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

That’s an interesting way to go about it, if that pans out. Especially because

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both Wolverine and the Celestial island were appeared on the same webpage in She-Hulk.

 

With the GOTG Holiday Special from last month closing out Phase Four, we have a unique opportunity to do a look back at an entire Phase at the end of a year- as a Phase has never ended outside of May or mid-summer before. So, I'm going to do a brief look-back review at all 18 films/series that make up this Phase- but not in release order or chronological order, but, rather, in semi-connected pairs, one pair a day until the end of the year (or thereabouts).

I actually encourage people to reapproach everything in that new context as well- it often allows you reevaluate a production when you look at it from a different angle and take it out of the original release context, expectations, etc.

(This first entry is a little longer than I intended, but i think the earlier Phase Four releases need a little deeper of a dive to remind us of their qualities due to the deluge of content we've had this Phase over so short a time)


Second poster:

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BLACK WIDOW
Should it have come out years earlier? Of course. But what's important is we have it now and many/most people will probably watch it in order in the future- and it's something that builds up Nat's arc across the Infinity War/Endgame films in some interesting ways. On its own, it still does some interesting things with some darker themes but is a bit of a mixed basket upon initial viewing.

Subsequent viewings start to make the structure and tone of the film much clearer: there's a vivid divide between the first 2 acts (which are more Bourne-like in style, close kin to the Russo Captain America films) and the final act (which goes into much more traditional Bond territory- complete with a flying fortress full of baddies and a villain monologue!).

Those choices keep the main villain off-screen for too long (he really should have been more directly taunting and/or active in the counter-pursuit of Nat in the middle of the film, to have a more constant antagonistic presence beyond a shadowy concept of a threat), but fits in with what they were going for. Meanwhile, this version of Taskmaster may not be the character from the comics, but provides for an interesting Terminator-like villain that has a lot of potential moving forward. And their two key action sequences are quite excellent.

This film also brings in Yelena- and while I wasn't as enamored at first sight with her as most people seem to have been, she has grown on me since (thanks to Hawkeye) and her interaction with ScarJo is one of the highlights of the film (the whole dysfunctional sleeper family dynamic in general, really is- including their mom and dad). Harbour as the Red Guardian is fantastic as well.



The film remains a competent, mid-tier entry in the MCU on the whole. A few bumps here and there (a few hits and falls are distractingly without consequence, and they really shouldn't have deleted the final scenes with Ross as it made for an awkward and abrupt ending cut), but some good highlights (including an opening chase scene that might end up being the last time we see SHIELD).

Score-wise, it's very disappointing, though. The score by Lorne Balfe is fine within the film- it's only purpose, really, is to provide fast rhythm to the action sequences and to otherwise "sound Russian" with the chants and styles. But while there are some moments where it starts to develop a little personality (usually around Taskmaster or the falling fortress), they are brief and without fulfillment, leaving this to be one of the most boring scores to listen to on its own. Even Giacchino's Doctor Strange score has far more going for it. Ultimately, the most memorable thing about the music from the film is the Nirvana cover that accompanies the (rare) opening credits sequence- and that isn't even included on the soundtrack.



In fact, it's really difficult to even select any highlights from the score, so much of it blends together without much of note. "Whirlwind" is maybe the best track, but even that is barely catchier than the rest of the more generic action music that the bulk of the score is made up of:



While "Natasha's Lullaby" at least stands out as being something different, even if it doesn't hook well.


And, of course, it's the day before Christmas, so the only appropriate entry to include in this first batch is...


Third poster:

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HAWKEYE
The other "should have happened years ago" MCU entry, It's a Die Hard Christmas in New York, while also dealing with the aftermath of Black Widow, Endgame and setting up the Echo and Daredevil spin-offs. And introducing Kate Bishop as Clint needs to get home in time for Christmas. That's a lot! But it also really, really works.

It has the perfect tone for the Christmas/action film genre and the perfect setting (NYC is basically the capitol of the Christmas season). The personalities and chemistry between the main cast is excellent, the humor is on-point and the action is pretty cool (from the single-shot car chase to arrow gimmicks to fighting Yelena and Echo). And showing the toll being an Avenger has had on a normal human via Clint is a great take, especially in a passing-of-the-torch, mentor-type scenario.

