Best of the MCU - Part 2

 After the monster that was The Avengers raking in over 1.5 billion dollars, Phase 2 was kicked off advancing the characters and moving them towards the next team up flick of Avengers 2.

Each of the main 3 got a new film in their trilogies and then the universe got bigger with the Guardians being introduced.  Then to round out the trilogy Ant-Man was brought into the MCU.

Iron Man 3

Thor : The Dark World

Captain America : The Winter Soldier

Guardians of the Galaxy

Avengers : Age of Ultron 

Ant-Man

Best Movie

Arguably the best movie of them all 18 MCU films, Captain America : The Winter Soldier is the best of these 6 films.  Take away the super heroes and its a great spy thriller.  Sebastian Shaw as Winter Soldier is a great antagonist for Capt.  Add in the Hydra angle, and Robert Redford, this film is re-watchable many times and could even stand on its on.  

Best Hero

As fun as Chris Pratt's Star Lord is in Guardians, the other Chris takes the cake in Phase 2.  Chris Evans IS and will always be Captain America as RDJ is Iron Man and Heath Ledger is The Joker.  He just embodies what is it that makes Capt, Capt.  And it comes out more in his struggles with fighting Bucky at the climax of the Winter Soldier.  Add in Ultron, he takes on the leadership role of the Avengers more so.  Also this is the best Capt costume he's had in any flick.

Best Villain 

Sticking with the theme of Phase 2, the Winter Soldier / Bucky Barnes is the best villain.  He takes out Nick Fury and helps Alexander Pierce to take out SHIELD form the inside.  He pushes Capt to diff level too though Capt doesn't wanna fight him.  In the end you get to see him turn though.  

Best Moment

Before we get started....does anyone want to get out?  The elevator fight scene at the Triskelion with Capt and a bunch of SHIELD/Hydra Agents.

Worst Movie

This Phase has some flicks that could have used some more work, IMO.  Thor : The Dark World feels like a need to push the Jane Foster relationship more.  It also has the worst villain in the arguably the MCU in Malekith.  It also feels like in this phase a lot of the films are forced to also include infinity stones to build up toward Thanos and this is one of them too.  As a positive, this does give us the introduction to the Collector.

Worst Hero

You could argue Thor again as his film is probably more memorable for Loki, again.  And again his appearance in Age of Ultron is kind of ugh too outside of the Party scene in the first 20 minutes.  Also there is War Machine/Iron Patriot in Iron Man 3. But I think the worst hero though is Hulk.  I didn't care for the whole relationship with Black Widow at all, again it feels forced.  And what about Betty Ross?  Is that forgotten now?  His fight with the Hulkbuster is his best part of Hulk's phase 2.  

Worst Villain

This Phase struggles with a lot of bad villains.  Iron Man 3 messed up the the Mandarin, Ultron I was disappointed it, the Yellow Jacket is another of the hinge guy in a suit (see Iron Man and Iron Man 2) and what is Ronan without the Power Stone?  But the worst is Malekith in Thor the Dark World.  Along with GotG this is forced to introduce another infinity stone that Malekith is going after.  He just seems bland and nothing to write home about. 

Best of the MCU - Part 1

Arguably the biggest film since maybe Avatar, or the 1st Avengers movie comes out in 4 days.  What I'm going to try to do here is go through what I liked and didn't like about the MCU Phase by Phase.

Iron Man famously started the MCU and the machine that all these flicks have been on in 2008.  Along with Iron Man the following all showed up in Phase 1.

Iron Man

The Incredible Hulk

Iron Man 2

Thor

Captain America : The First Avenger 

The Avengers

Best Movie

My favorite movie of these is Iron Man.  The Avengers won my Summer Movie Award for Best Flick in 2012 but it all couldn't have happened with out Iron Man.  Downey Jr was perfect for this role and Favreau created something that it seems most Marvel origins copy.  The more that I watch it Captain America holds up great too, and has seeds through out all the phases.  And how much did everyone love the end credit scene with Nick Fury opening up the MCU.  

Best Hero

Again, this is going to Downey Jr and Iron Man.  He appears the most in this Phase with two Iron Man flicks and the team up Avengers.  His portrayal of Tony Stark is perfect and it rolls througout the MCU.

Best Villain 

Loki, more so for his role in Avengers but has seeds sown in Thor.  He has fun being evil and mischievous.  As great as Downey is as Iron Man, Tom Hiddleston shines as Loki. (Actually the whole MCU is really well cast) Along with Heath Ledger's Joker, these 2 may be the best villains in a comic book movie/series. 

Best Moment

The first of many after credits scene, Nick Fury shows up and let's everyone know that the world is about to get bigger.  

Worst Movie

Iron Man 2 - This movie was basically a set up for Avengers.  It was able to show Tony Stark with some flaws and ability to work through them.  And it is weak with Whiplash as villain.  Sam Rockwell is great as Justin Hammer, but gets shoved aside somewhat for Whiplash.  They also recast Rhodey with Don Cheadle and I think that is a bit of a drop off.  The movie does introduce us to Black Widow and gives us more Nick Fury.  

Worst Hero

Thor is dominant as a hero and strong being the God of Thunder, but his character is pretty bland and normal in Thor, the origin flick.  The relationship with he and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) seems more forced than natural.  Chris Hemsworth gets to open him up a little more and give him more personality in Avengers.  

