If only there was a succinct turn of phrase these kids could have used to inform their parents they were not desirous of their life path… https://t.co/cxOTDI5J1B
Timely and relevant with a callback to a movie from 20 years ago. The perfect tweet.
Varsity Blues is still one of my favorite movies of all time. It features my guy Paul Walker, may he rest in peace, as QB1, an absolute HOF smoke in Ali Larter, drunken debauchery, and it also basically invented the shotgun empty set 5 wide receivers no-huddle offense. Classic.
Very rarely does something just appear out of the ethos the way Guardians of the Galaxy did back in 2014. Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe really took off, I had major doubts that Iron Man could work as a film. At the time, it felt like we were reaching too far into the barrel and pulling out heroes that didn’t warrant their own movie. I mean, before knowing what we know now, the casting of Robert Downey Jr. and seeing the finished product, who the hell out there was clamoring for an Iron Man movie? I never in a million years thought we’d get beyond that surface level of superheroes, i.e. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man. Fast forward six years to the release of Guardians, which in my opinion was the exact moment comic book movies showed us what they could be if given the time and space to flourish.
Please take a look below if you’d like a bit of a refresher on the brilliance that is Guardians of the Galaxy.
So now that you’re caught up, where do I begin?
It is so rare for a virtually unheard of IP to come out of nowhere and become such a hit in pop culture. Guardians of the Galaxy did exactly that in the summer of 2014. I remember reading online years before it was released that Marvel was planning on bringing some of their lesser known heroes to the big screen. When Guardians was announced, I did some research into it because frankly I had no clue what it was even about. I remember seeing things that said the ensemble featured a talking Raccoon, a gigantic tree that only said it’s own name, and a human by the name of Peter Quill. Needless to say, I thought this movie was going to tank. “There’s absolutely no way this thing could work!” “They are getting so unbelievably desperate.” For those keeping score at home, I was completely wrong once again.
Guardians of the Galaxy felt immediate. It’s the first movie set in space since probably Star Wars where the world felt lived in and already established. The roles were brilliantly cast. I never suspected Chris Pratt could be a leading man and yet here we are several years removed and he’s one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Rocket Raccoon and Groot went from “sounds horrible on paper” to being plastered on every toy, action figure, and coffee mug inside your local Target. And how about that damn soundtrack? James Gunn took some of the best songs from the 70s and 80s and made them the backbone of a film set in a far off galaxy and they somehow all work perfectly. The soundtrack naturally shot to #1 on the Billboard charts for several weeks.
Guardians of the Galaxy was the first movie to come along in the MCU that made me completely forget about the MCU. I suddenly stopped caring about what The Avengers were up to and wanted to see the continuing adventures of Star-lord and Company. Don’t get me wrong, I love The Avengers, but Guardians showcased exactly what comic book movies could do if they tried something different. To this day it sits in my top three in the MCU.
IGN – Oscar Isaac wants the world to know that he is game to play Solid Snake in the planned Metal Gear Solid movie adaptation.
While participating in IGN’s cast roundtable for Netflix’s Triple Frontier, IGN host Max Scoville asked the star-studded lineup — including Isaac, Pedro Pascal, Ben Affleck, Garrett Hedlund and Charlie Hunnam — which video game-turned-film they would want to be a part of. Isaac, who is best known for his role in Star Wars as Poe Dameron, was quick to voice his interest in the Hideo Kojima classic Metal Gear Solid.
“Metal Gear Solid, that’s the one,” said Isaac. “I’m throwing my hat in for that one.”
The Metal Gear Solid franchise is one of, if not my favorite, series of games of all time so any tidbits of news regarding the oft rumored live action movie is lifeblood to me. I also just called Oscar Isaac one of the best actors of my generation so to say I would be excited for this would be the understatement of the century.
Friend of The 300s, BossLogic, actually photoshopped Isaac as Snake last summer and I think its safe to say the mullet would fit him well.
OK let’s get back to serious Bid-NESS and that’s rolling with the hype of a #metalgearsolid movie.
Even the MGS movie’s director was tweeting about the whole thing this morning so suffice to say it sounds like the man running the whole operation is into it.
THIS-MUSING-IS-NOT-NEWS-PSA:
To everyone asking how I feel about Oscar Isaac saying he wants to be Solid Snake.
The full process required to cast an icon hasn’t even started, but..
Ask @Bosslogic where the idea for his brilliant mock up came from.
Now I’ll believe this movie actually gets made when I see it at the Fenway Regal Cinemas. It’s been in the works for years before landing the director of Kong Skull Island (never saw it) and Metal Gear Solid stan, Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Seriously this guy literally campaigned for the director role and last summer tweeted out 31 straight days of MGS concept art to honor the 31 years of the franchise.
Now why has this movie taken so long to get made when garbage games like Rampage (no disrespect, Dwayne) are already getting adaptations? Well Metal Gear Solid just has such a complex web of storylines, characters, political commentary, and general idiosyncrasies that only really make sense after multiple 30-40 hour sittings. Hideo Kojima is a legend, but I honestly have zero idea how you turn something like Sons of Liberty into a coherent movie without it being 5 hours long. GOOD LUCK trying explain the differences between Solid Snake, Solidus Snake, Liquid Snake, and Big Boss to someone unfamiliar with the games. I’ve been playing these games since 2002 and sometimes I’m not even sure.
With that being said, I would love to see some of the Metal Gear Solid characters on the big screen. Some of these characters are bat shit insane and would be pretty difficult to pull off in a feature film, but hey thats not my problem to worry about. But please, for the love of god do not include Raiden in this movie. The single most disappointing part in this entire MGS franchise, is the switch in antagonist from Snake to Raiden in MGS2.
