Iron Man 2

IRON MAN 2
2010 | Dir. Jon Favreau | 125 Minutes

"You want my property? You can't have it. But I did you a big favor. I have successfully privatized world peace. What more do you want?"

While Tony Stark's health declines with the arc reactor in his chest steadily poisoning him, he distracts himself by re-instituting his father's Stark Expo and his behavior becomes more and more erratic. At his most vulnerable, Stark is met with challenges on all sides. The US Government puts pressure on Stark to hand over his Iron Man technology. Ivan Vanko, the son of his father's rival Russian counterpart, and Justin Hammer, inept and unscrupulous weapons developer, join forces to ruin him.

As its own stand-alone narrative, Iron Man 2 is a paper-thin film, presenting many potentially captivating plot points that fall flat or fizzle out. The subplot with the US Government only serves to establish Rhodey's War Machine alter ego. Villains Vanko and Hammer provide fodder for action scenes but offer no serious threat or dramatic heft. The heavy involvement of SHIELD in the storyline lays out the groundwork for future Marvel Studios films but does little to serve this one, save for giving Stark a remarkably convenient cure for his illness. The film's saving grace is its action scenes, expertly storyboarded by veteran animator Genndy Tartakovsky. Highlights include, a fight on a racetrack between Vanko armed with lethal electric whips and Stark equipped with a compact Iron Man suit unfolding from a suit case, an inebriated Iron Man and Rhodey sporting the Mark II suit throwing down in Stark's home, a sequence featuring Agent Natasha Romanoff taking out Hammer Industries security guards with extreme prejudice, and the final battle in which Tony and Rhodey fight Vanko and an army of Hammer drones flying through the Stark Expo and culminating in a facsimile Japanese garden.

Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow return as Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, naturally slipping back into their roles and building upon the chemistry they shared in the previous Iron Man film. Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as James "Rhodey" Rhodes, charismatic as Stark's best friend with Rhodey's expanding role. Returning from Iron Man, director Jon Favreau has more to do as the bumbling Happy Hogan. Paul Bettany once again provides the humorously voice of Stark's computer system JARVIS. Also returning from the previous film are Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, and Leslie Bibb as Vanity Fair reporter Christine Everhart.

New to the series, Scarlett Johansson plays sultry super spy Natasha Romanoff, convincingly stone cold as an infiltrator and skilled combatant. Mickey Rourke mostly phones in his performance rocking a campy Russian accent and a wild man look as Ivan Vanko, while character actor Sam Rockwell is cartoonishly evil and fun to watch as the grossly incompetent Justin Hammer. John Slattery appears briefly as Howard Stark in old film footage evoking a Walt-Disney-like persona. Comedian Garry Shandling is featured in small part as the smarmy US Senator Stern, verbally jousting with Stark at a senate hearing.

Despite presenting many intriguing plot points and offering truly innovative action sequences, Iron Man 2 is not nearly as effective as the first Iron Man film. It is an inferior sequel that is clearly more interested in what's to come in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and less interested in its own narrative.


POST-CREDITS STINGER
Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Agent Coulson travels to New Mexico when a mysterious hammer is discovered in the desert. The full version of this scene is featured in Thor.


STAN LEE CAMEO
Stan the Man appears early in the film as a Larry King lookalike when Stark meets his fans exiting his Stark Expo presentation.


FRAGMENTS
- Justin Hammer returns briefly in Marvel One-Shot: All Hail The King (available on the home video release of Thor: The Dark World) 

- The film features cameos from Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, Oracle Corporation CEO Larry Ellison, news personalities Christiane Amanpour and Bill O'Reilly, and the late DJ AM Adam Goldstein playing themselves.

