Part Two of my Marvel Cinemtic Universe retrospective. For Part One, click here.
Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was decidedly less of a mixed bag than Phase One. Coming off the first ever big-screen superhero team-up The Avengers, Marvel was finally on top and now had fans’ full attention. Once The Avengers teased the appearance of Thanos in its mid-credits sequence (which has since gone on to become a staple for all MCU movies), fans were fully prepared for what was to come to next. Though the MCU still wasn’t without its setbacks. Phase Two contained two more of the notoriously weakest entries into the film series, both coming off some of their strongest entries to date. While the MCU still had its flaws, these were seen as minor setbacks and the MCU would continue to flourish as it introduced the world to many new heroes who have yet to ever see the spotlight with mainstream audiences.
Iron Man 3
While Iron Man 3 is not one of the two films just mentioned, it is still very much a “love it or hate it” movie. The film is a vast improvement over the previous Iron Man film, recapturing much of the same feel as the first Iron Man. The film was one of the more emotional of the earlier entries, and once again contained a standout performance from Robert Downey Jr, with Tony’s emotional conflict stemming from PTSD that he suffered after the battle of New York in The Avengers. However, it was now much more in line with the overall feel of the MCU, being extremely funny, as well as containing some grandiose action scenes and appropriate blockbuster thrills.
The one divisive point for fans is the twist regarding the film’s villain, The Mandarin. Ben Kingsley was heavily advertised in promotional material, and fans were looking forward to an intense showdown between him and Tony Stark. When the film revealed The Mandarin’s true nature, many diehard fans of the comics were both disappointed and furious over the liberties taken with the character, and many disavowed the film. Those not as overly-familiar with the character - and they were many - won’t mind it so much, and the twist actually does offer some fitting social commentary that’s especially relevant in this day and age, though it still doesn't make The Mandarin himself as fun and unique as the MCU's breakout villain, Loki, was, still suffering to an extent from some of the same problems that plagued many early Marvel villains.
While Iron Man 3 has some minor flaws here and there, it’s still a strong entry into the MCU. With another great performance by Robert Downey Jr, and full of laughs, thrills, and emotions, this was a great way to kick off Phase Two.
Thor: The Dark World
While Iron Man 3 was one of the most divisive Marvel films, Thor: The Dark World is known as one of the weakest. Many of the first film's weak points plagued this film even more. While it wasn’t grim, it was still consistently more serious than it really needed to be, and was filled with plenty of moments of hammy over-acting. And while Natalie Portman’s Jane was still considered a main character, she was highly underutilized this time around, with Jane never receiving any complex character development after the film's first act.
Though the film’s main issue was that its attempt at world-building totally backfired on it. The film was filled with a lot of exposition as it introduced a slew of new characters, though it never did anything to make any of them stand out, and the film often dragged as a result. And when it comes to weak Marvel villains, Christopher Eccleston’s Malekith is at the forefront of them all, droning on and looking stiff most of the time on screen with a fairly one-dimensional personality, despite Eccleston himself doing fine for what it is.
The film wasn’t a total downer, and still had some moments of fun, in the form of Loki once more, as well as some of its supporting characters providing some solid comic relief. The moments of levity were much needed, though they could have come at a more consistent pace. While Thor: The Dark World isn’t necessarily a bad movie, with much of the film’s fun moments being a saving grace, it is still by far one of the least memorable entries into the MCU.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Another mostly serious entry for Marvel, although this time around, there was plenty more to offer that made fans completely indifferent towards the consistent lack of the MCU’s noteworthy quips. While Captain America: The First Avenger was a throwback to old war movies, Winter Soldier was a throwback to old 1970’s conspiracy movies, with directors Anthony and Joe Russo specifically citing Three Days of the Condor as a big reference - something made even more fitting by the casting of Robert Redford as a SHIELD official.
And the film benefited immensely because of this. The film contained one of the densest, most heavily layered plots in all the MCU, with an engaging, highly thrilling story involving a massive HYDRA conspiracy taking place. While sometimes there’s a tad too much going on, with a lot of exposition-driven scenes that have to lay everything out for the audience, it’s still an adrenaline rush. The action in Winter Soldier is some of the MCU’s finest, once again like First Avenger relying more on excellent hand-to-hand combat, as well as the film’s highlight, an intense car chase scene that’s probably one of the greatest action scenes in all of the MCU.
The film also contains some really great character development for Captain America himself. Despite taking place decades after The First Avenger, the film expertly manages to find a way to revisit many of the first film’s plot points, and contains scenes that are truly heartbreaking. While it can be a bit too dour at times, Winter Soldier is a stylish, high-speed thrill ride that’s widely regarded by fans as one of the MCU’s best entries.
Guardians of the Galaxy
The first film in the MCU not to focus on one of the main Avengers, this was a huge risk for Marvel. While fans of the comics were more than familiar with the Guardians, casual fans were skeptical. A space fantasy focusing on a team that featured a talking space raccoon and a talking space tree, and directed by James Gunn, who at that point was only known for directing cult films, this was the film that would decide if fans would truly stick with Marvel no matter what, or give up on them.