Since this movie is still in early days they have yet to cast anyone or even teased a general synopsis. So lets break down the characters I’d most want to see on the big screen and who should don those roles in a Metal Gear Solid movie.
Vamp – Jason Momoa a member of Dead Cell from Romania. He is a knife-throwing specialist endowed with numerous vampire-like abilities and attributes, such as a taste for blood, superhuman strength, speed, agility, the ability to walk on vertical walls and run across water
Momoa has the perfect look to play Vamp and we know he can do an accent after a whole season of speaking Dothraki. Momoa has the intimidating physical presence and subtle humor to pull off the deadly Vamp.
Psycho Mantis – Ben Foster a psychic expert for Liquid Snake’s FOXHOUND unit in Metal Gear Solid…Prior to joining FOXHOUND, he worked with the KGB and the FBI. His special abilities include the psychic powers of psychokinesis and telepathy…As a result of being disgusted with his father’s inner thoughts, he burned his own village and started despising people.
Ben Foster has crazy down pat. I just keep coming back to his absolute meltdown in 2006’s Alpha Dog where he literally beats up an entire room full of people while searching for his kid brother.
Skull Face – Ed Harris The commander of the mysterious Special Forces XOF unit, he is distinguished by his heavily scarred face, hairless head, and his choice of tailored suits over combat fatigues. His identity and nationality are initially unknown.
If you’ve never watched Westworld then this might seem out of left field, but Harris would crush this role as the calm, calculated, and sinister Skull Face. Plus he’s already got the suit and black cowboy hat to fill out the role.
Revolver Ocelot – Christoph Waltz a gunslinger-themed member of the FOXHOUND terrorists involved with the hostile revolt on Shadow Moses Island which housed Metal Gear REX, serving as the team’s interrogation expert and their leader Liquid Snake’s right-hand man
This role is going to take an A-list thespian who can play the eccentric, power hungry, treacherous character in Ocelot and I think we’ve seen that from Christoph Waltz. Just take a look back at Inglorious Basterds for even 10 minutes if you disagree.
Who do you think should star in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid movie? Tweet your best castings to @The300sBoston
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released on April 4th, 2014. Coming off two of what I consider giant letdown films in the MCU, I was praying to god that this movie wouldn’t stink. The Avengers was wildly successful in teaming up all our favorite heroes, only for Phase Two to split them back up into individual roles and bringing us pretty much back to square one. After whatever the hell Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World were, I was starting to become a bit skeptical that this series was finally starting to lose steam. Boy oh boy was I wrong.
The film starts off with Steve Rogers out for a brisk morning run in Washington, D.C. He’s constantly lapping Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie) who can’t match Cap’s speed. After a brief rest, Wilson tells Cap he works at the VA and that he’s a former soldier himself and asks Cap to stop by at some point, which Cap agrees to. Black Widow pulls up in a car to tell Cap he’s needed for a mission and they take off.
Somewhere overseas, Cap and Black Widow are in a military jet and discuss the mission at hand. They need to board a freighter that is operated by SHIELD that has been taken over by pirates. The freighter contains key information that is critical to SHIELD that Black Widow is tasked with recovering, unbeknownst to Captain himself. A large fight ensues with Cap rescuing the hostages and them barely escaping alive.
A little pissed that he wasn’t told about the true nature of the mission, Rogers returns to D.C. to confront Nick Fury at SHIELD headquarters. He’s still a bit untrusting after the events of The Avengers and doesn’t fully believe SHIELD has the right intentions, regardless of what they claim. Fury explains to Rogers that times have changed and he better get with the program if he is to remain apart of SHIELD. In a show of good faith, Fury let’s Rogers see what SHIELD is currently working on: Project Insight, which is essentially three massive Hellicarriers that are tasked with eliminating threats before they even happen.
After Rogers takes off, Fury tries to review the data obtained by Black Widow and is denied access. Questioning why he was overridden, he begins to suspect that something is going on behind that scenes at SHIELD and he becomes a bit suspicious. He brings his suspicions to Secretary Pierce, the political figurehead of SHIELD played by Robert Redford. Pierce tells him theres nothing to worry about (sure Redford, whatever you say).
We’re then given what is one of the best scenes in Marvel cinematic history. Watch and enjoy.
Fury’s escape is then stopped by The Winter Soldier himself and he barely escapes just in the nick of time.
We cut to Rogers entering his apartment, only to find Fury sitting there listening to some old records. He is badly injured, and warns Rogers that he shouldn’t trust anyone and that SHIELD has been compromised. Fury gives Rogers the data that Black Widow obtained. Just then, Fury is shot through the walls of Roger’s apartment by The Winter Soldier.
At the hospital, Fury is pronounced dead in front of Cap, Black Widow, and Maria Hill. Black Widow asks Rogers why Fury was in his apartment and he doesn’t truthfully answer. Cap is then summoned to SHIELD headquarters to speak with Secretary Pierce. Taking Fury’s advice, he hides the flash drive of information in a vending machine in the hospital before departing. At his meeting at SHIELD, Pierce not so subtly accuses Cap of knowing more than he is letting on, and labels him an enemy of SHIELD. On Rogers way out of SHIELD headquarters, he’s ambushed in yet another amazing scene from this film and the MCU as a whole.
After his escape, Rogers returns to the hospital to retrieve the flash drive only to find it missing, but luckily taken by Black Widow. They then travel to an Apple Store together (groan) to try and unlock a bit more information. They uncover a secret military installation in New Jersey where Captain was originally trained. Underneath the base, they discover a hidden room that is filled with antique computers and technology which is revealed to be recreation of Zola from Cap 1’s brain? (Yeah, this is the one thing in this movie that has me a little confused) Computer Zola pretty much tells Cap and Black Widow that HYDRA has been infiltrating SHIELD for the last half a century. Just then a missile strikes the base, destroying it and nearly killing Cap and Black Widow.
