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The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Barry

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« on: April 30, 2019, 03:23:30 PM »
 The Marvel Cinematic Experience was unique for the movies. It spans 22 films, by four different studios, and finishes with the outstanding Avengers: Endgame. This was NOT unique to the Marvel Universe that Stan Lee oversaw as editor at Marvel in the early 1960s. Crossovers were common, as were long running plots and sub-plots. The four studios were: Universal (Hulk); Paramount (Iron Man); Sony (Spider-Man Homecoming) and Disney.
 
I thought it would be fun here to give a list of the movies, from best to worst in my opinion. This is from someone who actually read the comics as they originally was published
 
There is ONE important factor that differentiates Stan Lee’s Marvel Universe from the DC. There was only one universe and everyone was in it. At DC there are separate “realities” with different Flashes, Supermen and so forth.  During the Stan Lee years death was mostly permanent. Not anymore.
 
 
1.  Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame (2019)­­. Now that it is out, this is really one long movie, not unlike The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.  Frankly, I never saw anything like this before, pulling together the characters and plots from 20 other movies.
2.  Captain America: The First Avenger (2011):  I think I enjoyed this so much because it was the film closest to the original comics. Further, we saw why Cap became a hero: He hated bullies.  Bucky dies here as he did in the Stan Lee/Kirby version of the early 1960s. Chris Evans, Stanley Tucci and especially Haley Atwell were terrific.
3.  Iron Man (2008):  Robert Downey Jr. was a perfect fit and created a great character. He jump-started a universe.
4.  Marvel's The Avengers (2012):  I never thought I really see this picture, great stars brought together.  It also took its time developing the stories and the characters, especially the Hulk.  Ruffallo was perfect in giving motivation the Hulk, “I’m always angry.”
5.  Doctor Strange (2016): Wonderfully done and it didn’t look at all like any of the Marvel movies before it.
6.  Captain America: Civil War (2016): This was really an Avengers movie. Cap had my favorite individual run.  He truly was a throwback to the heroes I remembered.
7.  Guardians of the Galaxy (2014):
8.  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017): These movies were fun and funny, yet, perhaps, with Dr. Strange, the most imaginative of the bunch.
9.  Thor (2011): An enjoyable, fun movie made better by the performance of Tom Huddleston as Loki. He elevated every scene and every movie he was in.
10.Thor: Ragnarok (2017): much better than Dark World. Showed great imagination, great action sequences and begins and ends untraditionally. 
11.Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014): this deviates from the Stan Lee universe. Lee killed off Bucky in 1965 and then marvel, in their comics, decided to bring him back 40 years later.  However this movie, again, did not look like the other movies. It was a 1960s spy thriller, with Robert Redford as a villain.
12.Black Panther (2018): Great story, great acting, and great imagination, mostly from the creators, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
13.Captain Marvel (2019): This movie surprised me. Bree Larson was wonderful and the story and her development are told in three parts.
14.Ant-Man (2015): This movie was comedy and a heist movie.  It did notice itself seriously and Rudd stood out.  Seeing Michael Douglas was also a treat.
15.Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018): Once Again a light-hearted, almost silly movie. Evangeline Lilly was wonderful and turned this into a concrete offering. Nice to see Michele Pfeifer too!
16.Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015): A slight disappointment.  Nothing bad, the movie was enjoyable.  But there was nothing special about it.
17.The Incredible Hulk (2008): Not a bad movie and Ed Norton as Bruce Banner was good.  Only one special moment: The final scene was Nick Fury and Tony Stark have a cameo discussing the Avengers.
18.Thor: The Dark World (2013): Boy, I wish this movie was better. The cast was fine, really, but the plot and dialogue…oh boy.
19.Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017): I am not a fan of this movie; I enjoyed the Toby McGuire movies however.  This movie removes so much about what I liked about the character and makes him younger than the stories I read in the original comic.
20.Iron Man 2 (2010): With the exception of the introduction to the Black Widow, this movie was empty and not at all part of the superb movie making yet to come.  It was an old-fashioned super-hero movie: Let’s forget about characterization and story, let’s have a lot of fights with men in costume. But what a great cast to waste.
21.Iron Man 3 (2013): A great first hour by Downey, as usual. The less said about the second ridiculous hour, the better.
 
