilot episode.
Easily the lowest of Hosoda's movies.
Totally recommend it to anyone that is looking for a good movie for the summer.
Notable was that nothing in Into Darkness was referenced at any point, and there seemed to be quite a bit of retconning to "fix" some things that lazy script writing had spoiled in that movie.
All this makes me look forward to the non-JJ Abrams Star Wars movies coming up in the next few years. I hope the pattern follows:
The Mission Impossible franchise is in trouble after a a bad movie (MI:II) and JJ Abrams is brought in to revive it. He does a decent job, though it is quite derivative of previous movies. The series is then handed over to other directors who do better things with it, and have more of a unique stylistic approach beyond retreading old ground (Rogue Nation in particular).
The Star Trek franchise is in trouble after a series of bad movies. Abrams is brought in to revive it. He does a decent job, though it is quite derivative of previous movies. He then makes another movie that is even more derivative and retreads even more of the same ground. The series is then handed over to another director who do better things with it, and have more of a unique stylistic approach beyond retreading old ground.
The Star Wars franchise is in trouble after a series of bad movies. Abrams is brought in to revive it. He does a decent job, though it is quite derivative of previous movies...