After another run in with the The Winter Soldier, it is revealed that he is in fact Bucky Barnes, Steve’s long thought dead best friend. They are captured by HYDRA agents and taken to Pierce. In transit, Maria Hill is discovered to be posing as one of the HYRDA agents and busts them out of captivity. She brings them to a secret base, where we see Nick Fury, alive and well. He faked his own death because he wasn’t sure who he could trust (Sure, whatever, i’ll let it slide).
The World Security Council shows up to SHIELD headquarters for a demonstration of Project Insight. Captain America gets on the loudspeaker and announces to all SHIELD employees that HYDRA has taken over, with Pierce being their leader. Gunfire ensues as the employees quickly take sides. The Hellicarriers are launched and Cap and Black Widow attempt to take back control, with The Winter Soldier waiting for them on board. Cap is convinced Bucky remembers who he is, with Bucky trying his hardest to not let on that he’s right. The Hellicarriers are destroyed and as they are crashing, Bucky saves Cap and places him along the shoreline before he walks into the proverbial sunset.
SHIELD is disbanded after the dust settles. Fury burns his eye patch and heads to Europe to track down more HYDRA bases, Maria Hill takes a job with Stark Industries, and Cap and Wilson set out in search of Bucky.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the exact moment in the MCU for me that things went from good to great. It is living proof that the stand alone films still work, even after Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World pretty much stunk up the place. The film almost felt like a Bourne movie, as opposed to just another cookie cutter entry of a Marvel film. To this day it remains one of my favorite films in the series.
More than any other Marvel film, the first two Thor movies require so much explanation right out of the gates. Theres definitely a lot going on, but it’s never a great start when the first 5 minutes of the movie require an Anthony Hopkins voiceover to explain the background. Especially after we’ve already met Thor and the whole crew just 2 years prior.
I haven’t watched Thor 2 since I saw it in theaters in 2013. All I remembered about this movie was that all kinds of stuff got destroyed in London. Thats it.
Before we get into the review though I have to point out one thing. THANK GOD THEY FIXED THOR’S EYEBROWS. I mentioned it in my review of Thor 1, but it’s something that bothered me for a decade because I could never quite put my finger on what it was.
Thor 1
Thor 2
Okay now that thats been addressed we can move on amicably.
So we begin with Loki being sentenced to a lifetime of prison in the Asgardian tombs for his crimes in Thor 1 and The Avengers.
Thor drops into save the day on another battle that his team is fighting for some reason or another. Apparently after the bifrost was destroyed (its fixed now) all the other realms rebelled for some reason so the Asgardians are trying to get all nine realms to bend the knee once again. In a common theme in this movie, it doesn’t really matter why.
Back on Earth Jane (Natalie Portman) is in London investigating science stuff (again doesn’t matter why) when she stumbles upon a rift in dimensions of some sort. Gravity is all wonky and they discover a wormhole of sorts when they throw trash, bricks, and car keys into the portal only to have them disappear entirely. Jane then gets sucked into one of these wormholes and comes into contact with a dark force. Doing so appears to have awoken the Dark Elves that Thor’s grandfather banished so many years ago.
It’s only when Thor goes to talk with Heimdall and asks about Jane do they realize somethings wrong; Heimdall can’t see her. So Thor bombs down to London to check on her. When the cops show up and try to arrest Jane for trespassing she goes Super Saiyan and nearly blows the guy away. Unsure of what the hell is going on Thor takes her back to Asgard for help. Odin recognizes this dark force as the Aether, which his voiceover from the beginning of the film explains how the Dark Elves weaponized thousands of years ago.
“Their leader, Malekith, made a weapon out of that darkness, it was called the Aether. While the other relics often appear as stones, the Aether is fluid, and ever changing. It changes matter into dark matter, and seeks out host bodies, drawing strength from their life force.”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Asgard has the absolute WORST security in all of the MCU. In each of the Thor movies a villain sneaks into Asgard somehow undetected and sets off an explosion. In. every. single. movie. In this instance, one of the Dark Elves poses as a prisoner being transported to Asgard Jail. Anddd about 10 minutes later this Dark Elf breaks out (with an explosion) and starts a full scale prison riot.
“It is as if they resent being in prison,” one of Thor’s warriors hilariously quips.
Heimdall spotting an invisible ship trying to sneak into Asgard and taking it down with a nothing but a couple of daggers is low key the best scene in the movie.
Thanks to the prison riot distraction the Dark Elf faux prisoner is able to knock out the Asgardian castle’s defenses so Malekith and his army can roll right up to the front door. He’s looking for the Aether, which currently lives inside Natalie Portman.
Now in return for helping hide Natalie Portman from Malekith, Thor’s mom is rewarded with a sword through the back. Thor chases Malekith and the dark elves out of Asgard. With their defenses destroyed Oden opts to wait for the intruders to return leaving Asgard and its people as sitting ducks.
Thor doesn’t exactly agree with his father and concocts a plan to use Jane as bait to draw Malekith out of hiding. With the bifrost closed and the Tesseract locked away, Thor needs a little help sneaking off Asgard.
Quick aside: Scottish actors have an absolute lock on these Viking roles as the Mrs. sniped Game of Thrones actor Clive Russell as one of Oden’s Asgardian generals, who is best known for playing the Blackfish.
I understand that Viking culture is Viking culture, but there are a lot of similarities to Game of Thrones in this movie. Welp, turns out the director of Thor 2, Alan Taylor, has also directed several episodes of Thrones. Small world.
Anyways, with a little help from Sif and the Warriors Three, Thor is able to get off Asgard alongside Loki and Jane.
