Jump to content

Marvel Cinematic Universe


Mister Jack
 Share

Recommended Posts

So, I finished The Defenders. Overall, it was... good. Certainly not the triumphant team-up that The Avengers was but it did some neat things and there are some really good episodes towards the end.

 

1. It gave Danny an arc and he got better as the episodes went on.

2. It had some good action scenes, particularly right at the end where you got to see their different styles -- or the two different styles of martial artist (Daredevil, Iron Fist) and superstrong brawler (JJ and Luke) -- all working together.

 

However, I had a bunch of problems with it...

 



The villain motivation is all over the place for all of them. The Hand is semi-autonomous, which explains the in-fighting etc. but they need this "substance" which one of them managed to use the last of. So like, do they have a head (hand?) office or distribution centre that deals with it? How come old man Meacham didn't need any to come back after Ward stabbed him up? Also, the leaders are the "fingers" of the hand, but one of them must be the Thumb, right?

 

ANYWAY! The Hand's true motivation is kept deliberately hazy for so long and then barely adds up to anything substantial. It felt like there was tension between the leaders for no real logical reason.

 

Then we get onto Elektra. It was almost Winter Soldier-like but then she decided to go super-evil, which pretty much jeopardised things even more and seemed to cause the opposite of what she wanted. Although, who even knows what she wanted because she "enjoys the game" but also is afraid of dying again? the show offers little real insight into what's actually going on.

 

And it also makes me wonder why Bakuto a) split off from the others and b) set off the explosives before he even knew he would die?

 

So, yeah, lotta problems but at least it also seems to be setting up some decent stuff for Daredevil and Luke Cage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've yet to watch it (figured I'd watch Luke Cage n Iron Fist first), but I'm to understand on the Danny front this was made before Iron Fist, despite coming out after. Meaning that this couldn't do any course correction on the issues folks took with the standalone. But have to figure that the second series will sort out the foibles folks have with him.

 

Anywho watched GotG2 with some of my siblings today. Turns out my younger bro thought Nebula was a boy, and had been a bit confused on the whole "sister" arc of the film.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Now just over the halfway point of The Punisher and... it's really frickin' good. I mean, there can be pacing issues at some points and there's still time for it to go to shit like some of the previous Marvel shows, but what's been done so far has been great.

 

I wasn't sure what to expect, really, so it's all a nice surprise. The main thing is the group of characters around (or besides) the protagonist, which is what the Marvel shows live or die on, really, and the dynamic they have going on between them. I can't say much because I don't want to spoil it but the core relationship (so far) for Frank is actually multi-faceted and throws up some tricky situations even if you can sort of see where it's headed. At first, I was worried most of his character stuff was going to be "constant flashbacks of his family interrupted by murder BUT IT'S HIM WHO IS THE MURDERER" but it actually finds smart ways to grow the character.

 

And it's "smuggling" its themes in, as Scorcese would say. Well, it's not as subtle as calling it that suggests, but it's got stuff to say, for sure. Whether it holds up to scrutiny in the end is yet to be seen.

 

And, yeah, the action has been pretty good if not at least serviceable so far. Haven't got a "corridor fight scene"... yet.

 

The main cast is also really strong. Although, I'm not 100% sure on Barnes. He's good, no doubt, but we'll see. Anyway, Bernthal is brilliant and Jaime Ray Newman is really pretty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't possibly put Jessica Jones that high.  It starts off strong but it runs into a real problem where they have to fill out 12 episodes but they don't seem to know how to do that other than having characters making really boneheaded decisions that make no sense just to extend the plot longer.  I feel like these Marvel shows should maybe cut 2 episodes off of each season so they could tighten up the pacing a little more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Updated movie ranking with Ragnarok:

 

-S Tier-
Avengers
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Spider-Man: Homecoming

Thor: Ragnarok

 

-A Tier-
Captain America
Captain America: Civil War
Guardians of the Galaxy
Thor: Dark World

 

-B Tier-
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Doctor Strange
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Iron Man

 

-C Tier-
Ant-Man
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 3
Thor

 

-D Tier-
Incredible Hulk

 

Marvel's doing pretty good, pumping out two S-Tier movies in one year.

 

*Edit - I also just noticed that except for D-Tier, all tiers have exactly 4 movies.  I'm not sure what to make of that...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, Mr. GOH! said:

Elite Tier:

Winter Soldier

GotG

Ragnarok

Spider-Man

 

Good fun tier:

Iron Man 1

Avengers

Civil War

Captain America

 

Meh Tier:

Doctor Strange

GotG Vol II

Iron Man 3

Ant-Man

Age of Ultron

 

Garbage Tier:

Iron Man 2

Hulk

Thor

Thor: the Dark World

 

 

 

 



Swap Captain America with Ant-Man and Doctor Strange and I'd agree with this list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only reason Doctor Strange isn't in the second tier is that the story is in many ways a re-skin of Iron Man 1 and RDJ is more fun than Cumberbatch. Ant Man had potential but wasted it; Edgar Wright's version would have likely ranked higher.

 

Captain America 1 was really fun and different and its heart trumps its shortcomings and also it features Haley Atwell.

Edited by Mr. GOH!
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just saw Thor: Ragnarok. Absolutely loved it, which is amazing given how I've never really cared about Thor and neither of his movies have interested me.

 

Haven't ranked the movies in a long time, but here goes:

  1. GotG
  2. Thor: Ragnarok
  3. Spider-Man: Homecoming
  4. Captain America
  5. Iron Man
  6. GotG Vol II
  7. Avengers
  8. CA: Winter Soldier
  9. CA: Civil War
  10. Avengers: Age of Ultron
  11. Doctor Strange
  12. Ant-Man
  13. Iron Man 2
  14. Iron Man 3
  15. The Incredible Hulk
  16. Thor
  17. Thor: The Dark World

Maybe I need to see Winter Soldier again, but it doesn't rank as high for me as it does for you guys. I don't really have tiers either, though I would say Doctor Strange is the gatekeeper to the "OK" realm of Marvel movies. Most of my basis in this ranking, or even just my personal philosophy, is that which would I rather watch and how often.

 

I've seen Guardians of the Galaxy over a dozen times, and even though Thor: Ragnarok came out recently, I've seen it and I want to go see it again. Not kidding, I was hoping someone would join me tonight after I just watched it last night. I admittedly haven't watched Homecoming as much as Captain America, but it's such a great telling of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, it deserves high praise. Captain America is very much a fun re-watchable movie for me. Seen it something like eight times and it always has my attention.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...