Is safe to say, that out of Marvel and DC, Marvel is managing to do better with its properties when it comes to films. The quality has improved greatly since they created their own film branch, and its allowed them to stick closer to accepted continuity, as well as attempt the impressive feat of an Avengers movie. DC on the other hand, with the exception of the recent Batman re-boot, has failed to impress. I'll be honest, I haven't seen Green Lantern, but from what I've read from sources I trust who have seen it, I'll wait for it to come on TV.
Please be aware, this won't be full reviews (for that check out Cathy's 6 Impossible Things blog) but they will contain spoilers. You have been warned.
This year we've got 3 offerings from Marvel, Thor and Captain America to complete the set before the Avengers next year; and X-Men First Class, a prequel to the X-Men trilogy from Fox.
Thor
Of all the Marvel Films to date, Thor in my opinion, is the toughest to try and make work on the big screen. The background is an odd mix of Norse mythology and space aliens, all trying to interact with a modern world. I personally found the balance to be about right, with neither over balancing the other. Solid performances from the cast, and plenty of nods to the wealth of background they didn't show on screen.
Perhaps my only major annoyance with the film was the amount of time Thor spent on Earth as a mortal in order to learn his lesson. In the comics he was trapped as Donald Blake for years before he gained the ability to turn into Thor again, and in that time he had learned to empathise with humanity. In the film, it seems he could manage it in about a week. For a major shift in personality I would have liked it to have taken a bit longer.
Still, I enjoyed it a lot, and it had a load of elements that will hopefully link nicely into the Avengers film. I expect the final scene to play a major part.
X-Men: First Class
As a big X-Men fan, I loved X1&2, and then was massively disappointed in X3. As a result I didn't go into X-Men: First Class with much expectation. Looking back now on it, I have mixed feelings about the film. As a film it was enjoyable that required a little more thought than a normal action film, and dealt with the ideological differences well.
However taking it as an X-Men film we run into a few problems. Originally offered as a prequel to the X-Trilogy, it quickly diverges ala JJ Abrams Star Trek into its own continuity, but still hangs onto some aspects such as Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. While I'm more than aware of the mailable nature of comic books continuity, attempting to do similar in a film feels wrong.
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| Original Beast |
Even taking the film as a new starting point to an X-Men film universe, it then manages to trip over its source material. Beast was trying to find a cure for his mutation, not just because he had big feet. As you can see from the picture, he was closer to a gorilla than just a geeky guy with hands for feet. Given that Beast, I can get behind his discussions with Mystique about wanting to look normal. Instead it smacked a bit of insensitivity when the girl is blue, and all you have to do is wear large shoes.
There are more "errors" I can point out, but I won't, mainly because I know I'm being a bit of a pedant about it. For most of you, whether Emma Frost can has the ability to shift into diamond in the 60s or not until later doesn't matter. But for those of us to whom it does, it does spoil the film a bit.
That being said, I wouldn't object to a sequel. It was certainly better than X3.
Captain America
This one's not out until the end of the month, but I'm very much looking forward to it. Not only does it finish off the big 4 origin films for the Avengers film, but it show cases on of Marvels oldest characters. Like Thor, bringing Captain America to the big screen is not an easy task if you want people outside of America to watch it. Its there in the name really, up there as a poster boy for American values alongside Superman, apple pie and the founding fathers.
From the trailers, it looks hopeful that they've built up his character enough that he isn't overshadowed by the flag on his chest. We also have Agent Elrond himself chewing up the set as The Red Skull, and we all love a bit of
Avengers
Due out next year, the Avengers film is a massive project that's unprecedented in comic book films. While there have been attempts at these ensemble team films, they have all had to set the characters up in the same film, resulting in a film in which not much happens. Instead we have had the origin films separately, and can go straight into the team forming and getting down to hitting really big things. And they'd better be epic, because you don't get together Iron Man, Captain America and Thor together to take down Stilt Man.
I'm going to go out on a limb and give some predictions for both the Captain America and Avengers films.
Obviously we have the Cosmic Cube (shown at the end of Thor) in Captain America. While the comic book version is not Asgardian in origin, they may decide to tie them together, and given the Red Skull/Nazi obsession with all things Norse it will work ok. By the end of the film the Cube will end up in a proto-SHIELD for safety.
The ending of Captain America has to be him "falling in the ice" to be preserved until the modern era. Now I'd like them to do the original frozen solid in ice bit from the comics, but I can understand if they decide to go with a more modern take. The end credit scene will be him being found in the present, either by accident or by SHIELD going to look for him.
The Avengers film is going to hinge around Loki playing tricks in order to harness the power of the Cosmic Cube for himself. Through Dr Selvig (from Thor) he'll trick Bruce Banner/Hulk into stealing the Cube. This will trigger Nick Fury to assemble the Avengers Project for its first mission. This will be Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye and most likely a newly thawed out Captain America. At some point they will have to use Jane Fosters wormhole experiments to create a bridge to Asgard and enlist Thor to help smack down his brother. I'm hoping to see plenty of action squences (especially one with the Hulk vs Thor) but a decent amount of character interactions, as that's one of the key aspects of the Avengers.
Also slated for release next year is Ghost Rider 2. Not much to say on that score, the first one was ok, but I'm not sure it needed a sequel.
On the cards for 2013 is Iron Man 3, and Thor 2. I'm a bit apprehensive about Iron Man 3 as based on previous showings, they've managed to fail on the 3rd film (X3 and Spiderman 3 specifically, Blade had already gone down hill with Blade 2). However, with Marvel Studios having a much tighter control over things, there is a chance it won't go off the rails.
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