Back on Earth: Another annoying thing about this movie is that Professor Erik Selvig is legitimately crazy the entire movie, running around naked at one point before getting arrested,
only to become completely normal again in the final act of the movie. The only explanation given is his quip “I’ve had a God in my brain, I don’t recommend it” and him throwing out a bag of prescription pills he’s been popping. I guesss Loki’s mind control from The Avengers is having some residual effects, but I don’t know. Again, doesn’t really matter why.
Time to science.
Now that Thor and Loki are on the Dark World, they need to defeat Malekith and destroy the Aether. Loki breaks out some A+ trickery in the final 30 minutes here stabbing his brother and chopping off Thor’s hand as a ploy to catch Malekith off guard as he pulls the Aether from Jane. (This whole movie has a very X-Men 3: Dark Phoenix vibe to it and thats not a good thing.) Except it doesn’t really work. Malekith takes the Aether and jets while Loki dies protecting Thor, or so we’re led to believe.
Stuck on this random Dark World with no way home Marvel introduces the most blatant deus ex machina that I’ve ever seen. Remember that random portal Jane and friends were throwing trash into in the beginning of the movie? Welp it’s a direct gateway from London to the random Dark World cave that Thor and Jane are in right now!
It’s not really until the end of the movie that I even understood what Malekith’s motives are and why the final battle is in London. Basically all nine realms are converging and when that happens it’s like a massive solar eclipse. It also gives him the opportunity to bring darkness (destroy?) all of the realms at once. Bringing it back to the heyday of the dark elves, who actually ruled the universe before Thor’s grandfather defeated them. Well the center point for this whole convergence is Greenwich, London.
I’m shocked they didn’t go with the Powerman 5000 soundtrack for the final scene of the movie when worlds literally collide.
Final battle between Thor and Malekith ensues. Thor defeats the bad guy and contains the Aether.
A nice twist at the end though as Thor goes to tell his father he will refuse the throne and as he walks away we see that it is actually Loki posing as Oden!
Mid credits scene: We are introduced to The Collector for the first time and it’s revealed that the Aether is in fact an Infinity Stone as Sif leaves it with him for safe keeping.
Post credits scene: Thor returns to London for some smooches. Thor will return.
Final Rating: 6/10
This movie isn’t bad per se, it’s just a bit nonsensical at times and overall forgettable. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston’s likeability are the only thing that really redeem the movie because the plot is confusing, the villain is a faceless bore, and the motives of everyone involved are murky. But due to the brilliant rapport of Hemsworth and Hiddleston the movie is a decent way to kill 2 hours.
Up next in The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind is Captain America: The Winter Solider!
At this time I would like anyone who enjoys Iron Man 3 to vacate the premises because this film makes me physically ill. I’ve been dreading this movie in my re-watch from day one and lo and behold it’s just as terrible as I remember. Iron Man 3 was the first film to drop after The Avengers finally came to life on the big screen after years of teasing in the MCU. Yet, if Iron Man 3‘s job was to set the tone on what was to come in Phase Two, boy oh boy did it miss the mark. Let’s dive in.
Here’s a brief summary because I just can’t be bothered to relive this madness.
Iron Man 3 worried the hell out of me when I got out of the theatre. After all the hype surrounding The Avengers and us finally getting the amazing team up film we were all promised, we were back to individual movies and solo adventures for all our heroes. This was a brutal start. I honestly fully expected the MCU to fall apart after this movie, solely based on the reintroduction to stand alone films. My big problem with much of Phase Two was that it all feels like filler. We know at this point that Thanos is coming, and that the infinity stones will surely play a part in things to come. The problem is we were being set up for some complete waste of time films like Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and yes, even Avengers: Age of Ultron (I honestly couldn’t tell you a single thing that happens in Thor 2, so i’ll let Red tackle that next week).
Iron Man 3’s biggest flaw is that it does almost nothing to advance the plot of the MCU. It takes everything the first two Iron Man films did and turns it on it’s head. Remember how it was a big deal Tony had an arc reactor in his chest to keep the shrapnel in his body from entering his heart and killing him? Ah forget it, let’s just have surgery to remove it. Not necessary anymore. Wait, so why was that impossible the first two times around, but now it’s completely feasible? And don’t even get me started on The Mandarin.
You take one of the most badass villains in the Iron Man universe and you turn him into an actor pretending to be terrorist just so we the audience can look and say “ooooh” “aaaah” “classic bait and switch!” It totally nullifies the tension in the beginning of the film where for a second I thought we were about to get something totally insane from an MCU where good villains are tough to come by. Finally, how about Pepper turning into the Human Torch for a grand total of five minutes just to bypass the fact that she fell to her death. Oh, and they fixed her off screen by the way. Back to normal Pepper!
Honestly, Phase Two is incredibly hit or miss for me. I just thank my lucky stars that Iron Man 3 is behind me. Could have derailed the whole thing. At this point in time I would like to officially declare it to be the worst movie of the MCU.
Final Rating: 2.0 out of 10
And not to leave on a completely downer of a note, I present to you the one scene I enjoy in the movie.
We’ve come to the end of Phase 1 in The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind and while we’ve had some incredibly lofty highs, we’ve also had some pretty terrible lows. If not for the raging success that was the first Avengers, I could have seen this plan very easily getting shuttered. Iron Man and Avengers led the way with a 9.0 average rating from the guys here at The 300s, but the second and third films in the MCU, The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2 were a low point with ratings of 5.0 and 3.0 respectively. This whole thing could have gone off the rails if not for a strong 4th quarter surge from Thor (7.0), Captain America: The First Avenger (8.0) and Avengers.
