Official Marvel / MCU Discussion:

It's a pretty classic look which is why the Ronan lookalike is not doing much for me. He's got a collar thing, but it doesn't go behind his head like ti does in those pictures. I hate the look completely.

Love the look of just about everyone else though.

 

Embedded the image for you, sama. That was one of the "other hilarious references" I was talking about from Ain't it Cool posters. I didn't include it by name because I didn't see the resemblance in my initial Google search, but I sure see it now.

 

I saw Ant-Man. Pretty solid. Didn't feel like you were watching a Marvel movie really other than one scene. I think it's got a 79% right now on Rotten Tomatoes. That's about right (I know the score is an accumulation of good or bad reviews and not a 1-10 type score). I'd give it a 7/10. I think I might be starting to get (gulp) Marvel fatigue, or maybe Antman and Avengers: AoU weren't that good, I don't know yet. It is tough to follow up on last year's phase 2 entries. GoG and Winter Soldier might be my two favorite Marvel movies.

 

Saw Ant-man today. Loved it. But I went in expecting a lighter approach and I thought they nailed that. My wife, who usually is bored to tears at super hero movies really enjoyed it also. I really liked how they nodded to the original comic story while reimagining the entire story.

 

I think Marvel fatigue is on it's way which is why I thought Ant-Man was so great. It's Marvel without really leaning too hard on itself. I thought it was really refreshing actually as a Marvel movie.

 

I agree Antman didn't feel like the other Marvel movies. I think when I say I'm getting fatigue in regards to Antman, it's more about me not really caring a whole lot about his fit in the MCU. In the past, I would pour over the movies, reading about Easter eggs, trying to understand how it all connected, etc. After AoU and Antman, I found myself not caring at all about trying to learn more about their place in the universe. It was sort of, "OK. That was enjoyable. Moving on."

 

That makes sense. After all the universe building they've done, I think that's the way we'll all feel moving forward. The onus will be on each individual movie to stand on it's own regardless of the universe. That's not to say they don't affect each other, but it's on them individually to stand so we're not looking to see how they tie together. I think it was important for Phase 1 to tie together and the novelty of having such an ambitious project (I mean we've never really seen anything like this before) made it fun and interesting. Now that's done though like you said. There's a bunch of easter eggs in this movie and I went and looked them up, but I wasn't poring over them like I had before. Now it'll all be about what these movies do by themselves.

In a way though, I find that just as exciting. The first few MCU movies were cobbled together with an eye for cheap, valuable talent. Now they're going out and getting Michael Douglas, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swanson, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. They're going after young and dynamic directors like the Russos instead of guys like Joe Johnston. I think the next Phase will have it's own feel and it'll be much more about individual quality instead of the tapestry that they needed at first. Ant-Man was great because it didn't feel like other Marvel movies and I think that's the feel they're going for moving forward. They'll still have the cameos and the references that nerds like me can nerd over, but they'll also be able to stand on their own as well.

 

I hope so. In my opinion, Avengers 2 struggled because of it's brute force pounding of the "greater MCU" into a story that needed more TLC than Whedon gave it. I liked Antman significantly more than Age of Ultron. The further I get from AoU, the more I am actually starting to not only "not like" it, but I'm actually starting to dislike it. It feels so hollow at this point. It feels like a complete money grab, and it did little to nothing to advance the story and narrative of the MCU. It was more about name dropping other aspects of the MCU. I thought we were going to get a lot more friction between Cap and Stark, but all we got was a 5 minute scene of them chopping wood. I never got the sense of, "This is a really big obstacle for the Avengers." It felt about as dire as a 30 minute episode of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. At this point, Age of Ultron is second only to Iron Man 3 as my least favorite Marvel movie.

I totally agree with you that these movies NEED to start standing on their own and not rely on the stuff that came before it to give it it's significance.

 

I still don't dislike AoU but it's definitely not aging well. I thought it was a ton of fun in theaters, just an awesome visual ride. It definitely wasn't all that dramatic, but it had it's moments as a "fun" movie. It felt more like a blockbuster sequel though than an actually good movie. Whedon had his uses in this franchise and I think AoU showed that his uses were pretty much used up. Avengers in itself isn't a great movie either, but it's a ton of fun as well. Ulton felt like an approximation of that instead of, like you said, furthering of the overall plot.

That being said: they cut a few Hemsworth scenes that DO further the Infinity Gems plot line. That little scene in the caves was supposed to be longer and more involved. The did introduce Vision and Scarlet Witch who are both integral parts of the franchise now moving forward. I thought Hawkeye was the only person who had a great character arc but it really was a great arc that explained a lot of who he is in this franchise. Hulk being separated from the group I think is going to be fairly important for Cap 3 so that's something. The Avengers right now is a vastly different group than it was before the movie started, isn't it? No Hawkeye, no Iron Man, no Hulk, and no Thor. Now it's Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, War Machine, Cap, and Widow. Maybe a sprinkling of Ant-Man now.

Overall I still give Ultron a 7/10 and it's far from my least favorite of these movies.

 

Yeah early next year is Civil War and then Doctor Strange later in the year. Also coming out next year is Daredevil 2 and probably Luke Cage on Netflix. Jessica Jones is supposed to release later this year.