Recruit A Team Of Heroes With Attitudes

Well, we've looked at all five films leading up the massive crossover film, The Avengers. The dominoes are lined up, the cogs in the machine are all aligned. We've waited four years. But is it a case of a coming together of the greats, or is there still some assembly required?

Before we get into that, let's go over the Avengers as a team in the comics: in September, 1963, Thor's arch-nemesis Loki tricks the Hulk into destroying a railroad track, which leads to Hulk's friend Rick Jones sending out a radio call seeking help, a call which Loki diverts to Thor, in the hopes of drawing him out. What Loki didn't expect was that the distress call would be answered by more heroes: Iron Man, Ant-Man and The Wasp. Together, they all defeated Loki and decided to become a team. And it took all of two issues to lose a member, in this case it was Hulk, who left because he realized his unstable personality was a source of great fear for his team mates. But a few issues later, Captain America would be found and he would become a long time member of the team. And the rest is history. A long and confusing history, especially with all the different Avenger teams.

Now, if you don't read comics and know little about them, you're probably wondering who the Hell Ant-Man and The Wasp are. Well, the answer is: they are two characters who had better appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the years to come, because they are great. But that's for another time.

For this film, our team is instead made up of Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, the only change in actors for this film, with Lou Ferrigno providing the voice for the Hulk himself), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), brought together by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), to take on Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his alien army. Also joining the fray is Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), a high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D agent, and we also see the return of Coulson (Clark Gregg), Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), as well as more voice-work from Paul Bettany as Iron Man's AI program, JARVIS.

And... well, OK, I pretty much described the plot right there. They come together, settle their differences and they fight some bad guys.

And you know what? I love every goddamn minute of this movie. From the moment Iron Man ended, I knew this movie was going to be monumental. After five movies, the anticipation just rose even higher. Every scrap of information relating to this movie pointed to it having enough momentum to actually be the greatest Marvel movie ever, to be something that would shape how Marvel's movies would be for ages to come. And considering how this came out in the same year as the currently-the-worst-film-I've-this-year-based-on-rankings Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance, it's almost like Marvel are trying not only to wipe away their embarrassment but overcompensate.

The aspect I love the most, the key to this whole film, is the blending of the different styles from the respective films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man's solo segment before the team comes together is hilarious but also sweet, since he's spending time with Pepper. Cap's is solemn and you can tell he's just begging to get back into the action, but there's also drama as he is a man out of time and that weighs heavily upon him. Thor appears later in the film but there's a strong dramatic tone with his first few scenes, especially those with Loki. And Hulk (well, when he's Banner) is funny, but darkly so and showing how he's grown accustomed to his surroundings. As for those who didn't have their own movie, Black Widow's segment is like something out of a spy movie, and it's funny, though Hawkeye doesn't get much of a back-story, if any at all (probably my only real nitpick with the movie, but that's only if I need to have something against it. The good heavily outweighs the bad, so much that the bad is virtually non-existent).

Acting-wise, everyone carries on their role and proves yet again why they have made these roles their own. Mark Ruffalo is the exception, but only in the part about carrying on the role, since he's taking over the role. And how does he do? He may just be better than Edward Norton in this role, and that's a mean feat! He's got Banner's sense of meekness down, and his sardonic wit. And he's also the first actor to actually “play” Hulk, as in, motion capture and such and DAMN! When Hulk smashes, he REALLY smashes! As much as I loved the Hulk in his previous film, he's a sight to behold in this and for anyone who thinks he can't hack it in another sequel, you will damn well apologize right now, because this movie proves that not only does he deserve another sequel, he NEEDS it.

Cobie Smulders is the only other major new player and I have to say at this point that I LOVE How I Met Your Mother, and I consider it the best show currently on TV, and I love her character in the show. And while she's not always on screen here, I loved seeing her here and seeing just how badass she could be. Also, now she shares something with HIMYM co-stars Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris: working with Joss Whedon (more on him later)

Coulson FINALLY gets a bigger role, and he even reveals his inner fanboy about Captain America. Yeah, that guy keeps getting awesome.

But Hiddleston... holy crap, that guy borders on scary! I think it's his smile. That damn slasher smile... it's really bad when he smiles, it means he knows something you don't. And you never want that. While he was great in Thor, he's even better here and he made for a worthy adversary.

Now, Whedon. I love the man's work. Buffy, Angel, Firefly, all classics (though I have yet to see Dollhouse, because they haven't been released on DVD down here, which pisses me off. And I just found out we're not getting a cinematic release of The Cabin In The Woods down here, it's going straight to DVD. Well, it better bloody well be soon, justice must be served!)\

But while his direction is spectacular, his best work is in the script. I kept thinking “Oh that is so Whedon!” at some of the funniest bits, since they remind me of Buffy and Angel, like the deadpan way people snark at each other, or the random humor that takes a little tension out of the scene but not so much as to undermine it, but rather to get us to relax before the drops the hammer (no pun intended).

For example, in one scene, Tony's hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D's database and spouting off all sorts of information, and one thing he says (very matter of factly) “And that guy's playing Galaga and thinks no one can see him”. A few minutes later, we watch as a guy switches his screen back to a game of Galaga. Priceless.

Or this, I love this exchange:
Thor: He's my brother
Black Widow: He killed 80 people in 2 days
Thor: He's adopted

The timing of that, I couldn't help but crack up.

But I can't share my favourite scene for fear of spoilers. I will say this much: despite Iron Man being the funniest character within the movie, Hulk wins with the laugh-your-arse-off moment for the entire affair. It's towards the end. You'll know it when you see it, even though it's in that third act that Hulk gets even funnier.

