Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Overall: A-
Cast: A
Plot: B+
Special Effects/Stunts: B+
Similarity to Comic: A
Director: Joe Johnston
Comic Company: Marvel
Stars: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving
Rating: PG-13 
See the IMDB page
See the Rotten Tomatoes page

If I were to describe this moving in one word it would be "...".  That's right; after seeing this movie I am utterly speechless, it was THAT awesome.  Not many movies can build as much hype as this one and totally deliver, needless to say I was impressed.

The Good: I'm going to be the first to say it; Chris Evans totally proved me wrong.  I was among the many people who, when learned of his casting, believed the movie was doomed before it began.  I don't know how they were able to make him look 90 pounds in the beginning and huge in the second 2/3's of it, but it sure worked and his acting backed it up.  He didn't have the flamboyant showboating attitude of the Human Torch, he brought the heroic selfless attitude of Captain America.  Hayley Atwell did a great job, especially for a relatively unknown actress, Tommy Lee Jones (or as I call him; the TLJ) provided quality comedic relief and Hugo Weaving was spectacular with his portrayal of Red Skull.

I love most things about this plot.  My favorite part being that back in WWII "Captain America" was created in order to get young men interested in joining the army.  In this movie I love how they actually used Steve Rogers to campaign to get people to join/donate to the army.  I liked how most of the second half of the movie was action, yet it didn't seem unbalanced.  The special effects were pretty good, I saw this movie in 2D and 3D and I must say it looked better in 3D, which is saying a lot about how far 3D technology has come in the last few years.

The Bad: Although I liked how well Hugo Weaving played Red Skull, I think the character itself needed a little more development throughout this movie.  He seemed just like the stereotypical mutant evil guy.  He just spouted off about being a god the whole movie and didn't really do anything except find whatever power source it was that they used to power all the lazer-like weapons his henchmen used.  Which brings me to my next thought; what the deuce was that?  They never really explained what that was, just some shiny ancient uber-powerful cube?  Sounds kind of like Transformers to me, or Animorphs if you ever read that.

One thing I noticed while watching this film is that movies filmed and designed specifically for 3D have a very different style than those converted to 3D.  Mainly there's more stuff flying directly at the viewer, which gets pretty annoying when you're watching it in two dimensions.  I am disappointed that they didn't wrap up the love story between Steve and Agent Carter, but I can totally see her hooking up with Stark instead and being Iron Man's mother, which will be a great source of drama in 'The Avengers'.

The Interesting: I wasn't expecting Howard Stark to be such a major player in this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised and I hope that actor has some kind of roll in 'The Avengers'.  I really liked what they did with Captain America's costume.  I was afraid it was going to look cheesy and stick out like a sore thumb, or they'd change the sets to look just as lame, but they did an excellent job avoiding all of that.  It's amazing to me how you can film a movie about WWII and not show anybody being killed (other than the few dudes who get vaporized by the lazers).  It goes along with Captain America's personality though, the whole not killing anybody thing, like Batman, but they don't come right out and say it in this movie which I find interesting.

The shield.  I do not understand it.  It is supposedly made of vibranium, which means it can't vibrate.  I have a couple problems with this.  First- how does making a shield vibration-proof make it strong?  Second-right after he's told this, Agent Carter shoots it and it definitely vibrates.  I do not understand.

Conclusion: This movie is fantastic, you owe it to yourself and everyone you know to see it.  The acting is great, the effects are good, and the plot is the best of the avengers movies so far.

Hulk (2003)

Overall: C+
Cast: B+
Plot: C
Special Effects/Stunts: B-
Similarity to Comic: B+
Director: Ang Lee
Comic Company: Marvel
Stars: Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliot
Rating: PG-13
See the IMDB page
See the Rotten Tomatoes page

If X-Men and Spider-Man were huge steps forward for the comic book industries move to the big screen, the Hulk was, well, not such a big step.  It's not a bad movie, but there have been much better movies since.

The Good: I really liked Eric Bana as Bruce Banner.  I like how he was toned down and less emotional than Edward Norton, he also made the character seem more intelligent than Norton did.  Jennifer Connelly did well and Sam Elliot was good too.  Josh Lucas was a perfect bully character and the best actor in the movie was Nick Nolte who played Bruce's father.  Other than that there weren't very many characters, I like how these Hulk movies keep the casts simple and good.

