Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Thread

[GoGo Yubari]

I thought Eternals was fine, better than I feared given the reviews, but I struggled to be invested in a lot of it. Like, I generally look at a lot of these first movies in potential franchises as probably not being great but ideally giving me a reason to be excited to see the protagonists again. I thought Black Widow didn't rise above "good enough" but it definitely made me want to see Yelena in more MCU stuff, and I actively disliked Shang-Chi as a movie but I'm up to watch Simu Liu and Awkwafina in another movie and hope I like that one better. I think by and large I'm neutral on seeing any of these characters again save Phastos and Kingo's valet, which I suppose means I should be down to see Kingo again too since that's a package deal. Angelina Jolie gave a good performance too tbf, and Kit Harrington seemed lively enough in a way that was kind of pleasant since I legitimately can't remember if I've seen him as a character that isn't Jon Snow. But if this movie were like The Incredible Hulk and barely ever got mentioned again, I would also be like "yeah, that tracks."

Spoiler

The stuff with the Deviants was always blatantly meant to be a distraction but unlike some of the other iterations of these (the Skrulls in Captain Marvel, The Mandarin in Iron Man 3) it wasn't a distraction that felt worth my time.  And of course there were just these moments that made me kind of laugh and shake my head, like Ikaris flying into the sun.

It is cool that they actually foregrounded a relationship between two male characters in a way that feels a little less superfluous and performative than Disney movies usually do, though.

There have been way worse Marvel movies but I get why this is the one that's actually getting pelted with tomatoes critically. Doesn't really have the kind of star quality or safety blanket stuff that, say, an Iron Man 2 or an Age of Ultron has to distract from the flaws.

[Colly]

On 09/09/2021 at 16:45, GoGo Yubari said:

Bit of a Captain Marvel "I didn't like it but I'm happy for the people that did" thing at the end of the day for me, I guess.

Very late as usual, but this was my response on Shang-Chi too, I had exactly the same feeling of Marvel movie burnout that I had from Captain Marvel. I enjoyed the first hour, which is probably the point where Awkwafina went from the heart of the movie to just looking shocked at things, but after that just felt like a mass of CGI and massive stakes that I couldn't really be bothered to follow. Not horrible by any means, but just no fun and not every film has to go over 2 hours.

Just realised I've just quoted a 3 month old post when I could have just responded to the one above. Oh well!

[Kaney]

Just saw Eternals and yeah....not that great? I always felt with the comics I really wasn't into the cosmic stuff Marvel does, and it seems outside of Guardians it's the same with the films. Felt it was all over the place and while it did a good job fleshing out some totally brand new characters, I don't think I really liked any of them except Phastos. I don't think any of the humour landed at all, and it lacked a lot of the charm/chemistry that makes a lot of MCU special.

On 15/11/2021 at 08:50, GoGo Yubari said:

I actively disliked Shang-Chi as a movie

Not sure if I missed your thoughts when it was released, can I ask why? I really liked it, I thought after Black Widow it gave me more hope for this phase of films but Eternals kinda leveled it out again.

[RoHitman Reigns]

Newest Spiderman NWH Trailer

Spoiler

 

 

[tristy]

For those that know... that scaffold scene. Oh yeah. 😎

This might be my first Marvel movie to see in theaters since the first Iron Man.

[Ruki]

Yes. This looks good. 

[Kaney]

Does it show anything spoilery? I saw the last trailer but I want to stay away from anything else that might ruin any other surprises.

[tristy]

2 minutes ago, Kaney said:

Does it show anything spoilery? I saw the last trailer but I want to stay away from anything else that might ruin any other surprises.

I'd probably stay away if the tease of Green Goblin, and showing Doc Ock, was too much for you from the first teaser.

[RoHitman Reigns]

Here is the Brazil trailer, look at the last 10 seconds if you want to discuss something for sure

Spoiler

 

Discussion point

Spoiler

Did they remove a spidey from it digitally? Leaping at thin air and then Lizards head snaps to the side like he was hit but the only thing visible wasn't anywhere near him?

 

[GoGo Yubari]

6 hours ago, Kaney said:

Not sure if I missed your thoughts when it was released, can I ask why? I really liked it, I thought after Black Widow it gave me more hope for this phase of films but Eternals kinda leveled it out again.

Sure, I posted about it somewhere in this thread but I can go again. Firstly there's the caveat that I didn't have an ideal theater experience the night I saw it; I was a little groggy and the theater was fuller than I was comfortable with, so I was probably a little distracted and out of it. I bet under more ideal circumstances I would have had a better time with it.

