Oh hi.
There was a time in my youth where I wished that I could someday see a Spider-Man film.
In 1989 Tim Burton made Batman.
It broke all kinds of records.
It showed that superhero films could be successful.
And yet nothing really became of that.
Except for the terrible sequels that it spawned.
"Alright everyone ... chill."
I was a Marvel comics fanboy as a kid.
So I still have
these old banker boxes here in my house. Sorry, let me focus up here.
And some of these go back to the early 90s. Ancient times now.
Cloak and Dagger. The New Warriors. Better than the old lame warriors we had before.
The Spectacular Spider-Man.
The Sensational Spider-Man.
Web of Spider-Man.
Spider-Man Unlimited.
And then my personal favourite. Spider-Man.
And because Marvel Comics was a hairs width away from bankruptcy it started selling the
rights to its characters.
Which is why we got a pretty bad Hulk film made by the great Ang Lee, and two really
bad Fantastic Four films, and that terrible Daredevil film starring the guy who isn't
Matt Damon.
And though it is certainly not a perfect film, Sam Raimi made Spider-Man in 2002 something
that I'd been waiting years for.
I think it's very much like Star Wars fans who, for a while, convinced themselves that
Phantom Menace was great until reality hit them and they had to accept that these-a no
good.
What I'm trying to say is that I think there are a lot of problems with the Sam Raimi Spider-Man
films, even number two which is admittedly pretty decent.
And the problem is that the filmmakers are approaching the characters as inherently silly
instead of the subject matter.
Because, come on, men and women jumping around in stretchy underwear suits, or fantastical
mutant beasts walking around having normal conversations is kind of ridiculous.
It's just that Marvel, and DC, and other comic book companies realized a long time
ago that while the situations can bring about humour, the characters are what draws people
in.
If we perceive our heroes, literally superheroes, as foolish or are the butt of jokes then we
begin to distance ourselves and realize everything is a bit corny.
So in 2008 I was surprised to see that the movie Iron Man was receiving a bunch of great
reviews.
Like, over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes good.
(Now I have my problems with Rotten Tomatoes, but it's still not often you get that response
to a superhero film.)
So I needed to go and see it.
Tony Stark was a character that showed up occasionally in crossover events that I had
read as a child, but I really didn't know much about the character.
Plus it was starring Robert Downey Jr who I had sort of forgotten about after he had
gone to prison in the 90s.
But I was shocked at how much I liked it.
This was something different.
At least from Marvel Studios.
It had a sense of fun, but was also treating the characters with respect.
This wasn't a goofy beat-em-up.
It was a science fiction / fantasy mashup with the perfect casting attached.
And I wish I could remember how.
But I know that I had read somewhere that I needed to stay until after the credits.
The friend I went with wanted to leave as soon as the movie was over but I convinced
them to stay.
And boy am I glad I did!
The revelation that Nick Fury was being played by Samuel L Jackson?
That there may be a plan to have an Avengers movie?
Yeah right.
Next you're going to tell me that they're going to try and make a Thor film.
Wait what?
My friend had no idea why I was freaking out.
But this was exciting!
What I always loved about comics was that the world felt truly lived in.
It wasn't just one superhero, it was all the superheroes.
They would interact with each other all the time.
Any movie that was made was careful to make it appear that this was the only "special"
person in the world.
Now even with that big hit in Iron Man it was followed up a few weeks later.
Yes, it was only weeks.
With the Incredible Hulk, starring Ed Norton, and it … wasn't great.
It had some flourishes, but certainly was not as entertaining as Iron Man had been.
But Robert Downey Jr showed up at the end, showing how Marvel was looking at this universe
it was creating.
Now I could go into a detailed review of each of the following Marvel films, let me know
if you'd like that in the comments below.
But here's a quick rundown.
Iron Man 2 - huge letdown although I feel like I'm alone in believing it's the worst
Iron Man film.
Thor - fairly bland, the world of Asgard feels so empty, but Chris Hemsworth is great.
Captain America: The First Avenger - maybe I'm surrounded by weirdos, but most people
I know hate this one.
But I love it.
I enjoy that it's set in World War 2.
It has it's own unique feel.
And I am always moved by the emotional journey of Steve Rodgers.
The Avengers - bonkers that this film even existed.
It expanded the world, beautifully combined the characters, everyone was given a moment
to shine.
It's a movie that on paper I don't think should work but it totally does.
Iron Man 3 - People hate on this film, but I like it.
It depends if you find the kid in it annoying.
I don't.
Plus I do enjoy how they pulled the rug out from everyone who thought they knew what was
going to happen in the movie with the Mandarin.
