Marvel Cinematic Universe: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

In eager anticipation of Marvel Studios' AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, I'm re-watching every entry in the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" (MCU) thus far, from IRON MAN to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and then sharing my views on each one as a film and within the context of the MCU and movie landscape.  At the end of each essay is a list of "Easter eggs" that connect the pertinent film to other films in the wider MCU, and a "Top 5" of the best five parts (a scene, concept, actor, character, etc.) in each movie.  For the final installment, the MCU takes a deviation, both in tone and the scope of its universe in general, opening up the wide world of "Cosmic Marvel" with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, aka "Space Avengers", Marvel's most eccentric outing to date, but far from the gamble it was cut out to be.  [Please note, this review contains spoilers for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and speculative connections to future Marvel releases].

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Released 1 August 2014
Directed by James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel (voice), Bradley Cooper (voice), Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio del Toro, Laura Haddock, Peter Serafinowicz, Josh Brolin
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language.
121 minutes 
Merit: 3.5/4
In the far reaches of outer space, a team of outlaws are united in common cause: Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, a human abducted from Earth in 1988, Gamora, a ruthless alien assassin, Drax the Destroyer, an alien warrior, Groot, a powerful tree-like being, and Rocket, a genetically engineered raccoon with a penchant for pyrotechnics.  In search of riches and justice, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" face off against Ronan, a fanatical warlord.

To create a cohesive fictional universe shared between multiple major film series, Marvel Studios has made the controversial choice to suppress directorial influence.  In a sense, the methods behind Marvel Cinematic Universe harkens back to so-called "Golden Age of Hollywood", also known as the "studio era" or the "studio system".  Marvel practices a level of studio influence and producer's creative control reminiscent of the days of Darryl F. Zanuck, David O. Selznick and Carl Laemmle; a director can put their stamp on the movie, but the dominating constant in the MCU is producer Kevin Feige.  At Marvel Studios, directors are relatively disposable, primarily a steady hand to guide the film through production, while creative control largely remains with Fiege, who gives writers the basic plot points and then is usually content to stand by and only intervene in the need of a course correction, more or less.  This has put Marvel at odds with directors like Louis Leterrier and star/uncredited co-writer Edward Norton who clashed with the studio over editing THE INCREDIBLE HULK, director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey, Jr. over the plotting of IRON MAN 2, and director Patty Jenkins was fired (again, more or less) from THOR: THE DARK WORLD in the development process.
One of the most disappointing failures of a director and Marvel Studios to find common ground was Edgar Wright's departure from the upcoming ANT-MAN, announced in May 2014, only a couple of months before GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was released.  Wright, the brilliant and highly distinctive British writer/director of cult classics like the "Three Flavours Cornetto" trilogy (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ and THE WORLD'S END) and SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, had been working on ANT-MAN since before Marvel Studios released IRON MAN, but there had been plenty of speculation about how Wright's extremely specific, stylized "smash-cut" style would fit into the established MCU.  The simple, disappointing answer was that it wouldn't fit, but GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was on its way from writer/director James Gunn, also a distinctive cult filmmaker, and that raised speculation about how much of GUARDIANS was Gunn's film.  Gunn established himself as a presence at Troma, a studio characterized by its gory, sometimes tasteless, farcical horror output (Gunn has been credited in Troma roles such as "Insane Masturbator", "Dr. Flem Hocking" and "Found a Peanut Father"), and had a notably twisted taste, so how would he fare in the clean-cut MCU?  None too badly, in spite of the odds.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (along with Joss Whedon's MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS and Shane Black's IRON MAN 3) is one of the few MCU films with a true directorial vision to successfully coalesce with the Marvel Studios brand.  It's crazy and colorful, with a sense of humor throughout that is occasionally twisted or gleefully cheesy, but without "winking" or degrading itself.
Based on a relatively obscure comic book series, the titular "Guardians of the Galaxy" are like an extra-terrestrial variation on the Avengers, a team of misfits who are united in a prison escape then become an entire planet's best defense against a fanatical warlord on a mission of vengeance.  Their leader, Star-Lord, better known as Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), a human bandit abducted from Earth in 1988, who is in possession of an ancient and extremely powerful orb, which secretly contains an extremely powerful singularity called an "Infinity Stone", that the Kree warlord Ronan (Lee Pace) desires in order to destroy a planet.  Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a green-skinned, bionically-enhanced assassin is sent to retrieve the orb for Ronan, but betrays hims, eventually throwing in her lot with Quill.  Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a genetically engineered raccoon bounty hunter, and his muscle Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), a good-natured and immensely strong tree-like being, initially attempt to capture Quill for the bounty offered on him, but also join him for a cut of the orb's selling price.  Finally there's Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), a formidable alien warrior on a mission of vengeance against Ronan, who murdered his family.
Everyone has their own favorite Guardian.  Groot is probably the most popular, but sometimes he's a little too precious.  It's a tie for me between Star-Lord and Rocket.  Rocket is naturally a draw for hype, being a talking raccoon with an affinity for oversized firearms, but the character transcends the hype by not only delivering as a violent and profane raccoon, but also just enough beneath the surface to sympathize, but without ruining the fun.  "Well, I didn't ask to get made! I didn't ask to be torn apart and put back together over and over and turned into some little monster!" Rocket shouts in a drunken breakdown.  That kind of hits you right there, and then he continues, "Let's see if you can laugh after five or six good shots in your freakin' face!" so that we know that it's okay to laugh again, so to speak.
Star-Lord is Chris Pratt's coming-out party as a leading man, previously best known as the flabby, Parks and Recreation, but also an assortment of supporting roles from other TV shows and movies.  It was initially a surprise that Pratt was being cast as an action hero, but he bulked up and brought with him an established comedic sensibility, making him ideal casting.  A space pirate in arrested development, abducted from Earth in the '80s along with his Sony Walkman and a mix tape of his late mother's favorite songs, Peter Quill is a mash-up of Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Captain Kirk, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, a goofy rapscallion who brags that if he shone a black light in his spaceship, it would "look like a Jackson Pollock painting."
lovable idiot Andy Dwyre from the NBC sitcom
Gunn gets away with upping the profanity and crudity quotient a fair bit in comparison to other MCU films, which fits his sense of humor even within the bounds of a PG-13 rating and crucial to his style of filmmaking.  Gunn's directorial style has a lot of energy, boosted by a soundtrack injected with groovy pop song hits of the '70s used to perfection (my personal favorite is "Hooked on a Feeling" over the montage of the characters being booked into prison), but where he really worked his magic is in writing his characters.  With the noted exception of the very thinly written villains and Gamora who is underdeveloped, Gunn gets his characters spot on, like Joss Whedon's script for THE AVENGERS, utilizing humor to establish character.
Back to those villains though; in addition to their suppression of directorial vision and reluctance to actually kill off any of their major characters, Marvel Studios has a poor track record in terms of their villains.  The big exception is Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston), although he doesn't reach his potential until THE AVENGERS, and the Red Skull (played by Hugo Weaving) from CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER is a fun pulp villain who is sometimes underrated, but on the whole, the villains are standard and uninteresting menaces.  It's not a crippling detriment to most of their films, not as long as the heroes work, which they do in GUARDIANS, but Ronan's blandness as a villain does not go unnoticed.  Lee Pace, who gave a fiery antagonistic performance as Rep. Fernando Wood in Steven Spielberg's LINCOLN and was even pretty good in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2, is barely recognizable beneath lots of blue and black face paint, and often monotonous in his affectations.  His people having recently signed a treaty with the Nova Empire capitol of Xandar, their longtime enemy, the Kree warlord Ronan wants to destroy Xandar.  He's a fanatical warlord whose extreme beliefs motivate him, and that's basically it.  He's a dull, perfunctory villain, although I wouldn't say he's the worst Marvel villain to date.  That dishonor goes to Malekith of THOR: THE DARK WORLD, who wants to destroy all light in the universe or something just because that's how he likes it.  Also, in his introductory scene, Ronan squashes a man's head with a giant hammer, with less than "Looney Toonesque" results, so that's worth at least a couple of points in his favor.  The secondary villain, Nebula, played by Dr. Who's redhead stunner Karen Gillan (albeit covered in makeup and her lovely locks shorn down to the scalp), is only the tiniest bit more intriguing, the bionically modified adopted daughter of Thanos and adopted sister of Gamora.  On the other hand, she's even less necessary than Ronan, arguably present mainly to set the character up to appear in later films, hopefully with a more involved role.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY gives us our first look at Thanos since his brief cameo in the mid-credits sting of THE AVENGERS, now addressed by name and rendered in full body with dialogue by Josh Brolin in a motion capture performance.  As Gunn himself has admitted, Thanos is not necessary to the movie itself, and is basically there to make him more of a presence for the MCU, one of the few concessions GUARDIANS is forced to make to the bigger picture.  Honestly, it doesn't do anything to whet the appetite for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR in itself; here, Thanos fits into a weird chain of galactic underworld contracting, and is little more than another CGI character in the mix.  If you didn't know his importance in the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, you might not even take note of him.  In terms of the larger picture, Thanos is continuing his thus far unsuccessful efforts to collect the Infinity Stones, after contracting Loki to obtain the Tesseract for him in THE AVENGERS and now contracting Ronan to get him the "Power Stone".
It's a little spotty in the action department, ranging from the balls-out fun of a galactic prison escape and ramming into attacking warships with indestructible working-class ships, to the generic bombast of the climactic spaceship battle that fails to live up to its promise.  As in THE AVENGERS, however, what really works is the characters within the action and how they interact.  Gunn's script is GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY's strongest card to play, and the film is at its best when Gunn's writing is at the forefront, with his goofy dialogue and strong sense of character.  Plot-wise, GUARDIANS has some half-baked ideas rattling around, like setting up Quill as sympathetic toward animals and then in the next scene showing him punting alien rat-lizards (admittedly, it's pretty funny), or the unestablished revelation about Quill's father to help explain how he survived holding an immensely powerful Infinity Stone that comes after the fact.  It's not the strongest plot for sure, and the villains are lacking, but character and humor go a very long way for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.  The movie actually does a fair bit to set things up for the two-part third Avengers venture, INFINITY WAR, introducing Thanos, Infinity Stones and "Cosmic Marvel", but overall it's independent and self-sustained from the rest of MCU in a way that's refreshing.
In the manner of classic Bond films, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY concludes with the words "The Guardians of the Galaxy Will Return", a vote of confidence from Marvel Studios, which will make good on that promise with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (a curious omission of Marvel's usual use of subtitles), scheduled for release in May 2015, with Gunn returning to write and direct.