Don’t believe me? The Infinity Stones aren’t even so much as referenced until the post-credits scene in Thor, which was the FOURTH movie in the MCU. Seems to me like the big wigs at Marvel had their finger on the eject button just in case fans didn’t take to these second tier heroes.
Some of these movies are incredibly strong, but the collective score is brought down by the abysmal Iron Man 2 and we’re left with a 6.8 average rating for Phase 1 of the MCU. Luckily for us, Marvel recognized they had a potential license to print money if they could just fine tune what worked well and what did not.
I’m going to start by saying that “The Avengers” is still, to this day, my favorite all-time MCU movie, and it’s not even close. Never before had we seen such a beautiful synergy of action, drama, and comedy all in one – not to mention it was the first blockbuster to feature a loaded cast of actors portraying some of the most beloved superhero characters everyone grew up idolizing ever since they first learned what a comic book even was.
#SQUADGOALS
After the MCU set the tone with standalone films for guys like Iron Man (who actually received two by this time), the Hulk (even though this is the first time we see Mark Ruffalo’s portrayal), Thor, and Captain America, they truly broke ground with this one in 2012. It was quite the leap for the MCU, as nobody had ever attempted a movie like this before, and they absolutely NAILED IT.
The movie starts off with who is still the best Marvel villain, Loki, speaking with “The Other,” the leader of an obscure alien race called the Chitauri. In exchange for Loki providing him with the Tesseract, the alien leader promises to provide the Asgardian A-hole with an army to help him take over Earth.
As awful as he can be, it’s hard not to actually like the guy at the same time.
Next we cut back to Earth, to a remote S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility, where Dr. Erik Selvig – of “Thor” fame – is working on some type of project involving the Tesseract (more on that in a bit). We also see the legendary SLJ as Nick Fury, along with his right-hand woman Maria Hill and good ole Hawkeye (aka Clint Barton) holding down the fort. We also see his right-hand man Phil Coulson (before, well…we’ll get to that in a bit).
Suddenly, the Tesseract starts acting all funky, and some sort of portal starts to break open. Then all hell breaks loose. Out comes Loki, who proceeds to go H.A.M. on various bystanding S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He also uses his scepter to take over both Hawkeye’s and Dr. Selvig’s mind, forcing them to be under his complete control, before escaping with the Tesseract as the S.H.I.E.L.D facility implodes all around them. In response, Fury decides to enact “the Avengers initiative” (which we first learned about when he brings it up to Tony in the first “Iron Man” movie’s post-credit scene).
We then cut to a scene, somewhere overseas, where Black Widow is being interrogated by some reaaaaalllly dumb Russian dudes. We never learn exactly what it’s about, but we do determine, once and for all, that Natasha Romanoff is one baaaaad woman who cannot be messed with. (The flippy moves she pulls off to escape while tied to a chair are absolutely insane, and this truly might be the most bad-ass scene of the movie.)
Before the whole chair magic act, though, she receives a call from Coulson asking her to come in, a request she initially rebuffs. That is, until Coulson tells her that “Barton’s been compromised,” which was apparently all she needed to hear.
Then starts the flurry of Avengers recruitment scenes that would make even Nick Saban proud, as Natsha is sent to Calcutta to get Bruce Banner (ya know, the guy who turns all green and angry), Coulson goes off to New York City to get Tony Stark, and Fury ends up interrupting one of Steve Rogers’s workout sessions to try and pull in Cap. As you would expect, all three of them are skeptical at first, but with a little sweet-talking (and ego-poking) all three eventually acquiesce. (We also learn that Thor is currently “worlds away” at the time, per Fury.)
Everyone then meets up on the Helicarrier, one of the coolest pieces of aircraft you’ll ever see, to exchange salutations and learn more about what the hell is actually going on. As you can imagine, hubris and standoffish attitudes dominate the air, and it’s a giant you-know-what-showing contest before they can all get down to brass tacks. Fury then calls upon Cap to head to Germany, where Loki and Hawkeye are attempting to steal iridium, which is needed to harness the Tesseract’s power. This is where we get our first glimpse of the Avengers in action, as Cap and Tony (as Iron Man) team up, along with a little help from Natasha in the bird, to get Loki to surrender while he’s trying to preach to the masses out in a giant courtyard about being their new leader.
The crew than attempts to bring Loki back to the Helicarrier before we suddenly get our first appearance from the God of Thunder, as Thor drops down from the sky like a meteor on top of their plane. Thor then steals Loki in an effort to bring him back to Asgard, trying to sweet-talk him on a remote mountain top, before Tony comes flying in and spears Thor like a young Ray Lewis.
CUE THE FIRST MAJOR SUPERHERO FIGHT SCENE!!!
We then get some epic fighting action involving Iron Man, Thor, and Cap, which ends up clearing out half a forest (in a very non-green-friendly series of moves, as astutely pointed out by my girlfriend), eventually resulting in Thor agreeing to let the others take Loki back to the Helicarrier – with Thor tagging along as well, of course. (We also learn that Vibranium can apparently withstand a diesel strike from Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir):
Back to the chopper. Back to the ego-maniacal, selfish chirping. Yadda, yadda, yadda. All of which includes an awesome, role/relationship-defining exchange between Cap and Tony (including my favorite Tony Stark line of all-time):
However, amidst all the grandstanding, we learn a few key things:
S.H.I.E.L.D wasn’t just using the Tesseract in an effort to obtain infinite sustainable energy for the better of the planet; after all, if they were, why wouldn’t have Tony – who’s entire house runs on such a source – been brought in to consult? Rather, they were using it to build weapons of mass destruction (which, Fury quickly points out, was only being done to protect the planet after the whole Thor vs. the Destroyer incident from a year before).
