The Marvel Cinematic Universe - RANKED!

With the Road to Infinity War complete, the time has come to rank the eighteen films that currently make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe... only for that ranking to change tomorrow with the release of Avengers Infinity War!

So in reverse order, here we go...

18. Thor The Dark World

Would have bottom for the Greenwich tube stop gaff alone but it is also the dullest and most dour entry in the MCU with the saga's most non-descript villain of all-time in Malekith.

Full review here.

17. The Incredible Hulk

Whilst it is an improvement on Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk, this film always seems out of place with the rest of the MCU & feels like the weird family member nobody talks about anymore.

Full review here.

16.  Iron Man 2

Suffered from being a movie setting up the Avengers and wider MCU than a true Iron Man sequel. Bonus points for Sam Rockwell.

Full review here.

15. Thor

Kenneth Branagh turned a potential Flash Gordon misfire into a thundering Shakespearean family drama boosted by the performances of Hopkins and Hiddleston. Loses points for dyeing Hemsworth's eyebrows.

Full review here.

14. Captain America: The First Avenger

Any film with The Star Spangled Man With A Plan musical number should really chart higher but Steve Rogers became a much more interesting character once he came out of the ice!

Full review here.

13. Doctor Strange

Benedict Cumberbatch goes full Hugh Laurie doing House M.D. in a straightforward but visually stunning origin story for the Sorcerer Supreme. Nice twist on solving Marvel's third act problem.

Full review here.

12. Black Panther

The biggest movie in the world at the moment until Infinity War comes out at least is a huge leap forward for Hollywood. Part Black Bond film, part Lion King. This film starts with a roar but loses its teeth during the CG heavy finale.

Full review here.

11. Ant-Man

Rudd-y hilarious and the perfect palette cleansing sorbet between the all-you-can-eat Avengers Age of Ultron buffet and the indulgent dessert of Civil War.

Full review here.

10.  Guardians Of The Galaxy

The moment that we realised Marvel Studios could do anything they wanted and succeed. A space adventure soundtracked to the Seventies featuring Andy Dwyer from Parks & Rec and a talking raccoon? More please!

Full review here.

9.  Iron Man 3

Shane Black stripped away the suit, leaving Tony Stark to rely on his skill and wit (ably assisted by Black's razor sharp dialogue) in the first film of Phase 2 that showed Marvel were willing to push the boat out and not rely on a tried and tested formula.

Full review here.

8. Avengers Age of Ultron

A better film than many give it credit for, it improves on a rewatch now seeing how it fits in to the wider MCU universe following Phase 3.

Full review here.

7. Spider-Man Homecoming

The version of Spidey we didn't know we wanted or needed until Civil War, Tom Holland is perfect in his first solo movie as part of the MCU.

Full review here.

6. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

Better than the original and focused on building character than action, resulting in the most emotional instalment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Challenge anyone not to well up at "He may of been your father boy, but he wasn't your daddy"

Full review here.

5. Iron Man

The film that started it all and still one of the highlights of the MCU. Not only did it offer redemption to Tony Stark, it gave it to Robert Downey Jr. as well.

Full review here.

4. Thor Ragnarok

Taika Waititi reinvents Thor as the Lord of Thunder with lightning fast comic timing, bringing the Ragnarok n roll to the franchise.

Full review here.

3. Avengers Assemble

At the time it seemed impossible but Joss Whedon delivered a movie that perfectly balanced an ensemble cast of Earth's mightiest heroes, caused a billion geekgasms and showed that anything was possible in the MCU.

Full review here.

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The first film to feel like a legitimately great film that broke free of the comic book genre. Also contained the MCU's best action scenes until the next film...

Full review here.

1. Captain America: Civil War

Liable to have nabbed the top spot for the airport sequence alone but this adaptation of Civil War perfectly fits into the MCU and provided an incredible story that came from the characters and not the action.

Full review here.

Road to Infinity War - Phase 2 - Ant-Man (2015)

The greatest "What If?" in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Out there in the Quantum Realm somewhere there is a version of the MCU that still features an Ant-Man that was directed by Edgar Wright.
Fans of the Cornetto Trilogy were feeling rather negative towards the film before it came out, saying that this was finally going to be Marvel's first genuine misstep and flop but...
Trust in Feige and the MCU because in spite of all the troubles and issues going into the production, the final result is actually a very fun and enjoyable Marvel film, albeit it on a smaller scale than Age of Ultron (pun intended) and the perfect palette cleanser.
Paul Rudd is a fantastic choice for Scott Lang, who is drawn into a scheme to stop the original Ant-Man Hank Pym's protege from recreating the technology. He perfectly captures the wide-eyed cynicism to the ridiculousness of the entire situation and it helps draw the audience into this world.
It certainly plays to Rudd's strengths, playing up the humour "Baskin Robbins always find out" and he is given a terrific sidekick to spark off in Michael Pena's Luis with his fantastic flashback explanations.
NB: Marvel, please release the Comic-Con video of Pena explaining the entire MCU history to Michelle Pfieffer before Infinity War comes out!
While Pym has handpicked Scott Lang to be the one to take on the mantle (or should that be Antle) of Ant-Man, this puts Scott at loggerheads with Hank's daughter Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) who believes she is the worthy successor but at odds with her father because of a past family tragedy that will drive the narrative forward in the sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp.
With Marvel keen to put a different spin on each of their movies, this one can definitely be described as a heist movie with a lot of time spent on Lang training for the job (including the contractual Marvel shot of Rudd with his top off to prove that he has worked out enough to have a six-pack) and putting the plan into action.
Peyton Reed does a good job of delivering the action but there are still moments in the film that still feel like Wright (he retained a screenplay credit) such as the train fight sequence at the end with a cameo from Thomas The Tank Engine.
However if there is one person who deserves a huge amount of credit for the success of Phase 2 and 3 in the MCU, it is the person responsible for the visual effects that de-aged Michael Douglas in the opening scene as the result is astonishing (and would be repeated in Civil War and Guardians Vol. 2). It is creepily realistic and they deserve a pay rise!

