Welcome to our recap of Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)!
Encouraged by the landscape-altering success of The Avengers, which showed critics and audiences everywhere that "hey, there just might be something to this insane chess game they're playing after all..." things are about to get wilder and weirder and just more all-around WOW! All our old favorites return to their respective corners of the universe for some soul-searching and shake-ups, while a whole host of new heroes make their way into the spotlight for the very first time.
Buckle up, baby, because this Awesome Mix cassette tape is just getting started!
IRON MAN 3
THE GIST: While coping with crippling PTSD after the near-death events of The Avengers, Stark must hunt down a terrorist known as The Mandarin, who has been orchestrating a series of biologically-enhanced suicide bombings. Along the way, Stark must also contend with just how much he has come to rely, or even over-rely, on his dual identity as Iron Man.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: Improving on Iron Man 2 with a much tighter, wit-packed script and some truly inspired usage of the Iron Man armor(s), this one is enjoyable but ultimately not super consequential to the MCU at large. Its controversial Mandarin-centered twist polarized legions of diehard comics fans, even drawing outright disgust from more than a few, but it's worth it just to have another chance to watch RDJ swagger along in the role that'll carve his name in history.
RE-WATCH VALUE: 3.5/5
THOR: THE DARK WORLD
THE GIST: Thor must defend Asgard from the attack of a race known as the Dark Elves, who seek to use a reality-altering substance known as the Aether to snuff out life across an astrological convergence. To do this, he must free and form a begrudging truce with Loki, imprisoned after his actions in The Avengers.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: For Game of Thrones fans of swords and sorcery, this one scratches that genre itch nicely, and the bonkers, reality-warping final fight through London is a blast to watch. Unfortunately, though, this one falls at the bottom of a lot of people's MCU rankings, thanks in no small part to a forgettable, lackluster enemy threat.
If nothing else, though, it's a treat just to watch more of Loki cackling and snarking his mischievous way to a cliffhanger ending that sees him finally on Asgard's throne, impersonating Thor's father Odin through his magical illusions.
RE-WATCH VALUE: 3/5
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
THE GIST: Still adjusting from the "gee-whiz!" spirit of patriotism of his previous life in the 1940s to the 21st century's morally-jaded landscape, Rogers must ally himself with Romanoff and an ex-military parajumper named Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon, after SHIELD is revealed to have been infiltrated across all levels by HYDRA sleeper agents.
The deadliest of these, an ultra-lethal assassin known as the Winter Soldier, turns out to be none other than Bucky Barnes, Rogers' closest friend from before WWII, brainwashed and put on ice by HYDRA (who have also replaced Barnes' left arm with a cybernetic implant). Rogers must break Barnes' brainwashed programming in time to stop HYDRA from carrying out a global terror attack.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: This one is top. level. Marvel.
Many, many people list Winter Soldier as their favorite of all the MCU entries, thanks to a script that tackles 21st century fears about government conspiracies and Big Brother Watching head-on, as well as some of the flat-out best action scenes Marvel has ever put to film. The pulse-pounding, kinetic K.O.'s here were the first time a lot of people realized, "Oh wow... Captain America's a BADASS," and shifted his perception among general audiences from the white-toast boy scout of previous films to the fan-favorite moral compass of the entire Marvel Universe.
RE-WATCH VALUE: 4.5/5
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 1
THE GIST: Five space outlaws come together and form a rag-tag family while preventing a world-destroying artifact from falling into the wrong hands: Peter Quill, aka Star Lord, a 70s-music grooving human kidnapped from Earth during childhood by space pirates; Gamora, a ruthless killer and the escaped daughter of Thanos; Drax, a hysterically literal-minded and super-strong warrior on a mission to avenge his family; Rocket, a cybernetically-altered raccoon who spits sarcasm and adores all things explosive; and Groot, a humanoid tree who serves as the group's Chewbacca figure and communicates solely with the phrase "I am Groot" (a running joke arises from the characters' abilities to derive various complex meanings from the same repeated phrase, i.e. "I am Groot?" "No thanks, I'm all set, I already ate lunch.").
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: In 2007, if you'd have stated that a talking tree and a RACCOON would headline a big-budget superhero film, you'd have been laughed off the internet. But with the loving direction of James Gunn, Chris Pratt's transformation from a fat slob on the NBC sitcom Parks and Rec. into a matinee idol, the color palette of a 70s blacklight poster, and one of the greatest superhero movie soundtracks ever assembled, that's exactly what happened.
Rock and roll provides the lifeblood for this smash hit, probably the funniest movie to ever come from the Marvel powerhouse, and its D-list characters all became household names overnight. Hooked on a feeling? You betcha.
RE-WATCH VALUE: 5/5
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
THE GIST: The squad's back together again, when Stark's efforts to create a peacekeeping "suit of armor around the whole world" backfire catastrophically, resulting in a genocidal robot named Ultron.
Ultron's solution to solving all mankind's problems is to logically just eradicate all mankind in the first place, leading to a climactic battle which decimates the small (and fictional) Eastern European country of Sokovia.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: There's a lot happening here, and while it's peak Marvel whenever the core Avengers are in the same room bouncing off each other, the total effect of this one is more disjointed and overwhelming than their previous team effort. Pausing the action no less than four times for extended dream sequences, and featuring a skyscraper-leveling slugfest between Hulk and a tank-wearing Iron Man, the film stretches itself a bit too thin trying to check off a dizzying list of franchise boxes, even as the world-ending stakes posed by Ultron's threat huff and puff mightily.
In the end, this endless smorgasbord somehow comes off feeling incidental, and there's an undercutting sense of "Hmm... I wonder if these characters who are all already confirmed for Civil War AND Infinity War will make it through this 'final' fight..."
It's notable, though, for introducing a slew of new characters to the team's roster, such as the android Vision (Tony Stark's A.I. brought to life with human form... think Siri, with superpowers) and the telekinetic Scarlet Witch, who will become team staples in the years to come.
RE-WATCH VALUE: 3/5
ANT-MAN
THE GIST: Recently released from prison and desperate to help pay child support for his daughter, expert cat burglar Scott Lang is enlisted by aging scientist Hank Pym and his daughter Hope Van Dyne to become Ant-Man.
Training in the suit created (and first worn decades ago) by Pym, which allows its wearer to shrink down to ant-size while gaining proportionate strength and speed, Lang helps Hank and Hope stop a corporate criminal who seeks to release the shrinking technology to terrorists for profit.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: A truly welcome step down in size and scale (pun intended) from the world-threatening stakes of the Avengers' outings, Ant-Man is a comedy first and foremost. It knowingly embraces the eye-rolling concept of a hero who can communicate with and shrink down to the size of ants, and plays it for laughs against what's actually a very good heist movie.
Ultimately, it doesn't impact the MCU all that much, and Ant-Man's inclusion in Civil War will introduce him perfectly adequately to binge viewers who are pressed for time - but leaving this one from your watch list will deprive you of a whole lot of laughs.
RE-WATCH VALUE: 3.5/5
PHASE 2 FINAL TALLY
"What should we do now, Guardians? Something good (The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1)? Something bad (Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron)? Or a bit of both (Iron Man 3, Ant-Man)?"
Phase 2 has not only kept the ball rolling, but sped things forward down an increasingly bendy and far-afield route. There's tough times ahead, though, for the Avengers and everyone associated with them, and things will never be the same again... but fortunately for us, that means the best of the MCU is still to come! We'll see you next time for Phase 3!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment