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Thread: The Infinity Watch - MCU Film a Week

  1. #101
    ◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤ Bill Casey's Avatar
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    It's time for the most controversially placed film on this list...
    We're going cosmic, as the first of several god level entities are taken down, leaving Thanos wide open for a smash and grab...
    It's time for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2...


  2. #102
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Casey View Post
    It's time for the most controversially placed film on this list...
    Lol

    Well I tried, but no one school's Bill Casey.

  3. #103
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    Well I loved the first GotG when it came out. Saw it twice at the cinema and am close to a dozen times since. I enjoyed this one at the cinema, and watched it 2 or 3 times since before this viewing.

    So in the context of following along with the MCU storyline/timeline...this movie fell very flat for me. I think it's because the last few movies we've watched are Earth-based with more grounded antagonists, but this viewing seemed way too out there, with nothing linking it back to the rest of the crew. I think in the future the GotG trilogy will stand on it's own outside the MCU and the Infinity War/Endgame involvement will be a bonus rather than integral. That may change with Endgame and GotG, who knows.

    I remember at the time there was a lot of criticism at how forced the humour was. At the time I disagreed with that, but this time around I can absolutely see it. Yes there were funny scenes - Drax pissing himself laughing at Mantis exposing Quill's love for Gamora, Racoon/Yondu trying to get Groot to find the fin, and Sean Gunn's character (forget the name) discussing how to spend the share of the money with Nebula. But heaps of other jokes were just crammed in to places they didn't need to be.

    Yondu laying waste to the mutineers was a badass scene, but fuck me I didn't remember that many former crewmates being killed by him. Grim stuff.

    Biggest criticism I have this time is how shitty Nebula was written. Trying to go for some stupid aloof femme fatale vibe in parts. Would have better to keep her as cold and ruthless as per part one because then the emotion showed in the punch-on with Gamora would have had more impact humanising her.

    I'm being harsh. I did enjoy it. But once I get done ranking all the films after this rewatch it will be a lot lower than where I originally had it.

  4. #104
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Casey View Post
    Is there anything at all in the actual film itself that sets it before Civil War? Because there's still something in the work that sets it after, and as long as the work itself says it's set after Civil War, I have to go with that above everything else...
    I guess this thought of mine was prompted by nothing tying it back to the rest of the MCU. Take out that Lee cameo and yeah, where does it fit overall?

  5. #105
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    I really like Lindsay Ellis's video essay on this film...


  6. #106
    What the fucks up Dennys! Nash Diesel's Avatar
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    My oldest son (17) doesn't watch a lot of movies but he cites GotG 2 as his favorite movie of the super hero movies he's seen in general and considers it #2 behind his absolute favorite movie, They Live.

  7. #107
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    Dormammu, I've come to bargain...



    The powerful cosmic entity Ego has been vanquished, and Thanos's path to complete victory just got a little clearer. But The Ancient One and Asgard still stand. It's time for the most psychadelic entry on this list. It's time for Doctor Strange...


  8. #108
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    Dormammu, I've come to bargain...



    The powerful cosmic entity Ego has been vanquished, and Thanos's path to complete victory just got a little clearer. But The Ancient One and Asgard still stand. It's time for the most psychadelic entry on this list. It's time for Doctor Strange...


  9. #109
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    Dormammu, I've come to bargain...



    The powerful cosmic entity Ego has been vanquished, and Thanos's path to complete victory just got a little clearer. But The Ancient One and Asgard still stand. It's time for the most psychadelic entry on this list. It's time for Doctor Strange...


  10. #110
    Ironclad Contract RuneEdge's Avatar
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  11. #111
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    Ok, so I wasn't planning to watch Endgame. But I watched Captain Marvel on Wednesday and now I'm hyped. I have been the exact opposite of Bill here. I've watched Ironman, the first two Avengers films and Antman and Captain Marvel (obviously). I enjoyed all of them, despite not knowing all the neat continuity stuff but I'm conscious of the fact that Endgame is built on all this shit I haven't been closely following. So, with that in mind can someone distil the overarching storyline to its essentials and the must watch films. And by must watch I mean must watch to fully comprehend whats going on. I'm completely fine not knowing absolutely everything. The MCU has been pretty good about establishing concepts for someone who's barely following proceedings.

    I'm thinking no more than 4 or 5 films, if possible.

  12. #112
    Ironclad Contract RuneEdge's Avatar
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    So when you watched Age of Ultron, was there anything you didnt understand? Because if you're ok watching 5 movies from that point onwards, its actually quite easy.
    In that case, I'd watch Captain America - Civil War, Doctor Strange, Thor Ragnarok, Black Panther, then Avengers Infinity War. I think you can get away with skipping over Guardians 2 and Spider-Man Homecoming and not missing anything major in the overall story.

  13. #113
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    - Guardians of the Galaxy 1 (Introduces who the Guardians are, explains the Infinity Stones, early primer on Thanos)
    - Captain America: Civil War (Black Panther's origin story, introduces Spider-Man, Explains the Tony/Cap Storyline)
    - Doctor Strange (Introduces who Doctor Strange is, The Time Stone, and some out there concepts about the universe)
    - Thor Ragnarok (Heavily explains the opening scene in Infinity War, Explains why Thor doesn't have his hammer)
    - Infinity War (Essentially the first half of a two part film)
    Last edited by Bill Casey; April 13th, 2019 at 1:21 AM.

  14. #114
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Could even skip Dr Strange if you're seriously time poor.

  15. #115
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    I watched the leak. There was really only one cool thing where I was like oh could have waited for that. Everything else anyone with a brain knows is coming or was already on a foreign market poster.

  16. #116
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    Everyone knew this would happen...


  17. #117
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Watched Doctor Strange and Ragnarok in a double header yesterday since I'm out of town all next week. Will post thoughts on Ragnarok when it's time

    Didn't see Doctor Strange when it came about because I felt a bit of MCU fatigue going on, and didn't think it was overly crucial in the grand scheme of things. And after watching it, I feel pretty much the same. Other than the introduction of characters and a couple of concepts, it didn't add much to the MCU.

    So, as a stand alone movie...

    I liked that Strange is a massive dickhead, and doesn't totally overcome that. Gives us a departure from the old noble good-hearted kid gets powers lineage. And the visuals were amazing.

    Other than that, I didn't particularly enjoy it. It felt like it kept trying to stray from the classic origin storyline, but in different ways and then kept snapping back to the formula ouldn't settle on a direction. The final showdown fell flat on it's face because of a very loosely constructed Chekov's Gun setup about the time loop, I would have liked to have seen a bit more base to that other than the throwaway line when he's dicking about with the Eye of Whatever They Call The Time Stone here. The whole training thing felt like it took place over three days, they could have done a bit more to establish how long it actually took (seemed like it should have been a few years?) to show some character growth. Or even a flaw in that even though he studied for X years he never totally overcame his ego. Even a hack "three years later" title card would have gone part way to that.

    Liked Cumberbatch (thought he was much better as this character in future movies). Thought Swinton was brilliant. You could tell me that Mikkelsen was 100% CGI and I'd believe it. Didn't think much else of the rest of the cast.


    I've got another gripe with your timeline, Bill. The post-credits scene feels like it takes place waaaay after the end of this movie, so I feel it should be earlier. He's named dropped during his surgeon days during Winter Soldier. The phone call his takes in his car about a spine injury from experimental armour I reckon is a direct reference to a bit in Iron Man 2 where we see some bloke get fucked up by a some prototype. I'd place it just before or after Civil War.

  18. #118
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    He has an award from 2016 before he ever has his accident...
    The same year as the events of Civil War...