Also, it doesn't get mentioned a lot but one would argue that Ant-Man features that saddest death in the MCU outside of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2!

Infinity Stone counter = 4

Road to Infinity War - Phase 2 - Avengers: The Age Of Ultron (2015)

You know what? Avengers Age of Ultron gets a bit of an unfairly bad rep.
A lot of that comes from Joss Whedon's split from the Marvel Cinematic Universe following the release of the film where it was revealed that he had not enjoyed the process this time round, feeling that the wider needs of the Universe were getting in the way of telling the story. It also caused him to leave Twitter when fans started hating on him for certain character choices he made (*cough* Natasha and Bruce *cough*).
It is certainly not a perfect film. For one thing it is Avengers: Age of Product Placement with featured shots of Under Armour clothing, Beats headphones, Reebok trainers and, randomly, Gillette shaving cream!
What Ultron does do well is it captures the fun and excitement of having a group of superheroes working together and the wonderful chemistry established by the group of actors who have now been working together for a number of years.
It picks up where it left off, kickstarting the film with an action sequence that features Earth's mightiest heroes in a slow mo one shot again that says "we're hitting the ground running". It also contains the wonderful "language" moment.
There is the party scene where all the Avengers (except Black Widow) attempt to pick up Thor's hammer. The look on Hemsworth's face when Cap makes it wobble ever so slightly is priceless. It also has a wonderful pay off later in the film with Vision.
One of the major criticism's from fans was the middle section where they lay low at Hawkeye's family farm but it allows the movie a chance to breathe and it is a nice, welcome character development for Renner's Clint Barton who spent most of the first film under the mind control of Loki.
Given Whedon's history for killing off characters, it pulls the perfect bait-and-switch building up "one last job", "baby on the way" sacrifice for the hero that doesn't end the way you think.
It also gives him a wonderful moment with Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch where he delivers a pep talk about becoming an Avenger and how ridiculous it all is that he is just a guy with "a bow and arrow".
It is wonderful to finally see the MCU get another female superhero to add to the mix in the form of Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch (No, Maria Hill does not count!). Olsen is perfect in the role that will develop over the next phase as she struggles to deal with her enormous power and relationship to Vision, the child of Ultron.
Voiced perfectly by James Spader, Ultron is the dark mirror image of Tony Stark. Born out of a need to protect the Earth from attack but ultimately deciding the easiest way to do that is destroy humanity, he is the Monster to Stark's Doctor Frankenstein.
On reflection, now that Phase 3 is nearly complete, Age of Ultron actually fits in a lot better to the overall arching storyline. The final battle in Sokovia has huge repercussions for the group that leads into Civil War, Andy Serkis's delightfully wacky Ulysses Klaue as a plot device to introduce the notion of Wakanda (but worth it for his Cuttlefish speech) and Thor's subplot about going for a dream bath now makes a lot more sense given the events of Thor Ragnarok for example. Again it is about finding that balance between being a complete one shot film versus paving the road to Infinity War but if people were to talk a walk back down this path, they will find much more to enjoy second time around.

Infinity Stone counter = 4

Road to Infinity War - Phase 2 - Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

Let's admit it. This shouldn't have worked. A cosmic comedy adventure featuring D-list Marvel characters that included a talking raccoon and a walking tree that could only say three words?
And at a time when D.C. were struggling to put together a Batman vs Superman movie.
But Marvel Studios once again proved why they are the best in the business and knocked it out of the park with Guardians Of The Galaxy. Created a smash hit movie franchise. Turned Chris Pratt into a A-List superstar and got a compilation soundtrack to become one of the biggest selling albums of the year and nominated for a Grammy!
It might have seemed like a risk but GotG was actually an essential building block in the MCU as it was the first film to directly deal with the Infinity Stones which Thanos will ultimately look to finally add to his gauntlet after 6 years of sitting on his arse!
We get the Power Stone in the Orb as the "Ark of the Covenant, Maltese Falcon kinda vibe" MacGuffin for the movie and Benicio Del Toro's Collector to provide the back story to the gems.
The central plot is so-so, with the group moving from one planet to the next to retrieve the orb and stop the bland, generic bad guy's evil schemes which result in Phase 2's standard Act 3 of having very large things falling from the sky into over-populated urban areas (Helicarriers in Winter Soldier, Dark Elven ships in Thor The Dark World, Sokovia in Ultron).
What makes the film works in spite of any flaws is the casting, chemistry and "banter" of the Guardians.
Pratt *IS* Peter Quill from the moment he starts dancing around to Come And Get And Your Love in a giant space cave. It tells you everything you need to know about the character without him having to say a word but when he does he is hilarious. Confusing the likes of Gamora and Drax with his Eighties references to mighty heroes such as Kevin Bacon for example.
Despite initial misgivings over the casting of Bradley Cooper, he does an excellent job as Rocket Raccoon and Diesel (who has previous form as The Iron Giant) manages to do so much with just three words. Who knew there were so many different ways you could say "I am Groot"?
The biggest revelation here however was Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer. Best known for being from WWE, this was his first real film role and while there were the usual questions over whether he would be a Hulk Hogan or a Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, he actually steals the entire film with his remarkable comic timing.
Overall, there is a looseness and sense of fun and wonder about the film that simultaneously expands the MCU into the wider cosmic universe but also keeps it grounded and real thanks to the soundtrack that features well known (and soon to be well known) songs from the Seventies and Eighties, all of which are perfectly used.
Finally, on this rewatch, despite pouring over every frame, sadly no closer to discovering James Gunn's final hidden Easter Egg. Next time A'Holes!