And not only did fans stick with them after this one, but Guardians of the Galaxy would go on to become another of the most beloved MCU films. While once again, its villain wasn’t necessarily the strongest, there was so much else going on that it didn't even matter all too much. While Marvel had some funny movies prior to this, Guardians was a borderline straight-up comedy, with much of the film played up for laughs. The humor was either extremely simplistic or exceptionally quirky, and nearly all the jokes land.
Plus, the film had a great amount of heart and felt totally relatable, despite its space setting. At the core of Guardians was a film that focused heavily on family and acceptance, with many of the main characters’ struggles stemming from the struggles they faced in their home lives prior to the film’s events. There was a great amount of depth to just about everyone, and the film also flourished thanks to the fantastic chemistry that Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Dave Bautista all had with one another, as well as Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel’s wickedly fun voice work.
Guardians of the Galaxy is a prime example of top-notch MCU. And it was a turning point for the franchise. It’s the film that proved Marvel was willing to take risks, and that the audiences were willing to follow them, no matter how odd the road may be.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Marvel went from one of their strongest entries to one of their weakest. And what’s even more disappointing is that it’s a direct sequel to another one of their stronger entries. Age of Ultron was thought to be a surefire hit. It saw the return of The Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon, while the promotional material advertised what was thought to be a truly terrifying villain. And although the film starts off with a bang, with a stellar opening that takes place in Sokovia, it quickly derails towards the end of the first act.
While James Spader does some great voice work that includes some great deadpan humor at times, Ultron continues the trend of uninteresting villains, with motivations that don’t seem totally convincing, and the character not doing nearly as much as anticipated to view him as big of a threat as he should have been. And while the film does contain some solid character development at times, with one of the film's highlights being an inside look at Hawkeye’s personal life, for the most part, the drama feels more like a soap opera rather than anything truly convincing.
Much of the second act is plagued by many of the same problems that occurred in Iron Man 2, but were even more apparent here. The main heroes spend a good chunk of this portion sitting around, complaining, arguing, and disagreeing with one another, dragging the movie down to an almost crawl at times. There’s also a painful subplot revolving around a romance between Bruce Banner and Black Widow that comes out of nowhere and doesn't really add much to the plot. Meanwhile, the film goes on detours multiple time to specifically set up future films rather than focus on the conflict at hand, mostly when it comes to a totally underutilized Thor.
And to top it all off, some of the action isn't as fun as other many other Marvel movies. While there are some solid moments, including some standout sequences for new characters like Scarlet Witch and The Vision, the film’s action feels a bit too by-the-numbers here, never going too bold or doing anything truly noteworthy to pull audiences back in after being subjected to so much arguing and complaining.
While Age of Ultron has some redeemable qualities, this is a true low point for the MCU. Mistaking arguing for character development, with less-than-stellar action and a lack of focus as it attempts to set up other movies, Age of Ultron is not only the weakest Avengers movie, but one of the weakest MCU films.
Ant-Man
While Phase One ended on the bombastic team-up that was The Avengers, Phase Two ended on a much smaller scale, both figuratively and literally. Ant-Man has been in development long before the MCU ever took off the ground, with Edgar Wright working on the project as early as 2006, and originally on board to direct the film from a screenplay he co-wrote, once it was announced to be part of the MCU. However, creative differences caused him to walk off the project and the lesser-known Peyton Reed was brought in, still mostly using Wright’s screenplay as a basis. The on-boarding of Reed, whose previous movies received more mixed reception, did leave fans s bit skeptical this would be a misfire, their worries were quickly put to rest.
Like Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man is a borderline straight comedy, which was elevated immensely by the casting of Paul Rudd as the titular character. Rudd brought an incredible amount of charm to him that made for an almost-instantly likable character, while the film’s breakout character was Michael Pena’s Luis, who would go on notoriously comically long tangents when telling a story. The scenes of characters lip-syncing to Pena’s narration in his stories is easily one of the funniest moments in all of the MCU.
While Ant-Man has some great laughs, as well as some wonderful visual moments, it did suffer in the story department. While it did touch heavily on the themes of family, the film tended to not fully develop some of the plot threads it introduced, and while the movie doesn’t leave any plot points hanging, the journey could have been a bit more emotionally satisfying. Also, once again, Corey still as Yellow Jacket was another subpar villain, with generic motivations and a mostly uninteresting personality.
Still, after Age of Ultron, Ant-Man saw the MCU back on track, being a funny, exciting, and visually appealing spectacle that was a much needed change of pace after the mostly dour Ultron. A nice way to end Phase Two, from here on out, things would only get better for Marvel.
Overall Thoughts
Phase Two overall was a big improvement over Phase One, with Marvel finding its footing as far as what its overall style and feel would be. While it did have some misfires in the form of Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as one of its most divisive films in the form of Iron Man 3, this also contained some notably strong entries that have gone on to be some of Marvel’s more beloved entries, in the forms of Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Ant-Man. Age of Ultron would be the last true misfire for the MCU, and started moving towards some of their highest quality of work from that point on.
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