"Captain America: The First Avenger"

Okay, who here thinks this is just a rip off from Indiana Jones? The subtle line, “And Hitler searches the desert for trinkets,” kind of gives it away, and the entire premise of some Nazi driven general seeking power from an ancient relic does as well. And they can get away with it because Paramount made both Captain America and all the Indiana Jones movies.

However, this has to be the most action packed film yet. Steve Rogers shows his determination in joining the U.S. Army, despite being declined at multiole recruiting stations, and he’s taken under the wing of a mysterious German scientist who is in charge of a secret military program to genetically modify soldiers. When the scientist is killed, the program goes under and Rogers is the only subject. He, then, is used in a bond selling campaign for the war. His chance to really show off his skills was when he escaped to rescue his friend, Bucky Barnes, and his military division. They form a special team to hunt down Johan Schmidt, the leader of Hydra. Schmidt was after the mysterious cube we saw at the end of Thor, the Tesseract. The cube emits an unprecedented amount of energy, which he harnesses to power his weapons. During one of the raids, Steve loses Bucky when he falls to his death from the Hydra train in the mountains. In an epic showdown, with a hint of revenge, Rogers defeats Schmidt, who is the Red Skull, and sacrifices himself by bringing Schmidt’s plane down.

Is this how we get Captain America? I thought Captain America was created to fight communism. And this is the first time, except for Iron Man, that a superhero was aware of its own comic books and trading cards.

We see much more of Tony Stark’s father, Howard, and he is just as charismatic and playboy-ish. I know Steve Rogers knew better than to ask, as a soldier, but there is no doubt that he was wondering why this quack of a scientist, whose flying car failed to get six inches off the ground, was working for the military. Speaking of Howard Stark, so the “new element” Tony made in Iron Man 2 isn’t vibranium, which brings back my original question, what did Tony invent? And if that was all the vibranium they had, why did they put it all into the shield?

The movie did a good job hiding the Red Skull while dropping subtle hints until they threw it all away when an arrogant Nazi soldier says, “the Red Skull must stop,” quoting the Fuhrer. Having said that, you ruin the reveal that Schmidt is the Red Skull. Now that I think about it, they didn't bother hiding him at all in the trailer nor in the poster (see below).

Hayley Atwell gives us the most badass love interest yet in Agent Peggy Carter, but her love for Steve is the shortest in the MCU surpassing Jane and Thor’s; they really didn’t get to show affection until the very last scene.

It makes sense that Rogers was able to survive the crash. In fact it even makes sense that he is practically immortal, since his cells now have a regenerating power. And I know they didn’t know that he was able to decipher the radio broadcast because he was at the baseball game that was playing, but the whole act was cruel to a man who was asleep for 70 years.

There was no end credits scene this time around. Instead, it’s a sneak peak scene and trailer for the next film in the series.

I'm calling this a win, to be honest. This is the most believable origin story of the MCU so far. Let's see, we got arrogant billionaire taken down a peg (Tony Stark), arrogant scientist taken down a peg (Dr. Bruce Banner), arrogant prince taken down a peg (Thor), and a wimpy kid with heart from Brooklyn becomes a war hero (Capt. Steve Rogers). You may not be impressed by this movie, but you have got to admit, it's been the most fun since Iron Man at this point, maybe not even then. Roger kicked a lot more ass than Tony did. Tony took out the seven guys that held him hostage and Stane, and Rogers took out EVERY HYDRA HE MET! Including Schmidt.
Okay, sure Schmidt was unfairly killed, but remember, he was seeking power from a cube. Put it that way, it can be justifiable. Yeah, yeah, it's a magical cube with immense power, but it was power that he could barely control, and it got better of him. That's a common trait in sci-fi/adventure flicks. Don't believe me, watch all the Indiana Jones movies, including the wretched Crystal Skull, you'll see what I mean. Another example? National Treasure. Sure, there's no power involved, but the bad guy got caught hunting the treasure on government property.

I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return next week with another movie. See you then.

Special Update! Starting in the new year, I will be writing a new blog series called "Before I Go See It." It is where I will be giving my thoughts on upcoming movies before they hit the theaters, based on their trailers. It'll be like this, but you get a taste before you go see the movie. Once up, I will share a link on this blog as well as share a link on social media. Thank you, and have a Happy New Year.