And the action... oh Lord, is it ever sweet. There's gunplay, sorcery, tech, projectiles and good ol' fashioned fisticuffs. Sure, the battle at the end (not a spoiler, you so know there was going to be a huge one) is epic, and doesn't overstay its welcome, but it's the fight between Thor, Cap and Iron Man that I love the most. Egos clashing, power flowing, the darkness around them, the intensity, it's magic. Especially the end of it.

I could go on all day about it but since it's not out in America at the time of writing, it would be disrespectful of me to do so, since I'd run the risk of spoilers. But I'd like to end on this closing statement:

Everyone that was involved in this movie: you're not leaving. You will damn well come back and do a sequel, no ifs, ands or buts. I know most of you are under contract anyway, which is great, but the rest I don't know about. I know Joss has been offered the chance to direct again should it arise but it's obviously early days. Nevertheless, you can't leave. You all created magic with this film. I was never bored, never insulted and I now consider this the greatest Marvel movie ever.

Whether or not it will be the best movie of the year remains to be seen. As much as this film is an outstanding triumph, the Caped Crusader's next (and last for the live action interim) is its biggest threat. And Nolan always has a trump card. That being said, The Avengers has raised the bar for crossovers and team-up movies. Even if the Justice League movie gets off the ground, it will not be able to beat this. Marvel crafted this to perfection, taking it's time, letting things build up and putting in little clues here and there as to what was coming next. It resulted in a massive pay-off, one that will never be replicated, not until the next time this team is together.

Take all the time you need to, Marvel. You rewarded our patience and we'll happily wait again. Easily 4.5/5, richly deserved.

Well, that wraps up this week devoted to the Avenger film and its tie-in's. Hope you enjoy this movie as much as I did. And a little tip: once the credits roll, it begins with a montage of close-ups of the character's costumes and such, listing the actors for each respective character. After this, the traditional post-credits scene plays, hinting at what's to come (and my jaw dropped at the reveal of the figure who had their back turned to the audience for that scene). So, after that, you can leave if you wish, since there's nothing else after the next set of credits (yes, I stuck around, on the off chance there was some kind of teaser for Iron Man 3) but on the plus side, I got to hear a bitchin' new song from Soundgarden, called Live To Rise. I must have this song. And I will.

So, next week, got something big and special planned, and something completely different from what I've done before. But I won't be saying a thing until next week.

Has He Lost His Mind? Can He See Or Is He Blind?

Alrighty then, one more double tying into The Avengers and then on to the main event itself!

Today, we're looking at the genesis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as its sequel. So, let's get into the high flying action of the Iron Man duology.

Now, I've reviewed a comic on Iron Man much earlier in the blog's history (the trade called Iron Man: War Of The Iron Men) but I never went into his origin story. Well, let's go through that now, shall we?

Iron Man was created in 1963 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber and Don Heck. Thematically, the Iron Man title was used to represent the Cold War and the idea of business tackling communism.

Tony Stark is overseas, observing how his new technology is aiding the American war effort, but is injured by a booby trap and taken hostage. His captors demand that he make weapons for them, but with the help of fellow prisoner Ho Yinsen, he constructs a suit to both make his escape and sustain his heart, after the heart became loaded with shrapnel.

The origin is perhaps one of the best of any hero in comics and to this day, remains the same, save for updating the war to the current day (the first film naturally has this event occur in Afghanistan). The one exception I can think of is The Invincible Iron Man, a straight to DVD film from 2007, in which he's in China trying to raise a city (I'll get to that one somewhere along the line).

So, with the first movie going with that for the first act, how does the rest of it go?

Well, after Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) gets back to America, he announces that Stark Enterprises is getting out of the weapon manufacturing game and he spends his time making better versions of the suit. Tony's partner, Obidiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is not pleased about this change in plans, and decides to take things in his own direction. All the while, Tony's trying to prove not just to the world that he's making an effort to change, but his friend Jim Rhodes (Terence Howard), his secretary/love interest Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and himself.

Going into the film back in 2008, I had little knowledge of the Iron Man franchise. I knew that Tony was one of the few heroes whose identity was public knowledge (though Marvel did kind of flip-flop on that) and that the suit was his means of escaping. Though the film did look really good based on the trailer, I still wasn't sure on how things would turn out. But here's my opinion in a nutshell: if The Dark Knight had not come out in 2008, this would have been my favourite movie of the year.

There is just so much to love about this movie. It's a wonderful mix of humor, action, drama and even the faintest hint of romance. Even with the changes between the comic history and the movie, they are changes that aren't done to the movie's detriment.

Let's start with the characters: I swear, it's like Robert Downey Jr. was born just to be Tony Stark. Even though the film doesn't really go into detail with Tony's alcoholism (often considered his Achilles heel in the comics), it's still present as is his desire for attention, over-confidence and dry sense of quick-wit. The man with a thousand one-liners, never missing his mark and always at the ready. RDJ's best role by far and he is an absolute joy. My absolute favourite part of the movie is this exchange, between a reporter (Leslie Bibb) and Tony:
“What do you say to your other nickname, "The Merchant Of Death”?”

“That's not bad.”

He says that without missing a beat. AND he manages to seduce the reporter, despite the fact that she's basically mud-slinging! He's like James Bond minus the spy part!

And his slight evolution from playboy to crusader is totally believable. I say slight, because he's still got ways to go, but that works. As does his attempts at being sincere with Pepper about how much he needs her. RDJ swaps gears within a second anytime he needs to and he's wonderful.