Bruce actually tried to kill himself in the past. It’s a pretty blunt revelation on his part, and it’s one that helps to humanize the heroes we so often look to as entirely different than ourselves.
In a separate cut scene, we get a little more insight into Natasha’s nefarious past and her ongoing efforts to redeem herself. We also learn that it was Hawkeye who decided not to kill her when he had the chance as part of a covert S.H.I.E.L.D. mission years ago. (Hence the reason she’s so fond of Mr. Barton.) More importantly, she tricks Loki into revealing his true intentions of getting the Avengers to tear themselves apart from the inside.
Then suddenly, a still under-the-influence Hawkeye and a group of Loki’s flunkies swoop in and set off a series of explosions throughout the Helicarrier, almost causing it to crash to the ground. The commotion also causes the Hulk to be unleashed, as Loki intended, which also didn’t help matters one bit. Then a whole bunch of fighting ensues – including some cool shots between Hulk and Thor, before Hulk is tricked to jump off the ship – while Tony and Cap work together to save the Helicarrier from plummeting toward the earth. Natasha also helps to snap Hawkeye out of it, and Loki escapes due to system failure from the explosions.
AND THEN LOKI KILLS COULSON. (After Coulson got a little too big for his britches and threatened to kill Loki first.)
As awful as it was for Coulson himself, it was EXACTLY what the Avengers needed to rally together and get over themselves. After this, they all chase Loki off to NYC, where he attempts to open up a portal at the top of Stark Tower to let all the Chitauri in and start his takeover. And he’s pretty successful at first, as Cap, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Tony all have their hands full for a bit before good ole Bruce shows up on a bike – and reveals that he’s actually been able to control the Hulk the whole time:
Together, they continue to stand their ground, but the Chitauri simply outnumber them a kajillion to six. And here’s where Tony – ya know, the “selfish” one – proves why he’s the best Avenger (yup, he’s my favorite), as he almost sacrifices himself when he grabs a nuke (sent by the World Council) intended to destroy Manhattan and redirects it (with himself attached) into the portal and out into space. Fortunately, the missile hits the Chitauri mothership directly, destroying everything (including the Chitauri on Earth), and Tony is able to fall back down to Earth before the portal closes. Loki’s plans are foiled, and the movie is then basically over.
We then see news clips of various people – from reporters to politicians to regular civilians – ranging from thankful to fearful to downright angry. One particular d-bag politician even calls for the Avengers to be punished for what happened. But in the end, they all go their separate ways, all knowing that they will soon be reunited once the next disaster happens.
POST-CREDIT SCENES
There are actually two post-credit scenes. The first features “The Other” talking to someone in a big chair, which is facing opposite the screen. He tells this being about how dangerous the Avengers are and that choosing to challenge them would be to “court death itself.” Said being then turns around, and – lo and behold – we get our first ever shot of Thanos in the MCU. Aaaand we all know how that one turns out…
The second one features the Avengers sitting down together and eating shwarma. Why? Well, because it’s a hilarious call back to one of Tony’s final lines in the movie (the vid in the link below actually splices the two scenes together, for reference):
Again, this movie still makes me feel like a kid again every time I watch it, and it solidified the MCU’s standing as a Hollywood megaverse. Bravo to all involved. I’ll never get sick of this one.
Final rating: 9.0 / 10
Next up for The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind, “Iron Man 3.” (But first, there’ll be a bonus “MCU Phase 1 Wrap-Up” podcast as well! Date and time to be announced soon.)
The first time I watched Captain America: The First Avenger, I had zero expectations. I was won over by Iron Man, disappointed by The Incredible Hulk, flat out angered by Iron Man 2, and bypassed Thor altogether. Hell, I didn’t even see this movie until two weeks before The Avengers hit theaters. The Avengers hype was in full swing at this point and I was struggling to get on board. Maybe this whole MCU thing just wasn’t for me? At the time I was living in Los Angeles with some friends and all we did was watch movies during the week, so eventually this was bound to be thrown on the TV some random night. I always enjoyed the work of Chris Evans, who at the time really wasn’t in a heck of a lot. I adored Sunshine (the highly underrated sci-fi thriller) and of course who could forget his starring role as Jake Wyler in the amazing Not Another Teen Movie (you did remember that was him, right?)
Captain America: The First Avenger is set in 1940s New York City and tells the story of Steve Rogers. Rogers, a Brooklyn native, has his heart set on joining the armed forces, but is consistently shot down based on his small physique and a laundry list of health issues. He attends the Stark Expo in Queens (as seen in Iron Man 2, albeit many years earlier) with his best friend Bucky Barnes. His plan there is to try once again to sign up for the military as he thinks by doing so there they’ll be a little more lenient on who they let in. Bucky, who is ready to ship out the next day, frowns upon Rogers idea and encourages him not to keep trying to enlist under different names, which he warns is highly illegal. Rogers expresses to Bucky just how badly he wants to join and feels he could be doing so much more for his country. Overhearing this conversation is Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci). Dr. Erskine approaches Rogers while taking his enlistment physical and offers him a “chance” at becoming something more.
Rogers then ships off to boot camp where he meets Colonel Chester Phillips and Agent Peggy Carter (the former played by Tommy Lee Jones and the latter Hayley Atwell). Agent Carter immediately takes a liking to Rogers and motivates him along the way while Colonel Phillips sees him as wasting his time. After a brief competition to show off his determination and character as an individual (a scene incredibly reminiscent of Will Smith in the beginning of Men In Black just without all the humor, and hey! Tommy Lee Jones was in that too!) Rogers is selected by Dr. Erskine to participate in the super soldier program that he’s been working on.