Infinity Stone counter = 4 (Power Stone, Reality Stone, Space Stone, Mind Stone)

Road to Infinity War - Phase 2 - Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Thor The Dark World. The darkest moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not in terms of plot or backstage drama (that would come with Ant-Man) but in terms of colour palette and reviews.
The sequel to Thor is widely regarded as the least popular film in the MCU.
Following on from the excitement of Shane Black's Iron Man 3 straying from the convention and of Phase 1 Marvel movies, this feels disappointingly formulaic.
Following Patty Jenkins' departure (she would get her own back by directing Wonder Woman four years later), Alan Taylor was hired. Best known for Game Of Thrones, he brings a workman-like quality to the production but never threatens to bring the same level of wit or inventiveness to proceedings like Joss Whedon or Shane Black
The problem lies in the villain Malekith and the Dark Elves. Underneath the make up and auto tuned voice, you wouldn't be able to tell that Malekith is played by Christopher Eccleston (something he wants to forget as well).
There is a Macguffin about planetary convergences, eternal darkness and dark matter but really this is all there to introduce the third Infinity Stone... even if it is not currently in the form of a stone.
The real story is Thor's relationships. With Jane (who is moving on with a date with Chris O'Dowd), his father Odin and incarcerated brother (adopted) Loki.
There is double and triple crossing as the battle against the Elves and for the throne reaches its climax in... Greenwich, London of all places. I think this was during the two year period where every US blockbuster was contractually obligated to destroy Central London (G.I. Joe - Retaliation, Fast & Furious 6, London Has Fallen, Independence Day Resurgence, etc, etc).
Now there are continuity errors and goofs in every film. It's part and parcel of film making that things will go wrong.
This leads us to the single moment in the MCU that will wind up every Londoner or person from the UK who is familiar with the London Underground where Thor gets on a tube train at Charing Cross and asks how far to Greenwich and a woman tells him two stops. TWO STOPS! More like "two stops to Waterloo then change for the Jubilee line and then take it six stops to North Greenwich and walk to the Naval College mate"!
Still, it was nice to see Kat Dennings back as Darcy just for the moment she can shout "Meow Meow" at Mjolnir as the hammer goes flying by.

Infinity Stone counter = 3 (Reality Stone [Aether], Space Stone, Mind Stone)

Road to Infinity War - Phase 2 - Iron Man 3

The Avengers had opened to $200 million in its first weekend. It would go on to make over $1.5 billion worldwide.
It would be safe to say that Marvel Studios were feeling pretty pleased with themselves at this point. Yet instead of resting on their laurels and sticking to a tried and tested formula, they very riskily and daringly threw out the rule book with Iron Man 3 and hired Shane Black to write and direct.
Shane Black was best known for being a screenwriter in the Eighties, cranking out the screenplays for such hits as Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight, but it was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang that landed him the job with Marvel.
His hilarious neo-noir directorial debut in 2005 based on his own script was the film that offered Robert Downey Jr a way back into the Hollywood elite and it was his performance in this film that persuaded Feige et all to give him a chance as Tony Stark. One he has seized with both hands and never looked back.
For any fans of Shane Black, it is clear that this has his fingerprints all over it; flashbacks, voiceover narration, whipsmart dialogue and it is set at Christmas!
It felt fresh, daring and dangerous compared to everything that Marvel had produced before. This took Tony Stark out of the Iron Man suit and forced him to show that he could be a hero in his own right.
Of course, the most controversial, and divisive, moment comes at the start of the third act when it is revealed that the villainous terrorist The Mandarin is actually a drunken, out of work British actor called Trevor Slattery, portraying a character created to take the blame for Guy Pearce's experiments gone wrong.
The twist works because The Mandarin is a racist stereotype from the Sixties and it would have been met with controversy if they had gone down that route, and it works because of Ben Kingsley, sorry Sir Ben Kingsley's performance. He is suitably menacing as the face of the Ten Rings and also hilarious as Trevor Slattery.
It sets the bar high for Phase 2 in that anything can happen. Well except the death of Iron Man that is. I mean, you have him making this potentially huge sacrifice play at the end of The Avengers but it lacked the emotional weight due to the fact that Iron Man 3 had already been announced.
Looking back at the Marvel Cinematic Universe now during Phase 2, there is so much happening within a tight time frame that this leads to some odd story choices which impact repeat viewings of some of the films. Iron Man 3 in particular.
At the end of this film, Tony Stark essentially retires as Iron Man, even going so far as to remove the arc reactor from his chest. Yet, a couple of years later, there he is back as Iron Man in Age of Ultron where Whedon seems to have ignored most of what happened to him thematically.
Still, it is difficult to be that negative about a film being narrated by Tony that you discover in the post-credit sting that is actually being told to Bruce Banner who has fallen asleep, because he is not that kind of doctor.