There were several things I liked about the plot.  First of all, I liked how this movie really went into the creation of the Hulk, his story.  The other Hulk movie doesn't really get into it, and that's probably my one big beef with that film.  One of the nice surprises is that in this movie they show the real top of the line aircraft our military has to offer.  Most movies just show Apache helicopters and F-14, 16, or 18's which are indeed very deadly aircraft but nothing compared to the Comanche helicopters and F-22 Raptors they show chasing the Hulk in this movie.   This movie seemed fairly lighthearted compared to most Superhero movies, and everything about it was made to look like a comic book; the plot, the cinematography, the transitions, the action sequences, and even the acting.  I really liked that style and I wish more movies were set up that way.

The Bad: This movie was way too long.  It's my firm belief that a Superhero movie needs to be between 100 and 115 minutes, this one was 138.  Along with being too long, this movie was plagued with a fundamental problem; it had some great action sequences but in-between them were some prolonged periods of absolutely nothing.  A good movie keeps your attention, this one did not and several times I found myself wondering how much longer they were going to drag it out.

The special effects were interesting.  They weren't really that bad, just a little too smooth to look real, and the only thing consistently CGI in this movie was the Hulk.  So throughout the movie he looked kind of fake.  I think there either needed to be more CGI in this movie, or more attention paid to the CGI of the main character.  I also think this movie needed a more focused plot.  I understand they were trying to make it complicated by using multiple antagonists but in my opinion the best Superhero movies have one or two main villains with clear cut evil goals.  This movie had his father with whatever power he was supposed to have, it had the military, and it had Talbot with whatever it was he was doing to stop the Hulk.  In the end it all kind of blended together and made for two or three points where the movie felt like it should have ended.

The Interesting: This movie only had three or four small continuity errors, which is incredible really.  What is also incredible is how well Marvel did a reboot of this movie.  'The Incredible Hulk' had a completely different cast, a very different plot, better effects, and was made only five years later.  These two movies should be used as perfect examples of how to reboot a series, especially one that needs to be rebooted quickly.

One thing I didn't understand was the one time the Hulk transformed in front of Talbot, then he steps outside and transforms again into an even bigger Hulk?  I didn't know he has the power to keep bulking up until he's invincible, that he can just get as big as he needs to be.  If there's one thing that really turns me off about certain heroes is when they have seemingly unlimited powers, like Superman.

Conclusion: This movie had it's good parts and certainly a good style, but overall it was kind of a dud.  It was a drag to have to sit through this whole movie, but I guess it could have been a lot worse too.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Overall: B-

Cast: B-
Plot: B
Special Effects/Stunts: C-
Similarity to Comic: B
Director: Gavin Hood
Comic Company: Marvel
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds
Rating: PG-13 
See the IMDB page
See the Rotten Tomatoes page

I don't think when I was growing up as a kid I ever imagined Wolverine's origin being quite like this.  This movie wasn't bad, it had a decent plot line, a decent cast, and was probably more like the X-Men comic books than the X-Men trilogy movies were, but there was just something a little... off.

The Good: When this movie was in theaters I saw it twice, which isn't something I normally do.  Why did I see it twice? Because of the plot, the action, and the sheer fascination of seeing the beginnings of one of my all time favorite Superheros.  The cast was okay, Hugh Jackman was great as usual but nobody else really stood out.  I'd give the award for second best performance in this movie to the old man who takes Wolverine in after he runs away from the military base, and that guy was only in a few scenes.  Liev Schreiber played a good Sabretooth, in fact I liked him better than the guy they had play Sabretooth in the original X-Men movie.  The character of Gambit was a nice surprise in this movie as was the actor who played him, but this movie fell into the same trap that the others kind of did where they get a few good actors and the rest of the enormous cast is played by no name actors, which are hit or miss.

The plot was pretty good in this movie, considering they finally went away from the humans vs. mutants theme.  The only reason I gave it a lower rating is because of a few inconsistencies with the other movies and the fact that it really had nothing to say, mostly it was just mindless action.

The Bad: Will i Am is not an actor, he is a "musician" riding the fame train right into a movie deal.  He wasn't all that bad, it was just distracting trying to figure out who he was the entire movie.  It's like if Lady GaGa walked onto the set of a romantic comedy and played a character that served absolutely no purpose, it's just weird.  Also, they changed the actor who plays Stryker, I don't like it when movies change actors for the same character.

