The Marvel Cinematic Universe

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I’m not a fan of actual comic books, but I do enjoy comic book movies, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

However, the MCU has been uneven so far. I find the Thor movies and Iron Man sequels to be the weakest of the bunch. It’s a groundbreaking mega-franchise, but with so many big, loud superhero movies being released per year, it’s bound to get stale at some point.

With that said, the Captain America movies are fun, and I can picture Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, and the first Iron Man being remembered as classics in ten years. (I currently consider Guardians to be Marvel’s best movie for its sheer sense of fun and silly yet tragic characters, though my opinion may or may not change when I rewatch The Avengers and Iron Man for the first time since.)

I remember enjoying The Incredible Hulk when I saw it on TV a few years ago, but nobody ever seems to talk about that one.

Agents of SHIELD was pretty bland in the first half of the first season, and then it got better and better until it completely took off whence it tied into Winter Soldier. Is it March 3rd yet?

I’m looking forward to Age of Ultron, and I hope it’ll be more like the Empire Strikes Back like Winter Soldier is and less like The Temple of Doom like Iron Man 3 is. At this point, I can’t tell whether it’ll wow me or depress me. Maybe it’ll do both?

As for Ant-Man…well, judging purely by what I know from the preview, I like the concept of the superhero being a father, but the sight of a superhero riding a giant ant just looks…weird. But hey, Marvel surprised me with how well they pulled off a talking raccoon and a talking tree.

Finally, I’m really excited about Spider-Man being able to join the MCU. I’m a fan of the Sam Raimi movies, and I think that Marvel having access to Spider-Man is the best decision for the character at this point. I wasn’t impressed with the failed Nolan-esque reboots.

Who else has thoughts on the MCU?
 
catholicmoviene said:
I’m not a fan of actual comic books, but I do enjoy comic book movies, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

However, the MCU has been uneven so far. I find the Thor movies and Iron Man sequels to be the weakest of the bunch. It’s a groundbreaking mega-franchise, but with so many big, loud superhero movies being released per year, it’s bound to get stale at some point.

With that said, the Captain America movies are fun, and I can picture Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, and the first Iron Man being remembered as classics in ten years. (I currently consider Guardians to be Marvel’s best movie for its sheer sense of fun and silly yet tragic characters, though my opinion may or may not change when I rewatch The Avengers and Iron Man for the first time since.)

I remember enjoying The Incredible Hulk when I saw it on TV a few years ago, but nobody ever seems to talk about that one.

Agents of SHIELD was pretty bland in the first half of the first season, and then it got better and better until it completely took off whence it tied into Winter Soldier. Is it March 3rd yet?

I’m looking forward to Age of Ultron, and I hope it’ll be more like the Empire Strikes Back like Winter Soldier is and less like The Temple of Doom like Iron Man 3 is. At this point, I can’t tell whether it’ll wow me or depress me. Maybe it’ll do both?

As for Ant-Man…well, judging purely by what I know from the preview, I like the concept of the superhero being a father, but the sight of a superhero riding a giant ant just looks…weird. But hey, Marvel surprised me with how well they pulled off a talking raccoon and a talking tree.

Finally, I’m really excited about Spider-Man being able to join the MCU. I’m a fan of the Sam Raimi movies, and I think that Marvel having access to Spider-Man is the best decision for the character at this point. I wasn’t impressed with the failed Nolan-esque reboots.

Who else has thoughts on the MCU?
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I like superhero movies, but I don’t think I put much thought into them. I hope upcoming superhero movies are good. I think I’m more of a DC fan than a Marvel fan myself.

I think I liked or look forward to all the movies you’ve named except Thor 1 and Thor 2.
 
Maxirad said:
How did Gwen Stacy die in The Amazing Spider-Man 2?
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She fell from about 8 stories high. Spider Man caught her with his web at the last second, but her head whipped back and hit the concrete.

It took me way longer than it should have for me to realize that she was dead. I kept thinking, “oh she’s just unconscious. She’s gonna wake up right…now. Ok now. That’s weird, her nose is bleeding…”

I really didn’t want her to die. She was one of the only superhero love interests I actually liked.
 
I like* Spiderman: the Animated Series* from the mid 90s that was on Fox Kids. Peter Parker is portrayed a virtuous and smart man, often with a few witty remarks. Although it was censored, I could appreciate the writing and characterization and motivations of the superheroes and villians. I just did not like the last season where Mary Jane turned out to be clone and Spiderman was apart of some cosmic war.
 
I am not a big fan of the super hero movies based on the comics.
The Incredible Hulk with Ed Norton was good and I like Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man.
 
I don’t think Spider-Man counts as MCU, the licence belongs to Sony. Though I think I heard there was a deal in place to bring Spidey into MCU films.

