It’s been ages since I last posted so I apologise for that. The reason is actually movie related, though perhaps somewhat indirectly. I’ve been doing a lot of running again (last year it was cycling, but the nerve in my foot is much better thank you, so it’s back to pounding the miles out) and as it was going reasonably well, I decided I might run something big again like a half-marathon and maybe raise some money for charity. Then that got a little out of hand. And I’m running three half-marathons in the space of four weeks. Eek! The movie connection isn’t just a Forrest Gump one, because the charity I will be raising money for is MediCinema. If you’ve been to the cinema in the UK in the last 6 month (and if not, why not?) you might have seen one of their ads. Basically, they put state of the art, all singin’ all dancin’ surround sound 3D cinemas in hospitals and rehabilitation centres etc for those unfortunate enough to be stuck in such places for months on end. What is cool about these cinemas is that they are specifically designed to cater for the specific needs of the patients and can accommodate wheelchairs and even hospital beds. Cinema is something that makes my life better on an almost daily basis and to help provide facilities in this way to add a bit of normality to people’s lives seems like a great cause. You can find out more by following the link to MediCinema and about my running odyssey on my JustGiving page (and donate if you so wish!). Now, on with the show.
I did start drafting this ages ago, so bear that in mind (though serendipitously a recent release ties it all together quite nicely!) I mentioned a few weeks ago (now months!) that I was suffering from “Marvel-fatigue” and whilst the final two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. went some way to remedying that (despite Channel 4’s continuity announcers trying their best to spoil certain “surprises” in advance), the situation has, in many ways, not got any better, though not for the same reasons as before. My reference to this uncomfortable syndrome was largely with reference specifically to the Avengers Universe. I probably don’t need to explain what that is to most of you, but it involves a number of repeating characters (up to now Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk – “The Avengers” and assorted supporting cast – Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, Black Widow). It’s actually one of the most ambitious endeavours by a major film studio (Disney’s Marvel Studios) – at the time of writing 9 films and 1 TV series (we can get into the debate about The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton as Bruce Banner being part of the canon at a later date. It technically forms part of Phase 1 of Disney/Marvel’s plan to take over the world. The fact that Joss Whedon seems to be the only director to get a proper handle on The Hulk so far shows how difficult his inclusion is – though Whedon arguably made him the star of Avengers Assemble.) It’s going to get more complicated soon – Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man joining the fray soon (Guardians has now arrived – see further on).
And that’s basically the problem. As I’ve said many times, everything is connected. It’s arguable that a lot of what happens in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t make a huge amount of sense if you haven’t seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The state of Tony Stark during the first 30 minutes of Iron Man Three (I love the fact that it’s officially written as “Three” rather than “3” – God Bless Shane Black) doesn’t make a lot of sense unless you know what went down in New York during Avengers Assemble. You begin to suspect that this is all just a cunning plan to take over the world by Disney/Marvel. Keeping you coming back for more by having each film (even those containing the full Avengers line-up) forming only one piece of a much larger puzzle). That’s a shame, because the films (and, to a lesser extent for obvious reasons, the TV series) have been of a very consistent quality with some outstanding elements contained therein (Iron Man 2 was a bit of a mis-fire though still very watchable, the first Thor movie was “interesting” but a clear ‘scene-setter’.) Part of this has been Disney/Marvel’s fantastic job with casting (most notably RDJ as Tony Stark. And anyone who’s seen Brian Hitch’s art for Marvel years before films came out always knew that Samuel L. Jackson would be Nick Fury) so much so that changes do feel uncomfortable at times, though strangely the switch of Edward Norton to Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk doesn’t feel too bad (largely because of how The Incredible Hulk sits slightly uncomfortably within the canon). However losing Terrence Howard from Iron Man and replacing him with Don Cheadle does grate. Horribly in my book.