Speaking of Pepper, of any love interest in any comic book movie, she is the absolute best. She's independent, capable, confident, and funny. As a bonus (spoilers for the... what is it, six people who haven't seen this yet?), she DOESN'T get kidnapped AND she actually helps take down the villain! Holy crap, she's not a prop! Why has it taken this long to happen?! Why can't Mary Jane Watson be more like this?

Terence Howard's the straight man for this film, when Pepper's not on screen, and that totally works. Too bad he couldn't be War Machine, but hey, he was still a great supporter.

Jeff Bridges... holy crap, Jeff Bridges was a marvelous (no pun intended) villain. Cool and confident (yeah, this movie oozes confidence), even when going to the brink of insanity (“TONY STARK BUILT THIS IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!” Come on, you knew I was going to do it). And when he climbs into the Iron Monger suit... awesomeness ensues.

Action-wise, it blows (again, no pun intended) the competition away. Seeing the Iron Man suit in action, my jaw dropped the first time he flew. And even today, I'm still in awe of what they've achieved. Whether it's just simple flight, or taking on planes and hitching a ride on them, it's breathtaking.

Now, with me and my tendencies to find flaws, did I find any in this film? One. And it's a small one: over the closing credits, Black Sabbath's Iron Man is playing. That is awesome. However, it's instrumental. I was hoping for the original. Yeah, the lyrics may not play out well with the movie, but still, it's an awesome song. There, that's the only complaint, a tiny one.

Also, the changes I mentioned? There's only one major one: in the comics, Edwin Jarvis is the butler of the Avengers, and is kind of like Alfred, to an extent. In this movie, he's an AI instead, voiced by Paul Bettany. Am I bothered by this? No, because he has Edwin's dry wit and is extremely useful. Much like Edwin.

Oh, and Coulson. He's awesome. Nothing more needs to be said.

So, yes, I love this movie and I highly recommend it. 4.5/5. Oh and the scene at the very end of the credits? Amazing. Samuel L. Jackson's first appearance as Nick Fury and in that very short scene, he commands the scene. “I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative”. And with that, the game changed even more.

But how does Iron Man 2 stack up?

Six months after the end of Iron Man, in which Tony Stark has revealed he is Iron Man, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) seeks vengeance on Tony for what Tony's father did to his own. Meanwhile, Tony's dying from the arc reactor that keeps his heart going and is growing more and more reckless. He's trying to win Pepper over, but only succeeds in pushing her further away, as well as Rhodey (Don Cheadle stepping in to take over the role from Terence Howard, the only change in actors between the two films). Can they save him from self-destruction?

You know, I get sick of people who are like “it's not as good as the first, boooo!” And that goes for anything. To them I say: so, because it may not be super-special-awesome, it's automatically deemed crap? Piss off! You just don't appreciate what you've got. You just want more and more of everything, without even knowing what you want.

It's not AS good as the first, sure, but it's still damn enjoyable!

Of the new characters, Mickey Rourke is really good as lead villain, Whiplash. Able to take on Iron Man with just a couple of special whips, he amazes early on and always seems to have an ace up his sleeve.

Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, Tony's business rival and second villain of the piece, isn't as good as Whiplash or Iron Monger, but he's still pretty good. It's not his fault he gets overtaken by Mickey Rourke (and his “burd”. I love that bit)

Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow makes her debut, ready for The Avengers, and damned if she's not cool. I'm a huge fan of Scarlett (personal life choices aside) and for her to be a part of this world is wonderful, as is a bigger role for Nick Fury, who is hilarious.

Don Cheadle does a great job in the role of Rhodey, probably right on par with Terence Howard. And yes, he does get to be War Machine.

And that leads to the best scene of the entire movie. As Tony's at home, drunk as a skunk, and showing off his Iron Man capabilities to his party guests. Rhodey's had enough. He gets into one of Tony's suits, tells everybody to leave, and gets into a physical match with Tony. To the tune of both Queen's Another One Bites The Dust and Daft Punk's Robot Rock. HELL. YES. This is too awesome for words. Seeing the two of them just duke it out, at one point using gym equipment, is priceless. When it comes to action, I'm a huge fan of close quarter combat, and this does not disappoint.

I know I didn't mention much about Tony and Pepper for Iron Man 2. Well, pretty much everything from the first movie applies here, but with a huger development on their chemistry, which is magical. And it pays off, as we'll (or rather, you'll) soon see...

Another great thing both movies share: awesome music. Both of them start with a kickarse AC/DC song, with Back In Black in the first movie and Shoot To Thrill in this. Hot damn.

But there is one big flaw with the movie, and that's with the end, so there will be spoilers.

Now, Tony and Rhodey teaming up to take on drones, that's all cool, that's fine. But Whiplash in his own suit... it's just a little too similar to the Iron Monger/Iron Man confrontation from the previous movie. I mean, it's still cool but I was hoping for something a little different.

But still, I highly recommend this film. And not just because Coulson is still awesome. 4/5

And the scene at the very end of this one? Damned if it wasn't good.

Well, that clears the rest of the Avenger tie-ins. Next time, the main event itself.

He Could Clear A Super Mario Level In Seconds Flat...

Alright, time for another theme week involving movies. With the Avengers looming ever closer, it's about time I finished the other tie-in films. So, for the next two posts, Iron Man and the Hulk will get their turn. Today, however, we turn to the not-so-jolly green giant himself.

Now, despite the fact that it's not technically connected to the Avengers, I'll also be covering the Hulk film directed by Ang Lee. Why? Well, it is kinda-sorta-maybe-related. Besides, if Spirit Of Vengeance can be connected to the first Ghost Rider, why can't this?

