Marvel's Phase One Movies: A Review

            Beginning with the release of Iron Man in 2008, Marvel Studios launched “Phase One” of its films based on Marvel comics. “Phase One” ended in 2012 with The Avengers. The six “Phase One” films made billions, setting the stage for a continuing string of Marvel movies. The chart below details the films, release dates, budgets, and grosses.  

Film	Year	Budget (imdb.com)	Gross (imdb.com)
Iron Man	2008	$140,000,000	$585,174,222
Incredible Hulk	2008	$150,000,000	$263,427,551
Iron Man 2	2010	$200,000,000	$623,933,331
Thor	2011	$150,000,000	$449,326,618
Captain America: The First Avenger	2011	$140,000,000	$368,608,363
Marvel’s The Avengers	2012	$220,000,000	$1,511,757,910

            Marvel’s “Phase 2” began earlier this year with the massively successful Iron Man 3. Thor: Dark World just opened to a $86.1 million dollar weekend. Marvel also has Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy in various stages of production with an Ant-Man movie also in the works. Marvel has also branched out into television production, with ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a recently announced deal with Netflix for four television series and a miniseries. The Marvel properties represent one of the most valuable assets in Hollywood. While “Phase One” was an undeniable commercial success, the films themselves were rather a mixed bag.

The Good

The Avengers

             The Avengers brought Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk together in an epic battle to protect Earth. Writer-director Joss Whedon successfully blends humor and action and clearly defines the different attributes of each character. Whedon’s writing provides depth to the non-Tony Stark Avengers. Captain America’s moral character resonates more than in his own movie. The Avengers is an entertaining and eminently re-watchable summer blockbuster.

 Iron Man

Iron Man helped restore Robert Downey Jr.’s fledgling career and Downey delights in this film as the brilliant and brash Tony Stark. The film also featured strong action sequences, a relatable and well-executed back-story that saw Stark brought low as the prisoner of a terrorist cabal before escaping. Like The Avengers, the film is an enjoyable summer action movie.

The Meh

Thor

            The chemistry of Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleson as brothers Thor and Loki carries the film. Unfortunately, clunky exposition and shameless product placements bog down the film once the action shifts to Earth. Natalie Portman, saddled with the worst parts of the film, plays an astro-physicist who falls in love with Thor. Armed with supermodel good looks, she delivers a lot of techno-babble dialogue about Norse mythology, electrical storms, and rainbow bridges to other planes of existence. Nothing about this movie makes me want to run out and see Thor: Dark World.

The Bad

Iron Man 2

            Iron Man 2 squanders the strengths of the first film, well-executed action and Robert Downey Jr., in favor of excessive and confused plotlines. The film features a rival industrialist creating his own Iron Man suits, Stark’s daddy issues, his slow poisoning, the creation of a new element, Stark’s relationship with his assistant, the attempts of a senator to take away his Iron Man suit, and the ostensible villain who wields a horrific Russian accent and an electric whip.

Captain America: The First Avenger

            Captain America starts off strong by highlighting Steve Rogers’s (Chris Evans) desire to protect the innocent and fight the Germans.  After being continually rejected for the Army, he volunteers for a secret medical experiment that gives him super-strength. Following the assassination of his mentor, Rogers demonstrates his fighting prowess by capturing the assassin.

The film then veers into inanity as a ridiculously ripped Captain America takes a job selling War Bonds. Eventually he leads an attack against a super-fortress designed by a Nazi villain named Red Skull, who, in a big reveal, has a red skull. Red Skull, however, is no ordinary Nazi—more of a super-Nazi. His seemingly endless supply of loyal soldiers extend both arms in a double Nazi salute—an absurdly stupid visual cue designed to show just how evil they are. Additionally Red Skull has an ancient source of energy that allows him to develop super-advanced energy weapons capable of vaporizing soldiers. Eventually he and Rogers fight on-board a plane, Red Skull dies, and Rogers must crash land the plane in the Arctic.

The Incredible Hulk

            Marvel loved this film so much that they didn’t even invite Edward Norton, who played Bruce Banner in this film, back for The Avengers. Fail.

            The final tally: two good, one mediocre, and three bad movies. Maybe the Phase 2 will be better...