Infinity Stone Counter = 2

Road to Infinity War - Phase 1 - The Avengers

The Avengers was the film that proved dreams really do come true. They came true for Kevin Feige. For Stan Lee. For all Marvel fans.
For all the talk about "Infinity War is the most ambitious crossover film event of all-time", that would not have been possible if The Avengers.
The comic book movie had only really begun to find its feet again in 2008 following the disastrous Batman & Robin nearly destroyed the genre. Sure there was the odd success like X-Men or Spider-Man but 2008 saw both Marvel and D.C. delivering the goods with Iron Man and The Dark Knight.
Doubling down on the success of their individual movies, Marvel Studios now successfully pulled off something that seemed impossible at that stage. A superhero team up where all their heroes appeared in the same film... not only that but it totally worked and a lot of that credit must go to Joss Whedon.
Best known for Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Whedon had only directed one feature film at this point but that film was Serenity. A big screen sequel to his cancelled TV show Firefly, it proved that he could perfectly balance an ensemble cast in a movie. Never losing sight on the story but also giving every character their chance to shine... and also never afraid to kill someone off if it was serving the plot!
It might not be the *best* MCU film in the series now (that title goes to Civil War) but it is probably has the highest number of "geek out", "mark out" moments that had fans cheering in the cinemas.
The first half of the film does get bogged down a little bit by having to reintroduce all the main characters into the story but once they are all aboard the Helicarrier, it is just pure comic book joy.
One of the best scenes, that shows how well Whedon understands and showcases the characters and relationships between them, is when the heroes start to argue with each other after it is revealed that Fury is using the Tesseract to build weapons, which he blames on Thor which sparks Tony and Steve to have a pissing contest, all the while threatening to set off the Hulk (played with wit and intensity by the new Bruce Banner Mark Ruffalo).
Once the film gets to the final battle, Whedon gives the fans exactly what they want with that incredible 360 degree shot of the team finally assembled; the tracking shot of them all in action against the Chitauri and the Hulk/Loki "Puny God" exchange.
It was a game changer for the genre, the first movie to take over $200 million in its opening weekend and showed just what could be achieved by Marvel Studios and the Extended Universe idea. Something that no other studio has successfully managed to replicate.

Infinity Stone Counter = 2 (Space Stone and Mind Stone)

Road to Infinity War - Phase 1 - Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

From tales of Norse Gods and visiting the Nine Realms in Thor, the Marvel Cinematic Universe then followed that up with... a period action film set in World War II?
Yes, it was time to introduce the face and poster boy for Marvel since 1942... Steve Rogers aka Captain America.
And who did they get to portray the Star Spangled Man with a plan? Well, the Human Torch of course.
At this point, Chris Evans (no, not that one) was most famous for starring in Fantastic Four. 7 years on, it is hard to imagine anyone else carrying the shield... well maybe, Bucky or Falcon (if you read the comics).
Powered by a terrific cast including Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci, etc, director Joe Johnston proved the perfect choice for the tale, having previously delivered a perfect slice of retro charm with The Rocketeer. He even manages to throw in a reference to his work on Raiders Of The Lost Ark when the Red Skull gains possession of The Tesseract and quips that "Hitler digs for trinkets in the desert".
The CGI still holds up well in the early scenes with "tiny" Steve before the super serum and Evans does a great job at showing Rogers' pure heart and determination ("I could do this all day").
The origin of "Captain America" gifts the MCU with one of its all-time greatest moments, the Star Spangled Man with a Plan musical number, and its finest leading lady in the form of Peggy Carter.
Hayley Atwell is a match for Steve in terms of wits, guts and style and gets her moments to shine. The only times she comes across as the "love interest" is when she reaches across and touches his chest post-serum and during the Armageddon-Aerosmith style radio message at the end.
Their relationship is what gives the movie its heart and leaves the audience with a heartbreaking denouement before setting us up for The Avengers (somewhat disappointingly with a mini-trailer for the film rather than a standard post-credit sting).