And, yes, this is where I finally started to click with Yelena. Her flashback also managed to show us a perspective we hadn't seen yet, which was great. Echo has a solid start here as well. And, of course, D'onofrio's return as Kingpin was long-awaited- and he picks up being the most intimidating person in the room with ease.

There is a stretch is the middle where maybe it's not hitting on every cylinder (the mother subplot, in addition to stretching out the Kingpin reveal and the abbreviated nature of Echo's arc towards the end), which is a common issue across almost all of the Marvel Studios MCU shows so far. But it is still engrossing because of the cast and scenario, which is something some of those others can't claim.

It'll remain a holiday staple for years to come and is arguably the stand-out Marvel Studios MCU TV entry thus far. I hope we get a second season- but, at the same time, without the holiday setting it might lose its charm, and you wouldn't want the show to repeat itself again (unless they really lean into the Die Hard comparison and do Die Hard 2 [a sequel that basically just repeats the first film] and set it in an airport).

The score here (released across 2 volumes) by Christophe Beck & Michael Paraskevas is pretty great here too. Not only do we have a pretty memorable main theme, it integrates well in with both the "sneaky Bond/Die Hard"-vibing action music and the famous Christmas music (Carol of the Bells, Nutcracker, etc) the majority of the score is built upon. Which, with the heavy use of bells and other Christmas-y sounds, shouldn't be a surprise. The LARP in the Park music theme is also quite fun and fits into the holiday vibe as well.





(And, of course...)

(My) RANKINGS (so far):

Only two to talk about so far, but Hawkeye is definitely the more fun of these entries. Black Widow is a stronger film than many give it credit for (and that's something I suspect will fade away as the "watching this after Endgame" problem goes away with the passage of time and the likelihood of most people watching this after Civil War instead, where it pairs much better in scope). And while it may end up towards the bottom of an isolated Phase Four ranking, it easily remains in the mid-tiers of the MCU as a whole.

I can't say the same for the score, however. It services the film just fine, but it's tough to listen to on its own. I've listened to the whole score a few times now and I still am having difficulty pulling out notable tracks for my master best-of MCU score playlists.

PHASE FOUR FILMS/SHOWS:
-Hawkeye
-Black Widow

PHASE FOUR SCORES:
-Hawkeye
-Black Widow

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

 

Then you're gonna love today's Phase Four review entries!

Round 2!



I AM GROOT

A series of possibly-non-canon-but-they-totally-fit shorts set before, and just after, GOTG2. These were cute for what they were. They don't add much to anything (except, perhaps, showing how he got out of his pot from the end of GOTG1), but they don't take anything away either. And given that the GOTG films are of a more cartoonier nature at times than anything else in the MCU, it's a perfect fit to spin animated shorts off if it- especially with Baby Groot. And there is a little bit of heart in there (as you would expect with any GOTG-based property) at the end with Rocket.

Not much to say here about the soundtrack, as it basically just has the opening title card jingle. There is some additional music in there, but, AFAICT, only the two tracks have had an official release. Nothing really notable.




Second poster

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THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL

What a blast. It's the exact right length and the right tone for a little Christmas adventure. It wisely gives us time with Mantis and Drax (whose friendship origin in GOTG2 was a highlight of that film, but we haven't had much of it in their subsequent appearances). Mantis finding her anger and being more comfortable around things (and also making questionable use of her powers) also shows some growth. Also interesting that her angle in this Special, besides being the emotional core of story, is a means of reintroducing a concept from a scene/moment deleted from GOTG2.

Revealing that the GOTG bought Knowhere from The Collector is also of interest. Did they do that before Thanos killed him? Or was his murder not just an illusion of past events by Thanos, but semi (or entirely) fictional as well?

And the Go-Bots are now canon in the MCU, so my old collection is now worth something .

The score is an appropriately Christmasy one- something that, unlike Hawkeye's Christmasy score, leans more towards Home Alone than Die Hard in the mix. I give Hawkeye's the edge there, but they're different types of shows.


Of course, it's the opening and closing song performances of the Special that are the most memorable- and those two are included on the soundtrack release. But no point in embedding them, as they really should just be watched within the program.

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(My) RANKINGS (so far):

The GOTGHS will get a rewatch annually and BW probably much less so, so even though there's a holiday season effect in place, I'll give it the edge here. meanwhile, Hawkeye's story and score has more to it than just the Christmas music and setting, so I give it the edge.

