I’ve gradually been working my way through the Marvel universe, in timeline order, and I had some thoughts. Join me on route!
When they first started coming out, I really enjoyed the Marvel movies. Iron Man and Thor were comedic and a lot of fun. The Avengers was a mega-fuelled action-packed ride which I found had its place too. Then the sequels started coming, and there was always a need to wait til the VERY END at the cinema to see the extra scene – it became a little boring and over-done.
Thing is, everyone was hyped about every single movie that then churned out, even though it was the same thing each time. Someone with a troubled background becoming a hero and needing to prove themselves; a big bad monster – probably the worst the world has ever seen – threatening Earth; and a sudden need for the hero alone (or sometimes multiple heroes together) to save the entire world from disaster. And repeat. Yawn.
Seeing as I did genuinely enjoy a bunch of the films initially, I decided to give them all another go and figured timeline order was the best way. Some of my views have changed, but some have cemented themselves solid as they were. I’ve given each film a rating, but the stars are contained within the Marvel universe, so a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Marvel rating would be like a 3-4 rating in the world of other movies!
Here we go…
Captain America: The First Avenger ⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s enjoyable, there are likeable characters, although on re-watching it I actually found Steve Rogers to be a bit pathetic this time. I know it’s the first in the series which kind of negates this thought, but having watched many other Marvel films before, it does feel very predictable.
Captain Marvel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was my first time watching, and I did enjoy it. It was fun, actually a different storyline to others, quite original, and strong characters.
Iron Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Very funny, more original because Tony Stark isn’t all that good, and the threats are a little more real-world and not so EVERYTHING IS GOING WRONG AND ONLY YOU CAN SAVE THE WOLRD.
Iron Man 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This film still has the same humour and fun as the first, but it definitely dips a little just in quality and originality.
Thor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked that this followed a set of regular people, and that the hero actually wasn’t from Earth. Kind of mixed up the formula a little bit. And it had some good humour.
Avengers ⭐️⭐️⭐️ A very action packed movie with a few too many lead characters. I just don’t think the films are as good when they come together. They hustle for screen time, and don’t get to develop or have decent dialogue. Very action-packed.
Thor: The Dark World ⭐️ Boring. An opportunity to use great CGI and special effects. But not very much was good about it besides that.
Iron Man 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really like this film. The whole Mandarin character thing is very funny and unexpected, and Ben Kingsley plays it very well. The comedy is back too.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier ⭐️ Dull. I get that it was supposed to be a big emotional thing having Bucky come back from Cap’s past but it just wasn’t. Considering all these films have been written in a great arc of sci-fi mastery there’s a surprising amount of stuff that happens just for the sake of it happening. I guess by this point Marvel had realised whatever they put out was guaranteed to draw a crowd and make billions of dollars, so they needed quantity over quality.
Guardians of the Galaxy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Finally a breath of fresh air! I really like Star Lord and the whole crew (except Groot) – they’re refreshing, fun, and different. Lots of comedy, character building, interesting story and really fun settings.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This definitely swerves from the originality of the first one a fair bit, but the characters all hold up, and the storyline is still good and fun, though it does get a bit BIG BAD EVIL THREAT-y.
Avengers: Age of Ultron ⭐️⭐️ More characters introduced – feels necessary (EYE ROLL). So with this, at least the evil actually comes from within the Avengers, but it does end up as the worst thing ever and they need to eradicate it to save humanity, again.
Ant-Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Another slightly more original take. This was another quite funny story with some excellent supporting characters and fun settings, as well as plenty of time to introduce the new hero.
Captain America: Civil War ⭐️ Again, this is all the worst things bundled in together – way too many lead characters, and unnecessary story just happening purely for the sake of the blockbuster dollar.
Black Widow ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve always really like Black Widow as a character and never felt she really got enough airtime. She was always one of the leading support characters who was intriguing but never got to develop. It was nice to actually get her back story and more dialogue. It was also quite spy-movie which was fun.
Black Panther ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The introduction of a whole hidden world was fun! I like the message behind the film and that it did actually relate so much to the world today – it kind of felt like it had a purpose as well as being a guaranteed blockbuster. The more I think about it, the more I realise this film deserves all the hype it received/s. Good story, well acted, and good characters.
Doctor Strange ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The huge negative of this film is Benedict Cumberbatch’s American accent – my sister pointed out that it really isn’t necessary because he’s a top doctor and could quite easily have just been British working in New York. The accent isn’t bad persé, but when you know how English his accent is, it does distract you a bit. Besides that, I quite enjoyed this film. It was bringing in different elements of super powers and a different kind of character than we’d been introduced to before.
Shorts I haven’t included the shorts individually but my general review is that they are a mix of lighthearted humour and some that are just a bit boring. Overall, I think they are a nice little bonus when watching the movies because it gives side characters a bit more space to be! However I wouldn’t bother with the Groot ones because there are just. so, many. Unless you like Groot, then go to town. The good thing about the shorts is they’re less than 10 minutes long, so if one’s rubbish it doesn’t really waste too much time!
I know there’s a good chance if you’re into Marvel films you’re into content that goes on for a looooong time, but I decided to split the reviews into two parts not to overburden you!! Part two will include Thor Ragnarok through to Thor Love and Thunder, and also my overall thoughts… coming soon!
Ellen Wiggins 