    When Stephen is driving, Billy mentions an air force colonel in experimental armor who suffered a mid thoracic burst fracture. This is a type of injury consistent with a fall from a great height. James Rhodes is an air force colonel...

    This places the beginning of Doctor Strange after the events of Civil War...





    So how then could Stephen Strange be mentioned in Winter Soldier?
    Well, Doctor Strange isn't the only one who can see into people's futures...



    Sitwell: Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets!

    Cap: What targets?

    Sitwell: You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future.

    Cap: The Future? How could it know?

    Sitwell: How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future.
    Last edited by Bill Casey; April 17th, 2019 at 1:22 AM.

  19. #119
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    usa
    - Black Panther
    - Spider-Man Homecoming
    - Ant Man & The Wasp
    - Guardians of the Galaxy 2
    - Doctor Strange
    - Thor Ragnarok

    These are films that chronologically take place between Civil War and Infinity War...
    Relevance is also a factor in how I ordered the list...

    Black Panther, Spider-Man Homecoming and Ant Man & The Wasp are all directly relevant to plot lines from Civil War, with Black Panther being the most directly relevant, GOTG2 is relevant to nothing, and Doctor Strange is relevant to Thor Ragnarok...

    This is similar to how I ordered the films between Avengers and Civil War. Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 are relevant to plotlines from The Avengers, GOTG1 is relevant to nothing, and Winter Solider, Age of Ultron and Ant Man are relevant to Civil War...
    Last edited by Bill Casey; April 17th, 2019 at 1:36 AM.

  20. #120
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simmo Fortyone View Post
    The whole training thing felt like it took place over three days, they could have done a bit more to establish how long it actually took (seemed like it should have been a few years?) to show some character growth. Or even a flaw in that even though he studied for X years he never totally overcame his ego. Even a hack "three years later" title card would have gone part way to that.
    So the thing about this is it didn't take years...
    Stephen Strange has a photographic memory. Once he sees or reads something, it's perfectly committed to his memory forever...
    He tells Baron Mordo this, and says it's how he got his MD and PHD at the same time...
    To say he's a fast learner would be a gross understatement...
    His real superpower is his mind...



    The more magic he learns, the more magic he can use in pursuit of knowledge and the more exponential his growth is...



    Once he has the Time Stone, his capacity to learn becomes completely unshackled from the constraints of time...
    Last edited by Bill Casey; April 17th, 2019 at 2:06 AM.

  21. #121
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Casey View Post
    Stephen Strange has a photographic memory. Once he sees or reads something, it's perfectly committed to his memory
    This is quite possibly the most 'Mary Sue' bullshit sentence I have ever read. That is quite literally not how anything works and it confirms my initial thoughts from watching the first few scenes of Dr Strange that he would be an absolutely awful doctor to work with or be treated by.

  22. #122
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    Oh yeah, they make a point to make him Dr. House levels of insufferable before they take everything away from him and break him down into nothing...

    His whole character arc and the way he defeats Dormammu is centered around the concept of putting others before himself...
    Last edited by Bill Casey; April 17th, 2019 at 5:24 AM.

  23. #123
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Makes the movie even worse IMO

  24. #124
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    The Ancient One no longer stands in the way of Thanos, yet Asgard remains. But the sins of Asgard's past are coming back to haunt it...



    Ragnarok is upon us...

  25. #125
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    Thor: The Dark World was such a fucking slog for me. I usually like Marvel films, but god that film was dull. Taika Waititi really turned things around...
    The use of The Immigrant Song as Thor's theme was inspired...

  26. #126
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    Happy 4/20...



  27. #127
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    Annnnnd Happy Easter...



    It's time for Infinity War...
    Thanos is going on an egg hunt...



    But can the son of a god stop him with the help of a talking rabbit?

    Last edited by Bill Casey; April 21st, 2019 at 3:49 AM.

  28. #128
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Thor Ragnarok

    I loved this movie when I first saw it. And I've loved it every time I've seen it since.

    The humour really shone a big bright light on the inherent silliness of the MCU. The jokes were built in to everything throughout, instead of being set pieces and one-liners/quips after a big moment. The dialogue seemed improvised at times which made it seem a lot more natural. Visually it was a bloody artwork - the look and feel of Sakaar was so bright contrasted with the previous Thor movies, the flashback to the Valkyries battling Hela was so well done, and the final battle pieces were a treat.

    I loved Rachel House in Hunt for the Wilderpeople and her playing off with Goldblum was hilarious. For that matter, Goldblum was hilarious. I loved Ruffalo fully embracing Banner being the damsel-in-distress in this story and getting to ham it up a bit.

    Easily my favourite movie in the whole series.

  29. #129
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Infinity War

    Pretty much an all-star game. Everyone turns up, gets a few shots in, waves to the crowd and done.

    They had a bastard of a challenge pulling together a coherent story with 20something major characters, and they did that very well. Nothing felt shoehorned in Andre Memorial Battle Royale style, everyone had their purpose. With Thanos' Hero's Journey underpinning it all, it was then just a series of gut-punch moments
    - Thor opening up to the Guardians on the week he has had
    - Gamora asking Starlord to kill her
    - Thanos getting the Soul Stone
    - Loki & Heimdall getting done in the first couple of minutes
    - Wanda killing Vision, only to have to watch him be revived then killed again
    - probably a few more I'm not recalling
    - finishing up with the whole dust thing

    I always kept casting my mind back to 12 months ago, seeing this fresh in the cinema. One of the biggest hitting moments for me first time round was Thanos telling Stark "I hope they remember you". Portrayed some nobility in a villain that didn't particularly enjoy how he was getting to his end goal, but was committed to it nonetheless. I also remember the lack of music in the final minutes, being echoed by the stunned silence in a crowded cinema as half the cast dissolved.

  30. #130
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Bill even though this thread has mostly just been me and you, I've really really enjoyed watching these movies back, and it's got me seriously fucking hyped for Endgame. Booked in to see it Friday night. I've studiously avoided any marketing material for it (trailers etc) and have got enough excitement just from this alone. Thank you

    At the moment I wonder if I will bother with MCU movies with this much investment beyond Endgame. Not sure I can be arsed going through another 20 movies over 10 years to get to this level of enthusiasm again. I wonder how much of the world will feel the same.

  31. #131
    Donde esta la biblioteca Pablo Diablo's Avatar
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    I've been enjoying your takes on all the movies there Simmo, so it hasn't gone unnoticed.

  32. #132
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    Me too. Been loving simmo running his views down while bill set up the thread.

    Nice work both of you.

  33. #133
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simmo Fortyone View Post
    Bill even though this thread has mostly just been me and you, I've really really enjoyed watching these movies back, and it's got me seriously fucking hyped for Endgame. Booked in to see it Friday night. I've studiously avoided any marketing material for it (trailers etc) and have got enough excitement just from this alone. Thank you

    At the moment I wonder if I will bother with MCU movies with this much investment beyond Endgame. Not sure I can be arsed going through another 20 movies over 10 years to get to this level of enthusiasm again. I wonder how much of the world will feel the same.
    Thank you for your reviews, Simmo. You made this thread complete...

  34. #134
    World Champion Murphy's Avatar
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    I'm there, lads. I've been on a marathon and am seeing Endgame in a small local theatre on Sunday.

    Loved Iron Man, Ragnarok, GOTGs, Civil War and Infinity War the most. And probably Black Panther too. I've only skipped over Captain America; The First Avenger, Homecoming, Ant Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel. I'll go back and watch them, but I've seen the rest and I've run out of time. Will possibly watch Ant Man and The Wasp tonight or tomorrow.