Worst Villain

Whiplash - Iron Man 2.  Coming off The Wrestler, Mickey Rouke was cast as Whiplash in what should have been a great role and villain for Iron Man, but he was basically just put in another Iron Man suit for War Machine and Iron Man to fight in the end.  If he was given something more unique with the Whiplash character and the story/plot, he would have been able to shine more.

The Avengers

Friday afternoon I took a half day and went to go see the Avengers!  I've been pumped for this movie since Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America came out.  How they would tie them all in and their worlds together.  Iron Man was created in more of a real world...Captain America kind of but with a little stretch of a fantasy and then Thor is mythical and being tied into all of this.  Then add in Loki, Hawkeye, the Black Widow and Nick Fury, on and the HULK.

The whole thing was amazing from start to finish, and past the credits.  It was fun watching the 4 main characters grow a little bit more and also try to grow as a team and the pains that came with it.  In my opinion Robert Downey Jr and the Hulk stole the show.  Not saying that the Chris's weren't great because they were but I think Downey Jr's Iron Man is more established and the Hulk also needed to be reintroduced.  There was also the addition of Hawkeye in here and Black Widow and more Nick Fury.  Tom Hiddleston was great too as Loki.  

The credits scene sets up an Avengers 2.  I can't wait for that, and Thor 2, Iron Man 3 and Captain America 2 and may end up going to see this one again in the theaters!  That'd be a first in a long time seeing a movie twice in the theater.  Right now its a clear leader in the club house too for my 2012 Summer Movie Awards and Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man have a big hill to climb.

4.5 / 5 Stars

Iron Man 2

So I RedBoxe’d Iron Man 2 last night and as my son said “this mine and daddy’s movie to watch”, we watched it last night after putting together his new bed (for his 3rd bday coming up in a few weeks).


In my 2010 Summer Movie Awards I gave it the Biggest Dud of the summer movies that I saw. I saw it opening week with a buddy of mine, and I remember sitting in the theater disappointed in it, maybe it’s because I spent 8 bucks on it, or maybe it was the 5 dollar popcorn. But I walked out disappointed and thinking how great the first one was and hoping for great things in this one. It surely wouldn’t have the sequel drop off like Spider-Man 3 or other super hero sequels.


But after re-watching it , I don’t think it’s as bad as I thought. It does what it needs to. It elaborates more on the Tony Stark character and his drinking problem (from the comics). It builds on to the story with S.H.I.E.L.D. and what will be the Avenger’s movie. A nice little Easter Egg with Captain America’s shield there. Samuel L. Jackson and Mickey Rourke I thought were the best in the film. I didn’t think Robert Downey Jr. was bad, but from what he was in the first, I thought it was a drop off, but then again, the character has evolved. Also, I thought Gary Shandling was great as the senator, funny lines at the end.


What I didn’t like. Don Cheadle as Rhoady. I really like him as an actor, and other roles he has been in I really enjoy. But I thought he struggled here. I thought had 2 really good scenes, when he is brought in to the Senate hearing, and then the end on the roof top. Everything else thought he struggled. I really wish they would have kept Terrance Howard as Rhoady, he was a gem in the first movie. Second was the Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. It’s not that I didn’t like the character, he was a punk who wants to be Tony Stark but is half assing his way there, but Sam Rockwell looked to be trying to be Jeremy Piven more than the Sam Rockwell character. I didn’t think Hammer when I saw him, I thought more Piven-wanna be. Also I didn’t need Scarlet Johansen as the Black Widow, thought it was just a try to get her introduced before the Avengers and also to put her in a tight body fitting outfit.


Looking back I still think it was a dud for me since I expected so much more…but it also makes me anticipate bigger and better things from the Avengers and Iron Man 3. I still enjoyed it and love the super hero movies, and watching it with my son was fun too, that was the best part.

Who's in your 5? Superhero Movies

Some of the best popcorn movies, and most viewed and most anticipated movies are Superhero movies. Spiderman, Batman, Superman and the X-Men all have their spots in the a lot of DVD collections, but which ones are my fav 5? Here we go…


5. Fantastic Four – Again, a great origination movie. Introduces Hollywood to Dr. Doom and the Human Torch. Great performances by both. Like Iron Man, the sequel failed to live up to the 1st. With Chris Evans taking on Captain America, I assume we will see a reboot.


4. X-Men – chhhing! How many of us have always wanted to hear that sound on the big screen? Finally Wolverine! Movie brings our favorite mutants together, and also kicked off the decade of superhero movies.


3. Spider-Man 2 – until The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2 was the best superhero sequel. It continued classily the story of Peter Parker, and Doc Ock was perfectly acted by Alfred Molina.


2. Iron Man – one of the best ever origination movies. It brought Iron Man also to the mainstream of movies. Wish the Sequel would have continued it, hopefully #3 will.


1. Dark Knight – the best comic book movie ever. Heath Ledger’s Joker is iconic. If it wasn’t a comic book movie, then it would have won Best Picture

Who's in your 5 - SuperHeroes

Soundoff on WHO TV Sunday Nights has this little feature, and I may "Borrow" it. Sunday night it was "who is in your 5 for Favorite Super Heros."

So here we go.

#5 IronMan - Marvels version of Batman. Rich, and how many armor toys does he have?


#4 Iceman - he's just cool! And he can create his own transportation.



#3 Wolverine - A pure bad ass. Claws coming out of his hands. Regenerates his energy and is almost unbreakable.



#2 Daredevil - I may be the only one who enjoyed the Ben Affleck Movie, but dude is a blind lawyer and takes on everyone.



#1 Batman - dude is rich and and like Jack Nicholson's Joker says: "where does he get all those wonderful toys?"