Infinity Stone Counter = 1 (The Space Stone aka The Tesseract)

Road to Infinity War - Phase 1 - Thor (2011)

Again, it seems hard to believe but at the time, Thor presented a huge gamble for Marvel Studios. It introduced Asgard, Norse Gods, Space, Alien races and monsters. It could have gone so horribly wrong. Yet this was the studio that would go on to give us a film starring a talking raccoon and a tree monster!
Thankfully for Marvel, under the guidance of director Kenneth Branagh, Thor was the best movie since Iron Man.
It works because Branagh does not treat it as a Flash Gordon-esque adventure (that would have to wait till Ragnarok) but as a Shakespearean tragedy with the focus on a family feud between a King and two squabbling Princes both with an eye on the throne.
It succeeds thanks to having British heavyweights like Anthony Hopkins spitting out lines like "You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy" and "But you're NOT King. Not yet". Plus it introduced the majority of the world to Tom Hiddleston as Marvel's number one villain you love to hate, Loki.
Chris Hemsworth was also a relative unknown at this point. Really only appearing in the first ten minutes of the Star Trek reboot. But he perfectly captures the fish out of water element of his character as the selfish, boorish warrior who is stripped of his power and forced to learn a lesson on earth... and find love along the way.
Thor continues the development of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Coulson is firmly established as Fury's number two, running the whole show in New Mexico and even ordering around Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).
It remains one of the strongest entries in Phase 1 but contains the single biggest mistake in the history of the MCU. One that was thankfully rectified come The Avengers and that was the decision to dye Hemsworth's eyebrows blonde!

Infinity Stone Counter = 1 (Brief glimpse of the Tesseract aka the Space Stone in the post credit sting)

Avengers Infinity War Footage Screening - Edinburgh

Tonight saw the Avengers: Infinity War press tour come to Edinburgh. Albeit in a more low key (or Loki) fashion than the London UK Fan Event this past Sunday.
Rumours had been flying around that Paul Bettany (Vision) and Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch) would be in Edinburgh for the screening sadly proved to be false but co-director Joe Russo was on hand to introduce the footage.

He started by recognising the efforts of Mae Trumata who had started an online petition to have the UK premiere of the film in Edinburgh as it was the only place that they filmed in outside of the US and spent 5 weeks shooting on location at Waverley Station and the Royal Mile.
They even built a makeshift film studio in a hanger at Leith Docks for interior shoots while they were here, bringing in $10 million to the local economy.
Russo indicated that the support for the petition was why he was there tonight, and wanted to give something back to the city “for being such incredible hosts to my brother and I and our crew. It was an amazing shoot here”.
He had to go on to apologise because Edinburgh did not appear in the footage that was being screened to the audience (*cue near riots - kidding*) but that Edinburgh would feature in the finished film and that audiences “will see about ten minutes of your beautiful city in the film, which is shot as Edinburgh - it’s not shot as another location and some pretty important sequences happen here.”
That sequence is likely to Scarlet Witch and Vision come under attack from the Black Order before being saved by Captain America… if the trailers are to be believed!
Russo teed up the footage by saying that it was two scenes coming just after the opening of the film that did not give too much away in terms of plot and action. There is only one premiere screening happening for Infinity War to cut down on potential spoilers as there are “so many secrets in this film” and they “don’t want to spoil it for anyone”.
“We have gone to great lengths to protect what happens in the movie, we wrote fake scripts and distributed them to the cast”
As for the footage that was screened… you are not getting spoilers here. You would have more chance of getting blood from an Infinity Stone!
However it is fair to say that Infinity War is in very safe hands with the Russo Brothers following Captain America The Winter Soldier and Captain America Civil War and the result will be suitably epic.
While the event might not have had the star power of the London screening, the fans left happy as Joe Russo happily chatted away with fans, posing for photos and autographs. He even arranged a second showing of the footage to fans who had initially missed out on the event.

Suffice to say that Edinburgh and Scottish Marvel fans will be assembling at their local cinemas come April 26th to see how the culmination of the first ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe plays out.

Road to Infinity War - Phase 1 - Iron Man 2

"I'm not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a phoenix metaphor been more personified"
It is difficult if this line was talking about Tony Stark, warmonger turned superhero, or Robert Downey Jr, troubled actor turned A-list superstar.
After the surprise success of Iron Man, the third film in the MCU was to continue the adventures of "Shellhead".
Looking back at it now, it is full of surprises such as the screenplay being written by Justin Theroux. The appearance of later Fox superheroes Kate Mara (Sue Storm) and Olivia Munn (Psylocke) in tiny roles. It is the film that brought together Hollywood couple Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb.
It also deals with the casting change of James Rhodes in a similar way to the introduction of George Lazenby as Bond with his "This never happened to the other guy". When Don Cheadle is introduced, there is the wonderful exchange between Stark and Rhodey:
"Didn't expect to see you here." "It's me. I'm here. Deal with it"
Heroes were present and correct. It's a shame that the villains didn't quite match them. Mickey Rourke's Whiplash is wasted after an entertaining action sequence in Monte Carlo. Although not a match for Iron Man physically, there is more fun to be had from Sam Rockwell's rival arms dealer Justin Hammer (love the way he refers to Stark as "Anthony") and Garry Shandling's Senator Stern.
Stern's committee hearing is one example of how Marvel is able to ground their films in reality, with a very real discussion of how Iron Man's actions on foreign soil would affect America and how he is not accountable to the government. This is something that will come round full circle in Age of Ultron and Civil War.
The issue with Iron Man 2 is not the CGI man in flying metal suit battles multiple other flying metal suits but that it was less concerned with being an Iron Man sequel as it needing to be an Avengers prequel.
Whereas the original Iron Man only had a couple of nods to the wider Marvel universe, this film burns through references faster than Tony Stark burns through palladium cores for his arc reactors.
There could have been a fantastic take on the Iron Man "Genie in a bottle" storyline from the comics where Tony descends into alcoholism to cope with the pain that his arc reactor is causing him.
Instead we get multiple references to SHIELD, Nick Fury, Captain America's shield and the introduction of Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow.
Jon Favreau's direction keeps things moving at a good pace however and manages to showcase Stark's inventiveness and action credentials. He even manages to give himself a chance to use his UFC skills in a fight... even if he is upstaged by Black Widow!
Overall, it is the weakest of the Iron Man trilogy but does serve as an effective building block in the foundations of the MCU.

