Avengers Assemble!

It has been a long time coming, but in less than a month, all Marvel Fan Boys get to collectively jizz their pant’s. May 4th  is the release date for Marvel’s The Avengers and I couldn’t be happier. Marvel Studios has really impressed me with the casting job on these recent films. From Iron Man to Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel has been on a freakin’ roll. As I have been waiting patiently for the event to role around, I have found myself going back and revisiting the films. (I got tired of watching the damn trailer once a day…Ah, who am I kidding I LOVE WATCHING THAT TRAILER ONCE A DAY!!! I’m now currently watching the Disney Cartoon, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!) I know I’ve reviewed most of them before, but why not go back and review them in retrospective? Sure…why not!? Let’s start at the beginning….

A long time ago….Approxamatly 4 years to be exact…

Iron Man (2008)

I was really excited when I started to hear about this flick. I remember the first bit I read was that Robert Downey, Jr. was to play the lead. That alone had me sold! RDJ IS Tony Stark! I wasn’t too thrilled to see Jon Favreau Directing. At that point I had only really seen him act (and he wasn’t exactly my favorite!) Still though, the movie was a hit in my book. Marvel needed something to renew faith after X-Men: Last Stand. Looking back on it, I am able to say that Don Chaedle is a much better Rhodes than Terrance Howard. I love the way they handled the suits in the movie. From Mach I to III, and even the Iron Monger, I was greatly impressed. The way that the story progressed also had a nice touch. For the first time, Marvel managed present an all-inclusive origin movie that had little to no problem (Not to mention the this is the first peak we get of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. As far as I’m concerned, it was perfect! Their was still another Avenger film that came out that year though…

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

I was so pleased to see this film get the proper treatment. The one from 2003 was just…awful! The CGI was bad, the story was drawn out and boring, and I really didn’t care much for the actors. Normally I hate remakes, this was an exception. Ed Norton was an excellent Bruce Banner. Very reminicent of Bill Bixby, the orginal Banner from the 1978 series (If you pay attention, a TV screen at the very beginning offers him a cameo.) The movie gives you a short montage of how everything happened, and through flash backs in the middle of the film you get the origin. Thank Cthulhu, because I don’t think anyone needed to sit through a long drawn out origin story. He was hit with Gamma Rays. He became the Hulk. He’s running from the government. End of origin, let’s get to the meat and potatoes shall we? Liv Tyler offered a very loving Betty Ross just as William Hurt offered a very hateable General “Thunderbolt” Ross. Don’t get me started on Tim Roth. First, let me start off with I loved the choice for a villian. Abomination was way better than that screwed up version of Absorbing Man Nick Nolte played. The transformation from Blonsky to Abomination was a great part of the story. Before I leave this alone, let me add that the visual effects were…”Incredible”…I do undertand this movie had 5 years up on the last one, but come on! Even in 2003 they could have done better than what they did! It’s really a shame that Ed Norton won’t be reprising the role…but hey you just can’t get to greedy. Even in the film business…We shall see what Mark Ruffalo brings to the table.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

It was 2 long years before the next Avenger movie would come out. But boy was it worth it! Iron Man 2 was an incredible follow-up to the 2008 hit. As mentioned before we saw a change-up in casting with a new Rhoads (Not a bad thing.) We were also introduced more to S.H.E.I.L.D and the Black Widow, as well as introduced to a new villain…Whiplash. Now, if you go by the comics, Whiplash is a rather throw away villian. Marvel Studios really saw some potential when they designed him for the movie, and Micky Rourke did a superb job of bringing the character life. The story was even better as it showed the self-destructive side of Tony Stark (Even though it wasn’t the PSA for drug abuse that the comics offered!) This movie is a corner-stone in my Marvel movie collection. Really I can’t say enough good about this movie. I still wonder if they are going to flesh out Whiplash eventually as Crimson Dynamo. In comic book history Ivan’s father, Anton Vanko, was the original creator of the Crimson Dynamo armor. Whiplash was Ivan Vanko…but then again he did get blown up…but laws of comic’s unless you saw a corpse…it probebly didn’t happen (even then you have to suspect!) We shall see…

Thor (2011)

I really wasn’t expecting much from this movie. I went to go see it simply because it was one of the Avenger movies. Other than that, I didn’t have the highest hopes for the film. I left the theater a Thor fan. Most of the time I kind of viewed Thor as a silly superhero. I think most of it had to do with the way he talked. It just kind of made me laugh. The movie did a great job of telling the origin of Thor…but at the same time it didn’t make it feel like your typical origin story. Most origin stories have that drag to them at least in one section. Not this one! No, your attention is kept from beginning to end. They even manage to throw in a love story (Better than Twilight…sorry had to make the joke!) The choice of Chris Hemsworth kind of had me shakey, but I feel he really did the role justice. Anthoney Hopkins was the BEST decision for Odin…HANDS DOWN!!! This movie also brought us what seems to be the primary antagonist in The Avengers, Loki. I don’t know where they dug this dude up from, but he is really good. I really can’t view anyone else to play the Trickster God. Might I also go on the record saying this, wasn’t Heimdall the only Asgardian that had “Bad Mother Fucker” on him? That was the best way I could have seen him played! As cool as Thor was though…their was one more movie that year…

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

This was unfortunately the only one I didn’t get to see in the theater. It was either Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 or Captain America…I chose Harry Potter (Hey man, I was aching to see the sequal…it was necessary!!!) I was shocked and amazed with the level of detail put into this film. The casting was spot on, the CGI was top-notch, and the story was well told. One of the coolest things about it was it had that sort of old-time war film feel to it. I enjoyed it. I loved the casting of Red Skull. Hugo Weaving is one of my favorite actors. It just made so much sense. I was also impressed with how they handled making Chris Evans smaller. That definatly took me by surprise. The last thing I will mention before I leave the subject is how impressed I was with Chris Evans portrayal of Captain America. At first I wasn’t to hopeful. Evans is more known for his comical roles, not serious ones (He was Human Torch in Fantastic 4 for crying out loud!) No after seeing his performance, I can’t picture a better Captain!

That about wraps it up. I suppose all we have now is to wait for the movie to come out. I wonder if they are going to have a few cameo’s from future Avengers? They are kind of missing Ant Man, Wasp, and Black Panther. I guess we will just have to wait and see. All I can tell you for now is that Iron Man 3 is due out next year. The following year, April 2014 to be exact, will be the follow-up to Captain America: The First Avenger. Only time will tell, But I’m thinking this one is going to beat the pants off what ever else comes out this year.

Until Next Time, My Freaky Darlings,

Malice Psychotik