Rogers is transported to a secret facility in Brooklyn where many government officials are standing by to watch the experiment take place. Rogers is injected with a serum and placed in what could only be described as a coffin-looking chamber where he evolves like a Pokemon into the Captain America we all know and love.
Unbeknownst to everyone in attendance, a Hydra agent has infiltrated the facility and sets off an explosion, devastating the lab and killing Dr. Erskine in the process. The devastation prevents further experiments from taking place, causing Rogers to be the only one of his kind. Convenient!
Meanwhile on the other side of the pond, Red Skull, the leader of Hydra, is testing weapons based off the technology of the Tesseract, aka the Space Stone of Infinity Stone fame. He plans to overthrow Hitler and the Nazis and take over the world himself. His weapons technology has the ability to vaporize people with a single blast!
After the whole ordeal at the lab, Rogers is shunned by the military as some sort of science project gone wrong. He wants to help in the fight against the Nazis, but he is instead cast as the lead in a traveling stage show who’s purpose is to sell war bonds. Rogers is forced to wear a rather garish costume, a uniform he would later adopt into his Captain America persona. Rogers feels underutilized and wishes he could be making an actual difference. Agent Carter reminds him that she believes he is meant for more.
Rogers discovers his friend Bucky and his unit have been captured inside enemy lines. Against Colonel Phillips wishes, Rogers and a platoon of men go and rescue Bucky and his guys where they run into Red Skull, who narrowly escapes.
When they arrive back at the base, Phillips is incredibly impressed with Rogers and his whole attitude towards him changes. He learns to trust him as a leader and embraces him for the super soldier that he really is. Howard Stark then provides Rogers with the notorious shield Captain America fans have come to know and love. Rogers and his team go on to assault various Hyrda bases across Europe, but when the group attacks a train transporting Zola, Red Skull’s #2 henchman, Bucky falls to his death (well, not really, but we’ll get to that at some other point).
After interrogating Zola, the final Hydra base is discovered and Rogers decides to take on Red Skull once and for all. He boards a plane that contains bombs designated for various cities across the United States. In the ensuing fight, the Tesseract is damaged and a portal is opened to space where Red Skull is sucked in before it closes for good. With time running out, Rogers is forced to down the plane to save the lives of millions.
Flash forward 70 something years where Rogers wakes up in a “hospital room” that turns out to be a sound stage. Naturally freaking out and feeling something is off, Rogers flees and discovers he is in the year 2012 in the middle of Times Square. Nick Fury shows up just in time for the credits to roll.
I should probably go ahead and say I absolutely love this movie. It has the strongest plot, message, and cast out of any of the Marvel films at this point. The film felt like it served an actual purpose, unlike some of its predecessors. Doesn’t hurt that it was directed by Joe Johnston, of Jumanji, Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, and October Sky fame. So what did I like?
Chris Evans
He’s perfect for this role. They took a chance casting him and as I stated earlier, he really hadn’t been in a hell of a lot up until this point. Now obviously he’ll be known as Captain America forever.
Hayley Atwell
I adore Hayley Atwell for many, many reasons.
World War II Setting
I’m a sucker for all things World War II. It was a surprise considering we all knew The Avengers was on the horizon and I wasn’t really sure how it would line up without having Cap in a nursing home. The movie did patriotism well, without going completely overboard.
Captain America as a Franchise
While the MCU as a whole is awesome, my one complaint is that nothing aside from Infinity War/Endgame feels essential. We’ve been building for 11 years to a grand finale, yet each movie comes with the knowledge that there’s always a follow up film on the schedule. We’re constantly waiting to see what happens next while not giving enough merit to what’s currently on the screen in front of us. Think about it. Iron Man as a character is deeply loved by the community that enjoys these films, yet arguably there’s really only one good Iron Man movie. The sequels felt like filler, plagued with bad writing and just enough Tony Stark banter to distract us from realizing what we were watching wasn’t that essential. The Captain America films I would argue are the strongest standalone movies in the whole universe. They advanced the plot forward, yet are good enough to watch without thinking about what’s next in the queue. They also tend to have the most crossover with other characters from the universe. I mean, let’s be real, Civil War is an Avengers movie with a different title.
Final rating: 8.0 out 10.
Next up for The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind, The Avengers.
I remember I held off on seeing Thor until I had to no choice since it was a prerequisite for understanding the Avengers. Similar to when Iron Man first came out I had absolutely zero idea who the hell Thor was so I had pretty low expectations coming into this one. The story itself is a bit out there, but it presented the first opportunity for the MCU to really expand its grasp beyond that of Earth and it does it pretty well. It also does a great job of introducing SHIELD in a universal, nay galactic, role without totally shoehorning it into the movie. The highlight of the film though is definitely Chris Hemsworth, who was a complete unknown at this point, but became instantly enjoyable with his brash, aloof demi-god character.
Synopsis
Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, and Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Selvig are storm chasing, looking to unearth some type of astrological phenomenon, when they end up smoking an unidentified person with their van, who we learn is Chris Hemsworth falling from the sky.
An Anthony Hopkins voiceover explains the concept of life beyond Earth, officially introducing intergalactic characters into the MCU. The Frost Giants are introduced as the original big baddie with a weapon of mass destruction. This blue cube looks exactly like a lot of other colorful glowing cubes in the MCU, but this is *not* in fact an Infinity Stone. It’s actually The Casket of Ancient Winters.
(The first reference of an Infinity Stone in the MCU won’t be revealed until the end of this movie actually.) So as the Frost Giants tried to take over the universe, including Earth, Odin defeats them (and loses his eye in the process…just like his son would also do years later!) and returns home to Asgard with the ancient relic for safe keeping.