    Infinity War was epic. The battle in Wakanda, Thor's entrance, the brilliant one liners throughout. Bloody loved it. Funniest bit for me though was Drax thinking he was invisible, eating his crisps.

  35. #135
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    I wish I could have re-watched with you guys, I just didn't have the time. I am planning to do a full Infinity Watch at some point in the next year, when I can, and post my thoughts in here and review your guys' posts.

    I fucking love Endgame.

  36. #136
    ◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤◥◤ Bill Casey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Murphy View Post
    I'm there, lads. I've been on a marathon and am seeing Endgame in a small local theatre on Sunday.
    Father's Day is a great day to watch End Game...

  37. #137
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    Quote Originally Posted by Murphy View Post
    I'm there, lads. I've been on a marathon and am seeing Endgame in a small local theatre on Sunday.

    Loved Iron Man, Ragnarok, GOTGs, Civil War and Infinity War the most. And probably Black Panther too. I've only skipped over Captain America; The First Avenger, Homecoming, Ant Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel. I'll go back and watch them, but I've seen the rest and I've run out of time. Will possibly watch Ant Man and The Wasp tonight or tomorrow.

    Infinity War was epic. The battle in Wakanda, Thor's entrance, the brilliant one liners throughout. Bloody loved it. Funniest bit for me though was Drax thinking he was invisible, eating his crisps.
    Both Ant Man movies are a fun watch

  38. #138
    Main Eventer BigAl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Murphy View Post
    I'm there, lads. I've been on a marathon and am seeing Endgame in a small local theatre on Sunday.
    What did you think of Endgame?

  39. #139
    World Champion Murphy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PurePlayer View Post
    Both Ant Man movies are a fun watch
    Yup, watched the first one and really enjoyed it. Will catch the second one soon.

    Quote Originally Posted by BigAl View Post
    What did you think of Endgame?
    Bloody loved it. Just a hair below Infinity War, but that's not a complaint at all. Got all the feels watching that and 3 hours flew by. My wife doesn't really do films, not really, but she said it was better than Harry Potter. Now if you knew my wife, you'd know that that was the highest praise possible from her.

    Start to finish, the film had me by the short and curlies. And Thor is still the best.

  40. #140
    What the fucks up Dennys! Nash Diesel's Avatar
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    I checked out Capt Marvel now that it's at the Redbox. Definitely a mediocre film, the 2nd one should be a lot better. I liken it to how I felt after watching Dr. Strange where you're like, cool, origin is out of the way, what's next? I liked her in the Avengers, same with Strange, but on their own they left a lot to be desired.

    I like the fact they're bringing in The Skrulls and more with the Kree but without going too in depth and having to spoiler shit I'll just say I'm glad I didn't spend the loot at the theater but I was pleased with it. 6/10. It'll probably be one of those Marvel movies where you go back and watch it 4-5 years from now and appreciate it a little more.

  41. #141
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Finally able to start my re-watch so I'll post some quick reviews in here as I go and read your guys' comments from before.

    Iron Man
    I loved this when it came out and it's as good as I remember. RDJ is perfect, the script is tight and it's just all around well made. To be both one of the best comic book movies ever and seamlessly set up the MCU is an outstanding achievement. I think Terrence Howard is fine but the change to Cheadle was for the better. I don't know squat about the Ten Rings but I did find it interesting to see the terrorist group be named after them knowing that the upcoming Shang Chi movie is called Ten Rings.
    9/10

    The Incredible Hulk
    This isn't a bad movie, I think it's pretty solid in fact. Norton is his good normal self but I think Ruffalo is better suited for the lighter and more comedic moments that were to follow so I wish they had gone with him from the start. Tim Blake Nelson would have been good as Leader & it's too bad this never got its sequel (yet). I didn't mind how they packed the whole origin story into a montage during the opening credits. It worked well to let them start with movie with Bruce on the run, although there's so much story packed into that montage that you almost have to watch it twice. I'm not much of a Liv Tyler fan so I'm fine with her character going away after this movie. Otherwise the cast is really solid. The script is fine but not nearly as interesting as Iron Man, and the Norton/Tyler combo is super dull compared to RDJ/Paltrow. The fight scenes were good and I was overall satisfied with the action in this flick. One gripe is when Betty convinced Hulk to show mercy on the Abomination at the end. It's significant by showing Hulk does have a brain/heart and can be moral but he probably should have killed him given that he could have gotten up and started going berzerk again. Didn't seem like they had another way to restrain him. lol.
    6.7/10

  42. #142
    Nerd Pervert Gary J's Avatar
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    I don't think we will ever get a Hulk sequel or even another standalone Hulk movie. All people want to see is Hulk smash shit up and they can do that in spectacular sequences in the Avengers movies or have him turn up like he did in Thor - Ragnarok.

  43. #143
    World Champion Murphy's Avatar
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    I recently picked up on DVD the two Hulk films from the 80s with Bill Bixby. Cannot wait to relive those bad boys!

  44. #144
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Iron Man 2
    It was a pretty good sequel. I'll put it ahead of Incredible Hulk based mainly on the strength of the cast even though Hulk probably has the better script and more substance. In IM2, the first act where Tony is being a reckless cocky drunken idiot culminating in he and War Machine getting into an armed fight at a party surrounded by civilians came off rather cringey. I think that whole first act could have used some better dialogue and structure. But the movie gets better as it goes, Rockwell and Rourke make up a solid villain duo, and Cheadle, ScarJo and Samuel L are a good supporting cast. A fairly forgettable movie in the scheme of the MCU but it's not bad, again serving the Iron Man series and furthering the Avengers narrative rather seamlessly.
    6.9/10
    Last edited by Fro; January 8th, 2020 at 11:45 AM.

  45. #145
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Thor
    This and Dark World are the two MCU movies that I don’t believe I’ve seen before. And wow, this was surprisingly great. Hemsworth and Portman are charming as hell (this movie reminded me of why I used to love Portman). The humor, pacing, CGI… I don’t see any major flaws here although the plot got a little touch and go at the end when Loki used his ice magic to turn the bridge into a Death Star and tried to destroy the White Walkers planet (or whatever they’re called but they look just like White Walkers). I think that all makes sense now but I had to watch it a couple times to follow the exposition. But yea, this was a very enjoyable superhero flick.

    8.3/10

  46. #146
    Cirque du Soleil Chris's Avatar
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    I love the first Thor. Still one of my favourite MCU films. Patrick Doyle's score is lovely and I wish he had been kept on for the subsequent films. Aside from Captain's America's theme and the Avengers Assemble pomp, the MCU really missed a trick in not maintaining distinctive musical cues for its characters as it went along. The Dark World and Ragnarok have their own themes. Iron Man 3 has a great one, but it doesn't pop up again in the later ensemble films.

  47. #147
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Captain America: The First Avenger
    Moving right along in my re-watch, not losing any steam yet although I will probably need a break after Avengers before I delve into the phase 2 solo sequels.

    Captain America is another solid origin flick which I had seen before but forgotten most of. I certainly put it a level behind Thor but a little ahead of IM2 and Hulk. It was enjoyable enough. Chris Evans isn't the most charismatic guy as compared to Downey and Hemsworth but he fits well as the vanilla do-gooder who never backs down to a bully. The CGI of skinny sickly Steve Rogers worked well enough, no complaints there. Ms. Carter was fine but like Evans she didn't have the same appeal as compared to the charmers that came before her in Portman and Paltrow. However, it was nice to get a refresher on her and Cap's story given how Endgame ended. It was a perfect ending for Cap in the end, to travel back to her, wasn't it?