Released On: July 22, 2011
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper, Samuel L. Jackson
Director: Joe Johnston Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 6.9/10

Awards
Saturn Awards

• Best Science Fiction Film - Nominated
• Best Actor Chris Evans - Nominated
• Best Supporting Actor Stanley Tucci - Nominated
• Best Music Alan Silvestri - Nominated
• Best Production Design Rick Heinrichs - Nominated
• Best Costume Anne B. Sheppard - Nominated
• Best Special Effects Mark Soper, Christopher Townsend & Paul Corbould - Nominated

(Click here to view awards for "Captain America: The First Avenger")

Videos
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With Captain America: The First Avenger
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - Captain America: The First Avenger
How It Should Have Ended - How Captain America Should Have Ended

"The Christmas Chronicles"

Let me just say, Santa Kurt is in the wrong movie. Filled with a plethora of movie tropes of Christmas movies past, especially with ties to producer Chris Columbus' Home Alone, this movie is filled with laughable moments. Not because it was funny, but because of how ridiculous it is.
Chevy Chase Jr. was killed in action, and his children suffer spending Christmas alone when Mom is called away to the hospital. The worst little girl in Christmas movie history teams up with her GTA brother in capturing Santa on film. When their antics crash the sleigh, it's up to them to set things right and get Santa on his feet again.
Unfortunately, no one else is willing to help Santa, and he gets picked up by the Chicago Police. He manages to get away by whipping out two guitars for a couple fellow inmates and had three prostitutes as his backup singers. He got an officer to get back with his ex-wife, and the officer let him go.
The Worst Girl seeks help from Santa's elves but gets tied up for a couple because minutes Netflix has time for this. GTA there had written a letter asking Santa to see his dad again. Netflix had for Worst Girl to go snooping as well. Meanwhile, GTA gets picked by some thugs who almost threw Santa's sack in the boiler. GTA risked his life to save the magic sack and fought back with the help of the elves.
Santa, Worst Girl, and GTA rush across North America to deliver the last of the gifts before the sun comes up, or else they will be the people who brought on the Christmas Meltdown on 2018 (actually that goes to the President). THAT'S IT!
I feel gipped by the trailer. It raised too much hype for what I actually saw. I wouldn't be surprised to find this on the Lifetime or Hallmark channels. Worst Girl can't seem to get a grip because she almost fell off Comet, and she straight up fell from the sleigh, thus setting off the chain reaction of the shenanigans.
In 2018, why are they still filming with a video camera? I have one just like it; it's dead. By 2014, everyone was filming on their phones and sharing on Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, and whatever else. Watching the old tapes is fine, but why didn't they get those tapes developed onto a disc or a thumb drive? Can't find a Fotohut in Massachusetts?
I haven't been able to count the nonbelievers in Christmas movies since Miracle on 34th Street, but I hit the ceiling with this movie. I am tired of people thinking Santa is some drunk old man who has the dirt on literally everyone. Put that trope to bed. Enough! STOP! I had to gather enough strength to not punch the TV and grab those imaginary characters by the collars and shake them until I'm tired. I'm tired of this. Any new Christmas movie involving Santa getting incarcerated for being Santa, throw that screenplay in the trash.
The screenwriter saw that Columbus was to be the director and thought "How can I put Home Alone in this?" and had Wendy pour the icy water on the floor for the Charger thief to slip on it. Then, he went on a movie binge and pluck moments from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Polar Express, Arthur Christmas, Rise of the Guardians, and The Santa Clause.
Just a tip. Skip this one when you're browsing on Netflix this Christmas and turn on Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, The Polar Express, Love Actually (yeah, I said it), Die Hard (yeah, I totally said it), or whatever you like.

Click image to view URL.

I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return on Friday with another movie. See you then.

Special Update! Starting in the new year, I will be writing a new blog series called "Before I Go See It." It is where I will be giving my thoughts on upcoming movies before they hit the theaters, based on their trailers. It'll be like this, but you get a taste before you go see the movie. Once up, I will share a link on this blog as well as share a link on social media. Thank you, and have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Whatever Doesn't Offend You.

