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The MCU - Marvel Cinematic Universe


Jay

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I could see Feige pitching the idea to the Avengers guys when they first came on as a last stand for Cap kind of deal, but certainly that wasn't on Whedon's mind when he wrote the dumb gag in Avengers 2

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8 hours ago, Arpy said:

They're doing the pose from Iron Man 3!

 

Yeah, it looks ridiculous, especially seeing Captain Marvel who's been in the MCU all of five minutes, awkwardly look around. So glad they cut this bullshit.

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So much for Marvel's tight-knit planning, but I don't blame them for skipping over the whole earth drama - hey, if they didn't axe their amazing Netflix shows, they could've dealt with the consequences of the blip in a more human way. Although, before Thanos, I believe the MCU's big catastrophe that affected earth was called 'The Incident' when Loki swarmed New York with the Geonosians.

 

I will say 2 things which might seem contradictory but bear with me.

 

Sure, when you explore it deeply, you realize that the connections in MCU aren't super deep. But I'll say this, even the level of connections they have, is mind-boggling and skull-crushing because of the reality of how movies are made scheduled etc. That they even manage to have an interconnected universe at all at this scale is outrageous. They deserve all the credit in the world for doing what they did. Just look at everyone else who tried and couldn't get to the first step and Marvel is at step 20. It is unfathomably ambitious what they have done and are doing. 

 

But, I will also add and I first felt this when I saw Winter Soldier in 2014 and have realized this ever since. The MCU is a TV series that is just shown in cinemas and has a much bigger budget. It basically functions like one and one might say is conceived like one. And the Russos have tried to address this head-on in some interviews and commentaries. But I think it is basically a TV series.

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That's not exactly an original thought.  The MCU has been described as more like a TV series than like individual movies by many people including myself for years now.  And that's why many feel the best entries are some of the older, more independent ones that weren't full of references to a bunch of prior content

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This cinematic universe trend, spread around separate movies, with post credits teasers for the next episode, it's something that honestly I just wish it would go away

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And I personally find this a fatal flaw in the format of television which I think carries over to the cinema in the MCU - when you do not quite have an end goal in mind, there is a lot of extraneous stuff and filler to pad out the runtime and the stakes can never feel very high because you don't know when the series will conclude and there is always chance of recovery.

 

It is a flaw of the format, and also plots can seem diffuse on closer examination. Basically the format will entail that things will age badly in memory always. Those perceptive enough to think ahead and access a present season or movie through the glasses of hindsight will realize how risible it all is.

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Sure, but you're also describing mainstream comic books too.  They also have to just keep putting out stories with no true end to ever write towards

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Yes!  Comics have one-shots and they have small usually 6-issue runs, and sometimes they have larger events - and each writer/artist has a different spin on the same character.  And there are in-continuity stories, and all-ages stories, and specifically out-of-continuity stories.  And every once in a while when in-continuity gets too overloaded, they just say "screw it" and reboot the whole thing.  Lucasfilm did the same thing with Star Wars.  These things aren't some grand masterminded sagas!  Like the comics, they're consumable serial entertainment for fun, and if they can pack in a little pathos in there, they're going above and beyond.

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Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage all contain better storytelling, acting, and an actual regard for filmmaking than most of the MCU films. Those shows made it possible to get to grips with superheroes on a human level that was emotional and intelligent. So, there you have television series that are cinematic and films that are television quality.

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Interesting ; I gave up on them after only watching Daredevil 1, Jessica Jones 1, and Luke Cage 1.  Was everything that came after those better? 

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1 hour ago, Jay said:

Interesting ; I gave up on them after only watching Daredevil 1, Jessica Jones 1, and Luke Cage 1.  Was everything that came after those better? 

Well it depends how much you liked the tone and overall feel for the characters. Iron Fist was the weakest of them.

 

Each of the shows is like a character study and both Jessica Jones and Daredevil develop and grow bringing their leads to satisfying conclusions or having gone through a great change. As I said before, perhaps the most important aspects of these shows to me has been the humanization it brings to each of the characters that makes them less like the Avengers' beauty pageants (as they eventually became in the films) and more like grounded individuals who live in the real world, and when they have crossovers, it doesn't feel cheesy because it just seems like these people inhabit the same world and don't need ridiculous costumes to telegraph their allegiance. 

