Avengers Assemble (2012)

And so the end of Phase One. And I seem to be the only one with a slight anti-climax feeling. The films leading up to this were all mature, well-mastered regenerations of classic Marvel characters and stories. This film suddenly saw the franchise become somewhat childish and ‘disneyfied’. All the effort put in to try and make the visual effects spectacular purely resulted in them being rounded and almost immature. Nonetheless the acting and to an extent the writing were very positive.
The opening sequence with the tesseract was particularly gripping and well done, despite the lack of any of the main protagonists. Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton) was very good (particularly when possessed by Loki (Tom Hiddleston)’s power, along with the much improved Stellan Skarsgard (Erik Selvig)) and Hiddleston was very impressive throughout. Samuel L. Jakckson (Nick Fury) was decent though I frequently got the impression this isn’t really the genre to which he is best suited and that he should stay with more realistic films. Nonetheless Scarlett Johannson (Natasha Romanoff) showed off how she is not just a gorgeous face but also a very talented actor, and Mark Ruffalo was also good, though he took a long time to warm to – perhaps because he looked nothing like Edward Norton of The Incredible Hulk – and I can’t be sure even now that I prefer to him to Norton. Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark) was not bad, but did not seem on his usual form from the Iron Man franchise, and the character got on my nerves more than previously. Similarly Chris Hemsworth (Thor Odinson) did not impress as he did in Thor, and his new look did not seem to suit the character quite so well. In addition some of the cameo roles such as the policemen (Robert Clohessy & Enver Gjokaj) were really rather poorly cast, similarly to the disappointing Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill). The plot was however well worked – I particularly liked how Steve Rogers (Chris Evans – who was one of the best actors in the film) required practice to recall his role as Captain America after his long wait – and the way in which the Avengers themselves did come together and assemble was excellently crafted. I thoroughly enjoyed the argument scene between them all, and the fights between Clint and Natasha, and Thor and the Hulk. Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg)’s death scene was also very good, and Downey improved as he became more serious. The ending was also very satisfying, though the post-credits sequence was rather an anti-climax after the great things we’ve seen in the other films. Nonetheless in terms of plot, this film was very positive, and in some ways it looked spectacular, though possibly just a little too cartoon-esque.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

The world is almost unanimously of the opinion that Iron Man 2 is – as with most sequels- worse than the first of its franchise, and many take it as the worst of the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I beg to differ. It was at least as good as the first film and potentially better. It looked sharper, it made more sense and I just love the way it ties in with the rest of the series but without needing to have any knowledge of the Avengers. Admittedly the opening sequence was nowhere near as impressive as those of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, but the State Senate Meeting, the scenes with Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) and Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), and the character progression of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) mirrored with the digression of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) all seemed to reach Marvel’s usual standards. The cast was good, particularly Downey, Rourke, Rockwell and the gorgeous Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff), and the visual effects far above the standards of the first film, with the Stark Expo looking particularly fabulous. Garry Shandling (Senator Stern) was amusing and appropriately annoying but I struggled to warm to Don Cheadle as the new James Rhodes. It did seem slightly odd that Tony Stark was capable of creating world peace but could not take down one man with a whip, and that Rhodey knew immediately how to use the suit, but those niggles aside the script was decent and the resolution good – though the final battle did become somewhat dull. It was however nice to see Tony’s realisation that he is not perfect or the best at his game through the insertion of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Howard Stark (John Slattery). Clark Gregg also failed to disappoint as Phil Coulson and the epilogue with Thor’s hammer got me particularly excited for the series’ next installment.