Easter Eggs to Look For:

• Foreshadowing to AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: The "gem" contained within the orb is an Infinity Stone, as explained by Taneleer Tivan (Benicio del Toro), better known as the Collector.  Thanos agrees to help Ronan in exchange for an Infinity Stone, leading into the upcoming AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, to be released in two parts in May 2018 and May 2019, in which Thanos has assembled all six stones in the Infinity Gauntlet.
• Foreshadowing to AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: "The Mad Titan" Thanos, who previously made a brief cameo in MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS, is introduced in league with Ronan and as Gamora's adoptive father.  Thanos is anticipated to appear as the primary villain in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART 1 and PART 2.
• References to MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS and THOR: THE DARK WORLD: The Collector's museum is a smorgasbord of Easter eggs, some to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some to Marvel properties previously unestablished in the MCU, and some unrelated to Marvel.  Inside a glass case is a Dark Elf from THOR: THE DARK WORLD, and a windowed cell is holding a Chitauri warrior from THE AVENGERS.  Slug creatures from Gunn's 2006 horror-comedy SLITHER can be seen swimming around in a large aquarium.  Supposedly Howard the Duck (the first Marvel Comics character adapted to a major film, in the infamous George Lucas-produced 1986 flop, HOWARD THE DUCK) appears in the film proper, but I can't spot him; stay after the credits however for a stinger prominently featuring a CGI Howard voiced by Seth Green.
• Possible Foreshadowing to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: Amongst the Collector's belongings is a case containing a huge green cocoon, confirmed by Gunn to contain the Marvel Comics character Adam Warlock, who is known for replenishing his powers inside a cocoon.  Although no casting or future film appearances have officially been announced regarding the character, as a sometimes member of the Guardians in the comics and closely associated with the Infinity Stones, it's no stretch to expect an appearance in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (coming May 2017) and/or AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR.
• Reference to MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS and THOR: THE DARK WORLD: Among the Infinity Stones shown when the Collector explains about them is the Tesseract from THE AVENGERS and the Aether from THOR: THE DARK WORLD.

Top 5 of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

1. Dialogue- There are so many favorite lines to pick from: "If I had a blacklight, this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting", "I don't know if I believe anyone is 100% a dick", "They got my dick message!", "What a bunch of a-holes", "I am not some starry-eyed waif here to succumb to your...your pelvic sorcery!", "Who put the sticks up their butts? That is cruel...", "Never call me a thesaurus", "I am not a princess!", "Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast- I would catch it", and so on.  I realize that my tastes run a bit low-brow.
2. Chris Pratt is Star-Lord- It's a little strange, but I'm glad to see Chris Pratt making it as a blockbuster action star, and he can get away with a dance-off challenge to a psychotic sci-fi warlord and lines like "I'm distracting you, you big turd blossom!" 
3. Rocket Raccoon- While arranging an elaborate prison escape plan, Rocket understands the importance of also making time for getting a random old man's robotic leg, because it's funny.
4. Raiders of the Lost Orb on Morag- Star-Lord's introduction, strutting into an abandoned, dilapidated city, rocking out to "Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone on a Walkman and punting the lizard-rats scrambling around on the ground, picking up one and singing into it like a microphone; it's inspired.  Then he breaks out the gadgetry, snatches the orb from a pedestal, runs into other interested parties, gets the drop on them and hightails it out of their with the rocket boots.  It's a thrill ride opening that shifts the movie into a high gear of humor and fun.
5.  Soundtrack- It's no secret that a big part of this movie's charm is the perfectly complimentary selection of '70s pop hits, and whether you're a fan of the songs themselves or not, it's hard to deny the brilliant match made in heaven that is the "hooga chaka" chanting of Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling" over Star-Lord and his new comrades being processed into the Kyln prison.

Images via Marvel Studios

Marvel Cinematic Universe: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

 In eager anticipation of Marvel Studios' AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, I'm re-watching every entry in the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" (MCU) thus far, from IRON MAN to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and then sharing my views on each one as a film and within the context of the MCU and movie landscape.  At the end of each essay is a list of "Easter eggs" that connect the pertinent film to other films in the wider MCU, and a "Top 5" of the best five parts (a scene, concept, actor, character, etc.) in each movie.  The installment with the most immediate and far-reaching implications on the MCU prior to AGE OF ULTRON is Captain America's triumphant return in THE WINTER SOLDIER, a film that shifts the task of anchoring the MCU between Avengers films from Iron Man to Captain America, who emerges as a new headliner for Marvel movies.  [Please note, this review contains spoilers for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, and speculative connections to future Marvel releases].