The real problem with this movie wasn't the cast or the inconsistencies with the other X-Men movies, it's the special effects.  Some of them looked great, mainly the ones without CGI, but the computer effects looked HORRIBLE.  I heard something about how they had to rush this movie into theaters because it got leaked online and that's why the effects were bad.  I'm not sure if that's true or not, but there is almost no excuse for CGI this poor in 2009.

The Interesting: Let's start with the obvious.  This movie does not fit in with the original X-Men trilogy.  Why?  Simple, because 'X-Men: First Class' screws it over.  In First Class Xavier gets shot and paralyzed, yet in this movie (and X-Men: The Last Stand) he's shown walking.  Also in First Class, they show Emma Frost as a full grown adult woman, in this movie (which is set later in time) they show her as a teenage girl.  If First Class had just left some details alone this movie would make a lot more sense in the grand scheme of these movies.  I know, I know, this movie and First Class are supposed to be "reboots" of the X-Men movies, so they're not supposed to line up with each other or the original trilogy, but for the sake of the viewer at least TRY not to confuse us.  And now I'm hearing rumors of another Wolverine movie where he goes to Japan and trains with Samurai, good luck tying that in, Marvel.

There are so many continuity errors in this movie as well.  Canadians don't talk like they're from the Southern U.S.A., so don't try to make them that way, they'll probably be pretty offended.  At the very end of the movie (after the credits) Stryker is put under arrest for killing the general, he then shows up in X2.  I'm also intrigued that the original X-Men movie of 2000 had way better special effects for Wolverines claws than this movie did nine years later, somebody dropped the ball.  And no Stan Lee cameo?  Is this even a Marvel Movie?

Conclusion: I'm going to categorize this movie under "mindless action" because it really doesn't connect with the other X-Men movies well at all, even though they made it similar enough to feel like it is.  Putting this movie on a shelf next to the original X-Men trilogy is like putting an N'Sync track on a Backstreet Boys CD, it's similar, but just doesn't have the magic.

X3: The Last Stand (2006)

Overall: B
Cast: B
Plot: A+
Special Effects/Stunts: B
Similarity to Comic: D
Director: Brett Ratner
Comic Company: Marvel
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman
Rating: PG-13
See the IMDB page
See the Rotten Tomatoes page

This was an interesting way to end the X-Men trilogy.  I never thought I'd see the day when a comic book movie kills off two of it's major characters.  Also, there were a lot more plot holes in this movie and some weird inconsistencies.  It's still a good movie though, and a great ending to this unprecedented trilogy.

The Good: For the final time I will start a post about how well Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen play their respective parts as Professor X and Magneto, they have really been the rocks of this cast.  Hugh Jackman turns in another convincing performance as Wolverine and Famke Janssen really broke out of her shell that was Dr. Grey's character.  I liked  Ellen Page as Shadowcat (even though it's a different actress than who played that role in X2) and Kelsey Grammer (yes, Kelsey Grammer from Frasier) did a great job as Beast, one of my all time favorite X-Men.

I really can't say enough about this plot.  I've been talking it up for two whole posts and it deserves it.  It's so relatable and is a metaphor for so many problems both internationally and right in our own backyards.  I like how this movie pushed the issues of humans vs. mutants to a whole new level by creating a war complete with a weaponized "cure".  The "cure" also had impacts politically and among the x-men themselves.  That along with the deaths of Cyclops and Xavier gave this movie the perfect "THIS ENDS NOW!!!" feeling that I think every final movie in a trilogy should have.

The Bad: I haven't been too critical of Magneto's henchmen up until now, mainly because they haven't really been that bad.  These henchmen though are horrible.  Come on, a blowfish guy?  The Juggernaut, Arclight, and Callisto all really annoyed me throughout the movie.  Even their lines that were supposed to be funny, like "I'm the Juggernaut b*%$#!" I don't know, maybe it's just because I'm not 13 anymore but this movie had some unnecessarily dumb parts.

Another thing about this movie is that the special effects seemed to take a step backward, like they blew most of the budget making Magneto move the Golden Gate Bridge and everything else was second rate CGI.  I liked how Beast and Angel were actually in this movie, I think they should have been in the series the whole time, but I wasn't a fan of how they portrayed angel.