PHASE FOUR FILMS/SHOWS:
-Hawkeye
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot

PHASE FOUR SCORES:
-Hawkeye
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot

 

And today we dive into the shows that introduced us to the characters who will be putting the plurality into The Marvels:



Additional Posters:

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WANDAVISION

What became the first Marvel Studios TV entry into the MCU is almost a perfect debut. And one that benefits from both an episodic and binge-viewing model. Which is usually a rare combination- especially as many later MCU shows presented an obvious story need for a mix between the two release models (most really needed to be released 2 episodes at a time) despite Disney+ sticking to weekly releases that likely severely harmed those shows' initial viewer impressions.

The series is basically a film with a reality-bended sitcom wrapper. And that core film, focusing on Wanda's history of grief, is quite strong. The Twilight Zone sitcom trimmings made for intriguing weekly viewing at the offset (it kept everyone guessing), and fun satire and homage as the show progressed through the decades. And the eventual introduction of Agatha was fantastic. And we even get some (intentional or not) minor nods towards Agents of SHIELD!

Where it falls short is in some of the finale- the Vision vs Vision fight feels wholly unnecessary (but earns points back for the Ship of Theseus resolution, which is a perfect way for the character to resolve fighting himself) and the rapid devolution of the SWORD agent from being a nuanced, fairly justified, antagonistic ally to shoot-at-kids cartoon bad guy is truly unfortunate. And the Quicksilver fake-out clearly didn't play out the way they had hoped- adding yet another mark against the show.

But most of those negatives are ultimately minor or forgivable (the Vision fight isn't necessary, but it's still entertaining enough so that it doesn't detract from the show), so the show still rides high. At the same time, many of its positives (the sitcom stuff) probably make it less likely to be revisited than other MCU fare.

Christophe Beck (who has composed the scores for Hawkeye and the Ant-Man trilogy) does a great job here as well. I haven't had the chance to go through all of them yet (WV has the pro/con issue that Mandalorian Season 1 in that there were separate releases for each episode, so that can end up being a costly investment), but the main theme that plays over the end credits it the obvious stand-out, providing a sense of eeriness and unrealty:



And one also has to give credit to Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for reinventing their main title theme songs into multiple sitcom era genres +, of course, Agatha All Along.





Additional Poster:

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MS. MARVEL

An absolute delight to watch, but there's some structural elements in the storytelling that throw the momentum off (it'd be nice to have gotten the Partition flashbacks earlier, in part, even if there's a clash with Kamala's upbeat present day stuff. I just think it would have helped the "trail of stars" stuff have a better emotional payoff).

There's not a lot to dive into here- the cast's charm is amazing. You'd totally want to just watch a regular show with these characters without any superhero stuff. The only true negative about this series (except for maybe the obviously-rushed/lower-budgeted FX where even anything with just a greenscreen looks noticeably sub-par) is found in the villain subplot. The Clandestine have potential, at first, to be nuanced, but they go from that to super-evil in 5 seconds in a way that is never truly justified. It is, by far, the most poorly executed villain plotline in the entire MCU- and almost sinks this entire show in the process.

But, despite being a series of high highs and very low lows, it's a show that still comes out on top, leaving us wanting for more adventures with Kamala and her friends, family and community. It's something with a lot of heart and certainly one of the endearing, emotional hero origins we've had.

Haven't had a chance to dive into the score by Laura Karpman yet (probably my next purchase), so I've only sampled a few tracks, but the score seems to have a lot of variety and fun, heroic musical moments:

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(My) RANKINGS (so far):

Thinking it over, I'm still probably going to revisit WV more often than MM- it just has more meat on the bone and lacks long subplots that actively detract from the series. And I'll probably feel like revisiting MM more often in a non-holiday sense (there's a good chance the GOTGHS will still get an annual replay though, but mostly due to the holiday season and less so because of the special itself).

Meanwhile, I'm very impressed by what I've sampled from MM's score. And while WV has some good moments, I'm probably not going to be listening to the sitcom theme songs often and the GOTGHS is just much fuller in sound (even if it, too, is seasonal-based).

PHASE FOUR FILMS/SHOWS:
-Hawkeye
-WandaVision
-Ms. Marvel
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot

PHASE FOUR SCORES:
-Ms. Marvel
-Hawkeye
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-WandaVision
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot

 

Like many films in Phases 1-2, I feel like a lot of Phase 4 will be seen in a different light by what come later. It'll feel much more relevant and interconnected than it currently/initially does. Monica and Kamala being good examples of "side story" stuff that could potentially feel far more important once The Marvels plays everything out. Agatha: Coven of Chaos will; *probably* be her own side thing, I assume, but that also has potential to add up.