That being said, I thought the movie started well but once it got into the big superhero stakes I just wasn't into it as much. For me, a lot of the characters felt like motivations and history overshadowing personality; I got the family drama and what motivated it but I never felt like I cared for most of the characters as actual people, which is a problem for a Marvel movie. Awkwafina was good but the whole archery thing for Katy felt extremely tacked on. And the fight scenes... I don't know. The direction felt overdone on them, for me. With martial arts I don't really want big swooping shots and cuts and whatnot, and that's what it felt like I saw a lot of.

I agree with Colly's feelings on the final stretch.

Spoiler

Once Tony Leung's out of the picture (and frankly as good as he is I think he's underutilized, after a certain point it seemed like they were just periodically cutting to scenes of him hearing Fake Ghost Wife in case we forgot his motivation) and it's just the good guys vs. CGI monsters, it's hard for me to give much of a fuck.

That being said, it's not like I think it's offensively bad or anything. I'm happy that other people got stuff out of it that I just couldn't.

[Jimmy]

10 hours ago, Kaney said:

Just saw Eternals and yeah....not that great? I always felt with the comics I really wasn't into the cosmic stuff Marvel does, and it seems outside of Guardians it's the same with the films. Felt it was all over the place and while it did a good job fleshing out some totally brand new characters, I don't think I really liked any of them except Phastos. I don't think any of the humour landed at all, and it lacked a lot of the charm/chemistry that makes a lot of MCU special.

Not sure if I missed your thoughts when it was released, can I ask why? I really liked it, I thought after Black Widow it gave me more hope for this phase of films but Eternals kinda leveled it out again.

Oh the humour didn't land at all. On multiple occasions my flatmate and I looked at each other and shook our heads at some of the attempted quips. Some of them were so, so flat. 

I think I've already said in here, but I'd totally echo that I lost interested in Shang Chi when it became a CGI fest. Was digging it before. 

That was actually one of my favourite things about Eternals. 

Spoiler

That the end is mostly them fighting each other on the beach, instead of a hoard of CGI monsters. I really liked that as an idea, I just wish the film had done a better job so I'd have been more invested in it. By that point, it was just hoping that Phastos got cool things to do. 

 

[GoGo Yubari]

Yeah, as far as Eternals went

Spoiler

The fact that the big climatic drama was really between them, and it wasn't even as simple as "everyone vs. Ikaris" and actually felt to some extent like the kind of thorny drama that would actually come out of a family dispute was probably the best thing about it. I enjoyed Makkari vs. Ikaris and Phastos vs. Ikaris more than any fight in Shang-Chi or Black Widow, give or take maybe the bus fight vs. Razorfist and goons.

The humor... yeah, I liked the valet character but most of Kingo's stuff fell flat. Apparently Kumail Nanjiani adlibbed a lot and you can kind of tell.

 

[Gabriel]

14 hours ago, RoHitman Reigns said:

Here is the Brazil trailer, look at the last 10 seconds if you want to discuss something for sure

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Discussion point

  Hide contents

Did they remove a spidey from it digitally? Leaping at thin air and then Lizards head snaps to the side like he was hit but the only thing visible wasn't anywhere near him?

 

Replying to the discussion point...
 

Spoiler

A lot of people have noticed that. I saw it right away when I watched the trailer last night. He's clearly leaping towards something that's been removed. The general consensus is that it's another Spider-Man, but they didn't want to blow that reveal a month before the release.

 

[angeluzcr]

12 hours ago, Gabriel said:

Replying to the discussion point...
 

  Reveal hidden contents

A lot of people have noticed that. I saw it right away when I watched the trailer last night. He's clearly leaping towards something that's been removed. The general consensus is that it's another Spider-Man, but they didn't want to blow that reveal a month before the release.

 

Spoiler

Yeah, definitely Lizard is getting hit by someone,my money is on Spider-Ham.

 

[fourstarfizzle]

Just finished Let There Be Carnage, a really fun 90 minute ridiculous film as I'd expect from a Venom Vs Carnage film.

[DFF]

Just watched Shang-Chi - what a pleasant surprise that was! Really dug it. Some of the fight scenes were brilliantly choreographed. 

[livid]

1 hour ago, DFF said:

Just watched Shang-Chi - what a pleasant surprise that was! Really dug it. Some of the fight scenes were brilliantly choreographed. 

I enjoyed it but thought the third act was a bit too much. 

Anyways in other MCU news...hell yeah!

 

[DMN in the House]

One thing that the recent discussion on Eternals made me realize is

Spoiler

It appears they've killed off Ikarus (because he's explicitly not Superman, and shouldn't be able to survive the sun) when he was actually one of the more interesting characters who I felt had a lot more to explore.

I'm a total mark for Richard Madden, tho.

 

[Josh]

Just saw Eternals. I dug it.

[gunnar hendershow]

Fair amount of online chatter that Letitia Wright has been dropped from the MCU over her anti-vaccine stance.

She could've been one of the most respected and popular actors in the world and threw it all away. The bag fumble of the year.