All the above raises a further problem. If everything is connected, why the hell doesn’t Tony Stark do something to deal with the crisis that threatens S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier? This is a global crisis, not just a personal one for Captain America. Come to think of it, where’s The Hulk? Thor’s absence can always easily be explained given the fact that he’s a god from another world who’s got other things, notably the realm of Asgard, on his mind. The answer is simple – availability of actors and cost. And it’s at this point that the films break down into being commercial ventures again and you step outside the world that’s been created because you need to understand that to explain said absences. If it seems that I want to have my cake and eat it, you’re absolutely right. I make no bones about that. I am, at heart, a fanboy. I still dream that someone will one day recreate Marvel’s Civil War story arc on-screen (which includes pretty much every Marvel character you can think of…). But that’s never going to happen for one very significant reason. Marvel doesn’t own the film rights to all its characters. Which brings me onto…
X-Men: Days of Future Past. A discrete, separate universe within the Marvel Universe. Owned by Fox. The Amazing Spider Man 2. Owned by Sony. And for these reasons they sit apart in isolation. Yes, there is a Marvel connection – the characters are Marvel properties (I’ve used that word to emphasise the commercial nature of the whole thing) but without that artistic studio control a lot of the good work being done by Marvel studios and specifically the superstar that is Kevin Feige is being undermined. To many people, none of this will matter that much. Unless you’re aware of the specific Marvel universes (and comic studios are always creating new universes for their characters to exist in) any interaction isn’t that important. The films exist in isolation and so the characters do. Which means maybe Marvel Studios has made a rod for its own back.
Speaking specifically of Days of Future Past and The Amazing Spider Man 2, it highlights the inconsistency that exists outside the Marvel Studios structure. Despite the return of Bryan Singer who directed the first two X-men films, Days of Future past is, to me, a failure. The idea, introduced in X-Men:First Class of going back to the origins and effectively making a cool period drama, with mutants, is a good one. Having James McAvoy, Fassbender and J-Law involved is incredible. Add to that Jean-Luc Picard, Gandalf and Ellen Page and we’re talking about serious acting talent here (I’m not ignoring you, Hugh Jackman, but you get to be the star of the film, and have your own, slightly indifferent spin-off films without me needing to promote you). Providing the political and historical context for X-Men is equally great. The final result is not. The jumping back and forth in time feels awkward. The dark future is never clearly contextualised or explained (and it’s arguable that everyone involved there (with the exception of a brief introduction of Bishop) is generally wasted) and there is, with one important exception, a distinct lack of visual flair and originality. That one exception, involving an ancillary character with an ability to effectively control time due to his amazing speed is quite delightful – humorous and inventive and makes you long for more of the same. Part of the blame must go to Matthew Vaughn, director of First Class (which I appreciate so much more now) – a director I admire hugely. He’s heavily involved in the story for Days of Future Past and the incoherent nature of that story is one of the many failings. If you go in blind with no familiarity with the context for the movie or characters, you are, quite frankly, screwed.
(The Amazing) Spiderman 2 is a different proposition. If I’m being totally honest, I can’t remember a lot about what happened in the film. It seemed to suffer Spiderman 3 (the last of the Sam Raimi films) syndrome – too many characters shoe-horned in. I was never entirely sure that a reboot was necessary and it’s certainly no Dark Knight Trilogy (that might be a good thing!). Sam Raimi’s trilogy was good enough (2 is an amazing film, full of spectacle). But Andrew Garfield is a very watchable young actor and Emma Stone is quite lovely (though her red hair is nowhere to be seen!). The thing I have to say about the film is that Marc Webb fully embraces the visual impact of 3D, shooting in an extraordinary acrobatic way, where every inch of the screen is used in all 3 dimensions. I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone get close to achieving the results he has.