But first, some backstory: a Stan Lee-Jack Kirby creation, the Incredible Hulk came about in May 1962, making his debut in the first issue of the comic bearing the same name.

Meek and awkward scientist Dr. Bruce Banner risks his life to save a young man who inadvertently makes his way on to the test range for Bruce's creation, a gamma bomb. Instead of killing him, it creates an alternate personality that emerges in times of great rage: The Hulk. Hulk's primary superpower is incredible strength, which actually increases as he gets angrier. He also has accelerated healing, high resistance to mind control and is immune to disease and viruses.

The Hulk may just be one of the most feared yet misunderstood characters in comic history, as most of the time, he's on the run from the army, in particular, General Ross, father of his love interest, Betty.

But now, for the first film:

It begins in 1974 and goes over how Bruce's (Eric Bana) unstable father, David (Nick Nolte) experimented on himself while trying to create super-soldier prototypes. His altered DNA gets passed down to Bruce and David tries to find a cure. When the plus is pulled on his project, David goes mad and attempts to kill his son, which results in the accidental death of his wife and being locked away in a mental hospital, with Bruce going into foster care and repressing the entire event.

Years later, Bruce is working in a military-industrial complex, working on a similar project that his father was involved in. An accident involving gamma radiation mingling with his unusual DNA soon causes him to transform into a giant green monster. Banner ends up being hunted by General “Thunderbolt” Ross (Sam Elliot) while simultaneously pursued by his ex-girlfriend, Betty (Jennifer Connoly), who happens to be the general's daughter.

There's a little bit more to that, but we could be here all day, and I've got another movie to review below. Actually, that's one of the film's problems in a nutshell: the story is more complicated than it needs to be. I mean, what's wrong with the origin story from the comic? Yeah, using weapons on test ranges is probably uncommon these days (I have no idea, I'm not American) but it's simplified and classic. You don't have to have Rick Jones in there, just some random guy. Yes, the movie tries something that's almost the same, but the part I don't like is the whole “born with mutant DNA” thing. Wait, so that technically makes him a mutant. Now you're crossing into X-Men territory. I don't know if it's a retcon from later in the comics, but even so, I would have preferred the simpler approach.

Speaking of simple, another thing that bugs me is the use of splitscreen-like shots. I get that they're supposed to resemble comic panels, but for what reason? To remind us it's a comic book movie? Why not add thought bubbles while we're at it? It's actually kind of off-putting.

But I guess what bugs me the most is that it's hard to tell what's going on in places. Especially the final battle. I mean, it's mostly dark, with some movement, some glimpses of the Hulk and... that's it. I don't know if anyone had any idea what went on.

So, in a nutshell, I guess the biggest problem was the editing.

Were there positives? Well, sure, a few.

Compared to Ghost Rider, despite being released four years after Hulk, Sam Elliot cares more about this film than Ghost Rider. Maybe over the years he just stopped caring? No, that can't be it. For what little time he was in Thank You For Smoking, he was great. Maybe he found this role more believable, which I can't blame him for.

Eric Bana... is just OK. He's not terrible, not outstanding. Even when trying to get angry, I'm just not buying it. Oh well, good effort, Eric. You rocked in Chopper, though, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Jennifer Connelly, though, I did like. She's supportive and smart, which is in character with her comic counterpart (I say that very obvious statement because you would believe otherwise if you have only been reading comics from the Ultimate Universe, you'd find she's a raging bitch. But then, for reasons I can't fathom, most of the Ultimate Universe versions are arseholes).

David Banner... OK, I have to ask: did they just get Nick Nolte to speak gibberish, look like a homeless addict and just roll camera? That's pretty much how he comes off, a homeless addict. Yeah he spent time in a mental hospital, but dear lord, couldn't he at least have shaved and cleaned himself up a bit? You want people to take you seriously, stop looking like you're about to bash our faces in with a hammer to steal our fillings. Also, as a supervillain, you wasted your power.

But, and perhaps the most important aspects when making anything Hulk related, two questions will be raised: how do they handle the Hulk effects and how are the action scenes? To answer the first question: it's actually pretty decent. The green's a little too bright and he only looks slightly bigger, but I can live with it. The action's not terrible, but not entirely convincing either. Sure, he fights some tanks and wins, naturally, but there's no tension. Yeah, we know he's going to win, cos, he's the goddamn Hulk, but couldn't you at least put in a chance he could fall?

That's still better than the aforementioned final battle, or the fight with the three big dogs. Yeah. Like a crappy boss in a bad video game, Hulk takes down three mutated dogs. It sucked.

So, all in all, a confusing, poorly edited film saved by decent acting from the supporting cast and the passable effects on the Hulk (but bonus points for all the shots of his giant leaps, those were pretty cool). It gets by on 2.5/5, half a star more than when I originally saw it nearly a decade ago, proving why rewatching movies is a good thing. Third time seeing it now and it's making a little more sense! Maybe another five viewings and I'll understand all of it.

And now, for The Incredible Hulk, which is officially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whereas Hulk is... sort of related, like a distant cousin no one talks about.

Skipping the origin (it takes care of that in the credits, so already it wins points), Bruce (now played by Edward Norton) has been on the run for at least five years, successfully keeping off the grid, has a job in a bottling factory. However, some of his blood spills into a bottle that is ingested by an American man, which gives General Ross (William Hurt taking the reigns here) the tip-off on his location. With a team led by British soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), Ross attempts to capture Banner and fails to do so, though Bruce now heads back to America, reunites with Betty (Liv Tyler stepping in) and attempts to find a cure.