Infinity Stone Counter = Big Fat Zero

Road to Infinity War - Phase 1 - The Incredible Hulk (2008)

One forgets that The Incredible Hulk came out a mere 6 weeks after Iron Man. The MCU were either very, VERY keen to build on the success OR that is what happens when you were dealing with multiple distributors on your films (until Disney bought Marvel Studios, Paramount were releasing the Iron Man, Cap and Thor movies while Universal still had Hulk. Actually even to this day which is why you don't see a solo Hulk movie).
Incredible Hulk is viewed by many as bottom tier Marvel. It is not a bad film. It's certainly a hell of a lot better than Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk with the mutant poodles!
It is just not as good or as slick and polished as the rest of their catalogue. Indeed, the MCU was clearly still finding its feet here as evidenced by Thunderbolt Ross's references to the Super Soldier plan not tying in perfectly with Captain America: The First Avenger.
Also, they seemed a little bit unsure of themselves and had the post-credit sting of Tony Stark telling Ross that they were putting a team together before the credits.
To think this is the same studio that gave us the troll-heavy Captain America sting at the end of Spider-Man Homecoming.

The Incredible Hulk always seems slightly out of place in the MCU and is mostly remembered for their handling of Edward Norton who did no publicity for the film after they rejected his 3 hour cut that was more of a Jekyll and Hyde character study in favour of retooling it as a two hour "Hulk Smash" action film.
The effects never really worked as the CGI Hulk never really felt like Norton's Banner. Something that would be fixed when Mark Ruffalo would be cast and did performance capture as the Hulk. Although it was nice to see Lou Ferrigno provide the voice and make a cameo.
It certainly wasn't all bad and there are some really lovely, fun moments such as Banner getting "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" wrong in Portuguese or stopping himself from getting intimate with Betty Ross because his heart rate is getting too high and fearful he may Hulk out, or Craig Armstrong (delivering one of the strongest MCU scores) using the "sad walking away" music from the TV show.
In terms of references and world building, there is a nod to the Ultimates series of comics where they drop Banner out of a helicopter at an enemy to induce a change. This is also the series that introduced the Samuel L. Jackson version of Nick Fury and so gave comic fans an idea of where the over-arching story might be going.

Infinity Stone Counter: Still zero!

Road to Infinity War - Phase 1 - Iron Man (2008)

Has it really been ten years since it all began? It's hard to believe right Jeremy Piven?

Who would have believed that a movie directed by the guy who was Pete Becker on Friends, about a second tier Marvel hero played by a post-jail & troubles Robert Downey Jr would launch a billion dollar franchise that is still going from strength to strength 18 films down the line?
But the Marvel Cinematic Universe hit the ground running and they are forever indebted to RDJ because his performance as "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" Tony Stark is note perfect.
The film is fast, loose, full of colour, wit and boundless energy. A world away from DC and Nolan's (excellent) but "Why so serious?" Dark Knight trilogy.
The references to the comics are there for the fans (the original Mark I suit) but never at the expense of an audience entirely new to this world.
It also does a subtle job of universe building. There is Rhodey's look at the Mark II suit and quipping "Next time baby" (sadly not for Terrence Howard though!), and the introduction of SHIELD through Agent Coulson's character who would become pivotal to Phase I.
But it was the post-credit sting with Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury turning up at Stark mansion to talk about the Avengers initiative that sent fanboys into meltdown.
It isn't perfect. Jeff Bridges is very "un-Dude" but ultimately won't rank highly on the list of top Marvel villains (although I would dare you to come up with a Top 5 list of truly memorable MCU villains that doesn't have to include Wilson Fisk or Kilgrave and therefore not canon).
One can also see the beginnings of the MCU's biggest criticism. You know, the one where Act 3 descends into two (or twenty) CGI men in metal suits smashing into each other.
However Downey Jr is a charisma fuelled arc reactor that powers this entry to classic comic book movie status and arguably one of the finest and most complete superhero origin stories.

Infinity Stone Counter: 0

Superbowl Sunday - Trailer Touchdown

Superbowl Sunday is one of the biggest dates in the sports and entertainment calendar.

Not only is it the biggest sporting event in the US, featuring an epic musical performance during the halftime show but it is the one day of the year that movie fans without an interest in sports will watch a game of American Football.

It's not because they want to see if it bears any resemblance to Al Pacino's wonderful Inch by Inch speech in Any Given Sunday...

No, the film fans are here for the trailers. Superbowl Sunday advertising premiums are the priciest in the world but with a worldwide audience of 111.3 million last year, film distributors spend a lot of money, time and effort trying to ensure that their movie trailer is the one that people are talking about the next day.

In 2017 for example, audiences were treated to teasers for Logan, Ghost In The Shell, Life, John Wick Chapter 2. However most people agreed it was the trailer for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2., using Fleetwood Mac's The Chain that triumphed into the end zone that year.