Guardians was great, a wonderful balance of humor to good and actual drama, and it was very character driven. Also the mix tape tie in was brilliant. My only complaint with the MCU stuff is that a great majority of the films tend to revolve around MacGuffins. Which I guess, considering they’re leading up to the Infinity War it makes sense, but the ‘we need to find the X’ plots are starting to wear thin for me.
 
Rhubarb said:
I don’t think Spider-Man counts as MCU, the licence belongs to Sony. Though I think I heard there was a deal in place to bring Spidey into MCU films.

Guardians was great, a wonderful balance of humor to good and actual drama, and it was very character driven.
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As I said, Marvel now has access to Spider-Man, but that doesn’t mean that they have full creative control.

Yeah, the characters are what make Guardians so great. They could have just been two-dimensional laughing stocks, but they each ended up showing different sides and having back stories that brought each other them to life.
 
Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD needs Bob, Agent of HYDRA. It’s time.
 
I just watched The Avengers again. I’d say that Guardians is technically the better movie, but I like Avengers more, if that makes sense.
 
I saw Age of Ultron tonight. Here are my thoughts:

“Bloated with superpowered mayhem, characters, and coolness, Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t quite the instant classic as its rollicking predecessor. Man-made robots that turn against their creators are nothing new for Hollywood, but none in recent memory are anti-Christian like James Spader’s Ultron, who often references the Bible to justify his plan for human extinction. On the other hand, pro-life themes are more prominent here than in any other Marvel movie as the Avengers use their abilities to make sure that every single human life is spared amid the chaos. Although spectacle reigns supreme, director Joss Whedon develops each character just enough to let me care. For the most part, the film doesn’t take itself overly seriously, so scenes that try to add more depth feel out-of-place. Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye even acknowledges that nothing that’s happening actually makes sense. Though crammed, uneven, and quite dark at times, Age of Ultron is still fun, and leaves me wanting to see what happens next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also leaves me wanting to see the bar to be lowered.”
 
Alas, since I very rarely go to the theaters, I’ll have to wait until the DVD comes out in the Fall before I see Avengers 2.

On the whole, I like the Marvel films quite a bit. They are actually some of the few films coming out that touch on Christian themes and remain relatively clean. The theme of self-sacrifice runs throughout all of them. That’s a concept that we could all stand to take closer to heart in a society where selfishness usually wins the day.
 
Joe_5859 said:
Alas, since I very rarely go to the theaters, I’ll have to wait until the DVD comes out in the Fall before I see Avengers 2.

On the whole, I like the Marvel films quite a bit. They are actually some of the few films coming out that touch on Christian themes and remain relatively clean. The theme of self-sacrifice runs throughout all of them. That’s a concept that we could all stand to take closer to heart in a society where selfishness usually wins the day.
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I know a priest who is from Africa and we asked him what the African people think of America. He said that they think we are violent, because most of the movies we make are about violence. I think the Avengers 2 probably fits that theme, but yet I want to see it anyway. 🤷
 
catholicmoviene said:
I saw Age of Ultron tonight. Here are my thoughts:

“Bloated with superpowered mayhem, characters, and coolness, Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t quite the instant classic as its rollicking predecessor. Man-made robots that turn against their creators are nothing new for Hollywood, but none in recent memory are anti-Christian like James Spader’s Ultron, who often references the Bible to justify his plan for human extinction. On the other hand, pro-life themes are more prominent here than in any other Marvel movie as the Avengers use their abilities to make sure that every single human life is spared amid the chaos. Although spectacle reigns supreme, director Joss Whedon develops each character just enough to let me care. For the most part, the film doesn’t take itself overly seriously, so scenes that try to add more depth feel out-of-place. Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye even acknowledges that nothing that’s happening actually makes sense. Though crammed, uneven, and quite dark at times, Age of Ultron is still fun, and leaves me wanting to see what happens next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also leaves me wanting to see the bar to be lowered.”
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I just saw the movie yesterday and I agree. It wasn’t as good as the first one. I don’t even think it was as good as The Winter Soldier. But it was still enjoyable enough.

I think you are right also that the serious scenes felt out of place. Seemed to me like the movie almost didn’t know what it wanted to be. It was trying to be darker than the first one, but at the same time it wanted to still be just as fun and lighthearted. Some movies can strike the balance, but for some reason this one just didn’t. It felt uneven and weird. The jokes were kind of forced. Ultron was fine, but the banter between the Avengers just didn’t work as good this time around I thought. I think I chuckled like…once maybe?

I almost would have rather it just embraced its darker mood completely and pushed the Avengers to their limit, which is what looked like was going to happen in the trailer. Oh well.

I will say though, I did like the twins. And the last battle was pretty cool.
 