    The plot of this movie was okay, I mean I liked the origin story for Cap but Red Skull the villain wasn't all that compelling and his ending (getting sucked up into space because he touched the tesseract) was a bit odd. I know he ends up being the Soul Stone gatekeeper... I forget if he does anything else before that but in any event it was a little weird if you're just watching this movie as a stand-alone. Bucky falling to his presumed death also left something to be desired when it comes to this film on its own. And of course Cap got frozen in time. So this movie more than the other origin flicks very much was leading into the next plot points of the MCU, somewhat to its detriment.

    7.2/10

  48. #148
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    The Avengers
    Really a tremendous team up flick. Quite an achievement wasn't it, I mean was this kinda thing ever done in cinema before? I remember being blown away seeing it in the theater. Now that I revisit it, it's come back to earth somewhat meaning the awe factor isn't quite there anymore but that's probably only because the success of this film led to even greater team-up films that followed.

    Loki is a great, layered villain in this. Petty, childish, cocky.... you gotta love him. Nick Fury, too, has a great role as he tries to form the Avengers into what he believe they can become while also dealing with his own team (Coulson/Hill) and the mysterious World Security Council. Ruffalo fills in for Norton seamlessly, though Norton would have added value to these flicks in his own right. Meaning there are scenes where I think Norton would have been better, and others not. It's probably a wash overall. There's a lot of tidbits about Black Widow's past revealed here that made me happy I watched this in advance of her upcoming solo flick. Seems like she's got some serious body counts in her ledger that she's not proud of. The Battle of New York is a great climax/battle scene, and the wrinkle that the WSC fired a nuke at Manhattan which Tony re-directed through the wormhole was a cool way to close it all out.

    The chemistry between the Avengers, both in dialogue and in action sequences, was spot on.

    9.2/10

  49. #149
    GP OG Percussion's Avatar
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    What scenes do you think Norton would have added more?

  50. #150
    World Champion lotjx's Avatar
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    Ruffalo swinging the baby carriage when he is talking about no one gets what they want is his move. That reveals so much about Banner and his past, you really don't need the other Hulk movie. Norton would have been fine, but would have tried to one up RDJ at every turn it would have gotten annoying quick. Disheveled Banner is the best Hulk.

  51. #151
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Percussion View Post
    What scenes do you think Norton would have added more?
    They're both good, but generally the only parts where I feel Ruffalo is the better option are the humorous or light hearted moments. Ed Norton is the superior dramatic actor, in my opinion. So for instance in this movie, in his opening scene when he's in hiding and Black Widow comes to get him, I think Norton would probably be better. And later on when he and Stark are in the science lab trying to figure out where the tesseract is, and shooting the shit about their superpowers where Banner starts talking about how his is a curse that he can't control... again, Norton.

    Now granted, I can't see Norton being a serial comic book movie star but that's more because I've heard interviews with him and know he's a rather serious actor who doesn't fit that mold career-wise. But the guy can act his nuts off. I think the brooding, tortured Banner fits him well. The funny Banner? Ruffalo.

  52. #152
    What the fucks up Dennys! Nash Diesel's Avatar
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    I think I've only seen the Norton Hulk movie once but just basing his overall work on what he could have offered to the future, I think the positive would have outweighed the negatives.

    But just comparing Incredible Hulk and Avengers, I lean toward Ruffalo. I honestly haven't seen too many movies with Mark Ruffalo but I've seen a variety and he can be serious, he can be comedic. If the MCU went the way of DC where it's a little more dark, Norton would probably fit better in the grand scheme of things because as Fro said he's got the edge on the more serious tone required. But again, I think Ruffalo was born for this role the same way Evans was for Cap, RDJ for Iron Man.

    The close calls we got with some other people playing these parts makes you wonder how different everything would be. Tom Cruise as Iron Man/Tony Stark would have been dope, but RDJ has the real life kind of Tony Stark thing going that hits you on a different level than jumping up and down on Oprah's couch because you bagged Dawson's gf.

  53. #153
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Iron Man 3
    This movie was solid. I liked it more than Iron Man 2 but not by a ton. The terrorist storyline was generally well done, playing on the real life dynamic of the terrorism in the post-9/11 era. I found it interesting to see a super hero deal with an Osama Bin Laden type character and it was a natural fit for Tony given his origins in weapons manufacturing and having them get into the wrong hands. The reveal of the Mandarin being an actor was a nice twist and Ben Kingsley fit the role well with one major exception. His fake Mandarin voice was so very off. They dressed him up like Osama and made him talk in a weird southern American accent? It sounded so strange. I would have to wager they didn't want fake Mandarin to talk like a Middle Easterner for fear of being non-PC and that's a shame because I think if they had him fully sound like Osama before his reveal of being a goofy Brit it would have played so much better and made the reveal that much more of a twist. An Osama looking guy talking like John Wayne was odd to the senses. But that qualm aside, him being the stooge for Guy Pearce's character was a well written plot point IMO.

    The stuff with Tony's anxiety and sleeplessness was good. The young boy character didn't steal the show but he was fine. And lastly I'll say the Extremis vaccine or whatever it is, it wasn't my favorite villain plot device. It give you regenerative abilities but also makes you get really hot and sometimes explode, thus turning the subject into a bomb. I get it, but it didn't feel all that compelling or well explained. Guy Pearce was pretty good though.

    I'm conflicted on which I preferred between this and First Avenger but it's right there in the 7/10 range.

    7.3/10
    Last edited by Fro; February 4th, 2020 at 3:43 PM.

  54. #154
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Casey View Post
    It's Thor's Day no longer...



    This film is considered by many the worst film in the MCU...
    After Marvel fired Patty Jenkins, who went on to make "Wonder Woman", we got Thor: The Dark World...
    It only gets brighter from here...

    Thor: The Dark World

    First off, I don't think this was the worst film in the MCU. The first Thor movie surprised me with how great it was and while Dark World didn't equal its predecessor, it was pretty good. I'm going to put it slightly ahead of Iron Man 3 and The First Avenger. If it seems like I'm scoring a lot of these movies in the low 7's or high 6's, it's not that I'm using that as a floor and won't give out lower scores. None of these movies flat out stink, at least not so far. They're all enjoyable in their own right and well produced with good attention to detail. While I don't think they're all great (for reference I would say anything I score 8 or higher is great), I'm extremely impressed with the continuity of the universe and consistency of quality across these films.

    My takeaways from Dark World:

    -Thor, Loki and Odin are still the shit. The mom too. These are great characters and I like spending time with them on screen. Loki especially.
    -The bad guys in this movie, the Dark Elves, look so much like the White Walkers from Thor 1. Seemed like the same character design just without the blue skin color. LOL. The conflict here with the darkness, ether, and 9 worlds aligning was good. I thought the opening scene (pre-title sequence) was a really cool set up with the Elves losing the war but going into hiding/suspended animation for thousands of years until the ether re-awakened.
    -My only qualm was that at first, only Heimdall could see the convergence and he said something to the effect of, most people won't even be able to sense the alignment (Thor couldn't see it). But then in the end, on Earth, you could see all the worlds lined up in the sky in big circles clear as day. Also did the convergence just happen to be in Greenwich England? Like of all the places in the universe, this is where the Elves needed to cast the darkness from? Not trying to be nit picky there since we need some of the plot to happen on Earth but I just found it funny.
    -I look forward to Portman's return as Jane in Love & Thunder. I have no idea how she'll "become Thor" within the plot but I trust she can pull it off. I remain a fan of her's though her performance in Dark World wasn't anything special. I'm rooting for her to somehow become an Asgardian god, marry Thor and live thousands of years with him, as his Queen.
    -Kat Dennings was good again as the assistant.

