Over the last couple of days:
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – Chronologically, the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and a really good World War II action movie. For those of you who don't know, the film follows Steve Rogers, a man who wants to serve in the army but has numerous health reasons preventing him from doing so resulting in a 4F designation. Fortunately for him, a scientist sees something in him which makes him perfect for an experiment in which the subject basically become superhuman, with every aspect of themselves being boosted – in Rogers, this includes his compassion and gratitude for strength.
I remember being underwhelmed by this at the cinema, but it could have been because it had followed slightly glossier and more exciting Marvel movies. On its own, and treating it as the first entry in the MCU where none of the other 'Avengers' exist, it's really interesting and Chris Evans is superb as Rogers, with some inspired VFX making him look like a 90 pound weakling and the genetically enhanced super soldier. Hugo Weaving is terrific as the antagonist, a mutated Nazi called, because of his appearance, Red Skull.
Iron Man (2008) – After the events in the first series of Agent Carter, the MCU moves to the present day, with weapons manufacturer, narcissistic playboy Tony Stark in Afghanistan to showcase the new "Jericho" missile. When his Humvee is attacked and he's taken prisoner, a fellow captive called Yinsen saves his life by using an electromagnet to keep the shrapnel in Stark's chest away from his heart. It transpires the warlords are keeping him prisoner so he can build missiles for them and he, with Yinsen gets to work. However, unbeknownst to the Afghan warlords, Stark and his assistant are not initially building missiles, but an arc reactor to replace the car battery-powered device in his chest and, once independent from wires, a powerful suit which, when completed, allows Stark to escape.
Back in America, Tony realises the impact of his weapons sales and unilaterally decides to enter that aspect of Stark Industries' business enterprises. There are secondary stories with Obadiah Stane, one of Tony's friends and business colleagues working behind his bosses back to take control of Stark Industries and resume openly selling weapons, plus you have the humorous interactions between Tony and Happy, (Tony's chauffeur and bodyguard) and between Tony and Pepper Potts, his assistant and love interest.
Jon Favreau directs this with real verve and humour, but the dark moments are suitably moving, and the film is an absolute blast from first minute to last, with the post-credits scene adding much more to the drip feeding of information about S.H.I.E.L.D, which happens throughout the movie as Agent Coulson tries to debrief Tony.
The Incredible Hulk (2008) – When I saw this at the cinema, I thought the opening credits sequence was very cleverly done because, alongside the names, it’s a montage of the events everyone knows about so the film can work on assumed knowledge and, almost without explanation, begin with Bruce Banner living in self-imposed exile in Brazil. On first viewing of the cinema, I was underwhelmed by the VFX, whilst being impressed by Edward Norton's performance in the lead role, with the talent gap between him and Liv Tyler, playing Betty Ross, Banner’s former girlfriend who was injured in the gamma radiation experiment which altered Banner’s DNA so when his heart rate reaches 200, he undergoes a remarkable physical transformation to become the titular green creature.
The main thrust of the story is Banner looking for a cure to his blood condition, and the military – spearheaded by Ross’s father – looking to get his blood in order to make super soldiers. The main antagonist is Emil Blonsky, a colonel who isn’t interested in being promoted to general as he wants to fight rather than do paperwork, and part of that sees a blood transformation turned him into the Abomination. As such, the military’s experiment is beyond their control and their only hope is the person who was previously their most wanted target.
I really like Louis Leterrier’s direction, because he proved with the first two Transporter movies that he can really do action sequences, and it is certainly a better film than 2003’s Hulk (something I thought was boring and bloated, perhaps unsurprising considering Ang Lee is not really recognised as an action movie director), but when compared to the other MCU films, Leterrier doesn’t seem able to inject the comedy or human element that makes the other MCU films so funny, witty and generally memorable. As I said, Edward Norton is terrific as Bruce Banner, so although it was a shame that he didn’t continue as Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo is a more than adequate replacement. Aside from the lack of fun, perhaps The Incredible Hulk’s biggest problem is it had the misfortune to be released in the same year as Iron Man and The Dark Knight, two superhero films which are superior in every way.
Iron Man 2 (2010) – I think last night’s viewing was the first time I’ve seen this film since being thoroughly disappointed at the cinema and, based on what I saw, I have no idea why I was so down on it. Robert Downey Jr is again utterly brilliant as Tony Stark, Jon Favreau’s direction is as good as it was with the first film, and the verbal sparring is a joy to behold.
This picks up a couple years after the events in the first film, with Tony Stark ‘outing’ himself as Iron Man and arguing the suit is his property and cannot be taken by the US military because he and the suit are inseparable, so without him it is not a weapon but, with it, he has ‘privatised world peace’. This is, to put it mildly, disappointing news to rival weapons developer Justin Hammer who, unbeknownst to Tony, has been in touch with the son of Anton Banko, a Russian his life was very badly impacted by Howard Stark, Tony’s father, when Banko dies, his son, Ivan, continues his work and develops a similar suit to the one Tony has, only with electrified whips powered by the core. When Ivan attacks Tony, he loses and is captured, but Hammer breaks him out of prison so he can assist him in developing weapons. If this wasn’t bad enough for Tony, he is also trying to find a solution to the palladium core in the arc reactor which, despite keeping him alive, is simultaneously poisoning him.
As with the first film, the blend of superbly crafted action sequences, ‘buddy comedy’ moments between Tony and Happy, the verbal jousting between Tony and Pepper and real human emotion works superbly. There’s also a noticeable escalation of the MCU, with Nick Fury very prominent and introducing Natasha Romanov into the series. The fact all this is so neatly scripted by Justin Theroux and executed by Favreau is a testament to their skill, and the VFX is spectacular, plus sound which (courtesy of the subwoofer handling the explosions) had my floor vibrating. It may not be as good as the original, but it’s a film that relishes in the lead character’s flaws, completely screwing with the viewer’s moral compass and making arrogance, narcissism and sexual misconduct funny!
As the post-credits sequence showed the Hammer of Thor, quite neatly informing the audience Thor (2011) is the next film in the MCU, I’ll probably watch that later tonight and then The Avengers and Iron Man 3 next week, something which takes beyond the first season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. However, as I also have (in no particular order) The Creeps, Zombie Creeping Flesh, The Flying Guillotine, Luther the Geek and Joe Bullet which I really want to watch ASAP, it’ll probably be a case of having some very varied viewing and alternating between high budget Hollywood superhero movies and films made with much, much less money!
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