- Actress Kate Mara appears briefly as a US Marshall that serves Stark his summons to the US Senate

- Agent Coulson calls attention to the incomplete Captain America shield seen in the previous Iron Man film, and Stark subsequently uses it to balance a large cable

- A meeting between Stark and Nick Fury before the end of the film features a map that includes the fictional nation of Wakanda (to be further explored in Black Panther) clearly marked as a place of interest and news footage from the Hulk's rampage on the Culver University campus seen firsthand in The Incredible Hulk


SUPPLEMENTAL STUFF
- Video: AC/DC "Shoot To Thrill" (Iron Man 2 Version)

The Incredible Hulk

THE INCREDIBLE HULK
2008 | Dir. Louis Leterrier | 112 Minutes

"You don't understand the power of this thing. It is too dangerous. It cannot be controlled!"

After suffering a blast of gamma radiation in an experiment gone awry, physicist Bruce Banner transforms into a colossal green berserker when under extreme emotional duress. On the run from US military forces led by elite commando Emil Blonsky under the orders from General "Thunderbolt" Ross, Banner is chased from a favela in Brazil back to America where he hopes to reunite with his girlfriend Betty Ross and find a cure for his condition.

Five years after director Ang Lee's Hulk was met with mixed reviews from film critics, and outright disdain from comic book fans, Marvel Studios restarts the story of Bruce Banner in an attempt that is only a qualified success. Treating the source material with more respect, Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk offers grounded character motivations and appropriately captivating action scenes that serve the narrative well. However, the narrative itself is quite rough around the edges and, at times, tonally confused. Although the CGI can be rather dodgy, the film features three mostly competent action sequences that feature the Hulk in all his destructive glory, a darkened sequence in a Brazilian bottling plant where he is mostly obscured, a siege on a school campus in which he is bombarded by General Ross's forces and a serum-enhanced Blonsky, and the final Harlem-leveling showdown between the Hulk and the fully-transformed Blonsky Abomination. Fun action aside, the film is missing a satisfying emotional arc, with a romantic subplot that fizzles and head-scratching ending scene that suggests Banner is embracing his Hulk persona despite the journey of the film centered around his struggle to rid himself of it to the very end.

Acclaimed actor Edward Norton commits to the role of Bruce Banner completely, instilling the part with considerable pathos and vulnerability. Liv Tyler does her best with her limited acting range as Betty Ross, struggling most with scenes in which Betty is required to display emotional strength, having very little romantic chemistry with Norton. Tim Roth shines as the power hungry combatant Emil Blonsky, exuding ambition that gradually turns to madness. William Hurt performance as General Ross is pretty one-dimensional due to the limitations of the screenplay. Tim Blake Nelson plays the super-enthusiastic morally-ambiguous Dr. Samuel Sterns, a modern day mad scientist and Ty Burrell appears very briefly as Betty Ross' doting new boyfriend Dr. Leonard Samson.

Perhaps due to Edward Norton's controversial involvement in rewriting the script, The Incredible Hulk comes off as a monster movie masquerading as a character drama. At best, the film is a flawed superhero smash-fest. At its worst, it is flimsy, muddled, uninspired and less than captivating. However, it is still a vast improvement over the previous attempt at a feature-length Hulk film.


STAN LEE CAMEO
Stan the Man unwittingly takes a swig from a bottle of imported guarana soda with Bruce Banner's gamma-irradiated blood.


FRAGMENTS
- The final scene features Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) meeting General Ross in a bar to inform him that a team is being formed - In Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (a short film available on the home video release of Thor), it is revealed that Stark was sent to meet General Ross to discourage him from allowing Blonsky to join the Avengers

- It is revealed early in the film that fateful experiment that changed Banner's life and the chemical solution injected into Blonsky (retrieved by General Ross from a Stark Industries canister) were attempts at reviving the Super Soldier Program; the program is a key plot point in Captain America: The First Avenger

- Betty buys Banner a giant pair of stretchy purple pants, a nod to his signature look from the Marvel Comics

- Paul Soles, who plays a kind pizzeria owner named Stanley, previously appeared alongside Edward Norton in the 2001 heist film The Score

- A variation of The Lonely Man theme from the popular Incredible Hulk television series that originally ran from 1978 to 1982 can be heard at the start of Banner's journey home