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
Released 4 April 2014
Directed by Anthony Russo & Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Maximiliano Hernandez, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Gary Shandling
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, gunplay and action throughout.
136 minutes 
Merit: 3.5/4
A 20th-century man still struggling to adjust to a 21st-century world, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, finds his 1940s idealism doesn't mesh with the moral complexities and subtleties of a post-9/11 world.  When S.H.I.E.L.D., the organization that Rogers, and allies Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, are agents of, reveals itself to be the enemy they thought they were fighting, Captain America and his allies become fugitives.  Their enemies have a powerful ally though, one that Rogers is reluctant to fight, as the "Winter Soldier" is one of the last links to the world he used to know.

Except for a brief prologue and epilogue, Captain America's first outing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER was entirely set within the 1940s.  We got to see some of his adjusting to the 21st century in MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS, but he was only one part of a six-hero team.  CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER puts him back in the lead and two years after the events in THE AVENGERS, dealing with the complexities of a post-9/11 (read: post-Battle of New York) world, as it were.
Still struggling to catch up on all the history and culture that's passed during his decades frozen in the Arctic, Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) now lives in Washington D.C. as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., working regularly with Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and having recently befriended a fellow veteran, former USAF pararescueman Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie).  But Rogers finds the often shady "peacekeeping" and intelligence-gathering techniques of his employers difficult to accommodate, and clashes with Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) over the morality of his preemptive measures.  But even Fury is beginning to discover that S.H.I.E.L.D. is not everything it seems.

The "Winter Soldier" of the title is James "Bucky" Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Cap's childhood friend who was thought killed in action when they captured Dr. Zola in WWII, now revealed to be not only living, but a dark shadow of Captain America himself.  As the mysterious Winter Soldier, Barnes has been experimented on and had his memory wiped regularly via electric shocks for the almost 70 past years and used as an untraceable master assassin by Cap's WWII-era nemesis organization, H.Y.D.R.A., which has endured in secret for several decades.
A common complaint toward the MCU is that it treats movie storytelling like television, forcing each installment to maintain the status quo, so there can be no lasting consequences.  There is something to that.  In addition to just not finding it particularly interesting, I ignore the ABC television spinoff Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. because as far as I'm concerned, Agent Coulson's tour of duty was ended by Loki's spear in THE AVENGERS, and I'm not interested in "Life Model Decoys" or faked deaths (not to mention, although I hear it's improved post-THE WINTER SOLDIER, the first episodes were so boring).  Apparently the show was greatly improved by the corresponding events of THE WINTER SOLDIER, but I don't see myself powering through all the previous episodes.  THE WINTER SOLDIER nullifies a couple of major deaths, although neither is surprising, but in contrast, it also breaks down S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, a major construct of the MCU up until now.  Armin Zola (Toby Jones), who appeared in THE FIRST AVENGER as a H.Y.D.R.A. scientist, but is best known in the comics as essentially a frankly silly-looking giant face on a walking TV set, returns in THE WINTER SOLDIER, cleverly redesigned as a more cinematically appropriate preserved consciousness within an archaic supercomputer.  Zola reveals that S.H.I.E.L.D. is inherently corrupt, evolved from H.Y.D.R.A. at the start, despite the noble of efforts of the unwitting.

In today's world where government intelligence agencies perform extensive surveillance and data mining operations practically unchecked, governments carry out remote drone strikes and embrace a national defense strategy based on preemptive measures, THE WINTER SOLDIER pits Captain America's early 20th century values against the modern fear-based American security state.  Nick Fury recounts a story to Cap about his grandfather, who worked as an elevator operator in they city, and loved but didn't trust people, so when anyone asked to see what was in the paper bag where he carried his tips, he'd show them the .22 he also kept in the bag.  It's like the story you've probably seen shared on social networking, about the woman who is pulled over by a police officer who notices a gun in her glove box and asks her what she's so afraid of.  "Absolutely nothing," the woman replies, and then all the gun nuts laugh knowingly because they're all part of the same club.  Please.  The story betrays exactly the truth that it's meant to refute, an adult's way of assuring themselves that there's no monsters under the bed, but the only reason for such an assurance is to relieve such an obvious anxiety.  There are things to fear, like people so scared that they put everyone else at risk to put a figurative bandage on their deep-seeded terror of an uncertain world.  MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS started pulling the curtain back on S.H.I.E.L.D., the ominous "peacekeeping organization" that played at maintaining global security, but their fear-based tactics involved weaponizing extra-terrestrial powers like the Tesseract, making nuclear deterrents which, as Tony Stark puts so succinctly, "always calms everything down," and eventually attempting to nuke New York.  THE WINTER SOLDIER blows the lid off this agency with a Cold War arms race philosophy of protection, and makes that ultimate accusation, comparing them to the Nazis (H.Y.D.R.A., basically the same thing).
THE WINTER SOLDIER has some of the best action of the whole MCU so far, with the directing team of brothers Joe Russo and Anthony Russo lowering the CG quotient (up until the grand finale anyway) for more martial arts and bullets.  The highlight is the assassination attempt on Nick Fury that leaves his car with the appearance of a colander and then flips it in an impossibly cool slow-motion explosion, but I'm also very fond of the sequence in which Cap, Black Widow and an assortment of S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers liberate hostages on a pirate-captured vessel, including a Mortal Kombat-style fight between Cap and comics villain "Batroc the Leaper" (portrayed by MMA fighter Georges St-Pierre).  Some people think that fight is a little cheesy, but some people should shut up, because it's really awesome.  Honestly though, I love all the action in this movie, even the big, bombastic climax with the Marvel standard of something big (in this case, multiple Helicarriers) crashing down from the sky.

The Russo brothers, taking the director's reins from THE FIRST AVENGER's Joe Johnston, were previously unestablished as blockbuster directors, their best known theatrically released film before being the critically-maligned Owen Wilson-starring 2006 comedy YOU, ME AND DUPREE.  They were best known for their work in television, having directed episodes of cult comedy series Arrested Development and Community, the latter which they also executive produced (Danny Pudi, who plays autistic pop culture genius Abed Nadir on Community makes a brief cameo in THE WINTER SOLDIER as "Com Tech #1").  With auteur filmmakers finding it difficult to function within the MCU, which necessitates a certain continuity and consistent vision throughout multiple film series, the Russo brothers, with their background in television, are arguably well-suited to the Marvel template, but it's interesting that their comedy doesn't play a stronger part in THE WINTER SOLDIER.  It has moments of levity, but it's also the most straight-faced of the installments in Phase 2 so far, drawing on the Russo brother's pop culture knowledge for dramatic influence more often than humor.  A frequently cited source of inspiration for the tone of THE WINTER SOLDIER is the Sydney Pollack-directed 1975 film THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, and other political paranoid thrillers of the post-Watergate era, and the three-tier climactic action draws parallels to the original Star Wars trilogy grand finale, THE RETURN OF THE JEDI.  Robert Redford, the star of THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, appears in THE WINTER SOLDIER as S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Alexander Pierce, ultimately revealed to be the big bad himself, operating S.H.I.E.L.D. as a front for H.Y.D.R.A.  Redford mostly keeps a low profile these days, but cited an interest in seeing how these big blockbuster adaptations of "cartoon characters" worked, and although it's interesting to see the fair-haired actor with a prolific acting career as a the good guy taking on a villain, it's admittedly not even approaching the level of Henry Fonda in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, an inspiration cited by the Russos.
THE WINTER SOLDIER shows a real range for the Russos though, with exciting action, paranoid thrills and emotional heft, on top of their well-established comedy, and they definitely clicked with Marvel.  In fact, they're already working on the next Captain America installment, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, due out in May 2016, and were recently announced to direct the Phase 3 grand finale in two parts, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART 1 and PART 2, which assuming they carry through, makes them the longest-lasting directors in the MCU (Jon Favreau with IRON MAN and IRON MAN 2, and Joss Whedon with MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS and AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, being the only others to have directed multiple installments, with James Gunn also returning soon to make GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2).  If their work on THE WINTER SOLDIER is any indication though, I suspect the MCU still has plenty of life left in it, even after Joss Whedon passes the torch.