Years later Thor is on the precipice of being crowned the new king of Asgard and Loki is visibly bullshit. But, wait! Before Odin can officially say the words to make Thor king the Frost Giants have “somehow” snuck into Asgard and they want their blue cube back.
We also meet The Destroyer, who protects all of Odin’s dangerous toys and subsequently kills the Frost Giant intruders. Don’t sleep on this guy because he’ll be back.
Thor defies his fathers wishes and goes to Jotunheim, home of the Frost Giants, looking for answers and starts a big old battle. Key scene here shows one of Thor’s warriors getting burned by a Frost Giant, yet when Loki gets touched his skin turns blue and we see the wheels start to turn in his head. The battle goes on before Odin not surprisingly has to come rescue the crew before banishing Thor for disobeying him.
I have to say, in the beginning of this movie, Thor sounds an awfulll lot like Prince Joffrey now that I rewatch it.
Full of arrogance, mean, and just itching to start a war before Odin shuts him down.
Back to Earth.
Along with Thor Odin sends his son’s hammer, Mjolnir, to Earth saying only he who is worthy of its power will be able to wield the weapon. (Not you, Loki)
In a direct reference to Excalibur (the director has a fondness for Shakespeare and such), Thor’s hammer lands in the New Mexico desert and people come from all over trying to pull it from the ground before SHIELD quarantines the entire area.
Natalie Portman has all of her scientific research confiscated by SHIELD and now that her and Hemsworth are acquainted, Thor promises to give her all the answers she seeks if she drives him out to the crash site where Mjolnir currently sits.
We’re also introduced to Hawkeye for the very first time in this scene as Thor tries to fight through the SHIELD base to get his hammer back.
How about Jeremy Renner? Remember when he was tapped to be the next biggest movie star on the planet? He was in The Town, Thor, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and the Avengers back to back to back to back. Thats four absolute heaters in a row he starred in before making the snooze fest that was The Bourne Legacy followed up by Hansel and Gretel. WHO IS HIS AGENT?
Unfortunately Thor comes to learn without his powers he is unable to lift Mjolnir, which is what finally breaks his spirit from the cocky warrior that he has been. Luckily Dr. Selvig talks his way into getting Thor out of SHIELD custody.
THIS IS WHERE THE MOVIE HITS THE WRAP IT UP BOX
Thor’s righthand men and women (Lady Sif and the Warriors Three) take the bifrost bridge and teleport to Earth as they look to bring back their rightful king, which Loki doesn’t appreciate so he send the Defender to Earth to destroy them all. Once Thor’s crew promptly gets their asses kicked, the Thunder God offers his own life to spare the others. His apparent death is the selfless act necessary to grant the return of his powers and Mjolnir. Thor then makes quick work of the robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still.
This is where things get a little confusing. Loki cuts a deal with the Frost Giants to let them into Asgard so they can kill Odin…so he can become king…I guess. Then despite opening the goddamn door for them, Loki kills the Frost Giant before it can kill Odin. A cunning trickster indeed.
Loki reveals his grand plan is to open up the bifrost to destroy the Jotunheim.
Huh?
His plan was to rescue his father and then wipe the Frost Giants out to earn his father’s respect and become the true heir. I think? By starting war and committing genocide, which Odin was openly against from the start of the movie and is exactly what got Thor banished in the first place.
I don’t know, this never gets explained very well.
I’m pretty sure the third act of this movie is used solely to set up Thor’s reason for even being around during the Avengers. To stop Loki, Thor is forced to destroy the bifrost.
Odin wakes up from his dirt nap and a defeated Loki lets himself fall from the broken bridge as we’re left to wonder where he went.
Apropos of Nothing:
Heimdall is still the best. It’s a shame how criminally underused Idris Alba was in the whole MCU.
Loki really is one of the best anti-heroes in comic book history. After learning of his Frost Giant heritage he flips out on Odin and gives us one of the most popular GIFs of all time:
The whole exchange gives Odin a heart attack and as he drops Loki cries out for the guards. Despite all the evil shit Loki does in the following movies, you can’t help but feel for the guy.
The Breadcrumbs of the MCU…
“I knew this scientist, the pioneer in gamma radiation. SHIELD showed up and he wasn’t heard from again.”
What Has Aged Well
The one liners still land remarkably well.
Thor walks into a pet store and yells “I need a horse.”
“That still doesn’t explain how he was able to tear through our defenses?”
“STEROIDS!”
“Is that one of Stark’s?”
“I don’t know, he doesn’t tell me anything anymore.”
Thor calling Agent Coulson “Son of Cole.”
Thursday = Thor’s Day
What Has Not Aged Well
It took me seven years to figure it out, but I finally realized why Chris Hemsworth looks so weird in Thor 1 compared to all of the other movies he’s in. They died his goddamn eyebrows for some reason in the first movie, but then never did it again.
Thor 1:
Avengers 1:
Thor 2:
Oh my god the product placement. I must have seen that 7/11 sign no less than 30 times.
Asgard has fucking TERRIBLE security as the whole realm gets invaded in 2/3rds of Thor’s standalone films.
The Frost Giants look a hell of a lot like the White Walkers. Thor came out a month after Game of Thrones officially premiered, so GoT technically got the jump. After 7 seasons of Thrones they have the icy blue look on lock.
Rating
Thor was the first pleasant surprise of the MCU. Iron Man was great, but we had literally zero expectations for that. Hulk was always a disaster so anything after the Eric Bana mess would have been good enough. Thor was the first MCU movie that I was actively not looking forward to at all. A space god with long blonde hair directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh, a guy best known for Henry V, Hamlet, and Shakespeare? Sounded like a recipe for a disaster, but ended up being very entertaining. Thor holds up surprisingly well seven years later and sets up the MCU to tackle stories beyond that of just Earth.
The 300s 