- Early in the film Banner watches an episode of an old television show featuring Bill Bixby, the actor who played Bruce Banner on The Incredible Hulk television series

- Bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk on the television series and provided the voice of the Hulk in this film, appears as a Culver University security guard

- MMA star Rickson Gracie plays a martial arts instructor that teaches Banner to control his emotions with breathing exercises

- Comedic actor Martin Starr makes a cameo appearance as a Culver University lab tech enjoying a slice of pizza

- It's amusing to see Ty Burrell before he was famous for playing Phil Dunphy on Modern Family, and equally amusing to see comedic actor Tim Blake Nelson play Dr. Samuel Sterns

- Incidentally, the characters played by Ty Burrell and Tim Blake Nelson have much larger roles in the comics, although it remains unclear if their characters will be revisited in future MCU films or television series

Iron Man

IRON MAN
2008 | Dir. Jon Favreau | 126 Minutes

"I shouldn't be alive unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right."

Terrorists abduct billionaire arms developer Tony Stark in Afghanistan, armed with the very weapons Stark created. Seriously injured, with shrapnel traveling to his heart, Stark and fellow captive Yinsen build and install a sophisticated energy reactor in his chest to save his life. Forced by their captors to build an advanced missile, the two engineers instead craft a powerful suit of armor to aid in their escape. Tragically losing Yinsen in the process, Stark returns to America determined to stop his company from manufacturing weapons while he tirelessly upgrades his armor to personally destroy his weapons that have fallen into enemy hands.

Expertly paced and true to spirit of the Marvel Comics source material, director Jon Favreau brings old "shell head" to the silver screen with style and levity. The action sequences are well-orchestrated and truly thrilling, from Stark's escape from the Afghan cave firing missiles and flamethrowers in the crude Mark I suit, to the first flight of the more advanced Mark II armor, to Mark III Iron Man taking out aggressors and outracing fighter jets. Sharp and witty but organic, the natural dialogue grounds the film's many larger-than-life characters in a relatable though heightened reality. The film unfortunately stumbles during its somewhat shoddily-assembled climax that conveniently pits one suit of high-tech armor against another in a brief fight that is more of a flying contest than a captivating battle.

Thanks to a truly superb casting move, Robert Downey Jr. owns the role of Tony Stark completely, turning an often blandly-written Marvel Comics hero into an articulate, arrogant, and charismatic socialite. Gwyneth Paltrow turns in a light and fun performance as Starks' faithful assistant Pepper Potts, really selling the skittishness, wide-eyed wonderment, and resourceful confidence of the character. The excellent chemistry between Downey Jr. and Paltrow is decidedly more comedic than romantic. Terrance Howard plays James Rhodes, Stark's buddy in the Air Force, in a rather subdued performance, at his best when called upon for indignant reactions to Stark's antics. Stark's traitorous business partner Obadiah Stane is portrayed by Jeff Bridges with fun folksy aplomb that devolves into exaggerated gravelly menace when he goes full-on supervillain during the second half of the film.

Providing an appropriate amount of emotional heft as a key component in the hero's origin story, Shaun Toub plays Yinsen in a sharp and moving performance during the film's second act. Clark Gregg appears as Agent Coulson in a handful of memorable scenes with a hint of humor in his eyes, a spy sent by a clandestine organization to monitor Stark and his associates. Rounding out the supporting cast are director Jon Favreau as Stark's comically no-nonsense bodyguard Happy Hogan, Leslie Bibb as a tenacious Vanity Fair reporter, Faran Tahir as the scowling terrorist leader Raza, and Paul Bettany as the flawlessly glib electronic voice of Stark's computer system JARVIS.

Doing a fine job honoring the titular character's Marvel Comics roots but remarkably accessible to movie audiences, blending high-flying action and a liberal dose of humor, Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., and president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige breathe new life into superhero cinema with Iron Man. With this first film, Marvel Studios establishes its reputation as a significant creative force, providing a truly excellent introduction to The Marvel Cinematic Universe.