Notes:
The Marvel Universe was mostly created in the 1960s by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Don Heck.  Lee, as editor, “shepherd” this talent but all were needed to create the Marvel Universe.


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tripplej

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2019, 03:31:55 PM »
Thanks Barry for the quick review on all of the Marvel movies. I greatly enjoyed them for their entertainment and I agree, as the movies got made, the better they got.

I will check out Avengers End game this Sunday. Was able to get tickets. :)
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Barry

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2019, 03:48:43 PM »
Great!  I hope you got good seats!
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tripplej

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2019, 04:32:38 PM »
I tried so hard to get tickets this past weekend but every theater and every screen from friday to sunday was booked.

I was able to get XD tickets and it is next to last row in the back and it is in the middle.

I wasn't sure if 3D was worth it or not. Didn't see much reviews on 3D. Any idea?


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Barry

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2019, 04:59:03 PM »
JJJ,

I saw it in Imax 3D and thoroughly enjoyed it.  But a non 3D picture is a bit brighter and you see more details. For example, I missed Howard the Duck!!  So seeing 2D is just fine.  It is just an unusual picture.
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tripplej

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2019, 05:19:13 PM »
Thanks. I tend to shy away from 3D due to the high cost and I hate wearing the 3D glasses.

Either way, I am looking forward to it. :)
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tripplej

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2019, 10:40:51 PM »
Barry, curious on your thoughts on the non MCU  Marvel movies listed below.





All Fantastic Four Movies to date

- 1994 The Fantastic Four

- 2005 Fantastic Four

- 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

- 2017 Fantastic Four 2



All Ghost Rider Movies to date

- 2007 Ghost Rider

- 2011 Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance



The 2000’s Spiderman Trilogy

- 2002 Spider-Man

- 2004 Spider-Man 2

- 2007 Spider-Man 3



All Amazing Spiderman Movies to date

- 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man

- 2014 The Amazing Spider-man 2



All Punisher Movies to date

- 2004 The Punisher

- 2008 Punisher: War Zone



All X-Men Movies to date

- 2000 X-Men

- 2003 X2

- 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand

- 2011 X-Men: First Class

- 2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past

- 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse



All Wolverine Movies to date

- 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine

- 2013 The Wolverine

- 2017 Logan



All Deadpool Movies to date

- 2016 Deadpool

- 2018 Once Upon a Deadpool

- 2018 Deadpool 2



All Blade Movies to Date:

- 1998 Blade

- 2002 Blade II

- 2004 Blade Trinity





Have you seen them all? Any thoughts?



« Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 06:35:35 AM by tripplej »
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Barry

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2019, 11:13:08 PM »
I not only have seen them, I have them all on blu ray, except for the punisher.  I’ll post tomorrow
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tripplej

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2019, 11:14:31 PM »
Great. Thanks. I am interested in your thoughts. Above, I put the dates for each of the individual movies. :)
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Barry

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2019, 12:52:07 PM »
 Tracy,
 
The problem with comic book movies in the past is that the producers looked at the costumes and artwork and never read the stories to discover the characters.  So you got men in silly costumes having big fights. This was true of the Batman TV show.
 
You left out Howard the Duck, Dr. Strange, and three previous Captain America Movies. All were terrible! Howard, in the comics, was a great parody. This never showed up in the movie.
 
All Blade Movies to Date: - 1998 Blade; 2002 Blade II 2004 Blade Trinity: Blade was one of the MOST important Marvel movies ever made. It was the foirst one to make a profit and lead the way to the X-Men and Spider-Man!  In the comics, Blade was introduced in Tomb of Dracula #10 and he fought Dracula. Not so in the movies.  The first one was entertaining, the second one was bearable and the third was trash.

All Fantastic Four Movies to date:- 1994 The Fantastic Four;- 2005 Fantastic Four- 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer- 2017 Fantastic Four 2.  The First Fantastic Four was done by Roger Corman and has never been released.  It’s bad.  The 2005 and 2007 one was miscast and badly written.  In fact one of the original artists of the Fantastic Four told me he hated the movie and it was miscast.  The final Fantastic Four movie was one of the worst I had ever seen, totally miscast and badly written.

