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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph "You think you're the only superhero in the world?" - The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Discussion in 'Community' started by The2ndQuest , Apr 26, 2010.

  1. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    Opening credits were brilliant, rest of the film was merely decent. Unfortunately I think the story missed a lot without Moore's postmodern asides, which in fairness to the filmmakers couldn't really translate to film. Action scenes were a little too, er, "actiony" I suppose, if that makes sense. Felt a bit cartoony where the source material called for more of a deconstructionist realism. Still, the film managed to hold my attention more than pretty much any other super hero flick, so that's something I suppose.

    Back towards the thread topic of Marvel, though, the reason I mention Age of Apocalypse (aside from nostalgia) is that I think placing a bunch of superpower guys in a post-apocalyptic setting rather than the usual shiny modern city would be a great way to do something familiar while still bucking the overall trend. For once let's throw origin stories and all that out the door in an attempt to get the viewer right into a world where the stakes are immediately about more than getting the girl and stopping the Villain of this Film on the way to the Villain of the Next Film. All the Marvel films I've seen thus far just seem so clinically boring despite (or maybe because of) the snappiness and CGI shine and all that. Even Wolverine is too clean cut and mundane in the films.
     
  2. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    AOA would have to be a series though- you can't do justice to that storyline in a single film.

    If they could pull that off, I'd kill for it- that was the highpoint of my X-title reading phase back then.
     
  3. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 4, 1999
    Both Samuel L. Jackson and John Slattery (Howard Stark) will apparently be in Captain America.

    Jackson also says that after The Avengers, "there will probably be a big S.H.I.E.L.D. movie."
     
  4. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
  5. The_Four_Dot_Elipsis

    The_Four_Dot_Elipsis Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2005
    Oh, God, everyone always suggests this Fillion geezer for every single role in human existence. Nathan Fillion for Captain America, Nathan Fillion for Martin Luther King... Nathan Fillion for Jane Austen!

    Bah!

    That being said, he might be just right for Hank Pym. ;) The more I think about it, the more it works. And it would finally satisfy all those out there who are clamoring for Fillion to appear in some flavour of franchise installment.
     
  6. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 4, 1999
    1) Current rumor has it that the Skrulls will be the baddies in The Avengers. Not in a big invasion way, either. Sounds like a bad idea to me, but then again, we've seen the supervillain thing enough times that maybe. . . eh, we'll see how it goes.

    2) Joe Johnston has said, I think, that the second half of Captain America will include the Invaders, so along with Cap we'll likely see Bucky, the original Human Torch, Toro and Namor. Maybe even some later additions like Union Jack or Spitfire.
     
  7. Merlin_Ambrosius69

    Merlin_Ambrosius69 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 4, 2008
    It's funny, I was just thinking about the Skrulls, for some reason, this morning! And it isn't as if I sit around contemplating the Skrulls all the time. They just popped into my head, and I started wondering whether the Marvel movies would utilize them in any way. I'll be gosh-darned if that isn't an odd coincidence.

    =P~ [face_praying] :cool:

    If they set up the original Human Torch in CA, then the Vision is certain to be in the Avengers. This would just about make my decade, as he and the Sub-Mariner are among Marvel's most intriguing hero/villains.
     
  8. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Sadly Fox owns the rights to Namor, so he won't be in there. I'm not against the Vision appearing, but I just never had any attachment to the character. I think it's just because he looks so silly- like he belongs in a DC comic.
     
  9. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 4, 1999
    I wonder what will happen with the Invaders, then. Could there be some weird rights loophole if they say it's the original Timely Comics Namor instead of the later Marvel Comics Namor, or something like that. . .

    Also, James McAvoy has been cast as Xavier in X-Men: First Class.
     
  10. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
  11. Reynar_Tedros

    Reynar_Tedros Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2006
  12. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    Eh, I only agree with #4 and #7- they need to beef up the villains. The cast size was fine in IM2, I still don't understand how people can think IM2 felt like a setup for Avengers (given that it occupies all of 4 lines of dialogue and maybe 30 seconds of screentime), it doesn't need more action (having two major and one minor action sequence is enough- Stark is more interesting than Iron Man, and when did people start complaining about big budget summer comic films needing more action? [face_laugh]) and the score from the first film had some very hummable themes (you are all wrong dammit!) .
     
  13. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    The only piece I found memorable in either movie was the track called "Driving With the Top Down" (plays when Tony goes flying and freezes up). Although the top musical moment thus far has been the Sabbath as the first film went to credits. If only they could just work out some deal and rework that melody into something slightly more heroic...

    I'll grant that #2 is less an issue of too much and more an issue of not making good use of the huge cast. None of the characters are written especially well, and thus far Favreau seems content to just coast on the charisma of the cast I hope that changes - I KNOW Whedon will work on it with Avengers if he directs, so hopefully it'll carry through to IM3.

    Speaking of Avengers, the movie is full of gags that have no point BUT to set up later films. The departure of Agent whats-his-face is one example: what should have been a quick throw-away that only fanboys would catch on first viewing instead was presented as a hamfisted mystery tease. There are more (like almost everything Fury says and does during his not inconsiderable screen-time), but that's the first one that came to mind.

    As far as the action, again I agree that it's more an issue of quality than quantity. But I think the action scenes need to be more prevalent and integrated. I think that superhero movies usually benefit a sense that being a superhero is the character's volunteer JOB, that they save people and stop villains day-in-day-out, and that they LIKE doing it. You need the fun, fairly easy heroics to balance out the tough and dramatic ones.