    7.4/10
    Last edited by Fro; February 8th, 2020 at 7:54 PM.

  55. #155
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Captain America: The Winter Soldier
    I enjoyed this more than First Avenger (probably a pretty common opinion). I don't have a ton to say about it. Anthony Mackie is a welcome addition to the Avengers lineup. The Hydra plot was fine, but it makes me think less of SHIELD that they let their organization be overrun by Nazis and damn near started a new holocaust. Cmon SHIELD, you're better than that.

    I debated giving this an 8 but it didn't quite hit that mark for me. It was well done but these characters (Cap/Falcon/Widow/Fury) weren't all that interesting, at least not enough for me to consider this a remarkable super hero movie. It was just very good.

    7.8/10

  56. #156
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Guardians of the Galaxy
    I remember all the praise this movie got when it came out but when I saw it I was underwhelmed. I didn't dislike it but it was just a solid 7/10 to me while other people seemed to adore it. Perhaps I was suffering from overhype syndrome because now I see how great and charming this movie is. It's Star Wars when Star Wars was still good. It's hilarious. It's got great music. Dave Bautista is the best. The only actor who seems out of place is John C Reilly which is odd since this seems up his alley as a guy who used to do drama but then started doing comedy, but his performance did not land. Idk if it's just that Talladega and Step Brothers ruined him for acting anything but completely silly. Whatever, it's only a small role.

    8.5/10

    Next up Avengers 2

  57. #157
    What the fucks up Dennys! Nash Diesel's Avatar
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    This is definitely the point where these movies really picked up and we had a damn near perfect string of quality movies from the MCU. Avengers is awesome, first Cap was cool, but from Winter Soldier on it's just one banger after another. The only movie that is coming up that I wasn't super high on was Dr. Strange. Everything else, 2 sweeeeet

  58. #158
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    The main thing I remember about GotG was that it was fun as fuck. Superhero movies for the previous decade or so had been firmly entrenched in a "set in the real world" style and that was all well and good, but when this came out it was bright and colourful and cheesy, like a throwback to 80s/90s action & adventure movies. I'd agree with you Fro that yeah watching it again now it's a solid 7-8/10 but at the time it came out it was such a change from what we were used to.

  59. #159
    I Went To America Gangers's Avatar
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    Agreed on all counts. As a Firefly fan from way back, it definitely had elements of that as well as original Star Wars so I immediately loved it.

  60. #160
    Truth teller virms's Avatar
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    Guardians is still my favorite of the bunch by miles.

    The characters are already so well fleshed out it was honestly like they had been portraying them for years.

  61. #161
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Age of Ultron
    This movie is underwhelming. I don't really care for Ultron as the villain. The whole set up of the movie with the AI they found in Loki's scepter, the creation of Ultron and how later they created Vision by merging JARVIS into the new body they generated... it's all very blah. The writing could use some work. And while I like James Spader's voice, it just doesn't feel right in the framework of Ultron. I would compare it to Bane's voice in TDKR in that they're both off-putting. Bruce and Natasha's love story is not very interesting, and the twins (Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver) don't add much here IMO. The hallucinations that Wanda gave the Avengers... I can see how each one provided insight into that character's past or their fears, but it seemed like a clumsy plot device. I like Wanda more in future movies. Quicksilver was better in the X-Men films. And I just realized he appears in both franchises. I'm curious how Marvel put him in Ultron if he's an X-Men character who was owned by Fox at the time.

    Anyway, it's not as if this movie is awful. But for an Avengers movie it definitely left a lot to be desired.

    7.4/10

    --------------------

    And so through 11 movies, here are my rankings. 6 = okay. 7 = good. 8 = great. 9 = classic.

    The Avengers - 9.2
    Iron Man - 9
    Guardians of the Galaxy - 8.5
    Thor - 8.3
    Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 7.8
    Thor: The Dark World - 7.4
    Avengers: Age of Ultron - 7.4
    Iron Man 3 - 7.3
    Captain America: The First Avenger - 7.2
    Iron Man 2 - 6.9
    The Incredible Hulk - 6.7
    Last edited by Fro; February 23rd, 2020 at 7:20 PM.

  62. #162
    What the fucks up Dennys! Nash Diesel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fro View Post
    Age of Ultron
    This movie is underwhelming. I don't really care for Ultron as the villain. The whole set up of the movie with the AI they found in Loki's scepter, the creation of Ultron and how later they created Vision by merging JARVIS into the new body they generated... it's all very blah. The writing could use some work. And while I like James Spader's voice, it just doesn't feel right in the framework of Ultron. I would compare it to Bane's voice in TDKR in that they're both off-putting. Bruce and Natasha's love story is not very interesting, and the twins (Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver) don't add much here IMO. The hallucinations that Wanda gave the Avengers... I can see how each one provided insight into that character's past or their fears, but it seemed like a clumsy plot device. I like Wanda more in future movies. Quicksilver was better in the X-Men films. And I just realized he appears in both franchises. I'm curious how Marvel put him in Ultron if he's an X-Men character who was owned by Fox at the time.

    Anyway, it's not as if this movie is awful. But for an Avengers movie it definitely left a lot to be desired.

    7.4/10

    --------------------

    And so through 11 movies, here are my rankings. 6 = okay. 7 = good. 8 = great. 9 = classic.

    The Avengers - 9.2
    Iron Man - 9
    Guardians of the Galaxy - 8.5
    Thor - 8.3
    Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 7.8
    Thor: The Dark World - 7.4
    Avengers: Age of Ultron - 7.4
    Iron Man 3 - 7.3
    Captain America: The First Avenger - 7.2
    Iron Man 2 - 6.9
    The Incredible Hulk - 6.7
    Kind of confusing but since both characters in the comics are also Avengers, 20th Century and Disney have "shared rights". Disney had to alter the characters a little. Couldn't call them MUTANTS, couldn't have the backstory that Magneto was their father. So it's kind of like the partnership with Spider Man where certain major aspects of the character can't be mentioned when under the Disney banner (such as no mention of Uncle Ben).

  63. #163
    an affront to god mth's Avatar
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    Also, and I might be wrong here, but isn't he never actually called Quicksilver in the Avengers flick, just "Pietro"? And they got their powers from experiments rather than being mutants?

  64. #164
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mth View Post
    Also, and I might be wrong here, but isn't he never actually called Quicksilver in the Avengers flick, just "Pietro"? And they got their powers from experiments rather than being mutants?
    Yes I think you're right. I was ready to post that the character in Ultron was a lame version of the X-Men fast guy but then upon looking it up, I found out it was the same character. I don't think they use the Quicksilver handle in Ultron.

  65. #165
    What the fucks up Dennys! Nash Diesel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mth View Post
    Also, and I might be wrong here, but isn't he never actually called Quicksilver in the Avengers flick, just "Pietro"? And they got their powers from experiments rather than being mutants?
    Yep. Neither of them go by their REAL names, just their human slave names Wanda and Pietro.

  66. #166
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Ant-Man
    I rather enjoyed this. It's like Honey I Shrunk the Kids meets super hero movie, and it doesn't take itself too seriously which was for sure the right approach for a super power which is fairly silly in nature. So when you've got a Thomas the Tank Engine crushing cop cars, or Hank having a tank on his key chain which he grows and uses to escape the builiding, or Avon Barksdale seeing a giant ant and saying it's a messed up looking dog... that kinda stuff played well.