All Ghost Rider Movies to date- 2007 Ghost Rider;- 2011 Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Nock Cage wanted to be a super-hero so badly!  HE was too old for the part and the first movie was bearable, the second horrible,

The 2000’s Spiderman Trilogy- 2002 Spider-Man;- 2004 Spider-Man 2
- 2007 Spider-Man 3: Spider-Man’s origin, shown well at first here, is perhaps the best in comic book history, with Batman talking a close second.  I enjoyed the first and second movie, cast perfectly.  The third one was bad. They changed the origin and Spider-Man even lets the murderer of his Uncle get away.  They tried to put too much into this movie.



All Amazing Spiderman Movies to date:- 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man;
- 2014 The Amazing Spider-man 2: I truly hated these movies.  Why such a quick reboot? Why tamper with a great origin? Badly written and flawed. Biggest flaw was in the casting:  They placed the “new Spider-Man” in high school (previously he was in college) and hired two actors, Garfield and Stone, who were ten years too old for the part. I never bought into it or their fantastic plots.



All Punisher Movies to date:- 2004 The Punisher;- 2008 Punisher: War Zone. I have the original Punisher comics (He was a villain in Spider-Man). Never saw the movies about a vigil ante killer.



All X-Men Movies to date:- 2000 X-Men;- 2003 X2;- 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand:  I enjoyed these movie and the casting. Jackman and Captain Picard were great. This is really the first of “adult” super-hero film making. They used the comics and took their characters   and themes.  The third was not as good as the first two but enjoyable. They destroyed the “biggest” X-Men story, Dark Phoenix, which will be remade this year.
 
 2011 X-Men: First Class;- 2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past;- 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse.  They first three made money so they had to make more.  First Class, again was a reboot, but was fun. The best was the Days of Future Past which corrected the mistakes in X-Men 3. I really enjoyed that movie. Notice how Jennifer Lawrence becomes more and more dominate in these movies as she becomes a bigger and bigger star. Apocalypse goes back to just using the characters with nothing well developed.  A typical, old fashion comic book movie.



All Wolverine Movies to date:- 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine;- 2013 The Wolverine- 2017 Logan:  The first two were major disappointments because Jackman is just so good and deserves better. The second one was better than the first and was watchable. Logan, with Patrick Stewart and Hug Jackman was outstanding.  A bit too violent for me but it plays out well and it’s not like any other super-hero movie..



All Deadpool Movies to date:- 2016 Deadpool;- 2018 Once Upon a Deadpool;- 2018 Deadpool 2. While too violent for me, the Deadpool moves were funny and Ryan Reynolds is just great.  Not movies I would watch a second time nor buy on DVD, but they are a great satire of these movies.  Did not see the PG Once upon a Deadpool.







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tripplej

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2019, 02:14:32 PM »
Thanks Barry for your historical insight as well as your review for these non MCU Marvel movies.

I haven't seen most of them so was curious. Looks like they were mostly bad in the beginning but now are getting better so that is a good thing. :)
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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2019, 02:45:31 PM »
I love both Deadpool films. Own them both on 4K BR. Have watched both numerous times. Other than that, I'm pretty selective when it comes to " superhero " movies. I liked Dr. Strange and will re-buy it on 4K. I like the X Men films and Logan. 

All the other films mentioned - I can't comment, as I'm not interested in watching them ( which I suppose is in itself a comment ). But I am hoping for Deadpool 3 !! 
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Barry

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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2019, 05:19:39 PM »
I doubt there will be a Deadpool 3. Disney does not do R rated movies and, even if they did, they probably will want to restart the X Men.  They were funny movies.

Judging on what you mentioned, you might like Captain America Winter Soldier or Ant-Man
« Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 05:21:28 PM by Barry »
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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2019, 06:03:46 PM »
I doubt there will be a Deadpool 3. Disney does not do R rated movies and, even if they did, they probably will want to restart the X Men.  They were funny movies.

Judging on what you mentioned, you might like Captain America Winter Soldier or Ant-Man
There's been some debate about whether Deadpool 3 will get made, but GOTG 3 seems to be back on with James Gunn back, and those are a bit raunchy, so who knows. 
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Re: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
« Reply #14 on: May 02, 2019, 03:19:35 PM »
Awesome thread Barry. Too busy to comment deeply, but I'll revisit when I have more time.
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