Re-watching the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe

[Mercurius]

So I decided to re-watch the entire run of MCU movies, almost all of which I've seen before - except Age of Ultron and the various TV spin-offs. But I'm going to throw in Agents of Shield and of course watch Age of Ultron when it comes out on blu-ray.

Anyhow, I just finished up Phase One. My first thought is that even though I was more of an X-Men fan growing up, as a group the MCU movies hold together much better than the X-movies. My all-time favorite comic movie remains X2, and Days of Future Past, X-Men, and First Class are all probably top ten, but I love how they build up to The Avengers with Phase One. It really works.

Best of all, there isn't really a dud in the batch...well, not quite. I found The Incredible Hulk and Thor to be mediocre. The former lacked an origin story, which to me is my favorite part of comic movies. And to be honest I thought Ang Lee's Hulk is a bit underrated and a better movie overall, but perhaps not well received because of how dark it was. Back to MCU, Thor was just OK, nothing terrible or special about it. But both are quite watchable.

The two Iron Man movies are quite good. Actually, I remember being under-whelmed by Iron Man 2, but it was much better on a re-watch. I realized that part of the issue with it is that the pacing is different, slower even. It doesn't have the usual rising and then climaxing story arc, but feels like a sequence of episodes. In a way it is more cerebral than the others. And there's just no getting around the fact that Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark has to be the best rendition of a comic hero in any movie. He's just fun.

I wasn't much of a fan of Captain America growing up, always finding him a bit hokey. But the movie really makes him work and Chris Evans is very good. I would have liked to see more of the present, but that comes in the next film. Overall it is a very satisfying movie.

The jewel of the group is The Avengers. I'd say that Iron Man and Captain America are probably better films, but The Avengers is just plain old fun. That said, I found the Chitauri invasion a bit underwhelming - too much spectacle, too contrived. The big whale things were kinda cool, though. Oh yeah, what's not to like about Agent Coulson?

So that ends Phase One. Up next is Phase two, but first I'd like to open up conversation of Phase One. I probably won't watch the one-shots, unless someone really recommends them. I did watch the pilot of Agents of Shield when it came out and was underwhelmed, but my brother loves it and says it gets much better by the end of the first season, so will be watching it in the recommended viewing order - starting after Iron Man 3.

 

[Crothian]

I was never an Iron Man fan. So when they started with him I was not as excited. Also, the idea that they would do a movie for each hero and then bring it all together into the Avengers was an interesting idea but I was not expecting it to work.

When comparing these to the X-men movies MCU does look better I think because they don't have any that are as bad as X3. But the X-men movies have mostly been just as good and doing some as period pieces in the past has been a great idea. I'd love to see MCU do that as well.

One think the MCU has done better then other Super Hero films from my point of view is bring in the non comic book fan. I know more then a few people that were never into comics and never into comic book movie but now are there opening night of each MCU movie. Even Antman who none of them knew anything about; so whatever magic they are using to pull that off is amazing.

Agents of Shield is okay. Sure it gets better after the events of Winter Soldier but still it can only do so much because they restrict what can be on the show. I much preferred Agent Carter which was great and then of course Daredevil which was amazing.

Phase one was fun. They really got to the essence of each main character and allowed them to shine. Sadly the only villain of any note is Loki. If the MCU has failed at anything it is in establishing villains.

 

[trappedslider]

. And to be honest I thought Ang Lee's Hulk is a bit underrated and a better movie overall, but perhaps not well received because of how dark it was

Too much talking not enough smashing basically sums up the issues with Ang Lee's Hulk. It focused way too much on the daddy issues.

 

[MechaPilot]

I am predominantly a DC fan. Now, that's not to say that I'm a DC fangirl who adores everything they do, but I do generally enjoy DC characters (especially their villains) more than Marvel characters. That said, I have really enjoyed most of the MCU movies.

The first Iron Man was excellent. It was fun, funny (but not overwhelmingly so), action-filled, and if you like strong female characters it's hard to find fault with Pepper in that film.

The first Captain America was quite good. The hokey-ness of that film tickled my nostalgia for the very first superhero film I'd ever seen: the first Christopher Reeves, Richard Donner Superman film.

Thor, although one of the weaker entries in the MCU, was also pretty good. There's something almost Shakespearean about the relationships between Odin, Thor, and Loki. I will say that while Thor's buddy relationship with the male scientist (whose name escapes me right now) was good, I think the Jane character could have used a rewrite.

I greatly enjoyed the Avengers. It did have moments where it felt like it was too slow or where I just didn't care. I don't like Hawkeye in this movie. Before Age of Ulton, the only time I ever felt that I liked the Hawkeye character was during his appearance in Thor. They could have cut nearly every scene he's in out of the Avengers and it would have either been just as good or better than what we got.

I'm giving this a separate line because it relates to both Avengers films. I'm really sick of films where the evil army can be entirely shut down by destroying a single ship or satellite or robot. Tony sets off the bomb, and the Chitauri all shut down. Kill Ultron, and all his drones shut down. And I know this isn't an MCU film and that Disney didn't own the property at the time, but the same thing happened with the droid army in the Phantom Menace. I'm sick of the evil army having a self-destruct button the heroes can punch to tie up all the loose ends.

Oh yeah, what's not to like about Agent Coulson?