    Michael Peña is very funny and the recurring bit where he tells a story and we see the characters in his story mouthing Luis's words is a great bit. Corey Stoll is good as the villain. And of course the main trio of Rudd, Douglas and Evangeline Lilly of Lost fame is rock solid (I don't see Claire in any movies these days hmm interesting). The Ant-Man vs Falcon fight was fun.

    While certainly different in tone, when I think of what to score this it's right around the Winter Soldier mark for me (high 7s, maybe an 8?). I'l go ahead and give this the coveted score of...

    8/10

    Next up Civil War...

  67. #167
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    ***Avengers Endgame spoiler below***

    Having seen Endgame and knowing the importance of the quantum realm later on I was keeping my eye out for hints about in Ant-Man. They laid on one quote pretty thick/repeatedly which was Hank saying to Scott something like "you will transcend time and space", but that was about it. When Scott went sub-atomic and was seeing all this trippy stuff I was half expecting to see a dinosaur shape thrown in there to tease time travel but alas, not.

    I still don't know how you can travel backwards in time in the quantum realm. Forwards, of course. But just because you get super small to an atom level how would that let you come out in the past? I need to re-watch the explanation from Endgame.
    Last edited by Fro; March 1st, 2020 at 3:32 PM.

  68. #168
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    I'd strongly recommend not losing too much sleep over that point.

    "Time works differently in there" is about as in depth as it'll ever get.

  69. #169
    What the fucks up Dennys! Nash Diesel's Avatar
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    Ant Man was a surprise but I had a feeling Paul Rudd could pull it off. Ant Man to me was always a fun character and Paul Rudd is exactly the type of actor you want in this role.

  70. #170
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Captain America: Civil War
    This movie is loads of fun. They struck the right tone for a movie where super heroes are fighting each other (see: BvS for the wrong way to do it). It wasn't like these guys hated each other or were trying to kill each other (aside from a few people wanting to kill Winter Soldier). The disagreement about whether to accept oversight by the U.N. made sense and worked well in the context of the Tony vs Steve dynamic which is threaded throughout all the Avengers films. The introductions of Spider Man and Black Panther were done seamlessly here.

    This won't crack the 9's for me and I'm on the fence about putting it ahead of or below Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians has more heart and soul while Civil War has more spectacle and geek-out moments with super heroes fighting super heroes. I'll give CW the slight edge.

    8.7/10

    Next up Doctor Strange

  71. #171
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Doctor Strange
    Another great origin movie here. The special effects of the mirror world are very similar to Inception which I'm sure has been pointed out before but shout out to Chris Nolan for the influence. Cumberbatch and Swinton are perfect. Whoever casts these movies is second only to Feige in line of brilliance. Re-watching this reminded me of all the bits about time travel and the multiverse which will be of importance in the next phase of MCU. It's interesting that we just defeated Thanos and destroyed all of the infinity stones thus taking them off the board but in these other universes we're bout to get into the stones still exist. "Multiverse of Madness" being the title of the sequel has my expectations high. I had also forgotten about the post-credits scene with Mordo's turn to villain so I'll keep my eye out for him again.

    Really a great flick. I'll put it in the low 8s right in line with the first Thor.

    8.2/10


    Rankings so far
    The Avengers - 9.2
    Iron Man - 9
    Captain America: Civil War - 8.7
    Guardians of the Galaxy - 8.5
    Thor - 8.3
    Doctor Strange - 8.2
    Ant-Man - 8
    Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 7.8
    Thor: The Dark World - 7.4
    Avengers: Age of Ultron - 7.4
    Iron Man 3 - 7.3
    Captain America: The First Avenger - 7.2
    Iron Man 2 - 6.9
    The Incredible Hulk - 6.7

  72. #172
    World Champion The Doc's Avatar
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    Ironman 3 ahead of Cap? Odd choice but Okay.

  73. #173
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Doc View Post
    Ironman 3 ahead of Cap? Odd choice but Okay.
    7.3 vs 7.2 is basically the same score and I said in my IM3 review that I was conflicted on which of the two I prefer. IM3 has the better lead cast and some cool action scenes. The mandarin is kinda blah... Cap1 is a solid but somewhat dull origin story with an ending where 3 of the major characters (Cap, Bucky, Red Skull) all get put on ice for later movies so it left me feeling not all that satisfied.

    Cap is probably the more fundamentally well done movie where IM3 is bells and whistles and twists and turns. No harm in preferring either IMO and I can see the case that IM3 is has some shoddy elements to it. It has higher highs and lower lows of the two, IMO.

  74. #174
    World Champion The Doc's Avatar
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    There is nothing wrong with liking anything more than anything else. I would have had Hulk higher than he does and I'm one of the people who maintains that Ironman 3 isn't a bad movie. It has the unfortunate luck of being part of an outstanding universe. If it had been Iron man 1 when we were fresh of Spiderman 3 it would have been a collossal hit.

  75. #175
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Doc View Post
    There is nothing wrong with liking anything more than anything else. I would have had Hulk higher than he does and I'm one of the people who maintains that Ironman 3 isn't a bad movie. It has the unfortunate luck of being part of an outstanding universe. If it had been Iron man 1 when we were fresh of Spiderman 3 it would have been a collossal hit.
    I feel ya except Iron Man 3 made $1.2 billion and had a 79% RT score, how was it not a colossal hit? Iron Man 1 only did $500K.

    It might not be that well remembered by fans against all the better MCU movies that followed but it was a smash hit thanks to having The Avengers as a lead in, and it wasn't poorly reviewed either.

  76. #176
    World Champion The Doc's Avatar
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    I guess if we are measuring purely on economics then IM3 is the winner. I'm gonna chalk that up to faith in the universe though. Kinda the same way I've never heard anybody say that Star Wars episode 3 was better than Serenity but one made money and one lost money. So I should have said would be remembered fondly. How the hell IM3 has a 79% on RT is absurd to me. I thought we all agreed that was a "bad" movie. And as I said it's bad in that it has to compete with The Avengers, Ironman, Thor Ragnarok, Civil War, etc etc. Its easy to get lost in that crowd.

  77. #177
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
    This was a solid sequel but not quite as good as the first. Drax is hysterical, especially in scenes with Mantis, and Nebula and Baby Groot are the other scene stealers for me. I adore Karen Gillan in this role and think she's the most underrated MCU actor. As compared to the first entry, this one is less like a plot from Star Wars and more of a one-off villain battle, making it feel not as adventurous, but Ego is a cool character nevertheless. The script/dialogue doesn't feel quite as sharp even though it has plenty of laughs. I'm feeling a strong 7 on this.

    7.8/10


  78. #178
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Spider-Man: Homecoming


    This was good but not as good as I remember it being the first time around. Some of it was cheesy and the humor didn't have a great hit rate. But what I liked about it was certainly Michael Keaton as the villain, for starters. Keaton was great in the role and it was well written as an unintended consequence of the first Avengers movie with him using the alien wreckage to become a black market weapons dealer. Good backstory, good performance, the vulture suit was badass, and I liked the twist of him being Liz's dad. A good villain is vital to these movies.

    Tom Holland is great and I love that they give this movie a true high school feel (as opposed to the other Spider Man flicks where he seems more adult), but there was a lot to be desired in the dialogue they wrote around Peter and the other kids. Flash as the bully does not land. I get that they went with a modern style bully instead of the typical jock trying to fight Peter but the "Penis Parker" bit was dumb. Liz was also fairly bland as the super hot debate leader- not a lot of sparks there as if they didn't want to give them much connection since she was a one-and-done character. I like MJ but she didn't get much shine here. Ned is a good sidekick.

    The staten island ferry set piece was good, certainly a more memorable scene than the climax on the Avengers cargo plane. It was fine but it wasn't the most epic battle between Spidey and Vulture to close this movie out.