Again, I'm leaving a lot of detail out, but it's meant to be an intro, not a full recap. All you need to know is this: between the two films, this Hulk smashes the other one into the ground.

You can say what you want about how Hulk tried to elevate comic book films by adding a bit more drama to it, but considering what the Hulk's about, is the Hulk the first character you think of for high concept films? The Incredible Hulk manages to blend both invigorating action scenes and introspective moments without dropping the quality of the film, much like the comic. It's about the right blend, as is anything.

Acting-wise, of the three roles carried over, only one of them is on-par with the previous film (the role of General Ross), while the other two exceed it. Edward Norton has been one of my favourite actors for some time, ever since the first time I saw Fight Club and Red Dragon. He adds layers of emotion that Bana just couldn't conjure, and he's always believable. He has said he's a fan of the TV show that this movie pays loving homage to (from what I can gather, anyway, I've never seen it) and the some of the runs in the comic, and it's always nice when an actor is a major comic fan who gets to participate in a movie such as this (Nic Cage may be a subversion to a point but like I said in my Ghost Rider blog, his appearance in Kick-Ass appeases me).

Liv Tyler takes what Jennifer Connelly did and expands on it, making her a little more pro-active in helping Bruce, and getting moments to shine on her own (one of my absolute favourite scenes is her verbal-bordering-on-physical attack on a taxi driver, with Bruce humorously looking on and joking with her soon after. It's a sweet moment). The chemistry between Liv and Edward is great and it's another sign that Marvel knows how to make a great, three-dimensional love interest in their cinematic universe (something that Spider-Man, as fantastic as that trilogy is, never quite did to the full.)

Moving on to the new, Tim Roth made a far more capable villain with the Abomination. A man driven to be the best, like no one ever was (yes, wanting to outdo the Hulk himself), even more ruthless than Ross. Even when it's Tim in human form taking on the Hulk, he's a credible threat and never stands down in the face of overwhelming odds.

But when he does become the Abomination...

Well, like every other action scene, it's as exciting as I expected. Banner avoiding the soldiers in the factory, Hulk's fight on the campus, the final battle... glorious. And this time around, the Hulk looks more realistic (as realistic as a giant green rage monster can). What I mean is, he's more detailed and the transformation looks and flows more organically. Also, Lou Ferrigno's few lines as the Hulk were neat! Including the classic “HULK SMASH!” His and Stan's cameos in both films were great, though I prefer both of their cameos in this film, obviously.

Overall, a better effort and a sign that Hulk wasn't staying down for the count this time. 4/5. He may not be played by Edward Norton in The Avengers but that's not going to stop him from being awesome again.

And that ends the Hulk double. Next time, the movie that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the sequel.

He's Trying To Catch The Devil's Boy Across The Endless Skies

All right, only one more movie from 2012 to go over (well, there is another but since I have the DVD, I can review that when I have a free moment) and then the next theme week. But today, we look at the first comic book theatrical release, Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance. And as an added bonus (or punishment), I'll give my thoughts on the first movie too.

But first, a little back-story.

The concept of Ghost Rider was brought about in 1972, with the first such Rider being called Johnny Blaze. His creators were writers Gary Friedrich and Roy Thomas and artist Mike Ploog.

Johnny made a deal with the demon Mephisto (often considered Marvel's version of Satan) to save his step-father from cancer. Naturally, being a demon and all, he kills the man the day after of something non-cancer related. Mephisto tries to claim Johnny's soul but thanks to a counter-spell performed by Johnny's girlfriend Roxanne, he is denied a new soul and instead, a demon becomes bound to Johnny instead, transforming him into the Ghost Rider.

The Ghost Rider boasts powers and abilities like flame projection, accelerated healing, superhuman strength and the Penance Stare, which in my opinion is the most awesome super power ever (although I should mention it was Johnny's successor, Danny Ketch, who gained the Penance Stare and when Johnny returned, he too would be able to use it. It's a long story). All the Rider has to do is lock eyes with their victim and it makes them experience all the pain they have ever inflicted on anyone else. I like to think of it as weaponized karma.

But now, onto the films proper.

The first Ghost Rider film pretty much uses the origin story I described as the plot, minus Roxanne actually being involved in the deal. However, there's a little more to it. Mephisto (Peter Fonda, though the character is named Mephistopheles for the film) wants Johnny (Nicolas Cage) to find his son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley) and stop him from locating a long-lost contract for a thousand souls from a town called San Venganza, with which Blackheart can overthrow his father. In return, Johnny will get his soul back. All the while, he's reconnecting with Roxanne (Eva Mendes) after not having seen each other for many years.

Despite the near-universal scorn for it, I actually like this movie. I mean, it's not the greatest comic book movie but it's not Tank Girl, Spawn or Elektra (thank God). That being said, there is one huge flaw with the movie, which I'll get to later.

Nicolas Cage is pretty hit and miss with me, as he would be for most people. I've noticed that if you stick him in a more “arthouse” style film, he knocks it out of the ballpark. Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation, Matchstick Men, all fantastic and highly recommended. Despite his tendency to ham it up, he's dead serious in those films and for those alone, I believe he is capable of great things.

On the inverse, put him in an any other genre, and you better cross your fingers. Now, I will say that Face/Off and Kick-Ass also come highly recommended and for anyone who was soured by this movie, consider Kick-Ass his redemption in the comic book film community. But then you get stuff like Season Of The Witch and Knowing, and you're not even sure he's trying. Hell, he gives more effort in The Wicker Man, except he seems to be going for a comedy feel (I haven't seen the film but I've seen clips and one hilarious trailer that actually edited it to make it look like a comedy film. But then, how can you take someone who punches a woman while wearing a bear suit seriously?)