Easter Eggs to Look For:

• Reference to MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS: When showing Project Insight to Captain America, Nick Fury addresses the Helicarrier modifications including the repulsor jets in place of turbines, made with the help of Tony Stark, "once he'd gotten a closer look at our turbines", referring to attack on the Helicarrier in THE AVENGERS, when Iron Man had to repair the damaged turbine with Cap's assistance.
• Reference to MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS and Foreshadowing to AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: On a monitor displaying Project Insight targets is an image of the modified Stark Tower from THE AVENGERS, now Avengers Tower as it will appear in AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.
• Reference to IRON MAN: Sam Wilson's "Falcon" gear bears the Stark Industries logo, and Alexander Pierce requests that Nick Fury arrange a visitation by Iron Man to his niece's birthday party.
• Reference to MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS; Possible Foreshadowing to AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON or Other Installments: Black Widow wears a necklace with an arrow ornament, likely referring to her relationship with Agent Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye (portrayed in the MCU by Jeremy Renner), depicted as friendship in THE AVENGERS, but possibly more romantically involved in future films.
• Reference to IRON MAN 2: The obnoxious and antagonistic Senator Stern, portrayed by comedian Garry Shandling, returns in a cameo that reveals him to be member of H.Y.D.R.A. when he whispers "Hail H.Y.D.R.A." to S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernandez).
• Possible Foreshadowing to AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and Other Installments: Agent 13, aka Sharon (Emily VanCamp), Cap's neighbor, is actually Sharon Carter, niece of Cap's WWII-era love interest Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), and known as a major love interest in the comics and expected to return in future films.
• Possible Foreshadowing to CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR or Other Installments: Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo), a member of Cap's strike team and later antagonist, is severly injured when the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters are destroyed but is seen being carried away in a stretcher, implying a return as major Captain America super villain "Crossbones".
• Foreshadowing to AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: The mid-credits sting directed by Joss Whedon cryptically introduces AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON characters Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann), a H.Y.D.R.A. scientist, and the "twins", Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who have been experimented on with Loki's spear from MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS, setting up events for AGE OF ULTRON.
• Foreshadowing to CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR or Other Installments: The post-credits sting reveals Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, at the Smithsonian, rediscovering himself, implying a return in future installments.
• Foreshadowing to DOCTOR STRANGE and Reference to THE INCREDIBLE HULK: Agent Sitwell, spilling the beans on Project Insight, H.Y.D.R.A.'s plan to kill anyone who poses a present or future threat, refers to "Bruce Banner", aka the Hulk, and "Stephen Strange", aka Doctor Strange, who will be played by Benedict Cumberbatch in DOCTOR STRANGE, directed by Scott Derrickson, scheduled for release November 4, 2016.

Top 5 of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER 

1.  Nick Fury's Bullet-Riddled Car Chase- Surrounded by suspicious-looking cars at a traffic light, Nick Fury suddenly finds his SUV being pelted by bullets, and when those don't work, the bad guys start assailing his car window with a pneumatic battering ram, all while his vehicle's A.I. system provides sardonic humor.  It's a brutal, relatively grounded but nonetheless spectacular action scene polished off with a much too cool slow motion explosion as the Winter Soldier flips Fury's SUV with an explosive device and steps out of the way of the fiery blast.
2. Cap Takes Down the Mercenaries- Boarding a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel commandeered by Batroc and his mercenaries, Cap wallops a few with his shield, throws some off the boat, pins a guy's hand against a wall with a knife and takes down Batroc Mortal Kombat-style.  It's exciting, kinetic practical stunts, and Cap is a soldier who straight kills the bad guys.  He may be a square most of the time, but in battle, he's badass.
3. Zola Resurrected- In an old Army building, Cap and Black Widow discover an outdated supercomputer containing the preserved consciousness of H.Y.D.R.A. scientist Armin Zola, whose face appears as a grainy image on a 1980s-era monitor, revealing his machinations to continue H.Y.D.R.A.'s vision in the 21st century to stall Cap from escaping a coming air strike.  It's an effective way of translating what was a silly cartoon character to the conspiracy-thriller world of THE WINTER SOLDIER, and has a creepily fun sense of heightened reality.
4. The Black Widow- For those who think Captain America is just too much of a square, there's Scarlett Johansson's S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Natasha Romanoff, aka "Black Widow", a character who had a lackluster introduction in IRON MAN 2, was greatly enhanced by Joss Whedon's script in THE AVENGERS, and continues as one of the MCU's most interesting and fun characters in THE WINTER SOLDIER, where her shadier ethics counteract the all-American goodness of Cap, while the film takes on an unusual sort of buddy movie quality.
5. Elevator Fight- One by one, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents planning to detain Captain America step into the elevator, surrounding him, until he takes them down on his own terms.  A particularly badass moment for Cap, and the magnetic handcuffs they try to pin him down with are a cool concept.

Images via Marvel Studios

Marvel Cinematic Universe: THOR: THE DARK WORLD

 In eager anticipation of Marvel Studios' AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, I'm re-watching every entry in the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" (MCU) thus far, from IRON MAN to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and then sharing my views on each one as a film and within the context of the MCU and movie landscape.  At the end of each essay is a list of "Easter eggs" that connect the pertinent film to other films in the wider MCU, and a "Top 5" of the best five parts (a scene, concept, actor, character, etc.) in each movie.  The second film of Phase 2 returns to Asgard in the weakest film of the MCU, a messy movie with a messy behind-the-scenes story, but also surprisingly funny, with a welcome return of the MCU's premier baddie, Loki.  [Please note, this review contains spoilers for THOR: THE DARK WORLD, and speculative connections to future Marvel releases].

THOR: THE DARK WORLD
Released 8 November 2013
Directed by Alan Taylor
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard, Jaimie Alexander, Zachary Levi, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano, Idris Elba, Rene Russo, Chris O'Dowd
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some suggestive content.
112 minutes 
Merit: 2/4
With his brother Loki imprisoned in the dungeons of Asgard for his crimes against Earth, Thor has restored peace between the Nine Realms, but when an ancient enemy returns to cover the universe in darkness, Asgard is attacked with devastating results.  To defeat the villainous Dark Elves, Thor is forced to align himself with Loki, who he does not know if he can trust.

THOR: THE DARK WORLD is probably the most problematic movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I'd be tempted to say it's the weakest of the MCU, but it may too close to call with IRON MAN 2.  It's not bad- it's entertaining enough, plenty of humor and there's some pretty fun sequences, but it's also much more uneven, in tone and in pacing, and messy than the average Marvel outing.
Set a year after the events of MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS, THE DARK WORLD returns to Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) home of Asgard, where his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has been imprisoned indefinitely for his war crimes on Earth.  After the destruction of the Bifrost in THOR, the Nine Realms had descended into chaos, and during the past year, Thor and his comrades have been restoring peace while the Bifrost has been rebuilt.  Meanwhile on Earth, in London, Thor's lady love interest and adorkable astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) has discovered an anomaly where the laws of physics do not apply.  While studying the anomaly, Jane is inadvertently transported to another world (or dimension), where an ancient and dangerous element from the beginning of the universe, the Aether, has been hidden away.  The Aether enters her body, and the Aether's reemergence reawakens Asgard's ancient enemy the Dark Elves from their suspended animation in deep space.
The Dark Elves are led by Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), who, besides being a "Dark Elf" who wants to use the Aether to consume the universe with darkness just because Dark Elves like it like that, is thinly written, to put it nicely.  He's basically a non-character, merely an entity acting as a facade for a vaguely defined hostility.  Far more interesting than the primary antagonist, not to mention the rest of the characters, is Tom Hiddleston's Loki, who comes into play fairly late in the game to help Thor avenge the death of their mother, Frigga (Rene Russo), at the hands of Malekith.  Up to that point, there is an awful lot of set-up and minimal payoff, and while one of the first movie's major shortcomings was vagueness of Asgard, it turns out, Asgard isn't that interesting anyway.  Mostly it's just weapons training and feasting all day and night.  Anthony Hopkins, one of the all-time greats, is typically a welcome presence in whatever he's in, but as Thor's father Odin, his character seems to have curiously dropped a few dozen I.Q. points since the first THOR and he's always grouchy.  I liked him better as the all-knowing and grandfatherly but stern Odin.  Now he's a angry dumbass.

