Reviewing - The MCU: Phase One
These were the building blocks of the franchise that changed the movie industry. While some admittedly fall short of the incredible standards set further down the line, each film brings us one step closer to the movie that no one imagined possible: The Avengers.
The Best: The Avengers
The Worst: Thor
Iron Man (****)
In which a weapons-crazed billionaire learns his weapons industry is selling too many weapons so he makes a new weapon to destroy his old weapons
At the time of writing this, I admit that it’s only been ten years since Iron Man was released. That said, it hasn’t aged a day. Tony Stark is as charismatic and hilarious as I remember him, and the relationship between him and Pepper Potts is a blast to watch. Every bit of it is fun. The story is great, the characters are fun, and this movie does two other specific things incredibly well. It’s not that the film sets up the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole…plenty of movies make promises about upcoming universes that never happen. It probably happens even more today thanks to Iron Man, but it still happened a lot beforehand too. The two incredible things about Iron Man are that it actually follows through on this promise – the MCU continues over ten years later – AND the movie would still be great even if it hadn’t been setting up one of the most successful film franchises in history. This movie was a terrific start to an ever-growing universe.
The Incredible Hulk (***)
In which a scientist with some temper issues realizes anger isn’t such a big deal after all as long as you punch the right people
This movie doesn’t feel like an MCU movie.
Admittedly, at this point in the franchise there was only one other film to be compared with, but in retrospect, there’s very little that makes this film feel like it fits in the larger story the MCU is telling. This movie is very serious – there’s very little in the way of jokes, and the jokes really only serve to cut heavy amounts of tension…they’re never there to make you actually laugh.
That said, this was still a good movie for sure. The Hulk’s fight scenes are awesome – the climactic battle is still epically intense, with unforgettable moves like using a cop car as boxing gloves or using the bad guy’s elbow bone as a weapon…man, that was cool. It was also neat seeing all the Toronto locations. The Hulk’s first appearance was shot at the University of Toronto in several places I’ve walked many times, and his final battle takes place downtown in front of many famous locations, most notably the “Sam the Record Man” store. That store has since closed, but the glowing sign is still up and operating as a decorative piece in the heart of Toronto.
Edward Norton did a good job, but I think ultimately Mark Ruffalo was a good replacement for when the next Hulk appearance finally came. In the meantime, this was a good movie and a worthy addition to the franchise.
Iron Man 2 (***)
In which a weapons-crazed billionaire learns his new weapon is inspiring too many other weapons so he gives his friend a new weapon to destroy the other weapons
A lot of people slam this film for having a boring villain, but I don’t think it deserves all the flak it gets. Tony Stark is still as fun as ever, as are all his scenes with Pepper. Although the introduction of Black Widow does feel a bit forced at times – the explanation for her presence is minimal – her and Pepper develop a fun dynamic, and she does have a pretty awesome fight scene in the final act. Samuel L. Jackson makes a welcome return, shedding more light on the developing nature of the MCU. As for the bad guy…yes, he’s fairly boring and there isn’t anything in particular to write home about, but this is compensated for by adding Justin Hammer, a really fun (albeit relatively harmless) bad guy. Together they make a formidable enough opponent to warrant this film.
Thor (**)
In which a fifteen-hundred year old god finds a cute girl and a drink he really likes
This is certainly my least favourite Thor film out of the three that currently exist (I hope they make more), and probably my least favourite film in the MCU. The first thing that stood out to me might surprise you – I was really bored with the aesthetics of this movie. Sure, we jump from Asgard to New Mexico to Jotunheim, but everything feels static and lifeless. Asgard is magnificent, but it feels empty. Jotunheim is cold, sure, but it’s so dark that the battle that takes place there never lets you focus too much on what’s going on. New Mexico is…well…a desert. This movie doesn’t look fun.
Thor is a fun character, and the whole fish-out-of-water thing where he’s a Nordic god in a modern American town is a great opportunity for hilarious moments (i.e. “This drink…I like it” or “I need a horse”). That said, they spend so much time keeping Thor in his world that I feel we don’t get nearly enough time with him in ours. I think they should have gotten Thor to Earth as soon as possible – let us learn about him while he’s with us, not by taking us up to Asgard.
I hadn’t seen this movie in years, and Loki was the character who shocked me most. In every other appearance of Loki, he’s much more openly power-hungry and he’s very content to boast in his trickster-iness. Here, he plays a much more subdued character. It still works, but it’s interesting to see where the character has gone from a beginning like this.
I also didn’t like the relationship between Thor and Jane Foster. I think it blew itself out of proportion too quickly. Like, Thor is a thousand years old or something. He’s known this girl for maybe a week. So to destroy the Rainbow Bridge and lose access to her shouldn’t really be that big of a sacrifice…and not even Loki seems to realize this.
For all its failings, Thor is destined to become an integral member of the Avengers, so this movie plays an important role in the development of the MCU. That aside, in terms of how much I enjoyed it, this is a thoroughly skippable movie.
Captain America: The First Avenger (****)
In which a skinny guy jumps on top of a grenade for no reason and the government decides he deserves superpowers
I enjoyed this movie much more than I remembered.
In my memory, prior to watching the film again, I remembered that Captain America got his powers, and then we got a quick montage of him fighting with the Howling Commandos, and then the climax for a quick second, then him waking up. In my head, the whole movie was basically a trailer for the upcoming first “Avengers” film. Watching it again totally changed my perspective. The film is longer than I remember, and it deliberately takes its time getting us to develop admiration for the Captain. Seeing him as a scrawny weakling attempting push-ups is just one of the many moments they filled this movie with – moments that show us Steve Rogers is a good man who is determined to do what it takes to do the right thing, every time. Chris Evans gives a convincing and heartfelt performance to this effect – the point of the movie is that Rogers is “a good man”, and there’s no way you can walk away from the film not believing that.
I always thought that the first Captain America film was the weakest of the Cap Trilogy – perhaps it still is, but I don’t think of this as a negative anymore. Cap deserves the “A” on his helmet, and the sequels only improve.
The Avengers (*****)
In which a one-eyed man tracks down a bunch of weirdos because someone stole his glowing Rubik’s cube
This movie hasn’t aged a day since it came out in 2012. It’s still every bit as fun and exciting, and seeing that “money shot” where Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow are all standing in a circle is still an incredible moment. I remember being so nervous walking into this movie for the first time. How could they possibly balance each character without making the film feel bloated? How can you pack that much into a movie? In retrospect, this film is about as difficult as balancing an egg on a spoon compared to the torch-juggling levels of complexity that we see in Avengers: Infinity War. Even so, this movie had a lot to prove. There had never been a movie like this before. The idea of a cinematic universe had been lightly touched on in each of the previous films, but this brought that ‘sharing is caring’ principle to the forefront. From the day this movie came out all the way to today, other film studios have repeatedly tried and failed to develop the same kind of success through a shared universe.
The cinematic significance aside, this is a great movie in other respects. This movie has so many great scenes – Iron Man versus Thor, Thor versus Hulk...Hulk versus Loki for five seconds. The pacing is great; You never feel like there’s too much going on, nor like you’re getting bored. Every second of screentime is important.
This movie did the impossible by bringing these heroes together for one big epic bash. What’s just as incredible is the fact that Marvel didn’t fall in upon itself afterwards in a hopeless mess of “let’s go even bigger”. Marvel Studios just kept going, making blockbuster after blockbuster that increasingly cemented our trust in them and continuously developed the world that they had built.
Like stand-alone stories that work together to tell one coherent narrative? Check this out.
This post was originally published on January 16th, 2019.