What I respect about the man, however, is that he loves comic books. He views them as modern day mythology. Hell, he named his kid Kal-El! Even I wouldn't do that, though I don't plan on having kids anyway, but that's not the point. And I personally think he was pretty good in this movie. Not hamming it up, but not being deathly serious. I like the quieter scenes, when he's just chilling after a show, enjoying the simple pleasures in life. I actually wouldn't have minded seeing more of that.

His love interest, Roxanne... she's just OK. I mean, Eva's great but the character doesn't do all that much. She's almost a living prop, just there so that Johnny's got a subplot going on with trying to get his life together. Oh and the interview between the two for her news program is, well, cringe-worthy. Johnny's like twenty seconds away from guffawing, shuffling his feet and saying “I saw you on the TV” in a goofy voice.

But they're still better than our leading villain, Blackheart. Ugh. Out of all the portrayals of a supervillain in a movie, his is the nadir of crap. This is basically his entire schtick: “Waah waah, devil daddy doesn't love me, think I'll rebel and just act like a little bitch”. In fact, that should be his name. Hence, I shall call him “Gothy McEmobitch”.

His sidekicks aren't that much better. I've seen the movie a few times after my initial cinema trip, and I still couldn't tell you their names without going to Wikipedia! And if you really, really want to know, their names are Gressil, Abigor and Wallow. I prefer to give them a group name, I call them “the System Of A Down cover band”, and that's being generous at best. The only good bit involving them is the pun Ghost Rider uses to defeat one of them, who uses wind powers: “Time to clear the air!” (That may not be the exact quote but you get the gist of it).

The only other characters worth noting are Carter Slade (Sam Elliot) who sounds kind of bored whenever he narrates. OK, it was cool seeing him transform into a Ghost Rider (and that is so not a spoiler, you can see that coming from the start, the movie makes no real attempt to hide it) but considering how he fades away before the big fight (again, not a spoiler. You know he would have died if he had entered the fray anyway), it seems like one big joke on the audience.

On the other hand, Peter Fonda does what he can with his limited screen time and damned if he's not awesome. Even though he could ham it up and walk away dignity intact, he doesn't. Gotta respect that.

Parts of the film were actually filmed down here in Melbourne and while that may seem cool, I actually recognized the parts of Melbourne that made the final cut and it actually took me out of the film. Weird.

One Australian connection I give absolute praise to, however, is the cover of Ghost Riders In The Sky by Spiderbait. One of the best covers I have ever heard, I never get sick of hearing it. I suggest you all go YouTube it right now. Go on. I'll be right here, probably listening to it myself.

In spite of the craptacular villain, I was entertained by this film, so I give it 3.5/5. One more thing: the effects for the Penance Stare were frickin' sweet, but very underused.

So, how does the sequel fare? Let's find out.

Cage is the only returning actor in this outing, which finds Johnny bumming around Europe trying to rid himself of the curse of the Ghost Rider (the curse he could have gotten rid of at the end of the first film...) and winds up having to protect a mother (Violante Placido) and her son (Fergus Riordan) from the Devil (Ciaran Hinds and I am not kidding, it is THE actual Devil this time, though in a human shape), with the help of a priest named Moreau (Idris Elba).

I had the weirdest experience watching this film on the big screen. I kept thinking “Why does this feel like it should have been straight-to-DVD?” I mean, it really had that feel to it. Small amount of known actors, a sequel to a film that was critically ravaged (a sequel five years later, no less), short running time (barely an hour and a half!), it really seemed better suited to skipping the big screen. It can't be because Marvel needed to retain its stranglehold on the comic book adaptation market, not since it has the rebooted Spider-Man and a major player in The Avengers (which will probably be the greatest threat to The Dark Knight Rises) to bring in the big bucks.

I mean, as you've probably come to expect, I didn't hate it but it was just bizarre. It didn't help that I was nodding off in places in the first half (though that might be due to the fact that I was tired from work but that's never happened to me before at a cinema).

I think the biggest problem is that no one's even trying. Nic's not as enthused about this one as he was the previous installments, the directors (two, count'em, two) resort to cheap tricks and lame jokes (did we need to see the image of Ghost Rider “pissing” fire? TWICE?!) and I don't understand why they changed the character from Mephisto to the actual Devil. I mean, if you were trying to downplay references from the first movie, having Cage reprise his role doesn't help matters.

There is another villain in this movie, actually lifted from the comics, Blackout (Johnny Whitworth). Though, I should point out that he doesn't start out as Blackout and has to get his decaying and darkness powers from the Devil himself. Before then, he's an arsehole who is unmemorable. As Blackout, he actually improves the movie.

That's the other bizarre thing. We have a role reversal here. In the first movie, the demon/Devil was the cool one, with the other leading villain being utter garbage. Here, the leading villain is actually kind of cool, whereas the Devil is poorly done. This movie is all kinds of messed up, for all the wrong reasons.

Oh and one little thing before I rate it: when you have Anthony Head in your movie, why, in the name of all that is holy, do you give him a few measly lines before you kill him off?! The man deserves better than that! He's Rupert goddamn Giles, for crying out loud! Ugh, kids today and their lack of respect for brilliant actors. Bet they haven't seen Little Britain either.

Weighing everything up, I give it 3/5. With all its problems, there are a few decent effects and action sequences, and Blackout's a HUGE improvement over Blackheart (but then, a flaming garbage bin is a huge improvement over Blackheart). Though, I am pissed by the lack of awesome Penance Stare action.

Hotel Or Hostel? I Know Where I'm Staying...