Robyn_p said:
I just saw the movie yesterday and I agree. It wasn’t as good as the first one. I don’t even think it was as good as The Winter Soldier. But it was still enjoyable enough.

I think you are right also that the serious scenes felt out of place. Seemed to me like the movie almost didn’t know what it wanted to be. It was trying to be darker than the first one, but at the same time it wanted to still be just as fun and lighthearted. Some movies can strike the balance, but for some reason this one just didn’t. It felt uneven and weird. The jokes were kind of forced. Ultron was fine, but the banter between the Avengers just didn’t work as good this time around I thought. I think I chuckled like…once maybe?

I almost would have rather it just embraced its darker mood completely and pushed the Avengers to their limit, which is what looked like was going to happen in the trailer. Oh well.

I will say though, I did like the twins. And the last battle was pretty cool.
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Like Spider-Man 3, I found the whole final act so satisfying that it redeemed the clunkiness of the first two acts. I was laughing throughout, but my favorite parts are when Hawkeye acknowledges that the movie doesn’t make any sense, and the part where Vision does that seemingly impossible thing that leaves the whole team speechless.

Scarlet Witch and Vision may be my new favorite Avengers in terms of coolness, though Captain America is still the ideal Avenger. Also, my jaw dropped when that anonymous-for-readers-who-haven’t-seen-it character got killed off, though more because Marvel allowed a character death without some sort of resurrection (though I did like that character).
 
catholicmoviene said:
Like Spider-Man 3, I found the whole final act so satisfying that it redeemed the clunkiness of the first two acts.
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I loved Spiderman 3. Only issue with the film is the silly dance sequence(the street one). Personally thought Raimi did a great job adapting the darksuit storyline and setting up Venom. I did think they could have split the film into two parts as pacing was the other issue. Sandman being the villain of part 1 and the ending being the fight scene in the subway(as well as the part with him injuring Harry). But overall it’s a fantastic climax.

The scene where Venom is holding Spidey down while Sandman wails on him is my favorite emotional moment in the entire trilogy.

Personally was disappointed they did reboot the series, as Dr Connors was always set to be the main villain of number 4(reboot or not), and I hoped it would be the same actor given they had built the mentor-student dichotomy in both Spiderman 2 and 3. Having that launch a new main storyline would have made total sense. Retooling that into a Maguire-less reboot disappointed me. Though I did eventually like the actor that played Connors.
 
colliric said:
I loved Spiderman 3. Only issue with the film is the silly dance sequence(the street one). Personally thought Raimi did a great job adapting the darksuit storyline and setting up Venom. I did think they could have split the film into two parts as pacing was the other issue. Sandman being the villain of part 1 and the ending being the fight scene in the subway(as well as the part with him injuring Harry). But overall it’s a fantastic climax.

The scene where Venom is holding Spidey down while Sandman wails on him is my favorite emotional moment in the entire trilogy.

Personally was disappointed they did reboot the series, as Dr Connors was always set to be the main villain of number 4(reboot or not), and I hoped it would be the same actor given they had built the mentor-student dichotomy in both Spiderman 2 and 3. Having that launch a new main storyline would have made total sense. Retooling that into a Maguire-less reboot disappointed me. Though I did eventually like the actor that played Connors.
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I like Spider-Man 3 too, though more as a guilty pleasure than something I can take seriously. I didn’t like the reboots at all. They tried to turned something into Batman Begins where Spider-man isn’t supposed to be dark and gritty.
 
Second impressions:

-I appreciated the dramatic scenes more.
-I don’t know whether my theater cropped the screen, but the cinematography during the action scenes is annoyingly up close and shaky.
-Can’t Ultron have taken a chunk out of the moon to send towards Earth? He would have gotten much less trouble from the Avengers then.
 
catholicmoviene said:
Second impressions:

-I appreciated the dramatic scenes more.
-I don’t know whether my theater cropped the screen, but the cinematography during the action scenes is annoyingly up close and shaky.
-Can’t Ultron have taken a chunk out of the moon to send towards Earth? He would have gotten much less trouble from the Avengers then.
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So what are your thoughts moving forward?

Given that I was a bit disappointed with this film as I had hoped it would be as great or better than the first one, I feel that I need to lower the bar in terms of how great I am expecting the future films to be.

Though at the same time, I am holding out hope since both movies of Infinity Wars will directed by the talented Russo brothers who gave us the amazing Winter Soldier. Also what are your thoughts on Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of experience and tone?

Would you like all the future Marvel movies to be like Guardians or more like Winter Soldier? The second one, I felt had humor but it also managed to strike that delicate balance to become a bit more serious. This is where I feel Age of Ultron failed though I still enjoyed the film.
 
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