More Marvel - 2013 Movies Added
Well, it's been another full year so it's time for another Marvel Movie Summary. This year had three entrants:
Iron Man 3 - Iron Man was a lot of fun. Iron Man 2 was dull any time the camera left Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man 3 brings the series back. The Extremis storyline was reasonably well adapted, but the real winner here is that the movie smartly realizes that the audience wants more Tony Stark, so it gives us plenty of Stark without the armor. The entire sequence when crashes in the middle of nowhere town that happens to have major plot hints and is forced to work with a small child is excellent. Given the Mandarin's original origin as a vaguely racist Fu Manchu type, I was afraid that it would be boring. Instead they do a very clever bait-and-switch which makes him every bit as creepily effective as one would hope. I'm not wild about them turning Rhodey into a bit of a patsy, but it does help set up the final battle and he gets to kick some ass at the end. Solid stuff; in some ways it is even better than the first movie because instead of being tied to the obligatory origin story it gives us Tony Stark with PTSD, which is certainly more original.
The Wolverine - The first Wolverine movie had a lot of flaws, but was still somewhat entertaining because the action scenes were delightfully comic booky, even if the best of them were revealed right in the trailer. This one was longer, more serious, and kind of boring. It had occasional moments, but when your hero mostly just broods you need good supporting characters and villains to carry the plot, and aside from Yukio they really didn't stand up. The action numbers were also tedious. Honestly, the mid-credits teaser for the next X-Men movie was the high point. If I didn't like Logan so much I'm sure I would have been bored silly, and as it was I'm in no hurry to see this again.
Thor: The Dark World - I had lukewarm feelings toward the first Thor movie. It was boring when the action took place on Earth, Natalie Portman phoned it in as Jane Foster, and the action scenes were just ok. The first two problems have been fixed in the sequel. Most of the action takes place on the other planes, and the stuff on Earth is much better. Jane Foster is not a non-entity, which helps tremendously. Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgard provide a lot of comic relief, which makes up for the relative absence of The Warriors Three and Sif. Oh yeah, and Loki is excellent. You measure the hero by the quality of his nemesis, and by that standard Thor may be the best thing going in the Marvel universe right now. It's still not a great movie, but it's much more entertaining than the first one.
Here are my overall rankings, although I caution you that I have not rebalanced the list since I created it and it's possible some of my views would change. Since I really never rewatch movies except at the gym, and no longer belong to the gym, there probably hasn't been much of a shift.
Would Watch Again Without Hesitation
The Avengers
Iron Man
X-Men & X2: X-Men United (listed together because I consider them to be inseparable)
Blade
Would Watch Again
X-Men: First Class
Iron Man 3
The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I Probably Would Watch It at the Gym
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The First Avenger
X-Men 3: The Last Stand
Iron Man 2
Thor
Would Watch Again if I Was Drinking
Spider-Man 3
The Punisher (video)
DareDevil
Blade II
Fantastic Four
Would Not Watch Again Even If I Was Working Out Drunk
The Wolverine
Blade: Trinity
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Hulk
Elektra (video)
Did Not See and Wish I Had
The Incredible Hulk
Punisher War Zone
Did Not See; Let's Pretend They Never Happened
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider 2
2014 has four Marvel movies coming out, which seems to be the highest single year total yet. I'm most excited by the Captain American sequel, with mild interest in the The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I'm sure I'll see the other two, but I've got less interest there.
Iron Man 3 - Iron Man was a lot of fun. Iron Man 2 was dull any time the camera left Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man 3 brings the series back. The Extremis storyline was reasonably well adapted, but the real winner here is that the movie smartly realizes that the audience wants more Tony Stark, so it gives us plenty of Stark without the armor. The entire sequence when crashes in the middle of nowhere town that happens to have major plot hints and is forced to work with a small child is excellent. Given the Mandarin's original origin as a vaguely racist Fu Manchu type, I was afraid that it would be boring. Instead they do a very clever bait-and-switch which makes him every bit as creepily effective as one would hope. I'm not wild about them turning Rhodey into a bit of a patsy, but it does help set up the final battle and he gets to kick some ass at the end. Solid stuff; in some ways it is even better than the first movie because instead of being tied to the obligatory origin story it gives us Tony Stark with PTSD, which is certainly more original.
The Wolverine - The first Wolverine movie had a lot of flaws, but was still somewhat entertaining because the action scenes were delightfully comic booky, even if the best of them were revealed right in the trailer. This one was longer, more serious, and kind of boring. It had occasional moments, but when your hero mostly just broods you need good supporting characters and villains to carry the plot, and aside from Yukio they really didn't stand up. The action numbers were also tedious. Honestly, the mid-credits teaser for the next X-Men movie was the high point. If I didn't like Logan so much I'm sure I would have been bored silly, and as it was I'm in no hurry to see this again.
Thor: The Dark World - I had lukewarm feelings toward the first Thor movie. It was boring when the action took place on Earth, Natalie Portman phoned it in as Jane Foster, and the action scenes were just ok. The first two problems have been fixed in the sequel. Most of the action takes place on the other planes, and the stuff on Earth is much better. Jane Foster is not a non-entity, which helps tremendously. Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgard provide a lot of comic relief, which makes up for the relative absence of The Warriors Three and Sif. Oh yeah, and Loki is excellent. You measure the hero by the quality of his nemesis, and by that standard Thor may be the best thing going in the Marvel universe right now. It's still not a great movie, but it's much more entertaining than the first one.
Here are my overall rankings, although I caution you that I have not rebalanced the list since I created it and it's possible some of my views would change. Since I really never rewatch movies except at the gym, and no longer belong to the gym, there probably hasn't been much of a shift.
Would Watch Again Without Hesitation
The Avengers
Iron Man
X-Men & X2: X-Men United (listed together because I consider them to be inseparable)
Blade
Would Watch Again
X-Men: First Class
Iron Man 3
The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I Probably Would Watch It at the Gym
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The First Avenger
X-Men 3: The Last Stand
Iron Man 2
Thor
Would Watch Again if I Was Drinking
Spider-Man 3
The Punisher (video)
DareDevil
Blade II
Fantastic Four
Would Not Watch Again Even If I Was Working Out Drunk
The Wolverine
Blade: Trinity
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Hulk
Elektra (video)
Did Not See and Wish I Had
The Incredible Hulk
Punisher War Zone
Did Not See; Let's Pretend They Never Happened
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider 2
2014 has four Marvel movies coming out, which seems to be the highest single year total yet. I'm most excited by the Captain American sequel, with mild interest in the The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I'm sure I'll see the other two, but I've got less interest there.