Movie Marathon - The Marvel Cinematic Universe

There are times where I rarely find a moment to sit down and watch a film, and then there are times where I watch too many without making way to sit down and write about them. So in the interest of time/laziness I thought it would be good to bring back the Movie Marathon for a run through with Marvel's never-ending blockbusters. 

Before I get into the main bulk of these, I'll start with what came before all of this back in 2008 (that's nearly a decade ago!) with Iron Man which was fantastic to watch and is still very enjoyable. The Incredible Hulk also came out that year and while it is still considered part of universe, no one really cares for it these days it seems. Things got a little worse with Iron Man 2 that was plagued with studio interference but then came the enjoyable Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor to get us all excited for The Avengers. It was a lot of fun and, while not flawless, it kickstarted the idea of connecting multiple stories that DC and the brand new The Mummy film are trying to replicate. Thus concluding phase one as it's known, Iron Man 3 followed along with the poorly received Thor 2 and the very well received Guardians of the Galaxy (still yet to see the last two). 

So it has been a mixed if generally well received journey but things did indeed look up when Captain America: The Winter Soldier hit cinemas...

This time around saw Captain America and Black Widow find that SHIELD has been infiltrated by Hydra and a mysterious new adversary. The concept was exciting and it took the series in a Cold War-esque direction where no one could be trusted. However, the idea to put two TV directors at the helm did seem risky given that neither had tackled a project as large as this but they came out on top with a surprise hit, putting a character some thought too silly on everyone's radar.

The only issue that this and many other Marvel films now face are the questions: where were all the other avengers and why does it seem that the huge climax is all but forgotten in the next film? SHIELD is blown to pieces and their budget report must look pretty bad, not to mention a few key characters are nearly killed. Sadly, Marvel leads with an iron grip over each film so no matter how out of control things get, they seem to want each film to be accessible to anyone who missed the last one. It is a shame, not that I mind skipping Agents of SHIELD, but a little more continuity would be nice. Either way, Captain America: The Winter Soldier stands out as one of the strongest entries to date. Now for one of the weaker films...

Avengers: Age of Ultron found itself with the difficult task of continuing to juggle the rag-tag team in another outing which I question whether it needed to have been made. Sure, we get a few new characters and there are the odd references to what we can expect next time but Marvel's 'back to square one by the end' approach really made this hard to care for. We see the team conflict a few times with what must be foreshadowing in some of the stronger scenes but here find another problem Marvel films face: forgettable villains.

This time one of Tony Stark's hidden ideas gets out of hand and thus Ultron is born, played with by the dryly charismatic James Spader on top form. The problem is Avengers 2 packs in too much OTT action that goes on for way too long when less would have been more. Ultron seemed like an interesting villain but is betrayed by the studio's desire to wrap things up quickly and poor Joss Whedon hasn't returned to the Marvel films ever since. It does have its moments but if time is precious, this is one film that can be skipped sadly. 

Concluding this is one film which I had little intention on seeing but one that beat my expectations and that was 2015's Ant Man, starring Judd Rudd, Michael Douglas and Corey Stoll. The idea seemed entertaining but could I face another origins story with another forgettable villain? This in some ways does follow the origins blueprint to the finest detail but thanks to a creative director and a witty screenplay, Ant Man was a refreshing experience. 

Rudd was charismatic in the lead and Stoll made for a decent villain but it seems Douglas had the most fun in making this, and it all contributed to making this a pleasant discovery. What's more, the action was fun and engaging as we saw our hero fight among ants and dodge children's toys. It's different and might not fall within the essential viewing category, but this one is still worth watching. 

Now that's concluded, the series is still firing away with its Netflix series and offering plenty of more films. I am sceptical if we'll ever get that Logan style film that isn't afraid to cross into new territory but hopefully the series learns from some of its mistakes while remembering that bigger isn't always better.