THE DARK WORLD had a particularly troubled production, one of the more prominent cases of Marvel Studios' history of clashing with their filmmakers, after the first film's director, Kenneth Branagh, opted not to return.  TV director Brian Kirk was initially sought as director, but negotiations broke down, and Patty Jenkins, director of the excellent 2003 crime drama MONSTER, was brought on as director.  During post-production, Jenkins left, citing the age-old "creative differences", and while the separation was reportedly on good terms, the behind the scenes drama suggests a different story (when we finally get the inevitable "tell-all" non-fiction novel about the making of the MCU, it is going to be a must-read).  Jenkins' departure was a particular point of consternation for Natalie Portman, who reportedly was doubtful about returning following the birth of her son, but was excited about the prospect of bringing a woman on to direct the big budget Hollywood production.  Portman was contractually obligated to star in the film regardless, but Marvel was forced to bend over backward to smooth over the situation and made special care to accommodate Portman.  Ultimately, veteran TV director Alan Taylor, known for his work on The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Game of Thrones, was hired and is the officially credited director, however, as the film neared completion, Marvel may have overhauled certain aspects of the film without Taylor's input.  What is well known is that there were substantial re-shoots, not necessarily a sign of contention, but rarely a sign that all is going well, and some of the added footage revolves around exposition, which Taylor openly spoke out against in interviews.  Much of the third act climactic action require reconstruction late into production (typically the big set-pieces on a movie of this size are worked out early on to make time for the extensive post-production visual effects work), and Joss Whedon, writer/director of MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS and AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, was even flown into London where filming was taking place in order to rewrite scenes, including the climactic piece.  Ultimately, Taylor came to distance himself the final film, which was heavily reconstructed beyond his involvement, but it certainly didn't hurt his career any, propelling him to another blockbuster production, this summer's upcoming TERMINATOR GENISYS, where he reportedly has greater creative control.  Jenkins, for her part, has continued to struggle to get a foothold in Hollywood, but perhaps her recent hiring to direct Warner Brothers' WONDER WOMAN, planned for 2017, following the departure of Breaking Bad director/producer Michelle MacLaren from the same over "creative differences".
Ultimately, what works best in THOR: THE DARK WORLD is the humor, which is substantial,
including the climax in Greenwich that is more humor-based spectacle than action-oriented.  Unfortunately, Malekith, the primary antagonist and probably the worst major villain in an MCU movie so far, is totally humorless, so the real savior of this film is Loki, returning for a third installment, this time in the character's traditional interpretation as the "trickster".  As such, he's not quite an antagonist, and not quite one of the protagonists.  He's the loose cannon, the guy who the heroes are forced to rely on, and while his betrayal is inevitable, they can only hope to prolong his betrayal until he's helped them get what they need.  As good as Tom Hiddleston is in the role, what really makes Loki such a refreshing presence in the movie is that he's the only truly interesting character in the whole thing, although given just a little more attention, Thor himself could get there.
THE DARK WORLD ends on a major tease; following a confrontation with Malekith and his muscle, Kurse (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), on the Dark World (filmed on location in Iceland then curiously layered over with enough CGI that they may as well have filmed on a set), Loki is presumably killed, but no one watching the movie actually expects that he's actually dead.  The question is, where will he turn up?  On the throne of Asgard, and Odin's whereabouts unknown.  The movie's marketing sneakily included images of Loki on the throne, and nobody gave it a second thought, blissfully unaware that they were being fed images from the spoilery final shot of the film.
Following AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, Thor's next film will be THOR: RAGNAROK, a title which alludes to Norse mythology's version of Armageddon but in the comics was a "cyborg clone" of Thor, scheduled for November 3, 2017.  So far, Thor's adventures remain on the weaker side of the spectrum for the MCU, but hopefully, RAGNAROK will see an uptick in his stand-alone series.

Easter Eggs to Look For:

• Foreshadowing to AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART 1 and PART 2: The Aether is one of the "Infinity Stones", six immensely powerful singularities that, if united, will make their wielder virtually all-powerful, as Thanos, the "Mad Titan", intends to do in the upcoming two-part AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, scheduled for May 2018 and May 2019.  In the mid-credits stinger, Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and Volstagg (Ray Stevenson) deliver the Aether to the Collector (Benicio del Toro), after which he remarks, "One down, five to go..."
• Foreshadowing to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: In the post-credits stinger, Sif and Volstagg deliver the Aether to Taneleer Tivan, aka the Collector, who appears again in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, when he reveals the nature of another Infinity Stone to the heroes of that film.
• Reference to MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS: Early in the film, Loki is imprisoned for crimes committed on Earth, referring to the events in THE AVENGERS, and later, Jane Foster punches Loki, saying, "That was for New York!"  In a scene where he teases Thor by taking on different visages, Loki mocks Captain America (a cameo appearance by Chris Evans).

Top 5 of THOR: THE DARK WORLD 

1. Loki Interprets Captain America- In a movie where what works the best is humor, the funniest moment is a cameo by Chris Evans as Loki playing Captain America with his tongue firmly in cheek: "Costume's a bit much... so tight. But the confidence, I can feel the righteousness surging. Hey, you wanna have a rousing discussion about truth,honor, patriotism? God bless America!"
2. Loki At Rock Bottom- After the death of their mother, Thor goes to see Loki in the Asgard dungeons, where Loki goads him, but Thor chides him; "Loki, enough! No more illusions!" Then we get to see Loki as he truly is beneath it all, broken down, his hair mussed, his barefoot cut and bloody.  "Now you see me brother."
3. Thor Hangs Mjolnir on the Coat Rack- I don't know, the culture clash there just cracks me up.
4. Attack on Asgard- It's reminiscent of Star Wars when the Dark Elves fly their ships into Asgard wreaking rampant destruction, Heimdall (Idris Elba) attack a gigantic ship with a sword, and although it's short, Frigga's sword fight with Malekith is fierce and feverish.
5. Portal Play and Culture Clash in Greenwich- I hear that the geography of Greenwich is a mishmash in the climactic action, but it's not like the universal laws of physics are especially relevant here anyway.  The gags involving Thor on the train and Mjolnir flying back and forth trying to catch up with Thor between portals are particularly fun and funny.

All Images via Marvel Studios

Marvel Cinematic Universe: IRON MAN 3

 In eager anticipation of Marvel Studios' AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, I'm re-watching every entry in the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" (MCU) thus far, from IRON MAN to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and then sharing my views on each one as a film and within the context of the MCU and movie landscape.  At the end of each essay is a list of "Easter eggs" that connect the pertinent film to other films in the wider MCU, and a "Top 5" of the best five parts (a scene, concept, actor, character, etc.) in each movie.  Following MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS, the end game of "Phase 1", IRON MAN 3 opens Phase 2, to prove that there's still places to go even after the biggest battles have been fought.  [Please note, this review contains spoilers].