 

I'm upset these shows had to end, but thankful that they were given a chance (particularly Jessica Jones) to tell a full story. Maybe things don't need to go on and on and on.

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3 hours ago, The Original said:

I gave up on Agents of Shield after only a few eps. Felt too free-to-air broadcasty to me.

 

TV snob!

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5 hours ago, The Original said:

 

I didn't notice that. Also why is Batman in the intro?

He's trying to jump ship from the collapsing DCCU.

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It was shot on 6.5K digital and had a 2K DI. In a time when films are shot in 8K digital and processed at 4K, Endgame’s technical specs aren’t really that impressive.

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26 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

It was shot on 6.5K digital and had a 2K DI. In a time when films are shot in 8K digital and processed at 4K, Endgame’s technical specs aren’t really that impressive.

 

It is shocking it was finished at 2k. What good is all that resolution when you are going to scale down. Why??? To save up on the fx dollars?

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4 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said:

It is shocking it was finished at 2k. What good is all that resolution when you are going to scale 

 

Downscaling from 6.5K digital (which is actually 5.5K-ish) to 2K will look better than native 2K.

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Just watched Thor: The Dark World, it was the only MCU film I hadn't seen before Endgame and it seems I didn't miss anything. Sure there were a few moments where Loki had some more development to his character, but the rest of the film is entirely skippable and nonsensical. 

 

In the mid-credits scene, Thor's friends deliver one of the infinity stones to The Collector, believing it wise to keep the stones separate. However, it seems like they're giving it to this guy who immediately looks untrustworthy and we're meant to believe this was the Russo's setting up the Thanos and Infinity Stone arc? It's just shit.

 

 

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The Dark World may very well be Marvel’s worst. Can’t for the life of me recall it’s plot in any real detail; can’t remember the names of many of the characters, especially the villains.

 

Its not terrible or anything, but it’s not good by any means.

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No, the script is very problematic. It's mostly the same type of story you had in previous two. Plus you could remove the entire second act, or replace it with virtually anything else, and it wouldn't have any impact on the main plot. Hulk has nothing to do in the film. I don't really get a sense Thor grows as a character in this film. But yeah, the gladiator planet segment is entertaining... even if it does very little to contribute to the story. It's funny, sure. Entertaining, yeah. But best? Nah.

 

Karol

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8 hours ago, crocodile said:

No, the script is very problematic. It's mostly the same type of story you had in previous two. Plus you could remove the entire second act, or replace it with virtually anything else, and it wouldn't have any impact on the main plot. Hulk has nothing to do in the film. I don't really get a sense Thor grows as a character in this film. But yeah, the gladiator planet segment is entertaining... even if it does very little to contribute to the story. It's funny, sure. Entertaining, yeah. But best? Nah.

 

Karol

 

It almost plays like Marvel: The Movie

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RLM put it best; when you get down to brass tacks, the story is very boilerplate and doesn’t really do anything new, but it’s elevated by all the fun stuff on top of that; the colorful and zany aesthetics, Watiti’s direction, the humor, the characters and pacing. 

 

It just works. 

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8 hours ago, Alex said:

I love it when they get auteur directors involved in franchises.

So that they can do exactly the same thing as everybody else? :lol:

 

46 minutes ago, John said:

RLM put it best; when you get down to brass tacks, the story is very boilerplate and doesn’t really do anything new, but it’s elevated by all the fun stuff on top of that; the colorful and zany aesthetics, Watiti’s direction, the humor, the characters and pacing. 

 

It just works. 

I agree on most points but pacing isn't one of them.

 

Karol

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Ragnarok was entertaining, at least. Waititi took advantage of Hemsworth's comedic sensibilities and ran with it in his style. I just thought the story, once more, was a bit bland and boiling down the main characters to parody versions of themselves reduced them to one-liners and one big joke.

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Yeah. You can’t take an earnest character like Thor and, by his third solo outing, suddenly turn him on-a-dime into a comedic character.

 

He’s basically not the same character anymore, and continuity is not a polite request.

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I enjoyed maybe 10 minutes in total of Ragnarok, mostly Waititi's rock monster thing and any scene with Goldblum. Apart from that, I was bored to tears. I gave up on Marvel movies after that one

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