    Going in I was thinking this would place around an 8 but I'm feeling a mid 7 on this. Far From Home I think is the superior of the 2 flicks.

    Score: 7.5/10

    Rankings so far
    The Avengers - 9.2
    Iron Man - 9
    Captain America: Civil War - 8.7
    Guardians of the Galaxy - 8.5
    Thor - 8.3
    Doctor Strange - 8.2
    Ant-Man - 8
    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - 7.8
    Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 7.8
    Spider-Man: Homecoming - 7.5
    Thor: The Dark World - 7.4
    Avengers: Age of Ultron - 7.4
    Iron Man 3 - 7.3
    Captain America: The First Avenger - 7.2
    Iron Man 2 - 6.9
    The Incredible Hulk - 6.7

  79. #179
    I Went To America Gangers's Avatar
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    I thought it was obnoxious what they did with Drax. Batista did such a great job in the first GOTG and then they gave him the proper Gimli treatment. It was never the case in the first film that he was a thicko who said everything on his mind - he just didn't get metaphors so he would miss out whenever people were using idioms, it was just a character beat. Other than that he was a proud, vengeful warrior who didn't know when to stay down or when he was outmatched.

    Then in GOTG2 he's constantly on about his nipples and his dad's cock (because apparently not understanding metaphor = having no concept of tact or cultural differences), and laughing obnoxiously at everything. Amazed that anyone would find that a superior version of the character.

  80. #180
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Solid point

    The shift in character from GOTG to GOTG2 might have made sense if hanging out with Quill and Rocket had turned him a bit sillier, but Vol 2 is set not long (~3 months?) after the first one.

  81. #181
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fro View Post
    This was good but not as good as I remember it being the first time around. Some of it was cheesy and the humor didn't have a great hit rate. But what I liked about it was certainly Michael Keaton as the villain, for starters. Keaton was great in the role and it was well written as an unintended consequence of the first Avengers movie with him using the alien wreckage to become a black market weapons dealer. Good backstory, good performance, the vulture suit was badass, and I liked the twist of him being Liz's dad. A good villain is vital to these movies.
    Keaton was great. And yeah I really liked the setup of his operation and subsequent grievance with the higher-ups all working a few levels below where the Avengers are. Paralleled the friendly neighbourhood hero with a not-so-friendly neighbourhood villain.

  82. #182
    OBJECTION Psycho666Soldier's Avatar
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    I actually just watched Far From Home for the first time this weekend, so I look forward to seeing your opinions there

  83. #183
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Thor: Ragnarok


    I love this movie. It's visually stunning with amazing shots everywhere. It reminds me of 300 in how stunningly cool it looks yet unlike 300 it also has great characters and loads of color and everything else you could ask for. The script is sharp, fast-paced and funny. Hulk's at his best. Valkyrie is that bitch. Just so many badass moments that by the time Skurge picks up the 2 machine guns and unloads on the zombies there's nothing you can do but give a chef's kiss at how incredibly fun this movie is. Korg. The Doctor Strange scene. All of it. It's so good. I mean Jeff Goldbum is in this movie in a well cast funny role but he might be the 8th best character.

    Put this at the top of the list (for now).

    Score: 9.5/10 (Classic)

  84. #184
    World Champion Murphy's Avatar
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    Think Ragnarok is the only Marvel movie I've watched more than twice. Amazing. And how fucking good is Goldblum in this in the smallish role he has.

    In my top 5. Probably top 3. Maybe top 1.

  85. #185
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    the visuals are too good






  86. #186
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    I don't want to overhype Love and Thunder since I have a hard time imagining it matching Ragnarok, but when I think about Taika Waititi returning to direct and having extra time to prepare the script due to covid, and Christian Bale joining the MCU, and Hemsworth saying "It’s one of the best scripts I’ve read in years".... yea that will be highly anticipated for me.

  87. #187
    OBJECTION Psycho666Soldier's Avatar
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    My only real issue with Ragnarok is that it suffers the same problem of a lot of Marvel movies, where the main villain just feels so inconsequential. Obviously, she has a pretty big impact on the future of Asgard and allat, but it just feels like she's such a small part of the movie that when the final battle comes, it doesn't feel quite as deserved.

    This is literally the only thing I've found less than excellent about this movie, and otherwise love it for all the reasons you said. Easily a Top 3 Marvel movie if not the best.

  88. #188
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Psycho666Soldier View Post
    My only real issue with Ragnarok is that it suffers the same problem of a lot of Marvel movies, where the main villain just feels so inconsequential. Obviously, she has a pretty big impact on the future of Asgard and allat, but it just feels like she's such a small part of the movie that when the final battle comes, it doesn't feel quite as deserved.
    I feel you here. But I felt the way it ended kinda subverted the typical story of "villain defeated, we're all happy and safe now" by having what's left of the Asgardians go on the run.

  89. #189
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    I thought Hela was a good villain. Not the most charismatic but certainly very threatening and cool and her backstory with Odin was pretty intriguing. She didn't seem inconsequential to me.


  90. #190
    Donde esta la biblioteca Pablo Diablo's Avatar
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    You need to end it all off with the chronological watch...

    https://twitter.com/tonygoldmark/sta...14698717437954

  91. #191
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    If I wasn't certain it would cause my PC to catch fire, I'd edit all that together into one very fucken long movie.

  92. #192
    The Fresh Maker Mazer's Avatar
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    Ragnarok was one I went into with low expectations. It seemed a little bit of the wrong side of goofy.

    But I loved it. My favorite marvel since the original GOTG. I've worked near quotes from the Thor/Banner conversation where they debate the value of Hill and Banner in approximately 200 conversations since then

  93. #193
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Black Panther


    A timely viewing given the current state of affairs. I really like the high level story writing in this flick. I have no idea if it's based on a comic storyline but the way it's linked to the plight of black Americans via the king's brother coming to learn of their struggles and having a child in Oakland is a nice set up for Killmonger's origin and motivation. And then the decision of whether Wakanda should stay in hiding or reveal themselves to the world and come to its aid is a good plot point. The way it ends with setting up an outreach station in Oakland and T'Challa's speech at the UN during the midcredits scene... these are good payoffs. The action, visuals and cast are also all strong here.

    Where I think this movie could use improvement is in the dialogue and some of the dramatic beats. The dialogue often feels basic to me, lacking the sharpness and wit of the best MCU movies.

    And when I say dramatic beats, the biggest misfire to me is the key scene with King T'Chaka killing his brother. Maybe I'm missing the point but the uncle draws his gun and T'Chaka blocks him with his one hand and then claws him in the chest with his other hand. I watched it a couple times and I don't see why he needed to kill him with that second hand. It felt like he could have just subdued him after he blocked the gunshot. I wish there was a little more to this scene justifying the King killing his brother so rashly. And another scene that irked me was Martin Freeman being brought into the heart of the Wakandan tech center... they literally go from not wanting to bring him to the country because he's CIA and don't want him to learn their secrets to letting him wake up in the command center, having Shuri explain everything about their technology and letting him overhear calls between Shuri and the head of the Wakandan military. LOL. That one might be a nitpick but it was silly.

    So yea, high level I love the story and the action, low level I feel like the script could have been sharper. I wouldn't disagree with someone calling this overrated given that it got the Oscar nomination for Best Picture and has a 97% on RT. It wasn't Best Picture level even though I'm happy with how popular and culturally relevant it became. I'm feeling a light 8 on this, a little bit below solo projects like Thor 1 and Doctor Strange.