IRON MAN 3
Released 3 May 2013
Directed by Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, James Badge Dale, Stephanie Szostak, Paul Bettany (voice), William Sadler, Ty Simpkins, Dale Dickey
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief suggestive content.
130 minutes 
Merit: 3/4
A year after the Battle of New York, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, faces his personal demons as his past catches up with him.  When a terrorist kingpin tears Tony's world apart, he is forced to rediscover himself, stranded in rural Tennessee and naught but his wits to rely on, while fighting off a series of super-powered soldiers linked to a terrorist conspiracy.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe feels different with IRON MAN 3.  It's the beginning of what Marvel Studios calls "Phase 2" (the six movies that came before comprising Phase 1), and with the previous goal of building to MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS already accomplished, IRON MAN 3 is more responsive in its storytelling than the heavily expository IRON MAN 2.  IRON MAN 3 is more complex and stylish than the previous Iron Man films as well, but despite plenty of humor and sharp wit in the trademark director/co-writer Shane Black style, it lacks the sense of fun that Favreau's direction had.
Released a year after THE AVENGERS, the same amount of time has passed in the timeline of the events in IRON MAN 3, but Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is still shaken from the experience of coming so close to death in the Battle of New York.  He rarely sleeps, spends most of his time working, building a vast array of specialized Iron Man suits, and he has anxiety attacks at the very mention of New York.  During this time, a terrorist called the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) has been claiming responsibility for random violent explosions all across the United States.  When one such blast lands an old friend in the hospital, Tony issues a personal threat to the Mandarin, who responds by destroying Tony's Malibu mansion.  Tony narrowly escapes but is left stranded in rural Tennessee with only a damaged armor suit, his wits and a few clues to uncovering the mystery to the Mandarin's randomized and untraceable attacks.
The best part about IRON MAN 3 is also, arguably, the worst part about it.  The primary antagonist of the movie is presented as the Mandarin, Iron Man's arch nemesis from the comics, played by legendary character actor Ben Kingsley.  The Mandarin is to Iron Man what the Joker is to Batman, but the character who first appeared in 1964 is a dated, politically-incorrect caricature left over from the cold war.  In IRON MAN 3, the Mandarin is not actually Chinese (Kingsley himself is British of Indian/European descent), but his wardrobe is assembled from a variety of Eastern motifs, including Chinese.  He is poised to be an apex villain, an amalgamation of modern terrorist warlords to be Iron Man's greatest challenge ever.  About halfway through the film, Tony discovers the source of the Mandarin's broadcasts in Miami.  Storming his headquarters, Tony discovers a series of scantily-clad women when none other than the Mandarin comes out of a bathroom using his ornate cloak to fan the air behind him, saying "I wouldn't go in there for twenty minutes!"  Like that, the illusion is destroyed.  The supposed Mandarin reveals himself to be Trevor Slattery, British actor and drug addict, who Advanced Ideas Mechanics (AIM) founder Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) has hired to be a fictional terrorist to claim responsibility for the unplanned explosions caused by AIM's experimental Extremis virus, Extremis being yet another Super-Soldier attempt, but one which has explosive results when the body rejects it.  Trevor Slattery is the kind of plot twist that makes me question the spoiling nature of "spoilers", because sometimes a twist in a movie is so insane and unpredictable that it leaves the viewer scrambling for the remainder of the movie.  Once you know the twist, on repeat viewings, it goes down a lot smoother.  It took balls though.

[In a "Marvel One Shot" short film called ALL HAIL THE KING attached to the home release of THOR: THE DARK WORLD and directed by IRON MAN 3 co-writer Drew Pearce, continues Slattery's story in prison and provides an opening for a more sincere incarnation of the Mandarin to make an appearance in later films.]
The thing about IRON MAN 3 is that it likes to thrill-kill your expectations, not always for the worse, and not always for the better.  There are at least a few "pulling the rug out from under your feet" moments, and while Marvel continues to avoid killing off any noteworthy characters, this movie has some very substantial developments for the Iron Man character (although no IRON MAN 4 is currently in official development, Downey is currently filming a substantial part in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, due out in 2016, and is contracted to appear in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART 1 in 2018 and AVENGERS INFINITY WAR PART 2 in 2019).  As per the Extremis-inspired plot line from the comics, Iron Man's armor is now considerably more powerful, with remote control capabilities such as Tony being able to bring it to him remotely from great distances, and to operate the unmanned suit remotely.  The unmanned armor possibilities are troubling, potentially removing Tony from threat to easily, but the remote suiting-up is a fun advance to the tech.  An even bigger progression, and more frustrating, is Tony finally having the shrapnel, and arc reactor that keeps it from entering his heart, removed.  I'm not against the notion at all, but method is hugely dissatisfying.  It's merely addressed in narration over an epilogue montage, leaving us to wonder if it was possible and as easy as all that, why the hell didn't he get it removed before?  An exclusive four minutes of footage was included in the Chinese version of the film, featuring Chinese actors Xueqi Wang (who appears very briefly in the regular release as the doctor operating on Tony) and Bingbing Fan (who later appeared in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST as Blink), along with some Chinese product placement, includes a moment between the doctors discussing the risk of the operation.  This at least acknowledges the significance of this development, but even then fails to set up why this option that we were led to believe was nonexistent is suddenly open.  In voice-over narration, Stark almost spitefully remarks, "Some people say progress is a bad thing, but try having a magnet in your chest keeping you alive."  The problem isn't the change though.  The problem is lacking an established explanation for this change.

Directed by Shane Black from a script co-written with British TV comedy writer Drew Pearce, IRON MAN 3 is one of the few movies of the MCU that resembles the product of a director.  The MCU has become noted for downplaying directorial influence, for better or worse, in favor of a more far reaching vision on behalf of the studio.  Director Louis Leterrier and star/co-writer Edward Norton clashed with Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige over editing THE INCREDIBLE HULK, and director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey, Jr. collided with Marvel over the plot direction of IRON MAN 2.  THE AVENGERS, written and directed by Joss Whedon, marked an increase in directorial authorship of a Marvel film, and remains one of the few "director films" of the MCU, but Whedon isn't quite as distinct a voice as Black.  IRON MAN 3 is only Black's second film as a director, following the excellent but largely overlooked 2005 crime-comedy-noir KISS KISS BANG BANG (which also starred Robert Downey, Jr. in one of his first major post-rehab leading roles).  Black's career as a writer is more prolific, including his breakthrough screenplay LETHAL WEAPON, as well as THE LAST BOY SCOUT and THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT; noteworthy for his tongue-in-cheek style of buddy action movies.  Among the more prominent trademarks he brings with him to IRON MAN 3 are the Christmastime setting (also used for LETHAL WEAPON and KISS KISS BANG BANG), and the unreliable narrator device, with IRON MAN 3 being the only MCU movie to date with narration.  The clever justification for Tony Stark's narration within the context of the MCU is given in the form of a post-credits stinger where Tony has been unloading the whole story on Bruce Banner, a cameo by Mark Ruffalo, continuing their friendship from THE AVENGERS.  IRON MAN 3 is a much more independent film than the majority of the MCU, functioning largely outside the context and style of other installments, an interesting turn after THE AVENGERS proved how exciting the interwoven Marvel universe could be, but also refreshingly intimate.  IRON MAN 3 doesn't have the rock soundtrack of the previous two, and in Black's fashion, it's hard-boiled, notably darker in tone, but never fully committed to that, which works for good and bad.  Black has a tendency to distance himself from any real sentiment, which he does through his tongue-in-cheek humor, and although it gives the darkness a sense of levity, his acerbic approach often serves to evade emotional weight.  He teases with a little bit of feeling and then dumps a dollop of cynicism on top, lest the audience get too comfortable or invested.  It's also the substance of his wit, and while it's usually intellectually stimulating, it can be emotionally alienating.