Thor: The Dark World - a bit better than the original Thor but that isn't saying much.
This is really when I began to notice the problems Marvel has with villains.
They often aren't interesting by themselves and each movie seems to end with a giant beam
of light that the heroes need to stop.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - The start of each film basically being an Avengers
film.
But I've never understood that criticism, really.
We know these characters and I have fun with them.
This film is maybe my favourite of all the Marvel films.
It's certainly the one I go back to the most.
Guardians of the Galaxy - So much fun!
I left with a stupid smile on my face.
Who knew Batista would steal the show?
The villain is awful, though.
Just really, really bad.
But everything else makes up for it.
Avengers: Age of Ultron - Marvel was starting to show it's cracks.
Still fun.
The Ultron character is great.
But it's hard to juggle that many characters, plus introduce more, and and have a satisfying
film.
I still have fun with it though.
How many more are there?
Oof.
Ant-Man - I'm a hater on this movie.
I love Paul Rudd.
He does his best.
But the script and direction do not help him.
I'm hoping the sequel solves those problems.
But this feels like a throwback to those superhero films of the 90s instead of what Marvel had
been trying to do.
Captain America: Civil War - OK.
I admit it.
I'm a Captain America fanboy.
Even though I'm Canadian.
I liked how they sowed the division between Cap and Iron Man.
And that last fight scene.
From how it's staged, to how it's acted, to the music I think is the best cinematically
the Marvel films have ever been.
Again, wish the villain could have had a better presence.
Doctor Strange - great casting again!
But I think this is just a slightly above mediocre film.
It was something I had completely forgotten about seeing the next day.
But what I respect is that Marvel is trying out different genres within it's universe.
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 - I still had fun with this.
But it has the problem that many sequels have in that it didn't feel new anymore.
Still funny.
And I love Kurt Russel in this film.
But it turns into a bunch of pixels bopping around the screen which I've never been
a fan of.
Spider-Man: Homecoming - Marvel finally got the rights back to Spider-Man.
Sort of.
And it's the closest they've come to nail that character.
Tony Stark / Iron Man essentially become the father figure Peter Parker has yearend for.
Michael Keaton has come full circle in his superhero films and is now a villain.
But a villain who is understandable.
Not that it absolves him, but I get why he turned to crime.
Some of the special effects are iffy, but man if the acting doesn't elevate this to
being really good.
Thor: Ragnarok - Hands down the funniest of the Marvel films.
And mostly based off of character moments.
However that's also the main criticism.
It could be too funny.
By focusing on laughs it forgot to make a resonant film.
And what a waste of Cate Blanchet.
The most egregious of the bad villains in Marvel films.
And finally Black Panther - I feel I'm going to get a lot of hate on this one too.
It's fine.
But I didn't love it.
Which is a shame, because the villain for once is great!
He has motive.
He's charismatic.
But our protagonist disappears for a good portion of the film.
And the country erupts into war really quickly.
Great casting again.
I love Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther.
I equally love the director Ryan Coogler.
So maybe my expectations were too high.
Marvel's Cinematic Universe has had a downside.
As much fun as I've had with the film series, and is exactly what I always wanted when I
dreamed of superhero films as a kid, it's had a bad effect on Hollywood.
Why it works so well for Marvel is that they've had 50 years of practice in the comics industry.
But Universal trying to make a Universe for their monsters seems weird.
DC has tried to rush theirs to disastrous results in my opinion.
Not everyone wants a Universe.
And not every franchise needs to be.
I don't need a Harold and Kumar universe.
Or maybe I do.
This is also part of larger trend where movies have started to feel like TV, and TV has started
to feel more like movies.
But that's a topic for another day.
I'm looking forward the the near 3 hour extravaganza that is going to be Avengers:
Infinity War.
These storylines we've been following for 10 years are going to have some deep payoffs.
At least I hope so.
And sure, superheroes are, perhaps, not high art.
But they don't need to be.
They are our current folk heroes.
The stories that reveal a bit about our humanity.
Stories that make us a little bit happier and can take our minds off the evils of the
world we feel so powerless in stopping.
Maybe somebody needs to make that Iron Man suit for real.
But I'd like to know more about what you think.
Do you watch the Marvel films?
Which ones are your favourite?
Which ones do you not like?
Do you think it's time for another Howard the Duck film like I do?
Let me know down in the comments below.
Thanks so much for watching!
My name is Kyle.
I upload videos every Monday and Thursday.
You can like, comment, and subscribe if you'd like.
And if you want to help get me closer to that live pizza party, consider becoming a Patreon
supporter for $1 per month.
I should let you know I was also bitten by a radioactive spider.
And now I'm dying of cancer.
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