Isn't Coulson kind of a dick? (Hear me out first)

He was pretty close with the Avengers (they all felt it when he died), and he was fairly close with Pepper as well (she knew more about his social life than Tony did). He gets brought back from the dead and there's no indication in any of the films that followed that he contacted any of them. Now maybe he was ordered not to (I don't watch Agents of Shield, so I don't really know), but for those of us who just watch the films, it seems like he's kind of a dick.

If I recall correctly, I heard something about Sif appearing in an episode of Agents of Shield. Imagine Thor's reaction if she saw Coulson and told Thor he was alive.

Coulson was cool while he was alive the first time (the short about what happened at the convenience store on his way to Thor's Hammer was great), and he died nobly for a cause that he believed in. Bringing him back just felt cheap, and it illustrates a problem that Marvel has with their MCU: there is no fear of death because no one ever dies, not really. If they had left him dead I would have continued to think of him as a cool character instead of a dick who won't (or can't) call his friends and tell them he's back.

 

[Morrus]

My thoughts:

The non core stuff: The two Hulk movies were awful. The first couple of Spidey movies were OK, but the rest have been pretty bad. Both Fantastic Four movies were awful, and I hear that the latest one doesn't break that trend. X-Men/Wolverine movies have about a 50% hit rate. Daredevil and Electra were terrible. So for that set, we're talking a really poor hit rate - maybe 1 in 10 or so.

The core stuff gets better.

Iron Man 1 was excellent, Iron Man 2 was weak, Iron Man 3 was pretty bad.

Both Thors were weak, though I liked the second a bit more.

Cap 1 I found very dull, but Cap 2 was a veyr good movie. Best of the bunch so far.

Avengers 1 was excellent fun.

Guardians of the Galaxy probably would have been great for me, but we'd started entering Formula Fatigue, and it kinda bored me. Especially that repetitive last act in all the MCU flicks.

Avengers 2 was fairly weak.

I haven't seen Ant Man. I'm looking forward to Civil War.

Overall, still under 50% for me, but far better than the non-core stuff, and Avengers, Iron Man 1, and Cap 2 are all very good movies. Sadly, they're the only three really good movies in a series of a dozen or so.

 

[Crothian]

Coulson was cool while he was alive the first time (the short about what happened at the convenience store on his way to Thor's Hammer was great), and he died nobly for a cause that he believed in. Bringing him back just felt cheap, and it illustrates a problem that Marvel has with their MCU: there is no fear of death because no one ever dies, not really. If they had left him dead I would have continued to think of him as a cool character instead of a dick who won't (or can't) call his friends and tell them he's back.

Actually, there is a separation between the TV and Movie MCU universes. A little after Avengers 2 there was an article that suggested Whedon was not happy with Coulson coming back in the TV show and was staying dead as far as the movies are concerned. It is one of the problems with Agents of Shield nothing in the TV show will ever be allowed to effect or influence the movies.

 

[Umbran]

Isn't Coulson kind of a dick? (Hear me out first)

He was pretty close with the Avengers (they all felt it when he died), and he was fairly close with Pepper as well (she knew more about his social life than Tony did). He gets brought back from the dead and there's no indication in any of the films that followed that he contacted any of them. Now maybe he was ordered not to (I don't watch Agents of Shield, so I don't really know), but for those of us who just watch the films, it seems like he's kind of a dick.

It is part order, part common sense.

Think about it for a minute - the death of Coulson is used to motivate the Avengers. Fury uses that death to *push* them. What do the Avengers do if they find out they've been manipulated in that way? Likely not work with Fury any more, which is Bad. So, they keep Coulson's death quiet, at least for a while. Maybe, after time has passed, they can hear that he's alive and not blow a gasket over it. It is a problem with Fury's management style - he uses lies, and lies have to be maintained to work.

If you don't watch Agents of Shield, then you don't know that Coulson is not entirely happy with it being a secret. He had a girlfriend he could not tell... and it becomes a point in an episode.

 

[MechaPilot]

My thoughts:

The non core stuff: The two Hulk movies were awful. The first couple of Spidey movies were OK, but the rest have been pretty bad. Both Fantastic Four movies were awful, and I hear that the latest one doesn't break that trend. X-Men/Wolverine movies have about a 50% hit rate. Daredevil and Electra were terrible. So for that set, we're talking a really poor hit rate - maybe 1 in 10 or so.

The fantastic four, X-men, and spidey movies were not MCU. They are Marvel characters, but they are not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (although spiderman will be in the future because of a deal between Disney & Sony).

 

[Morrus]

The fantastic four, X-men, and spidey movies were not MCU.

Yes, I said that. But I appreciate the repetition.

 

[MechaPilot]

Actually, there is a separation between the TV and Movie MCU universes. A little after Avengers 2 there was an article that suggested Whedon was not happy with Coulson coming back in the TV show and was staying dead as far as the movies are concerned. It is one of the problems with Agents of Shield nothing in the TV show will ever be allowed to effect or influence the movies.

There is no separation. Despite Whedon not being happy with it, the company line is that Agents of Shield (AoS) is part of the MCU. From what I've heard, AoS is altered by events that come from the films. There is even a newpaper in the Netflix Daredevil that talks about the alien invasion, so that show is part of the MCU is as well. So far, nothing has gone from AoS to the films, but it is possible that it could happen given that they are part of the same cinematic universe.

Also, I've heard that the guy who plays Daredevil in the Netflix show has as part of his contract an obligation to play Daredevil in a film if called upon to do so. This means it's possible (though not necessarily likely) that the netflix Daredevil could appear in a marvel film.