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Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three and BEYOOOOONND


Bazza

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6 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

For me, Age of Ultron got just about everything wrong, and was the poorest Ultron story I've ever seen done.  Plus, it was the start of trying to make Tony Stark seem like the worst person alive.

 

I understand everyone has an opinion, and I agree AoU was highly flawed in many ways... but to say it got EVERYTHING wrong?

 

It got Hawkeye right in everyway, especially his bit with Scarlet Witch. I loved the scene with his family.

It nailed the Vision, and made him an incredibly compelling character.

 

The Iron Man vs. Hulk fight was absolutely spot on.

 

They may not have given Pietro enough of a personality, but they used his speed really well, keeping him powerful, but not out of control, nor needing to do stupid things in order to not be infinitely powerful. Super speed is one of the most difficult things to manage in a balanced way, as it really is the ultimate super-power, but how they showed him using it in bursts, and being exhausted afterwards... that was well done.

 

I personally don't mind the "downfall of Stark" as a meta-theme, and the tension between him and Rogers has been there since Avengers 1, the ego is always there.

 

And I personally thought the first half of Ultron's portrayal was brilliant, but the second half made no sense. But to say it is the worst portrayal of Ultron? I'm assuming you've read the originals? The later 70's appearances and Jocasta? I mean... I loved those as a kid, but c'mon... they are pretty darn ridiculous.

 

Again... AoU was flawed in many ways, but not everything was awful. To see everything awful, check out GotG2. Ugh.

 

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I feel that the central weakness of AoU was Ultron himself, but that's not entirely the fault of the movie, but rather the character concept in general. Marvel movies catch flack for having a "villain problem," which is characterized by a villain whose primary motivation is so abstract, alien, or convoluted that audiences can't connect with it in any meaningful way. Ultron's view of humanity as a plague upon the Earth is easy to grasp in the abstract, but difficult to connect with emotionally since Ultron's development as a villain felt so rushed. Contrast that with Thanos, who sees the uncontrolled proliferation of life in the universe in much the same way Ultron sees mankind on Earth, and whose motivations were clearly and effectively dramatized for us. It isn't hard to see why Infinity War is regarded so much more highly than AoU, and in my view a lot of that comes down to the movies' respective villains.

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Since this gets revisted after every new release... here's how I feel about the 20 movies tonight.

 

1. Captain America: Winter Soldier

2. Black Panther

3. Captain America: Civil War

4. Spider-Man: Homecoming

5. Iron Man 3

6. Ant-Man & the Wasp

7. Avengers

8. Iron Man

9. Thor: Ragnarok

10. Captain America: The First Avenger

11. Avengers: Age of Ultron

12. Guardians of the Galaxy

13. Thor

14. Thor: Darkworld

15. Iron Man 2

16. Ant-Man

17. Incredible Hulk

18. Doctor Strange

19. Avengers: Infinity War

20. Guardians of the Galaxy 2

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12 minutes ago, Starlord said:

What didn't you like about Dr. Strange? :think:

 

Many things... 

1) The silly cape "wiping tears" stuff (and the general, lowest common denominator, simplistic, forced humor)

2) The classic "white savior" essentialism (especially the "white man becomes a master magician in like five minutes compared to everyone else" bit)

3) The arrogant, sexist white man on a redemptive track (hello, Mr. Stark?) all over again

4) The flat out simplistic plot... Kasellius (sp?) having decent motivation and still not interesting as a villain

5) Dormamu looking like Max Headroom

6) Time Turner shenanigans

7) the fact that all those assigned to protect that major Magic locations were inept, they knew Kasellius was coming, but didn't send dozens of mages to each location, etc. Strange to save the day when he, in no way, was trained in magical combat, etc.

 

There was little that I liked, to be honest.

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1 minute ago, RDU Neil said:

 

Many things... 

1) The silly cape "wiping tears" stuff (and the general, lowest common denominator, simplistic, forced humor)

2) The classic "white savior" essentialism (especially the "white man becomes a master magician in like five minutes compared to everyone else" bit)

3) The arrogant, sexist white man on a redemptive track (hello, Mr. Stark?) all over again

4) The flat out simplistic plot... Kasellius (sp?) having decent motivation and still not interesting as a villain

5) Dormamu looking like Max Headroom

6) Time Turner shenanigans

7) the fact that all those assigned to protect that major Magic locations were inept, they knew Kasellius was coming, but didn't send dozens of mages to each location, etc. Strange to save the day when he, in now way, was trained in magical combat, etc.