    Score: 8/10

    Rankings so far
    Thor: Ragnarok - 9.5
    The Avengers - 9.2
    Iron Man - 9
    Captain America: Civil War - 8.7
    Guardians of the Galaxy - 8.5
    Thor - 8.3
    Doctor Strange - 8.2
    Ant-Man - 8
    Black Panther - 8
    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - 7.8
    Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 7.8
    Spider-Man: Homecoming - 7.5
    Thor: The Dark World - 7.4
    Avengers: Age of Ultron - 7.4
    Iron Man 3 - 7.3
    Captain America: The First Avenger - 7.2
    Iron Man 2 - 6.9
    The Incredible Hulk - 6.7

    Next up: Infinity War

  94. #194
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Shuri was great though, definitely one of the most charismatic characters so I enjoyed her excitement over telling people about her tech. Also, Michael B Jordon looked tremendous in this film as evidenced in the gif I posted above. Great body and style. It's an interesting story structure with Killmonger not really coming into focus until nearly an hour in. Klaue starts off as the main antagonist. I'm okay with this except I feel like Killmonger could have been a truly great MCU villain if he was fleshed out more. You could have added another introductory scene for him (prior to the scene where we meet him stealing the vibranium artifact from the museum) where he commits one of his trademark assassinations, maybe against some racist white dictator. I dunno, but I feel like we could have used more of him early on.

  95. #195
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Avengers: Infinity War


    Classic movie, without doubt. Along with its sequel, it'll go down as one of my more memorable cinema experiences, similar in spectacle to The Two Towers (and The Empire Strikes Back I would imagine, though that was before my time). A major event of a movie if there ever was one. It's very much an ensemble cast with none of the Avengers getting a ton of screen time, leaving Thanos as our main character. And that structure works well - Thanos is a great villain here even if his ideology/backstory is a tad simplistic. The scene where he kills Gamora is so epic, as is the awesome Battle of Wakanda. I also love when the Guardians first meet the Avengers and fight each other. Wonderful musical score - it should have been nominated for an Oscar on that front or probably beaten out Black Panther which won it. Not much to complain about - the humor isn't always the best and the last hour is more crisp than the first.

    The ending is appropriately dramatic when the snap hits. This movie gets brownie points from a lot of fans for ending with a decisive victory for the villain just like Empire and that's fair, because it definitely gives you a crazy feeling when the dusting hits, Thanos achieves his mission and the credits roll.

    This movie does great service to all of the different factions of MCU characters, but here would be my power rankings:

    1. Thanos. Duh.
    2. Black Panther, or rather all of Wakanda. This is their moment to shine even more so than in their solo film. Very badass.
    3. Doctor Strange. He plays probably the most important and most involved hero role.
    4. Gamora, whose appearances both old and young give Thanos's character the depth it needs.
    5. Thor. If only for his legendary entrance in the Battle of Wakanda and unbridled hatred of Thanos.

    Score: 9.4/10

    I'm undecided if I'll finally go out of release order to watch Endgame next, or stay the course with Ant-Man and the Wasp.

  96. #196
    Cirque du Soleil Chris's Avatar
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    Infinity War is a masterpiece. It shows how daft it is for the new Star Wars trilogy to have different writers and directors each time. This benefits from the through-line of the Russo Brothers essentially having a test run of a huge crossover with Civil War and being able to pay off or expand upon different arcs.

    It’s so well paced and it juggles the characters so well. Maybe Steve and Natasha could have got more time, but I feel they’re involved enough to play the part they needed to play. The way they start the film with significant deaths and keep them coming gives a real sense of stakes. The ending is killer, but the bolder thing was just how prominent Thanos was throughout and how he was on a quest rather than targeting the heroes specifically.

    I never get tired of the cut to SPACE when the Guardians are introduced. The portals moment in Endgame is excellent, but Thor dropping in on Wakanda and shouting “Bring me Thanos!” is the best MCU moment to date for me. Hemsworth does his best work in this film - he moves effortlessly from traumatised to goofball to badass.

  97. #197
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Ant-Man and the Wasp


    A fun sequel but not one of the more memorable MCU movies. I liked how it was more of a caper than a traditional super hero story. There isn't a main villain, we're just ducking the feds and a few mildly nefarious characters. Randall Park is pretty funny as Jimmy Woo. Fishburne and Goggins are good. I'll give this a light 7. While I didn't mind the structure here, if they make a third movie in this series I hope they go more on the serious side with a proper villain and high stakes. And give Michael Pena a suit.

    Score: 7.2/10

  98. #198
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Captain Marvel


    This is a very fun movie and it grew on me from first watch (whereas Black Panther sunk a little). The way they unpeel her origin story and the Kree-Skrull war is super well written IMO. Larson, Jackson and Mendelsohn are a great trio and the effects/action are on point. Just like what you guys said about Ragnarok, the villain is underpowered here (it fact it may be the easiest hero victory of the MCU) but I don't mind that personally. This movie has a rah-rah girl power attitude and I dig it. I like this more than Wonder Woman.

    The thing I need to find out is - did Carol come back to Earth during her 23 year absence? That seems like a while to leave her best friend and the little girl in the lurch especially when she said she'd be back soon. I expect we'll find out more in the sequel. It'll be interesting seeing the little girl as a 30 year old. Carol I guess doesn't age now?

    It also doesn't make sense that Fury didn't page her during Avengers 1 but I'm going to assume he did page her but she didn't get the call. There could have been any number of galactic reasons that it wouldn't have gone through. In fact I'm going to say she came back to Earth various times over the years during her absence including in the interim between Avengers 1 and Infinity War. That would make sense, and she just happened to miss Loki's invasion for whatever reason.

    Score: 8.1/10

    Next up: Endgame.

  99. #199
    The Thinking Man's Idiot Simmo Fortyone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fro View Post
    While I didn't mind the structure here, if they make a third movie in this series I hope they go more on the serious side with a proper villain and high stakes. And give Michael Pena a suit.
    Gonna go a hard disagree on this one Fro. The inherent problem with superhero movies is just how high can stakes go? "The world/humanity is gonna end if we don't fight this" has been done so many times that it's hard to stand out, to the point where a comparatively low stakes story is now the exception in this genre. It's what gave the Ant Man movies, Homecoming and even Black Panther their charm.

  100. #200
    1-800-Call-My-Bluff Fro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simmo Fortyone View Post
    Gonna go a hard disagree on this one Fro. The inherent problem with superhero movies is just how high can stakes go? "The world/humanity is gonna end if we don't fight this" has been done so many times that it's hard to stand out, to the point where a comparatively low stakes story is now the exception in this genre. It's what gave the Ant Man movies, Homecoming and even Black Panther their charm.
    Fair take. I agree it's good to have a lighter story especially in this series which is comedic in nature. Why I said what I said is that this movie was fine and enjoyable but it ranked pretty low on my list. I don't feel much of a desire for a third movie in the series unless they kick it up a notch. Which is not to say end of the world type stuff but a worthy threat. Even in those other movies you mentioned, the villain has a stronger presence with higher stakes (Killmonger wanting to unleash the Wakandan weapons all over the world and Vulture trying to steal the Avengers tech and sell it to bad guys). But yea, I feel you.

    Aside from the villain, if I had to guess what Ant-Man 3 will be like if they make it, and this isn't me pulling for this but just reading the tea leaves, is that Cassie could be the focus. The Hawkeye Disney+ series is going to focus on his daughter becoming Hawkeye Junior or whatever, and there have been rumors of a Young Avengers movie down the road. Cassie seemingly would be a big part of that. It doesn't sound all that cool as I'm saying it, but in Feige I trust.

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