Time for another double update. Only one more update this week, then another theme week.

Today's double feature is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Hostel Part 3 (now there's a drastically different experience for you).

-The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Evelyn, Douglas, Jean, Muriel, Graham, Norman and Madge (Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie, respectively) are British retirees who decide to spend their autumn years in a new retirement “hotel” in India, run by Sonny (Dev Patel). Upon arrival, they are less than impressed with the standards of the hotel. Despite this, they stay and get used to the culture of India.

Based on a book that I haven't read, Deborah Moggach's These Foolish Things, the film is a very pleasant endeavor indeed. While being more a collection of anecdotes than a story with definitive beginning to end, it's a journey I enjoyed taking. With one or two exceptions, I found the characters, at worst, to be alright. At best, wonderful. I was especially impressed with Tom Wilkinson's performance and his character ends up being my favourite, with Judi Dench's and Bill Nighy's not far behind.

However, the weak character of the ensemble is Jean. While Penelope is very capable, the character is unlikeable right from the start, undergoes no growth and is the closest thing the film has to an antagonist. Heck, Madge is more likeable and she has NO character arc, she just kind of meanders around.

Something that works here that didn't work in Slumdog Millionaire (related only by Dev Patel appearing in both and featuring India) is that the characters are immersing in the Indian culture and it doesn't come across as scenery porn (my biggest problem with Slumdog Millionaire is that it seemed to be more like one huge advertisement for India, instead of an actual film), and the revelation that Graham even lived there gives his character more reason to be there.

It's not exactly going to set the world on fire with original ideas (the bitter old racist learning not to be racist? Who didn't see that coming?) but it's a lovely film and well worth your time, regardless of age (for the record, I'm fairly certain I was the youngest person in attendance for this showing). 4/5

-Hostel Part 3

It's Scott's (Brian Hallisay) bachelor party and he and his best friend, Carter (Kip Pardue) head to Vegas to meet up with companions Mike (Skyler Stone) and Justin (John Hensley) and hit the clubs, meeting two escorts, Nikki (Zulay Henao) and Kendra (Sarah Habel) along the way. But after Mike and Nikki go missing, the others try and locate their friends, not knowing what fresh Hell awaits them.

If you haven't seen a Hostel movie yet, don't worry, this doesn't tie in with the other two films bar the name and concept (that being “random strangers in foreign lands get horribly murdered by the locals”). Part of the “torture porn” genre, it's not a series I've held in high esteem. Sure, for a horror/thriller fan like me, it's a good series but I've always preferred the Saw series. Granted, towards the end it kind of lost sight of what it was about, but at least it HAD a point to go on. Hostel has always been “random partying Americans die in horrible ways”. And I'm OK with that, though it does mean that the characters are less likeable.

Hostel 3's only slight change from the previous installments is keeping things in America. Does it alter things significantly? Not really. I mean, if the commentary was meant to be “shady stuff goes down in Vegas, be weary of it”, they don't really take advantage of it. It could be set anywhere and it wouldn't make a lick of difference. Not that it's a negative, just saying that if this is the biggest change the movie has to offer, it's not much.

There is another thing that's different, though. Without wanting to spoil things, there's an actual reason for these particular murders, beyond the series standard of “rich people get bored easily, they need to get their kicks by people getting killed”, one that's actually not terrible. Not exactly original, but not terrible. So, points for that.

But what of the characters? Well, not much to say. Standard thriller/horror fare, the main male and female are the most rounded, the secondary female is promiscuous, the supporting guys are nondescript. Not terribly acted, just about average.

The kills, however, are really nice, as I've come to expect. Again, no spoilers, but the first major death... DAMN!

I'm sorry that there's not much to say but well... it's a straight-to-DVD sequel from a series I find to be rather average. This movie is about the same as the others, which is both good and bad. Good because it doesn't bring the franchise crashing down. Bad because with low expectations, they could have tried something different and maybe give it a new lease on life. I do recommend it somewhat, but I won't be upset if there's not a Part 4. 3/5

There was one movie I watched in between these two, but I'll cover that and its predecessor in the next blog, for the last double feature of the week before the theme week.

Women Who Kick Ass And Chew Bubblegum. And They're All Out Of Gum

Well, now that the old blogs have been uploaded to my new blog, let's get into the new stuff. If you're new, welcome! If not, still welcome!

Now, I have a few films I've been wanting to review but due to the amount I have, and the lack of time I've had to make new stuff, what I'm going to do is combine a few of them into one blog and give shorter reviews. I don't really like doing this, since it seems unfair to give some movies a short overview while others get a whole blog but then, Green Lantern got a two-parter and I'm eventually planning to turn this into a vlog series so I can't be fair to everything. Plus, with The Avengers drawing ever closer, plus a few movies on hand to help me reach my goal of fifty, I really have to get a move on.

So, without further adieu, let's get into the movies I've seen recently (well, going back to March anyway, the first movie reviewed today I saw right after The Descendants): One For The Money, The Hunger Games, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Hostel Part 3 (the latter two will be covered in my next blog).

-One For The Money

Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl) is out of work and nearly plum out of luck. She decides to try her hand at being a bounty hunter, after seeing her cousin Vinnie (Patrick Fishler), a bail bondsman, about work. She decides to pursue the highest pay-off, Joe Morelli (Jason O'Mara), who also happens to be a man from her past.

Despite only having read six books in the series, I really like the Stephanie Plum novels. At this point, Janet Evanovich has written about 18 of them, along with four side novels and a spin-off series. I read the first book (sharing the same title as the movie) several years ago, and was waiting for someone to make a movie out of it, so I was very excited to finally see the finished product. And... it's a good movie. Not fantastic, but considering all the hatred, I'm definitely going to defend this film.