POST-CREDITS STINGER
Tony Stark steps into his darkened living room where the director of SHIELD, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), informs him that he has entered a larger universe, introducing him to "The Avenger Initiative."


STAN LEE CAMEO
Stan the Man appears as a Hugh-Heffner-type ladies' man with several supermodels before Stark enters a charity ball.


FRAGMENTS
-  Faran Tahir appeared in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek as Richard Robau, captain of the USS Kelvin, and his first mate George Kirk (father of James T. Kirk), was played by Chris Hemsworth who eventually took on the role of Thor in the MCU

- The musical score is composed by Ramin Djawadi, currently providing the iconic score for Game of Thrones

- The Las Vegas sequence after the cold-open features an arrangement of the theme tune from the 1966 Iron Man cartoon, the same tune can be heard chiming from Rhodey's cellphone as his ringtone for Tony

- Television personality Jim Cramer appears as himself on CNBC financial program Mad Money, berating Stark's decision to stop producing weapons

- An incomplete version of Captain America's shield can be seen hidden in the background of Stark's lab

The Age of Miracles: The Marvel Cinematic Universe

“There was an idea called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more, see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could.”

Fans of superhero comic books are familiar with the concept of a shared universe, in which events in one book series could have repercussions in another, and heroes could (and often did) crossover, sharing the same fictional world.

Beginning in 2008, film producer Kevin Feige successfully established what is currently the highest-grossing film series in the United States and second highest-grossing film franchise worldwide (behind the Harry Potter film series) under the Marvel Studios banner in the first serious attempt by a major film studio to create a shared continuity between superhero films. In what would become known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Feige's shared universe has had its share of up's and down's, between many excellent films and a handful of weak pictures (as well as several television series of varying quality). However, the continued financial success (and often critical success) of its features has pushed other studios to build their own respective shared universes.

Marvel Studios' massive film series has revitalized the careers of stars like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, while effectively turning actors like Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth into overnight action heroes. During its second and third phases, the filmmakers have even attracted participation from acclaimed actors like Ben Kingsley, Robert Redford, Benicio del Toro, Glenn Close, and Michael Douglas.

Featuring colorful and exciting characters, blending sharp humor and thrilling action, the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to tell an expansive amalgamated story unique to the world of cinema, and continues to offer unparalleled entertainment featuring some of the best comic book motion picture adaptions ever filmed.

Furious 7

FURIOUS 7
2015 | Dir. James Wan | 134 Minutes

"Life is binary, zeroes and ones. Only two things keep a group like this together, fear or loyalty, and I don't see a drop of fear among you guys."

Former special forces operative Deckard Shaw hunts the Toretto gang to avenge his brother who was defeated by Dom's crew in Europe. As Shaw relentlessly stalks the gang, they are recruited by a clandestine government agency that offers them a chance to turn the tables on Shaw in exchange for mounting a rescue mission to save a hacker from a group of ruthless mercenaries and obtain a highly-advanced surveillance program.

Wasting no time from minute one, the film introduces Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw by gradually revealing (in reverse) the path of destruction he had wrought to visit his brother in the hospital as he exits the building- halls, elevator, and lobby littered with defeated heavily-armed security officers on the floor. Statham plays the best antagonist in the series to date with a simple mission, presenting a constant explosive threat to the team. Action icon Kurt Russell looks like he's having the time of his life playing the jolly enigmatic Mr. Nobody, incredibly charismatic with a fondness for Belgian Beer. Nathalie Emmanuel serves as both brains and beauty playing the programmer Ramsey. Djimon Hounsou is full-on second-tier Bond villain as mercenary leader Jakande, while Thai action superstar Tony Jaa plays against type as Jakande's ruthless enforcer fully demonstrating his incredible no-wire-work agility. In a small but significant part, mixed martial arts star Ronda Rousey portrays a highly-skilled bodyguard that goes toe-to-toe with Letty.