Released On: November 22, 2018

Rating: TV-PG

Stars: Kurt Russell, Darby Camp, Judah Lewis

Director: Clay Kaytis

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%

IMDb Score: 7.2/10

"Thor"

The movie portrays a story we all know too well; arrogant future king gets banished from his homeland, his father becomes ill, jealous brother takes over and does everything to keep the banished son away. The banished son returns home, fights jealous brother and is welcomed home again. This is the stuff of English literature, not comic books. And like the other origin stories, Iron Man hardly did any Iron Man-ing, the Hulk hardly did any Hulking, so Thor hardly did any Thor-ing.
And poor Natalie Portman. After seeing this, I think she’s being typecast as the strong independent female leader who instantly falls for the blond boy wonder in the fourth installment of a popular franchise. I understand that Chris Hemsworth was a hottie, but come on, you knew the guy only three days. And Disney didn’t own this film yet. So don't jump into an instant romance just yet.

I was uncertain about Anthony Hopkins playing Odin, Thor’s father, until one scene where Thor said he would slaughter the Frost Giants when he’s king and Odin says, “But you’re not king, not yet,” in a way Dr. Hannibal Lecter would have said it.

Though seen in one scene, this is Hawkeye’s first appearance in MCU, and they made it super obvious when Agent Barton picks up the bow instead of a gun.

Agent Coulson continues to be the character I’m conflicted to whether or not to like him. He has a funny streak that also proves he’s serious like in Iron Man 2 when he threatens to Taser Tony Stark and watch Supernanny while Tony drools into the carpet. But during Thor’s interrogation, he suspects Thor had training in the Middle East. He watched Thor walk into the closed-off area take down a dozen guys, and try to lift the hammer. Why didn’t it occur to Coulson that Thor might not be from Earth? S.H.I.E.L.D. should have some kind of Men in Black division watching the skies for otherworld like beings, right?

Overall this was probably the film with the least interesting plot stretched out over two hours of nothing. The biggest action sequence was when Thor was being an idiot, causing his banishment.

Loki probably had a more justifiable motive than other villains in the MCU at this point. He was jealous of Thor being the golden child. Thor was going to be king. Then he learns of his true parentage and becomes upset. And all he wants was to be equal to his brother; he wanted to be the favorite for once. But completing the equation of the formula I mentioned, Thor uses his newfound understanding of his arrogant ways to defeat his power-hungry brother.

The end credits sequence in this film shows Nick Fury and Dr. Selvig, Jane’s friend, discussing the power of a glowing cube we have yet to know about, and then Loki appears in the corner. We were led to believe that Loki perished when he decided to cast himself out and float off into space. We didn’t really see him die, a common characteristic of bringing a character back to life, and he’s a god; I don’t think he can die.
Thor kind of lets you decide whether it's a hit or miss. It's decent enough to make it a hit. A great cast, including the One Broke Girl, Natalie Portman playing a strong, intelligent woman, a breakout film performance by Tom Hiddleston,  and a villain with an actual motive. But it can be a snooze with the lack of action throughout the movie. The romance was absolutely rushed. Despite being a great villain, Loki didn't really think it through, which causes the plan to lose plausibility from the bait and switch with betraying his Odin father by inviting his Jöttenheim father and then killing his Jöttenheim father to save his Odin father. If it made sense to him, maybe he should have monologued it or something. But I guess he knew better than that. Then when it all goes to Hel, Loki would rather "die" and be welcomed back by his brother, which is kind of selfish. Speaking of which, he comes into play later, but Thor destroying the Bifrost is a bit selfish on the resulting level. Don't get me wrong; destroying the Bifrost saved the Nine Realms, but then Thor doesn't find a way to get back to Earth while Jane looks for a way to get to him.
So, I guess this movie is a draw. The MCU stands 1 win, 2 losses, and 1 draw.

I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return next week with another movie. See you then.

Special Update! Starting in the new year, I will be writing a new blog series called "Before I Go See It." It is where I will be giving my thoughts on upcoming movies before they hit the theaters, based on their trailers. It'll be like this, but you get a taste before you go see the movie. Once up, I will share a link on this blog as well as share a link on social media. Thank you, and have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Whatever Doesn't Offend You.