 

There was little that I liked, to bed honest.

 

 

Fair enough.

 

You're wrong, but fair enough.  :D

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13 minutes ago, Hermit said:

I should work on my own list.  Mine wouldn't match with RDU but then, why would it? Different strokes. Interesting to see regardless

 

Yes, it was interesting to see.  Unfortunately, there was something in his post that got me feeling a little 'down'. 

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The trouble with AoU was that it was boring. Long, dull action sequences with no real dramatic payoff. Confused plot. I haven't seen it since the cinema release so I can't recall details, sorry.

 

One detail: Missing the obvious parallel between Stark's relationship with his father and Ultron's with Stark was also annoying. Would have paid off in the movie and set up Civil War better by making more of Stark's culpability. But they shied away from it for... reasons I guess. Probably the usual one of underestimating the audience's ability to think and follow plots.

 

I like all the actors in the MCU. I like their individual work portraying their various characters. Alas none of them got enough screen time to really shine in the movie and do something to redeem the thing. Less action more character development would have been good for me.

 

But now I must make my own list of favourite MCU movies.

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19 minutes ago, RDU Neil said:

2) The classic "white savior" essentialism (especially the "white man becomes a master magician in like five minutes compared to everyone else" bit) 

3) The arrogant, sexist white man on a redemptive track (hello, Mr. Stark?) all over again 

 

To be fair, if they changed those two, they'd get dinged by people for deviating from his comic origin. Also, I didn't see him as sexist so much as just plain arrogant toward everyone.

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I'm of the opinion there is little new under the sun, so I don't mind old tropes drug out, same plots re used IF you can do it with characters I like. Which means I actually LIKE most of the movies as Marvel has done very well with casting and writing for the most part. But if I had to put them in the order of 'my favorites' RIGHT Now..

 

 

 

1) Captain America: First Avenger (I know that is not 'the best' but the bias is strong in this one, I like some periods, and come on! Star Spangled man with a plan!)

2) Captain America Winter Soldier (Okay, this one possibly IS the Best)

3) Avengers (For getting the band together, great cinematic touches...and Puny God!)

4) Guardians of the Galaxy (Music, Mischief, Mayhem)

5) Black Panther (honestly, it's just damn good. Shuri steals the show)

6) Dr. Strange (One of my favorite characters, so bias.  But how he wins is so fitting for the character)

7) Ant Man (Possibly because I did not set my bar high for this it wowed me. Still fun on repeated viewing)

8 ) Captain America Civil War (Should be higher I know)

9)  Iron Man (Props to RDJ! )

10) Ant Man and the Wasp (Still  fresh in my mind..Ignore the after credits and it is fun)

11)  Thor Ragnarok (Would be further up but I didn't like the way the warriors three got blown off with little love)

12)  Avengers Infinity War (AKA the Snapture)

13) Spider Man: Home coming (Keaton has chops. Still a bit unused to Hot Aunt May)

14) Iron Man 3 (Am I the only one who liked the kid? he cracked me up)

15) Thor (Fantastic visuals, got kind of rushed at the end.)

16) Thor: Dark World (Forget the villain and Jane, it's all about Loki and Thor interacting for me)

17) Avengers Age of Ultron ( Another day it might be higher. I like a lot about it, but it's very forgetable until I 'm watching it again)

18) Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (Ditto)

19) Incredible Hulk (No gamma poodle thank god!)

20)  Iron Man 2 (Both Villains failed for me)

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56 minutes ago, Pattern Ghost said:

 

To be fair, if they changed those two, they'd get dinged by people for deviating from his comic origin. Also, I didn't see him as sexist so much as just plain arrogant toward everyone.

 

Yeah, strange was hardest on the other male doctor but he clearly thought he was the smartest person in the room pretty much everywhere he went.

 

Which is why it made sense Stark and he couldn't STAND each other later on imo  )

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13 minutes ago, Hermit said:

 

I'm of the opinion there is little new under the sun, so I don't mind old tropes drug out, same plots re used IF you can do it with characters I like. Which means I actually LIKE most of the movies as Marvel has done very well with casting and writing for the most part. But if I had to put them in the order of 'my favorites' RIGHT Now..

 

 

 

1) Captain America: First Avenger (I know that is not 'the best' but the bias is strong in this one, I like some periods, and come on! Star Spangled man with a plan!)

2) Captain America Winter Soldier (Okay, this one possibly IS the Best)

3) Avengers (For getting the band together, great cinematic touches...and Puny God!)