Given the foregoing, it’s nice to get away from the whole world of comic books to see a movie and I mention Edge of Tomorrow in this context for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s awesome. Secondly it involves a lot of jumping back and forth in time (so I can compare it to Days of Future Past) and thirdly because it has a comic book sensibility (though, despite the fact that there is a Manga of it, under its original Western title of All You Need is Kill – which I’ll admit makes less sense than a lolcat, it was actually an old-school short novel). The basic concept is Groundhog Day with heavy weaponry, exoskeletons, aliens and Tom Cruise. In a war against alien invaders, a reluctant soldier dies in battle but for some inexplicable reason gets to continually relive that day, becoming an expert soldier but also unravelling the mystery of why it’s happening and how he is in a position to save the world. Cruise gets a lot of bad press, but there are few people who could play the role as well as him. His character annoys the crap out of you for the first 20 minutes and you probably do want him to die, over and over, but as he understands his role, he grows and we want him to succeed. The film has a certain darkness, (war is hell and is shot in that way, like Saving Private Ryan only with aliens), but also masses of humour including a beautiful sequence involving a series of rapid deaths and “resets” for our hero when the simplest things go wrong. Cruise himself is almost upstaged by Emily Blunt cast against type as a legendary soldier (“The Metal Bitch”) who has a connection with Cruise due to a shared experience that might explain just what the hell is going on. She is quire extraordinary in the role for a number of reasons. This is Emily Blunt we’re talking about here and yet she is rock hard and in the most extraordinary physical shape. There is one sequence of her exercising where you just look at the athletic physicality of her body (“toned” is an understatement) and you are in awe (sorry, I’m going to have to include but it is admiration and, to a certain extent, jealousy on my part and not simple lust…)
It’s not a perfect film, and some of the design seems a little heavily influenced by The Matrix (there are shades of the Sentinels about the aliens in particular), but it is damn good. Live. Die. Repeat. At a time when every film is a tie-in or a sequel (do not get me started on the unforgivably dull Transformers 4: Age of Extinction which not even the best efforts of Stanley Tucci or the ever-watchable Mark Wahlberg could save)
And so we go full circle and we’re back to Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy. Feige’s big gamble. A largely unknown quantity involving a tree and a talking raccoon, a shaven headed Karen Gillan (no!!! Why is everyone getting rid of the red hair?) and a director best known as the writer of Scooby Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed in a universe we’re not familiar with. And it works. Oh, my, how it works. It shouldn’t, but it does. It takes 20 minutes or so to get going because you don’t know the characters and there has to be some scene setting and general exposition and given the irreverent, rag-tag ensemble nature of The Guardians themselves, I would perhaps have expected sharper dialogue between them. But the film is funny, exciting, and perhaps most surprisingly, rapturously beautiful in places, both in an environment and character context. Groot, the tree-person thingy is, in many ways, the unlikely star of the show (I expected it to be Rocket, the Racoon, but whilst cool he doesn’t have quite the same impact and Bradley Cooper’s doing something weird with the accent…), much in the same way that The Hulk was in Whedon’s Avengers Assemble. A character that seemed unlikely to work but does, sooooo well. There’s a heck of a lot going on, and there’s a lot of introducing characters that are going to turn up in Marvel’s Phase 2 and 3 movies (Thanos being the obvious one) along with of course The Guardians themselves. Chris Pratt acquits himself very well as the “human” element of the team and Karen Gillan, recognisable but not, is very good as Nebula. Awesome Mix Vol 1 may not be everything the hype suggested, but it adds a little normality to an alien universe. But it is that alien universe that makes this work. Guardians is, at this time, separate from all the other Marvel universes. It exists in isolation. All my issues with interconnectivity highlighted above can, for now, be forgotten. The film and the world it inhabits exists in its own space (no pun intended) and that means I can enjoy it (for now) for what it is. It’s a much-needed break and departure from what’s gone before. Whilst it may have been Kevin Feige’s big gamble, it may be his most inspired move so far.
Ant Man probably has similar potential, but I won’t talk at length about that until nearer the time. For me, the biggest issue with Ant-Man is the director. You see, Edgar Wright was all lined up to direct. He’d done pre-vis and pre-production. Everything was ready to go. And then he was gone. It seems that the old story of “creative differences” reared its head. And I am so gutted. I am a massive fan of Wright (Spaced alone would be enough reason) and the idea of him bringing his post-modernist yet somehow original comic-book sensibilities to a Marvel movie got me just a little bit excited (I may have weed a little). Was his original vision too much? Who knows. I just think the film will be worse off without him. The idea of a Marvel film shot like Scott Pilgrim meets Hot Fuzz is too exciting for words, but it’s going to disappear into the annals of great films that never were. And that’s just not funny…
24 frames a second 