The change of pace, not only for the MCU but superhero blockbusters in general, is refreshing though, and most of the film is differentiated by Black's style and a more intimate journey for it's hero.  I'm a little iffy on the glowing Extremis monster people, it feels a bit like low-rent horror visuals to me, but I can live with it.  Toward the conclusion however is where the story really struggles, descending into bombastic mayhem in the climactic action, which feels unfortunate in light of what came before, but in comparison to the dreadful MAN OF STEEL which followed the same summer, it at least has some finesse to it.  The "Clean Slate" program is strange, suggesting a permanence that obviously won't last into Iron Man's next big screen outing, but I like the fireworks-style display.
As far as we know, IRON MAN 3 is the conclusion of the character's solo arc in the MCU, with Downey having just turned 50 this month.  IRON MAN 3 marked the end of Downey's original contract with Marvel, but following prolonged negotiations, Downey was signed on for AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and a third Avengers film, although with the third Avengers, titled AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, now being made in two parts, it's unclear if Downey is on board for both parts.  However, last fall it was announced that Downey will reprise the character in a major supporting role for CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR in May 2016, which is an extremely exciting prospect.  No solo outing for Iron Man is expected again anytime soon, but he'll be around for at least a while longer in the wider MCU.

Easter Eggs to Look for:

• Reference to MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS: Being the first follow-up to THE AVENGERS in the MCU, of course there are going to be some references, but they're largely obvious and even part of the IRON MAN 3 plot, including Stark's PTSD symptoms following the Battle of New York, with brief archive footage from THE AVENGERS.
• Reference to MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS: The post-credits stinger features a cameo by Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner, alter ego of the Hulk, reprising the role from THE AVENGERS, in which Banner and Stark became friends.
• Reference to THOR: Aldrich Killian refers to events in THOR when he says, "Ever since that big dude with a hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety's kinda had its day."
• Reference to CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER: Extremis is briefly identified as yet another attempt at creating a "Super-Soldier", like the serum that made Steve Rogers in Captain America in THE FIRST AVENGER, and like Bruce Banner was trying to create in the accident that made him the Hulk as recounted in THE INCREDIBLE HULK.  The Mandarin, aka Trevor Slattery, also has a tattoo on the back of his neck of Cap's shield, but with an anarchy symbol at the center.
• Reference to IRON MAN: The symbols in the Mandarin broadcasts appeared in the first IRON MAN as symbols of the terrorist organization called the Ten Rings, intended as a reference to the Mandarin character noted for his ten rings from which he derives his supernatural abilities in the comic books.
• Reference to IRON MAN: Shaun Toub makes a brief cameo reprising his role as Yinsen, who performs a life-saving operation on Stark and helps him construct the prototype Iron Man suit in the first IRON MAN film, introducing himself to Stark in the 1999 New Year's Eve party.  This calls back to line from IRON MAN, when Yinsen tells Stark, "We met, you know, in a technical conference in Bern." 
  

Top 5 of IRON MAN 3 

1. "I wouldn't go in there go twenty minutes!"- In the process of absolutely murdering our anticipations, for better or worse, IRON MAN 3 also has the most insane bait-and-switch ever in blockbuster filmmaking.  Later, when Tony orders Trevor Slattery's bedmates to go hide in the bathroom, in the background you can hear a disgusted "Ew!"
2. Tony Goes MacGyver- Stranded with a malfunctioning armor suit low on power, Tony storms into the Mandarin's headquarters using homemade explosives made with Christmas ornaments.
3. Ben Kingsley- Just everything Ben Kingsley does in this film, from the flamboyant think tank-designed terrorist warlord to the goofy washed-up actor, is wonderful.
4. Prologue in Switzerland, 1999- The drama, the setup and the nostalgia of regretted events on New Year's Eve 1999, a fresh start started all too wrong, with Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" blaring on the soundtrack.
5. "Walk away from that..."- Iron Man takes down Killian's main henchman, Savin (James Badge Dale), by removing his chest.

Images via Marvel Studios

Marvel Cinematic Universe: THE AVENGERS

In eager anticipation of Marvel Studios' AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, I'm re-watching every entry in the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" (MCU) thus far, from IRON MAN to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and then sharing my views on each one as a film and within the context of the MCU and movie landscape.  At the end of each essay is a list of "Easter eggs" that connect the pertinent film to other films in the wider MCU, and a "Top 5" of the best five parts (a scene, concept, actor, character, etc.) in each movie.  The first five movies of the MCU were in the service of setting up a world to be paid off in spectacular fashion, and spectacular it was, in Marvel Studios' best independently-produced movie to date, MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS.  [Please note, this review contains spoilers for MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS, and some speculation involving connections to future Marvel releases].

MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS  (aka AVENGERS ASSEMBLE)
Released 4 May 2012
Directed by Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Alexis Denisof
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference.
143 minutes
Merit: 4/4
When Nick Fury, the Director of an international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., encounters an unexpected enemy that threatens global safety and security, he finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.  Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins for Earth's mightiest heroes.  Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, and two of the world's greatest assassins, Black Widow and Hawkeye, must assemble to defeat Loki, the darkest villain the Earth has ever known.  [Synopsis from "Marvel Cinematic Universe - Phase One: Avengers Assembled" Blu-ray box set]

The last time that I left a movie theater feeling really exhilarated after seeing a brand new movie for the first time was at about 2:45 AM on May 4, 2012.  It was in the wee hours of the morning, but I felt like the previous two hours and twenty-three minutes had been the most entertaining superhero movie I had ever seen and my adrenaline was still soaring.  I watched it again about 18 hours later after completing a work shift, and my opinion was not changed.  In anticipation of the 2012 summer movie season, I was more excited for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES than any other movie, but even three years later, MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS is still the most fun, and if that is any mark of quality, the best superhero movie that I've ever seen.

MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS, differentiating itself from the inept and silly 1998 flop, but also popularly known simply as THE AVENGERS, or in the UK as AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, is a deliriously witty thrill ride from the start, as Loki (Tom Hiddleston), notably more psychotic from when we last saw him in THOR, ambushes a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility to steal the Tesseract, a powerful energy source which he plans to use to open a portal and unleash an alien army called the Chitauri, and conquer Earth.  From there, we're reunited with the heroes we know from the previous Marvel films, far flung across the globe; Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), code name Black Widow, in Russia, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), aka the Hulk, in Calcutta, and Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), aka Iron Man, and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), aka Captain America, both in New York City.  Once they get the team together, the trick is to get them to work together, as their egos and allegiances clash and Loki plays them against each other.
Writer/director Joss Whedon, previously best known as the creator of the TV series Buffy the Vampire

Slayer and Firefly, and his only prior theatrically-released feature film being SERENITY, a commercial failure continuation of Firefly, nails the tone of each of the characters, sometimes even better than their solo films.  Flying in the face of the post-DARK KNIGHT "dark and gritty" formula, Whedon's script uses humor to emphasize each of the important characters' personalities, with a pervasive wit that injects itself into the action set-pieces as well as the character interactions.
THE AVENGERS has wall-to-wall action, but there are three showcase action set-pieces, each of which capture the landmarks in the formation of the Avengers team.  First is the confrontation in Germany, where Loki is apprehended by Captain America and Iron Man, but the arrest soon descends into a showdown between Cap, Iron Man and Loki's brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth).  When they're first put together, they end up fighting each other.  Second is the battle on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, where Loki makes his escape while manipulating the Avengers to turn on each other, but they're gradually learning to cooperate for the greater good.  Finally, there's the grand 40-minute climax, the "Battle of New York", where all six Avengers finally come together to work as a unit to fight an army of hundreds of Chitauri warriors.
On the one hand, the Battle of New York sequence can be criticized as typical CGI bombast and destruction, and producer Kevin Feige may have chosen a poor example for what he wanted to emulate in TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, but my goodness, it's so awesome.  Of course, there's the "nerdgasm"-inducing "hero shot" as the Avengers circle up, but my favorite is the extended tracking shot that goes from Avenger to Avenger as they take down Chitauri across the cityscape.  The Chitauri are a generic, "faceless" army that basically serve as fodder for the Avengers, but the generic villain serves the intended purpose of providing a context in which the heroes overcome their main obstacle in the movie- their lack of cooperation and personal shortcomings, such as when Stark makes a sacrifice that calls back to Captain America's accusation that he wasn't the type to "lay down on the wire".  Loki is a spectacular villain who gets some really great moments, but the point isn't so much the heroes vs. villains aspect as it is the heroes getting over their own personal hang ups.  Stark is selfish, Banner is ashamed, Romanoff and Barton have guilt complexes, and so on.  THE AVENGERS is about its eponymous characters coming to terms with each other and themselves.  Romanoff is my personal favorite, vastly improved from her introduction in IRON MAN 2, a sexy, feminist character with a lot of substance, complemented by Johansson's performance.