Released On: May 6, 2011
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman
Director: Kenneth Branagh Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77% Certified Score
IMDb Score: 7.0/10

Awards
Saturn Awards

• Best Fantasy Film - Nominated
• Best Supporting Actor Tom Hiddleston - Nominated
• Best Production Design Bo Welch - Nominated
• Best Costume Alexandra Byrne - Winner

(Click here to view more awards for "Thor")

Videos
How It Should Have Ended - How Thor Should Have Ended
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - Thor
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With Thor In 8 Minutes Or Less

"Iron Man 2"

Previously on Iron Man, Tony Stark reveals to the world that he is the titular hero, and it takes only six months for the government to get a little bit upset about the suit. He continues to be a jerk like in the last movie and makes fun of the court hearing that tried to take it away.

This is Black Widow’s first outing in the MCU and it’s perfect. Not because she’s played by ScarJo, though it doesn’t hurt, but her background as a former spy allowed her to fly under Tony’s nose as well as Pepper’s. My favorite moment was at the doughnut shop where Natalie appears in her Black Widow outfit, and Tony nearly chokes on his coffee and says, “You’re fired.” But I side with Tony in wondering when were Pepper and Natalie suddenly buddies. Natalie/Natasha was obviously put in to piss off Pepper even though we know that she has no intentions to be with Tony. That makes it sort of frustrating when a super hero movie is resorted to a B comedy with forced misunderstandings. But back to Pepper and Natalie, does Pepper know Natalie’s secret? Does she know that S.H.I.E.L.D. exists? I guess because she had several conversations with Agent Coulson, so she must have known about Natalie. Oh, wait, what if the entire time it was a front for them both from Tony? Natalie being all “Yes, Ms. Potts” and Pepper being all “Don’t ‘Ms. Potts’ me.” Tony being Tony made him oblivious to the act. 

I know I said never read the comics, but when you watch the Looper vids and read CinemaBlend, you learn things.

The other subplot is that the arc reactor in Tony’s chest is killing him with palladium poisoning. Then, according to Jarvis, he created a new element. What is it? I read in a Goliath article, about the best scientific techs in science fiction film and television, that it was vibranium. If that is so, then where did Wakanda get it? And if he invented it, what is Captain America’s shield made of? The same article mentioned that vibranium also makes up the shield. So, who made it first? Speaking of his shield, it makes an appearance this time, but in a campy cameo where Tony puts it under the coil he was using to make the “new element.” I agree with Agent Coulson, where DID Tony get the shield?
Meanwhile, we get War Machine? Colonel Rhodes is War Machine? By the way, what happened to Terrence Howard? I like Don Cheadle as much as the next guy, but he doesn’t fit this role.

The main villain is the son of Howard Stark’s ex-friend, who comes for vengeance. But if the electric whips he creates can slice through Formula 1 cars and a Rolls Royce, why couldn’t it cut through Tony’s suits. Both Iron Man and the War Machine were resistant to the whips. What are the suits made of? In the first movie Tony says that they’re made of a gold-titanium alloy. Can gold-titanium alloy resist being cut? If that is so, how come was able to make, at this point, five suits?

We get to hear more about Tony’s estranged father, Howard, but come on, he’s a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.? And Howard knew the secret to the new element that would replace the palladium that's killing Tony. In his expo design no less. And doesn’t Howard Stark look like a discount Walt Disney? His ’74 expo even looks like the design of Disneyland. Maybe this hints at Disney buying Marvel in the near future.

Tony and Pepper continue to have a dysfunctional relation that finally blossoms with an awkward kiss and a miscommunication on Tony’s health. This is also continued proof that Gwyneth Paltrow doesn’t work as Pepper.

Remember at the end of The Incredible Hulk that Tony said that he was putting together a team? Well, in Iron Man 2, during my favorite scene, Tony tells Nick Fury that he doesn’t want to be part of the Avengers Initiative. And at the end, he’s a consultant. Pick a lane, movie.
Then the end credits scene: it’s a good hint at the next film in the release schedule, Thor, but the film had a bigger hint at the franchise, and we didn’t know it for five years. Stay tuned!
It has to have been a shock, or at least just a letdown, after the success of the first Iron Man. What should have been a more exciting adventure is an action movie on life support. With the disastrous Incredible Hulk, that's two strikes against the MCU in bad movies, but like The Incredible Hulk, it isn't so that you're not deterred from going to the next one.