    One of my favorite parts of TDK is the Hong Kong segment, because it's Batman on the job, and it actually looks pretty fun. And even though it all ties together, it's not really part of Batman's conflict with the Joker. Or in the first Iron Man film, the segment where he saves the village from the terrorists. There's an aspect of wish-fulfillment in even the darkest superhero stories, and right now the Iron Man franchise has far too much a vibe of, "Being Iron Man would be great if I didn't have to be a superhero."
     
  14. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 4, 1999
    It had the Stark/Iron Man motif, the Ironmonger motif, and also the quite hummable workshop porn motif. Nothing sophisticated, and not developed in any interesting way, but they're recognizably there.
     
  15. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Each suit had a theme I enjoyed- though I agree they weren't developed as much as they should have, they're recognizable and catchy. The Mark I blacksmith hammer theme was awesome (if way too brief) as was the Mark I's escape battle. You also hear the Mark I theme pop up subtley a few other times in the score (there's a moment with the Ten Rings and the recovered suit that has a neat middle eastern flair to it).

    The Mark II had a great little horn-based theme that played triumphantly during the test flight and Mark III had Driving With the Top Down's various themes used later on when suiting up (as well as in the IM2 Dr Pepper commercials).

    The music during Tony's rescue and arrival at the air base was quite moving too. The Iron Monger stuff didn't do much for me though.


    See, I disagree on those examples. Yes, Agent Coulson's scene is linking to other Marvel films partially, but if you didn't know about them, it's still self contained in a "we brought back the guy from the first movie you liked for a small role" sense. His first scene is to say he's the badass babysitter and his second scene is to reveal why he's leaving (doesn't matter if you know the nature of his mission- he's just leaving on a secret mission).

    99% of what Fury does and says has to do with the plot of IM2- of how Stark is handling going it alone, and showing how he could benefit from his help, as well as helping Stark figure out the problem he's been facing the whole film with the battery contamination, fitting within the theme of legacies the film has. That scene in the dinner has just the one "I don't want to join your super secret boy band" line for Avengers and that's it. The talk at Stark's home is all about Stark's father and Tony's problem and one line that connects Howard to SHIELD. Everything else is about IM2.

    The last scene is the only one of any substance towards Avengers- though it's more of an epilogue, centered primarily around how much Tony has solved his problems and continuing the Avengers mention from the end of IM1 (so if you, again, didn't know what the Avengers were or that a movie was being made, you would see it as just a continuation of that end credits scene from the first film).
     
  16. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    Exactly. His presence in the film does almost nothing but introduce his secret mission, setting up a mystery thread that has no importance to or payoff in this particular film (no, the post-credits Thor tease doesn't count).

    I'll have to give the Fury scenes another look when the DVD comes out, but what sticks with me is the general "this universe is bigger than you" vibe which IMO seemed to diminish the importance of everything in the film. It made it feel like Tony Stark's story was happening in Avenger-world, rather than the other way around - if that makes any sense.
     
  17. Merlin_Ambrosius69

    Merlin_Ambrosius69 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 4, 2008
    This could work, assuming especially that the "flashy" suit comes back for the Avengers. I do wish the suit was more vibrant blue, though, and that the boots were at least red-ish rather than plain ol' brown. He is Captain America, after all! What's wrong with using the colors of the US flag?
     
  18. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Taken from a stand-alone POV, his presence isn't there to introduce his secret mission, rather the film is using a secret mission to excuse his exit from the film/lack of presence later in the film (while still allowing this popular character from the first film to pop up again).

    Fury's line would, again depend on your POV. From a standalone POV it's basically Fury saying his job isn't to personally follow Tony around 24/7 (that's what Black Widow is for ;))- he's got other cases and issues to deal with.
     
  19. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 4, 1999
  20. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    That's not a picture from the film- that's from a video game or comic or a fanshopped pic or something- it was just attached to Darkhorizon's article on the subject as an approximation. The spy report description, for example, says the shield is round, for one.

    EDIT- There are some fan sketches based on the description here though.

    [image=http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/capfanart1.jpg] [image=http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/capfanart2.jpg] [image=http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/capfanart3.jpg]
     
  21. Merlin_Ambrosius69

    Merlin_Ambrosius69 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 4, 2008
    Beat me to it! Yeah, the link in Mastadge's post cannot be a photo of the film costume, unless we're prepared to believe that the reporter at JoBlo.com made up the costume he saw across several paragraphs of excruciating detail. The gloves JoBlo saw are brown, not red; the red stripes on the abdomen are supposed to be straps that connect to the waist at the belt; the shield is round; there are shoulder pads or plates, etc.

    The color drawing in 2ndQuest's post appears to nail the JoBlo-reported suit most accurately.
     
  22. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    And here are some BADASS fan renderings:

    [image=http://www.aintitcool.com/images2009/capam1.jpg] [image=http://www.aintitcool.com/images2009/capam2.jpg] [image=http://www.aintitcool.com/images2009/capam3.jpg] [image=http://www.aintitcool.com/images2009/capam4.jpg]
     
  23. Spider-Fan

    Spider-Fan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2008
    AICN and JoBlo.com are claiming its real. Either way, I have to say it looks great. There are little nitpicky things I don't like, but I can live with them happily.
     
  24. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    The only thing I feel inclined to nitpick is the lack of separation between the helmet and mask- for WWII Cap, I'd think making it more normal-helmet would look better, and then save the fancier integrated mask/helmet for Avengers.

    Additionally, as cheesy as some people think the wings are- his head design seems kinda empty without them. They could have at least had them be a painted on decal or something.
     
  25. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    Something like this?
    [image=http://www.ifanboy.com/files/images/marvel/Ultimate%20Captain%20America.jpg]
    The mask is leather with a metal helmet over it.