Ironically, the Monica plotline in WandaVision may ultimately end up feeling more relevant to the films than the actual Wanda plotline, heh. But, really, all I want is a mid-budget Monica and Agent Woo X-Files spin-off. It'd be the perfect thing to fill that Agents of SHIELD void with. Randall park's Blockbuster series just got cancelled by Netflix (the irony!), so he's free now! Make it happen, Feige.

 

They'll win you over!

 

And today we go for The Blonksy Link...


Teaser poster:

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SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

A film damn near close to being perfect. With a strong lead antagonist, and a fun cast of heroes, wrapped in excellent martial arts action and a touching central story. It only falls short where the B-threat of the finale is introduced in the second part of the film. There's a clear break where all the exposition for the new threat has to be introduced and it makes the film feel very divided in half. If they had better managed to integrate those two plotlines, this would easily have ended up among the Top 5 MCU films. But it didn't, so it ends up merely riding the threshold between A-tier and S-tier MCU films.

Simu Liu doesn't hit the top tier of leading men in the MCU off the bat- but comparing anyone to RDJ or Paul Rudd out of the gate would be unfair. He is, however, in the vicinity of Chris Evans in The First Avenger. Evans had a stronger debut that Liu, but it took 2 or 3 films for Evans to really come into his own as the character. And Simu isn't starting off that far behind (plus his character arc here really involves him having to hold a lot back- a restraint he and the character are now free of), so I think his growth over the next couple films is something to really keep an eye on. Because I think he can get there (or, at the very least, get pretty close).

The score by Joel P. West is excellent, too- with a very catchy main theme that tells the story of the film's main narrative theme. Shang-Chi needs to come to terms with himself being a combination of the dark of his father and the light of his mother and all of their gifts. The film visualized this when he uses the signature moves of his mother to control his Rings attack within The Dweller in Darkness and the signature move of his father to finish it off.

The score reflects this in his main theme- literally combining the theme music for his father and mother in the finale to form his main theme. It's a moment that gives me chills every time and brought me back to the theater several times- and that moment is, in large part, thanks to the score. And scores wrapped in this western-interpretation-of-eastern-instrumental flair are always my jam (I blame the Karate Kid films).





Teaser Poster:

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SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW
("Attorney" is spelled with one "N", one "Y" and it's right where you thiiiiink...)

The first Marvel Studios MCU TV series to truly embrace an episodic format throughout (no story with an episodic wrapper like WV, no 6 hour movie chopped up, no 2-episode arc chunks, etc). You have ongoing and recurring threads, but mostly within the court room comedy structure.

And the result is one of the more delightful MCU entries that helps fill the gap left by parts of Agents of SHIELD by giving us some day-to-day-in-the-MCU stories, answering basic questions we've often asked. The cast clicks in their roles so well (Tatiana has great chemistry with everyone- particularly with Charlie Cox in his first non-Netflix MCU appearance as Daredevil). And the humor (featuring just enough 4th wall-breaking throughout and a hefty amount towards the end) generally clicks perfectly well- often even through the credits.

The score by Amy Doherty is never the focus, but has a few highlights with the main theme and, later, what appears to be the new Daredevil theme (with a nod towards the original Netflix theme thrown in for good measure).

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(My) RANKINGS (so far):

Shang-Chi rockets to the top of this list by a significant distance. And She-Hulk is easily the most fun MCU show Marvel Studios has produced- and also the only one, likely due to its episodic approach, that leaves you wanting more episodes, not wishing it could have been fewer (even the wedding episode's placement is intentional commentary on weddings, so at no point does SH really ever drag during its season, so long as you are patient for Daredevil ).

Likewise, Shang-Chi's score easily tops the list-so-far. Meanwhile, She-Hulk's is in the neighborhood of WamdaVision's, but is more catchy and heroic, so it stands out just a little bit more. But it's not quite as full as the GOTGHS.

PHASE FOUR FILMS/SHOWS:
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-She-Hulk
-Hawkeye
-WandaVision
-Ms. Marvel
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot

PHASE FOUR SCORES:
-Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
-Ms. Marvel
-Hawkeye
-The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
-She-Hulk
-WandaVision
-Black Widow
-I Am Groot