I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return next week with another movie. See you then.

Released On: May 7, 2010
Rating: PG-13
Stas: Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Don Cheadle
Director: Jon Favreau
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 73% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7.0/10

Awards
Academy Awards

• Best Visual Effects Iron Man 2 - Nominated

(Click here to view more awards for "Iron Man 2")

CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With Iron Man 2 In 6 Minutes Or Less
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - Iron Man 2

Movie Thoughts Presents: The MCU UPDATE!!!

Not for nothing, but I totally called the new release date for April 26, 2019, for Avengers: Endgame.

Tune in next Friday as I take on Tony's next adventure.

"The Incredible Hulk"

Edward Norton is the Hulk? And I thought Bruce Banner got exposed to gamma radiation because he was blocking it and sheltering someone who was in the way. Instead, the movie makes it look like he Quantum Leaped the experiment and tested it himself. Then he spends the entire movie not being the Incredible Hulk. Was Bruce involved in the “Super Soldier” program? I watched the deleted scenes on the DVD and there was the extended scene of the General and Tim Roth talking about it and there was so much cut out that made much more sense with what happened to the “Super Soldier” program. This was obviously an attempt to hint at Captain America, and I read that you could see his shield in the storage closet where the General found the serum. I slowed the movie way down and scanned every square inch of the frame throughout the entire scene and saw nothing.

Of course, the General is the girlfriend’s dad. We have to make the story more interesting, err I mean, boring with the stone cold father trying to kill the guy who nearly killed his daughter. It’s only when Liv Tyler was literally under fire and the Hulk shields her from the fire when the General finally trusts him again.

I feel Tim Roth was comically wasted in this movie. I get it that he’s a fighter and he’s power hungry, but it makes you like him less because he’s squandered as a villain. He’s like the Shredder, scarred from war and easily defeated by a green creature.

The only time Ed Norton and Liv Tyler were enjoyable was in the taxicab scene.

Oh, let’s not forget the important reason we watch these movies now: the subtle hints of the MCU. In this film, Tony Stark makes an appearance, which I find weird because at the time Iron Man was made by Paramount and The Incredible Hulk was made by Universal and says to the General that he’s putting together a team. But the General lost contact with Bruce, so I’m curious how Bruce got into The Avengers later. Actually, let’s talk about that. In the very end of the movie Bruce is hiding in Canada doing his tai chi and then is heart monitor explodes, he smiles and his eyes turn green. So just doing tai chi makes him hulk out? And he smiles like he had a wonderful, awful idea. What’s up with that? I watched the trailer from the Iron Man DVD, and Bruce says the line, “If I could control it, I could use it.” He never says that in the film, but tai chi is him controlling it?

Let’s not forget Pre-Modern Family, Ty Burrell, as Liv Tyler’s forced love interest. What was his motive? Jealousy, I guess, because Liv Tyler suddenly became interested when Bruce returned in her life. He calls the General, and then he acts like he regrets calling him after the incident at the college. His only human trait was defending Liv Tyler helping Bruce, by saying, “I wondered why she never talked about you. Now I know.” Pretty stone cold coming from the silliest dad in modern television.
I'm sure there where people who, six weeks prior, saw a miracle, and they saw this and thought, "What happened?" It never really occurred to me that this was happening. I know I'm beating a dead horse about this, but the fact that the Hulk was created by a completely different studio would have to have thrown off some people. I do remember this coming out, but the only thing that comes to mind was a Mountain Dew ad where someone spills their Dew on the floor, and he Hulks out. Growing up I saw trailers for the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies, the Fantastic Four franchise, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Iron Man came along and I considered it just another superhero movie. A month later, The Incredible Hulk stomped its way into theaters and that was it. The way I see it now was that Iron Man was the first hit in a long time, and this dissatisfying mess had to ride its coattails. Fortunately, it isn't so bad that it deters people from continuing to go see the movies.

I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return next week with another movie. See you then.

Released On: June 13, 2008
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt
Director: Louis Leterrier Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%
IMDb Score: 6.8/10

Videos
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - The Incredible Hulk
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With The Incredible Hulk