Felicity Banks

Marvel-ous Day 3

June 26, 2020 at 11:24 pm (Reviews, TV/movie review, With a list)

Spoilers, darling.

***GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014) Disney +

One-sentence summary: Star-Lord makes friends, and keeps an orb away from assorted baddies.

Stone: Space (I think) stone. Purple? Encased in an orb, because if someone mortal touches it they die.

This film was the moment when we realised Marvel could sell us literally anything. Having said that, this is a brilliant movie that deserves every success.

A whole new set of Superheroes is masterfully introduced. There are two opening scenes: a tragic scene of a small, clearly messed up kid, that ends with a space abduction. The next scene has the adult Peter Quill, very much in space, but very much of Earth as he dances his way through his scavenging mission.

By the middle of that scene, the audience is hooked on the selfish, irreverent, fast-talking Star-Lord.

The next to be introduced is Rocket, who is hunting for something worth stealing and is amusing himself by insulting everyone he sees, including a small child. It’s only after establishing his character that we discover he’s a talking racoon. (And much later we see, and genuinely care about, his vulnerability.)

Meanwhile, Groot is drinking from a fountain like an over-excited dog.

Then we meet Gamora, who expertly and effortlessly outwits Star-Lord.

And then everyone is fighting everyone, which is a fabulously complex and slapstick scene.

TJ watched almost the entire movie with me. There are a lot of complicated bad guys in this, you guys.

The next iconic moment is when we see Groot and Racoon fighting together in the prison. (Just before Grax becomes one of the team.)

I… didn’t take any other notes because I was too busy watching, and TJ was too busy watching the film with me. But this film is many people’s favourite of the entire Infinity Saga, and even in such good company it definitely deserves that spot. Also, the soundtrack is fantastic.

The ‘found family’ theme is always a winner, but when you start with a group of thugs, thieves, and murderers it takes some clever writing to balance out their past with their redemption and the slow growth of trust. This film gets it done right.

Post-credits scene 1: Baby Groot sneakily dancing, then freezing whenever Grax looks up.

Post-credits scene 2: The Collector is recovering from the events of the film. Howard the Duck has a cameo, because Marvel hasn’t forgotten that its base is comic book nerds.

*AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015) Disney +

One-sentence summary: Stark makes then breaks a bad robot.

First iconic moment is the shot of all the main six racing into their opening-scene fight. You know the one (this is such a blurry shot and I don’t know why because it feels completely clear in the film itself).

Then there’s the scene where several Avengers attempt to lift Thor’s hammer. When Captain America tries it, there’s a wobble. Because Steve actually is worthy, but he realises it would hurt Thor, so he lets it go.

Natasha refuses to try. You can interpret it two ways: either she’s the only superhero who isn’t driven way too much by testosterone, or she feels fundamentally unworthy because of being an assassin. I say both are true.

So this is a classic movie of the “Good guys screw up and then fix it” variety, which is a pretty dumb trope (even with the Scarlet Witch helping mess with everyone’s head before she turns good). It’s great to see all the Avengers together—ah, how quickly we take that balancing act for granted!—but this movie just doesn’t grab me like the rest do.

We add Quicksilver (who is dead by the end of the film), Scarlet Witch, and Vision to the roster of heroes.

Ooh, the mind stone is the orange one! From now on it’s in Vision’s head.

…Seeing the expanded Avengers all fighting in a broken tower is cool.

In fact, I was so inspired by all the super-coordinated badassery that when I went to put a dirty jug on to soak I held the jug with just one hand while pouring in the hot water so I could use my other hand to pour in the detergent at the same time. What a rush. So many things could have gone wrong. I could have dropped the heavy jug and spilled hot water everywhere. I could have dropped the detergent, spilling detergent everywhere. I could have added too much detergent. Those bottles can be slippery. I could have randomly fallen over, dropping everything.

But I executed the plan flawlessly, you guys.

Post-credits scene: Thanos with his Infinity Gauntlet, saying, “Fine. I’ll do it myself.”

**ANT-MAN (2015) Disney +

Introducing Ant-Man aka Scott Lang. We also see The Wasp aka Hope Pym but she’s not the wasp yet.

There are two wonderful things about this film: Paul Rudd playing the endearingly failure-prone Scott Lang. And the visuals. Suddenly there are major action scenes in a bathtub, or a grassy backyard—and it’s awesome. Oh, and Scott’s daughter Cassie is glorious.

This film has plenty of humour and heart, and one of the most affecting deaths in the entire Infinity Saga: the death of Ant-thony. And the climactic train scene—on a toy train in Cassie’s room—is truly terrifying and truly hilarious at the same time. And unforgettable, especially when Thomas the Tank Engine turns giant and smashes out the window.

Post-credits scene 1: Hank Pym shows his daughter Hope the Wasp suit she’ll soon be wearing. After spending half the movie loudly and correctly pointing out that she should have run the heist instead of Scott Lang, she smiles and says, “It’s about damn time.” (There’s only eight movies to go until she gets half of a title.)

Post-credits scene 2: The Winter Soldier is in somebody’s basement, with his metal arm in a vice. The Falcon and Captain America are discussing an issue they’re having, and the Falcon (who fought Ant-Man in this film, as Ant-Man apologised over and over) says, “I know a guy.”

*

Aaaand that’s the end of Phase 2! Phase 3 is twice as long as the other two, but tomorrow is Saturday and the kids are going to Nana and Poppy’s house so I should be able to burn through quite a few.

I’ve also received a data usage warning on my phone for the first time in my life. Shockingly, I wasn’t planning on making a habit of watching cinematic masterpieces on my phone, so that’s fine.

It’s not even midnight yet, so I’ll be posting this blog and then starting on Phase 3. Woo!