4) Guardians of the Galaxy (Music, Mischief, Mayhem)

5) Black Panther (honestly, it's just damn good. Shuri steals the show)

6) Dr. Strange (One of my favorite characters, so bias.  But how he wins is so fitting for the character)

7) Ant Man (Possibly because I did not set my bar high for this it wowed me. Still fun on repeated viewing)

8 ) Captain America Civil War (Should be higher I know)

9)  Iron Man (Props to RDJ! )

10) Ant Man and the Wasp (Still  fresh in my mind..Ignore the after credits and it is fun)

11)  Thor Ragnarok (Would be further up but I didn't like the way the warriors three got blown off with little love)

12)  Avengers Infinity War (AKA the Snapture)

13) Spider Man: Home coming (Keaton has chops. Still a bit unused to Hot Aunt May)

14) Iron Man 3 (Am I the only one who liked the kid? he cracked me up)

15) Thor (Fantastic visuals, got kind of rushed at the end.)

16) Thor: Dark World (Forget the villain and Jane, it's all about Loki and Thor interacting for me)

17) Avengers Age of Ultron ( Another day it might be higher. I like a lot about it, but it's very forgetable until I 'm watching it again)

18) Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (Ditto)

19) Incredible Hulk (No gamma poodle thank god!)

20)  Iron Man 2 (Both Villains failed for me)

Yeah the end credit scene killed my enjoyment of Ant Man and the Wasp, sad to say.  If I were making a list that would drop the movie several spaces down just because of the sheer aggravation that scene caused me.  Infinity War would be at the bottom but I've not seen it as Thanos is the most overrated villain in Marvel Comics and should never have been brought back, both the comics and the movies were better off with Thanos a lifeless statue that couldn't inflict itself on otherwise interesting comics and movies.

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52 minutes ago, Hermit said:

 

I'm of the opinion there is little new under the sun, so I don't mind old tropes drug out, same plots re used IF you can do it with characters I like. Which means I actually LIKE most of the movies as Marvel has done very well with casting and writing for the most part. But if I had to put them in the order of 'my favorites' RIGHT Now..

 

 

 

1) Captain America: First Avenger (I know that is not 'the best' but the bias is strong in this one, I like some periods, and come on! Star Spangled man with a plan!)

2) Captain America Winter Soldier (Okay, this one possibly IS the Best)

3) Avengers (For getting the band together, great cinematic touches...and Puny God!)

4) Guardians of the Galaxy (Music, Mischief, Mayhem)

5) Black Panther (honestly, it's just damn good. Shuri steals the show)

6) Dr. Strange (One of my favorite characters, so bias.  But how he wins is so fitting for the character)

7) Ant Man (Possibly because I did not set my bar high for this it wowed me. Still fun on repeated viewing)

8 ) Captain America Civil War (Should be higher I know)

9)  Iron Man (Props to RDJ! )

10) Ant Man and the Wasp (Still  fresh in my mind..Ignore the after credits and it is fun)

11)  Thor Ragnarok (Would be further up but I didn't like the way the warriors three got blown off with little love)

12)  Avengers Infinity War (AKA the Snapture)

13) Spider Man: Home coming (Keaton has chops. Still a bit unused to Hot Aunt May)

14) Iron Man 3 (Am I the only one who liked the kid? he cracked me up)

15) Thor (Fantastic visuals, got kind of rushed at the end.)

16) Thor: Dark World (Forget the villain and Jane, it's all about Loki and Thor interacting for me)

17) Avengers Age of Ultron ( Another day it might be higher. I like a lot about it, but it's very forgetable until I 'm watching it again)

18) Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (Ditto)

19) Incredible Hulk (No gamma poodle thank god!)

20)  Iron Man 2 (Both Villains failed for me)

 

This is very close to what my list would be.

 

Probably slide First Avenger and Black Panther into the middle range and swap Ant-man/Wasp with Thor.  I really thought it was well-done and is surprisingly underrated by Marvel fans IMO.

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Based on my interest to rewatch them again...for what it is worth.

 

Iron Man
The Avengers
Thor
Thor: The Dark World
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 3
Doctor Strange
Avengers: Infinity War
Ant-Man & the Wasp
Spider-Man: Homecoming

 

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: Civil War
Thor: Ragnarok
Captain America: The First Avenger
Guardians of the Galaxy
Ant-Man
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Black Panther
Incredible Hulk
Captain America: Winter Soldier

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