Loki, the primary antagonist, may be only a secondary obstacle to the Avengers, but he's nonetheless a marvelous comic book villain, vicious and indignant, with plenty of opportunities for flowery speeches while watching on amused at the chaos that he creates.  As a special bonus, he proves that you can get away with using an archaic form of the so-called "c-word" in a family adventure film distributed by Disney, you "mewling quim".  It is a family film; if Marvel Studios have proved anything, it's that we've come back around from the PG-rated family fare of the '70s and '80s that would be rated PG-13 today, to actually having PG-13-rated family films.  Slightly older families, sure, but THE AVENGERS really does have something for everyone, men and women, young and old.
It's mass appeal showed at the box office, where THE AVENGERS was a gargantuan success.  2012 was a stellar year for film, with four movies that crossed the $1 billion barrier internationally, including THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY and SKYFALL, not to mention a little movie called THE HUNGER GAMES that tore up the month of March with $408 million domestically.  It was an insanely successful year for big Hollywood movies, plus a lot of them were successful as entertainment besides.  Nothing could touch the success of THE AVENGERS though.  Four pre-established superhero series tying in together, it was practically money in the bank from the word 'go', but it far outplayed expectations.  Previously, the record for opening weekend gross was 2011's HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 $169.1 million, more than $10 million over the next runner-up, 2008's THE DARK KNIGHT.  Box office analysts began the weekend predicting a record-breaking $172 million for THE AVENGERS, and by the time reports for opening day, May 4, came in, with a second-highest opening day ever of $80.5 million, opening up the possibility of an outrageous $200 million weekend.  What's more, stellar reviews and audience word-of-mouth was through the roof, making it a truly must-see movie, and by the time the weekend was over, THE AVENGERS had shattered not only records but expectations with $207.4 million, which currently stands $33 million ahead of the next runner-up.  In its first weekend, THE AVENGERS had nearly grossed its enormous $220 million budget.  It was only getting started.

The movie had real legs, being the only movie to ever gross a whole $100 million in its second weekend alone, then reaching $1 billion worldwide by May 12.  By the end of its theatrical run in October 2012, THE AVENGERS ranked as the third highest-grossing movie of all-time, both domestically and internationally.  Domestically, THE AVENGERS stands behind AVATAR ($760.5 million) and TITANIC ($658.6 million), with a total of $623.3 million, ahead of fourth place-holder THE DARK KNIGHT ($534.8 million).  Internationally, THE AVENGERS stands behind AVATAR ($2.788 billion) and TITANIC ($2.186 billion), with an international total of $1.518 billion, ahead of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 ($1.341 billion).
Interestingly, heading into the summer, THE AVENGERS was not the most anticipated movie of the season, going up against THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, the long-awaited follow-up to 2008's THE DARK KNIGHT.  THE DARK KNIGHT is a brilliant movie, an important movie, a movie that brought artistic legitimacy for superhero movies to all but the most stubborn and snootiest art house champions.  THE DARK KNIGHT RISES doesn't live up to its predecessor, not by a long shot, and after so much denial and so many attempts to justify the bloatedness, the improbable plotting, the b-grade supporting cast and overall depressing qualities, one just has to accept that THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is ultimately a failure.  In many otherwise positive reviews of THE AVENGERS, critics qualified that THE AVENGERS was merely a "popcorn movie", a fun bit of summer entertainment, but the real show was yet to come, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, and would remind us all that superhero movies can be "art" too.  THE AVENGERS, certainly as far as I'm concerned, is the best superhero movie to date.  It's technically not "perfect"; it has a few contrivances in service of the plot and much of the climactic action is almost entirely computer animated, but it's such a joyous piece of wish-fulfillment, the ideal (if not perfect) summer movie.  Four years after the crushingly dark and cynical THE DARK KNIGHT, released in the midst of the Great Recession, where only a glimmer of hope shines through, THE AVENGERS revealed a world that THE DARK KNIGHT only hints at; a world of ideals and optimism, where the true challenge and ultimate victory is in working together.  THE AVENGERS is the ultimate feel-good fantasy, one full of old-fashioned ideals and optimism worth real-world striving, and that is pretty important too.

Easter Eggs to Look for:

•  Foreshadowing to AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: In a mid-credits stinger, Loki's contact to the Chitauri, The Other (Alexis Denisof) speaks to his master: "Humans...they are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They are unruly, and therefore cannot be ruled.  To challenge them is to court death."   The large-jawed purple face that turns and grins is Thanos, an Avengers villain noted for his "love affair" with death, and has already appeared in a cameo in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, played by Josh Brolin, and will be the primary antagonist in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART 1 coming in 2018 and PART 2 in 2019.

Top Five Moments of MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS 
1. Extended Tracking Shot Over the Battle of New York (Tie-In Shot)- An astoundingly complex and lengthy, uncut shot that follows Black Widow up into the air, piggybacking a ride on an alien vehicle, passing Iron Man, who the camera follows as he passes to take down a few Chitauri with Captain America on the street, then flying up past Hawkeye, stopping to show him taking down aliens with his unique arrow arsenal, then catching up with Hulk and Thor atop a passing Leviathan, taking down and wrapping up with a hilarious non sequitur comic beat as Hulk punches Thor out of frame.
2. Natasha Interrogates Loki- Natasha gets Loki, imprisoned in a huge, practically impenetrable glass cell, talking with her own unique interrogation technique, and getting him to expose his most sinister side: "This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer...pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!  I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you, slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear! And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"  Reaching a chilling boiling point, Natasha gets what she wants from him though.
3. String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor (Rosamunde) by Franz Schubert- I adore action scenes scored with Romantic-Classical compositions, and Rosamunde is a beautiful, sentimental piece to play over a possessed Clint Barton shooting down security guards and Loki using a horrific device to carve out a high society man's eye.  It emphasizes the brutality by adding a disturbing elegance to the violence.
4. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."- Iron Man has already shown up earlier in the film, but this is his real entrance into THE AVENGERS, showing up in Berlin as Captain America is sparring with Loki, taking over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s quinjet PA system with AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill", knocking Loki to the ground and gives him an offer: "Make your move, Reindeer Games."  That, ladies and gentlemen, is Iron Man.
5. Shawarma- Filmed less than a month before the film's wide release and added after the film's world premiere, the brief post-credits scene of the Avengers sitting around a table in a heavily damaged cafe eating shawarma in the battle aftermath provided a huge boost sales for vendors of the Middle Eastern dish in the wake of the film's release.  Shawarma, kind of like a Middle Eastern version of a submarine sandwich, as one of those who became interested after seeing THE AVENGERS, is really, really tasty, but the scene is just such a perfect coda to all the non-stop action that came before.  Everything has been said and done, they've just fought a huge intergalactic battle, and they just sit there in silence, battle-worn, eating shawarma.

Images via Marvel Studios