Series regulars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, and Dwayne Johnson return to their series roles without missing a beat. With the tragic loss of actor Paul Walker during the production of this film, the filmmakers tweaked Brian O'Conner's character arc to provide Walker and Brian an appropriately touching conclusion. The amnesia subplot with Letty comes to a conclusion, allowing Michelle Rodriguez to do more than scowl, drive, and fight this time around and though her acting range remains limited, she does a fine job. Tyrese Gibson brings his character Roman to a whole new level of borderline-offensive comic relief, spouting some truly funny lines at the character's expense and some appropriately cringe-worthy jokes during a sequence in which he's called on to run interference. Dwayne Johnson's Hobbs bookends the film, mainly serving to provide exposition at the start of the film in the aftermath of a fantastic fight scene, and then returning to the action at the very end with crowd-pleasing gusto. Regulars Jordana Brewster and Elsa Pataky return as well in what amount to extended cameos. Lucas Black appears in a brand new scene to cement this film's connection to Tokyo Drift, and Noel Gugliemi who played Hector in the first film returns in one scene, getting punched in the face by Letty and hanging out the likes of Iggy Azalea at Race Wars.

New to this series, director James Wan brings a manic energy to the film's numerous action scenes, employing tight close-ups and lightning-quick editing. With more fight scenes than in previous entries, the fisticuffs unfold with kinetic style. Action superstars Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson start things off right with an instant-classic knock-down drag-out brawl. Tony Jaa throws down with Paul Walker twice in the film, out-classing him athletically by a mile. Michelle Rodriguez faces off against Ronda Rousey, a noticeable upgrade over her fights against Gina Carano in the previous film. During the film's epic climax, Statham and Vin Diesel clash in a no-holds-barred street fight. The camera work isn't bad, with Wan rotating the shot to follow the action on several occasions, but the quick cutting can be slightly exhausting.

The real meat and potatoes of this film series are its sequences of gravity-defying vehicular insanity, and the filmmakers do not disappoint with this installment. Statham and Diesel playing chicken with their respective cars is the ultimate demonstration of when two unstoppable forces literally collide. A rescue mission in the Caucasus Mountains begins with armored sports cars airdropped onto the mountain road and ends with several vehicles cliff-diving and Brian leaping from a bus as it begins to plummet off a mountainside. Topping off a heist sequence in Abu Dhabi, viewers are treated to another series highlight as Dom and Brian steal a priceless and rare automobile (tantamount to a precious work of art) and attempt to outrun Shaw (who fires at the duo with a grenade launcher) jumping from one of the Etihad Towers to another, uncontrollably plowing through, and then jumping to another tower. Ultimately, the film culminates in what amounts to a massive war on wheels through the streets of LA between Jakande's heavily armed chopper and Dom's crew in their signature rides.

With Furious 7, the series steps up its game once again, offering more memorable thrills and a stellar cast of villains. The physics make less sense than ever but the characters are more likable than ever, and the themes of family and friendship truly hit home as this film is lovingly dedicated in memory of a series regular. It's another instantly classic action film in a landmark series, and a personal chapter for series fans.


FRAGMENTS
- The series' tradition of assigning unconventional titles to its sequels continues; marketed as Furious 7, director James Wan insists that the official title is Furious Seven (with the word "Seven" spelled out, as it appears in the film's opening titles) in reference to films like Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven (Entertainment Weekly)

- In Japan, the title for this film is Wild Speed: Sky Mission

- The remix of DJ Shadow's "Six Days" featuring Mos Def that plays during the opening credits of Tokyo Drift plays in this film during an establishing shot of Tokyo before Dom's scene with Sean

- For more Tony Jaa ass-kicking action, check out Ong Bak and Tom-Yum-Goong (The Protector)


SUPPLEMENTAL STUFF
- Podcast: How Did This Get Made? Episode #118: Furious 7: LIVE


MCU CONNECTIONS
- Vin Diesel (Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

- Djimon Hounsou (Korath in Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel)

- Kurt Russell (Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)