The Interesting: The first thing that caught my eye was that in the beginning of the movie there was no lecture-like intro spoken by Professor X about genetics, which was a staple of the first two movies.  Also, Xavier was WALKING in a segment that was from 20 years earlier.  Again this may not be a fair assessment and probably belongs in another post but at the end of X-Men: First Class Xavier gets shot and can't move his legs, so how is it he's walking then as an older man?  Perhaps he's been paralyzed more than once in his life?  Sucks to be that guy.

Another thing that kind of bothered me was that during Magneto's assault on Alcatrz, he lets all of his "pawns" fight first, and they all get "cured" within seconds.  The next shot is of Magneto and a couple of his most powerful mutants, alone, like there's nobody else with them.  Then Pyro screams "lets get them" and out of nowhere a bunch more evil mutants show up and keep attacking.  What? Unless a mutant there had the ability to make other people invisible I see no excuse for this kind of magic.

Conclusion: This movie is very very good.  I would have given it a better overall rating had it not been for some fixable plot holes and the annoying henchmen.  Few movies deliver such an intense climax and a plot that's riddled with politics, romance, human nature, war, and above all a perfect blend of science fiction and reality.

X2: X-Men United (2003)

Overall: B
Cast: B+
Plot: A
Special Effects/Stunts: B
Similarity to Comic: C+
Director: Bryan Singer
Comic Company: Marvel
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman
Rating: PG-13
See the IMDB page
See the Rotten Tomatoes page

My favorite thing about this movie is that it is exactly like the first one.  They didn't have to replace any characters or actors, the general plot of the movie is the same but expanded, and they didn't ruin it with poor special effects or CGI.  A lot of this can be attributed to keeping the same director (a rarity among Superhero movie franchises) but it must have been an incredible team effort with every person on set doing their job just the way they did it three years earlier.

The Good: Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen steal the show again by turning in great performances as Professor X and Magneto.  Hugh Jackman, fully bulked up, did even better in this movie as he played not only the tough guy role but a mentoring one as well.  James Marsden did well as Cyclopes, although the comic character lacked all of the emotion Marsden brings to the table.  Halle Berry and Famke Janssen had bigger roles as did the actors who played Iceman and Pyro, Rogue's role though seemed a bit smaller surprisingly.  I'm glad the didn't bring back Sabretooth or toad either, their characters brought the first movie a cartoon kind of effect.

The plot was amazing again.  I can't get enough of this whole mutants vs. humans plot line, and how they tangle it with politics and Xavier and Magneto's relationship.  They went deeper into it in this movie, starting with the attack on the president and ending it with the military trying to copy cerebro for their own sinister plans.  The special effects were strong again as well.  They weren't better or worse than they were in the first film, and they also had the same amount of CGI, meaning they didn't pull a Spider-Man and mess with the CGI in every moive.

The Bad: I was actually impressed by the few plot holes this movie had.  One big one was Senator Kelly.  His character died in the first movie and since then he has been impersonated by Mystique.  I feel like impersonating someone as important as a senator would require a lot more than just a few appearances, what about his family? His secretary? Wouldn't they notice?

If you look closely, you can see that Magneto has several opportunities to escape his plastic prison cell.  The book he is reading has metal corner covers, Stryker has metal glasses, and there are some other things as well.  But instead of using any of that Magneto ends up ripping the iron out of a dude and creating a little metal balls and using those?  That just doesn't make sense and I'm not sure that's even possible, even for a person who can manipulate metal.  It is, however, pretty darn cool so I'm going to let it slide this time.

The Interesting: They erased Halle Berry's accent.  She apparently was foreign in the first movie and American in this one.  I understand though since they gave her a bigger role with more talking parts, it's probably not easy talking seriously in a different accent.

This one probably isn't fair to bring up, and probably belongs in my review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but I'm going to say it anyway.  In this movie when Wolverine gets shot in the head he passes out then wakes back up perfectly fine.  In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, however, when he gets shot in the head (in almost the exact same place) he passes out, wakes up, and forgets absolutely everything.  In my book if you get shot in the head you die, and if you don't you better have the same results every time it happens.

Conclusion:  This movie is great.  If you liked the first one this one will definitely satisfy your thirst for more.  It's like a carbon copy, super consistent, and should be a blueprint on how to make a sequel.