Movie Ramblings: Iron Man 3

THE GREAT MARVEL MOVIE CATCHUP PART 7

This ramble is rated 7 by the LSBRC for sustained mild spoilers.

Tony is having PTSD and anxiety attacks following the events of The Avengers. He feels inadequate being just a man in a suit after fighting alongside (and against) genuinely super human beings. Interestingly his friends from The Avengers are conspicuously absent here, especially Dr Banner who goes off with Stark at the end of Avengers for some kind of R&D love-in but doesn’t show up during this film.

Movie Ramblings: Avengers Assemble

THE GREAT MARVEL MOVIE CATCHUP PART 6

Here we are at the first main event of the MCU Journey: The Avengers, or Avengers Assemble depending on whether you are in the US or the UK. I was confused for a while about why there seemed to be 2 versions of this movie. A friend of mine pointed out that here in the UK there is a TV show called “The Avengers” and they also made a film of it. So for UK release it is called “Avengers Assemble” which is also the name of the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for obvious reasons. Having cleared that point up I can get on with rambling about the actual film.

Movie Ramblings: Thor

THE GREAT MARVEL MOVIE CATCHUP Part 5

Thor is an arrogant god*, interested only in his own glory and defeating his enemies. After Thor almost re-ignites an ancient war with the ice giants, Thor’s dad Odin strips him of his powers and banishes him to Earth, the naughty step of the Gods. Thor and his hammer Moljnir crash land on Earth conveniently near to a scientific research team investigating atmospheric anomalies in the middle of nowhere.

*Although Thor, Odin etc don’t actually consider themselves gods, I’ll use the term here because I can’t think of a better one!

Movie Ramblings: Iron Man 2

THE GREAT MARVEL MOVIE CATCHUP Part 4

I remember seeing Iron Man 2 when it released and being vaguely disappointed with it. I have been looking forward to watching it again and seeing how I feel about it the second time round. I definitely wasn’t disappointed this time around. Yes it is still ridiculous and mindless in places and the plot and some of the characters are somewhat arbitrary. But it is slick and stylish and fun and if you dial up your credulousness a notch or two before pressing play you’ll probably have a good time, I know I did.

Mild Spoilers: I talk about the plot without going into much detail.

Movie Ramblings: The Incredible Hulk

THE GREAT MARVEL MOVIE CATCHUP Part 3

Before starting this film, I joked that I was going to watch “The Inedible Hulk” and this story is definitely one that I find pretty hard to swallow. I’ve never been a big fan of the fantastical transformation plot line that often appears in super hero comic stories and ones that are accompanied by massive physical transformations like The Hulk and The Thing are even less appealing to me. I’ve already written that I find the physical transformation of Captain America hard to accept but somehow his is just slightly more believable for being a one way trip. To have Bruce Banner change to the Hulk and back again repeatedly seems to be pushing believability too far even for a comic book character.

Movie Ramblings : Iron Man

The Great Marvel Movie Catchup Part 2

Iron Man is probably the only film in the Great Marvel Movie Catchup that I have seen more than once (many of them I haven’t seen at all). I like it, it is fun, silly, and has some great characters – everything a comic book movie should be in my opinion. It doesn’t take itself too seriously but the actors manage to take their characters seriously without taking themselves too seriously at the same time if you see what I mean. That’s not to say there aren’t some problems with this film but it is enjoyable enough that you fail to notice them while you are dragged along for the ride.

Movie Ramblings: Captain America – The First Avenger

The Great Marvel Movie Catchup Part 1

I don’t really get Captain America. I guess partly because I’m not American and don’t understand the particular brand of patriotism that is much of what the Captain is all about. The World War 2 setting is an interesting difference from the more modern or fantastical settings of comic book movies. Having supernatural and fantasy elements blended in with the historical and livens things up a bit and makes it less like just another war movie.