So what can we expect from Superbowl LII when the Philadelphia Eagles take on the New England Patriots in a game of football that somehow manages to make 60 minutes last for 4 hours?

Black Panther

With less than two weeks to its release, expect one final action packed clip designed to raise anticipation to fever pitch.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

A trailer is expected to drop on Good Morning America but many feel that we will see the very first footage of the troubled production that saw Lord & Miller replaced by Ron Howard during the big game. This is the one that everyone will have an opinion on one way or the other.

Avengers: Infinity War

Marvel might focus all their attention on Black Panther but there is a slim chance that they could release a version of the trailer that was only glimpsed at Comic-Con.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Life, uh, will find a way to screen some new footage from the sequel to the billion dollar Jurassic World.

Mission Impossible: Fallout

This has another trailer that has been confirmed to screen during the Superbowl by Tom Cruise on Twitter so expect footage from the sixth installment, that may or may not include the shot of Cruise breaking his leg and Henry Cavill's moustache that sunk the Justice League movie.

God Particle (Cloverfield)

Nothing is know about the new film from the Cloverfield universe and with a release date of April, it is the perfect time to drop a strange, mysterious trailer on an unsuspecting audience.

Skyscraper

The Rock will fight a building in the promo for the summer's new disaster movie.

Deadpool 2

There is no scenario where Deadpool and/or Ryan Reynolds do not make an appearance with a tongue-in-cheek meta take on sporting's biggest event.

Avengers: Age Of Ultron - Review

In 2012's The Avengers, Nick Fury and Joss Whedon were both faced with an impossible task:

How do you solve a problem like Maria Hill? Just kidding.

No, I obviously meant how do you bring together Marvel's greatest individual superheroes together into one successful and cohesive unit?

Well thanks to Whedon's writing and directing skills, the answer was... "Very easily" because it became the most successful comic book movie of all-time.

It couldn't have been easy coming back to try and achieve the impossible one more time. Particularly when Marvel Studios have really raised their game in Phase 2, with them on their best run of movies so far with Iron Man 3, Winter Soldier and Guardians Of The Galaxy (we'll skip over Thor: The Dark World).

Thankfully Joss is up to the task, delivering a film that simultaneously feels bigger in scale but more intimate in terms of character development.

Following an attack on a HYDRA base, Tony Stark is haunted by a vision of a world (and Avengers) defeated by the return of the Chitauri army.

He creates the Ultron program, designed to be "a suit of armour around the world", but as anyone who has ever seen a movie about artificial intelligence would know, it is not the best idea as any Skynet-esque defence system will soon realise the best way to protect the Earth is to rid it of its most destructive force... Humans.

And so Ultron is born. Brought to life (so to speak) by a fantastic vocal performance by James Spader who brings charisma, humour and villainy in spades.

He recruits two "Enhanced" characters, whatever you do don't call them "mutants", in the form of super fast Pietro and telekinetic Wanda Maximoff to take down the Avengers whilst preparing his masterplan.

As if that wasn't enough for them to deal with, the Avengers all have their own issues going on:

Stark is faced with the Frankenstein-esque guilt of his creation. Black Widow and Bruce Banner are getting close but the Hulk keeps getting in the way, with them sharing one particular exchange reminding us of Whedon's work in Buffy. And it nice to see Hawkeye finally get a proper story arc with a surprise reveal as to his past.

As mentioned before, the action set pieces are HUGE and while at the end it once again falls into the third act trap of people fighting metal men but interestingly there is continuous mention of how Captain America and the gang focus on saving lives and minimising damage.

Was this a deliberate middle finger to Man Of Steel? I for one like to think so.

Every single member (of the ever expanding team) gets a chance to shine with the movie's most crowd-pleasing moment going to new character Vision.

On first viewing there is just so much happening in Age Of Ultron that it seems overwhelming and certain bits can feel lost in the overall mix but it could benefit from repeat viewings.

Overall Whedon has once again assembled a great movie out of Hollywood's biggest and busiest franchise and his absence going forward will be sorely missed.

In the meantime with Marvel Studios advancing to Phase 3 and rumours of the fall-out of this film affecting the plot of Captain America: Civil War does this make Age Of Ultron technically aka Ul-Tron Legacy?

4 stars

My Top Ten Films of 2012

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

A suitably rousing and emotionally fitting end to "The greatest trilogy of all time".
Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight was not the hero that we deserved but the hero that we needed following the Batman and Robin disaster and his films managed to do something that no comic book movie had been able to do, and that was to transcend the genre and be treated as amazing films.
Nolan managed to break the comic curse that saw such franchises as Blade, X-Men and Spider-Man suffer from poor third instalments, instead managing to tie everything together and complete Bruce Wayne's journey from angry orphan to crime fighting legend.
It also gave rise to the year's favourite impression - Bane voices!
My full review of the film can be read here

LOOPER

Ranks up there with Moon and Inception as one of the smartest science fiction films of the last few years.
Some may have been disappointed they didn't get the Bruce Willis sci-fi action adventure they were expecting from the trailers but thankfully this is much more Twelve Monkeys than it is Surrogates!
It is very much a hard-boiled Tech Noir that draws on elements as varied as The Terminator, Akira and Casablanca yet still manages to create something that feels fresh and unique.
"This time travel crap, fries your brain like an egg" and you can expect many hours being lost to conversations with your friends in the pub over the various timelines and continuities that spring up as a result of the plot.
I really hope that the Academy doesn't turn up it's nose as it tends to do with science fiction and rightfully give Looper a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

ARGO

Well who would have thought when Gigli was released that one half of "Bennifer" would go on to direct one of the year's best films and be a leading contender for a Best Director Oscar?
This is one of those stories where the truth is stranger than fiction, where you couldn't make up a story this good if you tried and Affleck excels at moving between a deft Hollywood satire and gripping hostage drama.
It evokes memories of Apollo 13 in that it is so well executed that even if you know the story and the outcome, it makes you doubt that everything is going to turn out ok.
Even my mum loved it, calling it "one of the best films I've seen in years"!

BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO

This is easily the film on my list that will have been seen by the fewest people but I urge you to give it a watch when it is released on DVD/Blu Ray on 31st December.
What you will find is a beautiful homage to the Italian Giallo films of the seventies where Toby Jones goes to Italy to work on the sound effects for a horror movie.
What follows is an astounding descent into madness accompanied by some of the best sound mixing and editing of the year.
Seriously, you will not find a better edited film than this. The transitions between scenes are extraordinary.

CABIN IN THE WOODS

The most entertaining horror film set in a cabin in the woods since Evil Dead 2.
It breathed new life into tired, old cliches by challenging everything we know about the genre.
How did it achieve this? Well to go into that here would spoil the surprise wouldn't it.
Just go into it knowing as little as possible and you are in for one wild ride.
It may be the smartest and wittiest horror of the year, but given that it is playing with the rules of the genre, it is not the scariest due to the fact that audiences will know what's coming (except for the opening credits!). For the year's scariest film, check out Sinister.

THE AVENGERS

Adam West was right you know, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb" as Avengers becomes the second film in my top ten to feature a superhero attempting to remove a nuclear weapon from New York City/Gotham.
While I consider The Dark Knight Rises to be the better film and more satisfying on an emotional level, The Avengers is as close to a perfect representation of what a comic book should feel like on the big screen.
The culmination of Marvel Studios Phase 1 could have been a disaster but Joss Whedon went two for two in 2012 and provided the biggest collective nerd-gasm the comic book movie has ever seen.
He survived a terrifying juggling act of giving so many lead characters their moment to shine including Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson and finally gave us the Hulk we were wanting to see.
In other words, The Avengers was a "HULK SMASH" hit!

THE MASTER

Similar to the Scientology that allegedly inspired The Cause, the religious group at the heart of the film, many people dismissed this film as pretentious and for all its ramblings and speeches, having nothing at its core to believe in.
I for one however found the movie to be beautiful, poetic and spellbinding thanks to a career-best performance by Joaquin Phoenix (an actor I've never been that taken with before) and his on-screen relationship with the always-superb Philip Seymour Hoffman. The scene where The Master processes Freddie by making him answer questions without blinking is one of the scenes of the year.
My full review of the film can be found here.

SHAME

I could write a list of superlatives about this film as long as Fassbender's... oh, you know where that was going.
Fassbender delivered the year's bravest performance in a movie that could be seen as a modern day American Psycho albeit one where his obsession isn't murder but sex.
My full review of the film can be found here.

MAGIC MIKE

So much more than the "male Showgirls" Hen night party film the adverts made it look like, showcasing Soderbergh's ability to adapt to any genre thrown at him, Magic Mike stripped off to reveal plenty of heart and soul as well as bulging biceps and rippling abs.
This film also cemented two things in 2012.
One - Alongside a career best turn in Killer Joe, it saw return of Matthew McConaughey from rom-com hell and fulfilling the promise shown back in the early nineties in films like Dazed and Confused and A Time To Kill.
Two - It also marked one of the very few occasions where I've had to admit that I've been wrong in a critical assessment. I had previously written off Channing Tatum as a bit of a meathead following such crap as GI Joe: Rise Of Cobra and the Step Up movies, even describing him in The Vow as "unfortunately having more varieties of chunky knitwear than facial expressions". However he was terrific as Magic Mike and a revelation as he brought the funny in 21 Jump Street.
Channing Tatum, if you are reading this... I'm sorry, you're ace!

LIBERAL ARTS

A Garden State for the thirtysomething's, it is the year's smartest rom-com, features scene-stealing turns from Richard Jenkins and Allison Janney and a bewitching performance from of the years breakout stars Elizabeth Olsen.
It is also the most sentimental pick in my top ten because if it wasn't for this film I wouldn't be back with Picturehouse at The Belmont.
Stopping off in London after a holiday in New York, I found out about a preview of the film with Q&A with Olsen at the lovely Gate Cinema which is part of the Picturehouse group. There I caught up with a couple of folk I hadn't seen since I left, which prompted a visit to head office and within a month this fortuitous series of events led me to being back with the company.
My full review can be found here.

The Avenger Effect - An Empire Blog Post

This week I wrote a little piece on how the success of the Avengers has boosted Shawarma sales since its release. Also provided a few other examples of products that have received a boost on the back of movie product placement.
I am very proud to say that the blog is online at the Empire magazine website, and you can read it here.
Hopefully it will be the first of many items that I'm able to do for my favourite movie magazine.
Thanks to Helen O'Hara and Phil De Semelyn for their help and advice.