I'm not a huge Katherine Heigl fan (actually, this and Knocked Up are the only two movies I can stand her in) but this was actually a nice change of pace. While not my ideal choice for Stephanie, we could have had worse (if Blake Lively had been involved, I'd have written this whole thing off). Maybe it was just dying her hair that made me not dislike her as much, as I usually find Katherine smug, arrogant and hypocritical (you can't say Knocked Up is sexist when you go on to star in The Ugly Truth, you just can't). At any rate, she turns in a good performance, though my favourite of the movie goes to Daniel Sunjata as Ranger, who is both cool and snarky. He serves as a quasi-mentor to Stephanie and their scenes together are the best.

The film is largely faithful to the original book, though I honestly can't think of any major changes between the two. Despite that, and being as funny as the book in the same places, there's just something lacking. I can't put my finger on it but it just doesn't inspire greatness, despite how great the book is. I mean, it is a good film, no question, I enjoyed it and laughed at all the right places, and there's nothing particularly “bad” per se, but there's just something it's missing and I honestly can't figure out what.

Still, I say you should give it a chance, even though with the abysmal reviews and apparent flopping at the box office, it'll most likely need a reboot since there's no chance of a sequel now. A pity, really. Maybe if it became a TV series, with three episodes covering one book, and they could be done as 12-episode seasons. Or done like Sherlock, though filmed back-to-back.

At any rate, it's 3/5 from me.

-The Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) lives in District 12, the poorest of the districts in Panem, a nation born out of a post-apocalyptic North America. Every year, each district must send a boy and girl to the Capitol to participate in the Hunger Games, in which the children must kill each other until one remains. To prevent her sister, Prim (Willow Shields) from being in the games after her name was pulled from the “reaping”, Katniss volunteers herself. Along with male tribute, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), she must find a way of surviving the games and showing the Capitol they can't control everybody.

To be honest, I'm not sure I even needed to explain the plot. The books and film are a worldwide phenomenon, possibly (and hopefully) outdoing Twilight in sales and acclaim. If anyone hasn't read it, my guess is they have friends bugging them to do so (for the record, at the time of seeing the movie, I had only read the first book. As of writing this blog, I've just started the third). There will be no stopping this juggernaut, not with sequel talk already in gear.

I haven't come across a single person who has seen it and given it a negative review or rating. And I won't be doing that either. Compared to the book, much like One For The Money, it remains faithful with slight tweaking (one change could potentially be a bad thing, though, we'll have to see how Catching Fire handles it). Heck, one thing I need to praise the movie for, it DOWNPLAYS the romantic angle! How often does a big movie do that? Usually you have some Hollywood weasel saying “I gotta have more romance! Chicks dig that crap!” and that's why Twilight got the greenlight, because that's all it is. But that's neither here or there.

The two leads have great chemistry with each other, and prove to be more than capable in their roles. Jennifer plays Katniss with the right combination of both strength and vulnerability. She's a capable warrior, but rather than close herself off from her emotions like a poorly written action character would, she keeps them in check (mostly) and rarely, if ever, lets her emotions overtake her head. That said, she does show warmth and compassion (without trying to spoil too much, there's her relationship with Rue) all without sacrificing any other qualities that would make her a less credible character.

Likewise, Josh plays Peeta as confident without being smug, and stoic throughout most of the movie, which is true to the book. I'm probably a bigger fan of the film version than I am the book version, mostly based on how Josh portrays him, even though I don't think negatively of the book version.

Speaking of characters, perhaps what I like best of the film is that my favourite characters are portrayed wonderfully. While Cinna doesn't get much screen time, Lenny Kravitz did great for someone who hasn't done a lot of acting before. He doesn't waste his very few scenes and he makes the character memorable.

But the crown for best performance, in my humble opinion, must go to Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. The drunk and snarky mentor to the two leads, he's just a hoot. Even when he's not being funny, he's just amazing. But then, with most of the characters Woody has played being somewhat lighthearted and comedic (Friends With Benefits, Cheers), it's nice to see him play someone darkly comedic but mostly serious. While it doesn't seem feasible, I'd support a Haymitch spin-off.

Some have complained about the use of shaky-cam and while it's a little off-putting, it's not in wide use, so I can live with it. The action scenes themselves are fast paced and kind of brutal. I mean, we are dealing with children here, so it's effective.

My favourite scene (same with the book) is when Katniss unleashes a nest of “trackerjackers” (genetically modified wasps, in essence) onto her opponents, by cutting the branch. Even though I already knew the outcome, the scene and the musical score along with it just gave it an intensity.

If I have one complaint (and I do), it is one change I disapprove of. The character of Thresh (Dayo Okeniyi) is sympathetic in the book, for what little time we focus on him for, but in the movie, he seems a little harsh, even though there's been no real change in dialogue. He pays respect to Katniss for something I won't spoil, but in the movie, he's almost bitter about it. I mean, yes, I can understand the circumstances but why not leave him be based on the book's version?

I could go on, but this blog is large enough already. But other things to note: the Capitol is much more colourful than I ever imagined, Toby Jones and Wes Bentley make good use of their limited screen time, Stanley Tucci and Elizabeth Banks are damn near unrecognizable (but that's a plus, because it allows them to have fun and try something new) and Donald Sutherland.... well, he's Donald Sutherland. And he needs leading man roles again. Make it so!

This gets a 3.5/5 from me, much like the book.

Well, two down... several more to go. Next time, the last two films I mentioned will be discussed.