Category: Personal Favorites

Cast Photos

The Incredible Hulk

So I’ll say right off the bat that I’ve never been a huge fan of the Hulk.  First off, the whole concept of the Hulk has never appealed to me.  Just a big monster who’s only real skill is extreme violence. Second, I’ve never really been impressed with any of the other Hulk movies.  There was the TV version, in which he is played by Lou Ferrigno, which had 3 movie length features, and then there was the film in 2003 starring Eric Bana.  The former couldn’t really portray the character’s true power, and the latter made him look like a cartoon in a live-action film. 

But here, I think they began to get it right.  Now played by Edward Norton, The Hulk got another makeover.  He looked so much more realistic than the previous versions.  His skin wasn’t such a neon green, his face looked more like a real face.  And let’s face it, the Hulk’s look is very important when it comes to the believability of the character.  That‘s not to say this version was perfect, but it was the best we’d ever seen.  And the quality of the representation only got better from here on out.

Edward Norton was great.  He got the differences between Bruce Banner and the Hulk.  He played both sides of that coin and it was pretty awesome.  As Banner, he showed intelligence, and a keen awareness of his particular condition.  At this point in the character’s overall arc, he had absolutely no control over the green monster.  If he allowed himself to change into the Hulk, he was liable to destroy, hurt, or even kill, with no hope of controlling his actions, and so he did his best to not make the change.  But inevitably, the transformation would happen, and the carnage would begin.  Now here, they were finally able to display his true awesome power, his raw savagery.  He was fast, vicious, and just an absolute force of nature.  But one notable difference, they showed that he still had a little of Banner’s intelligence when fighting.  He used a makeshift shield, two halves of a police car as boxing gloves, and the infamous Hulk Clap to put out a fire.

The only person that was safe from his rage was Betty Ross, played by Liv Tyler.  The first time I ever saw this movie, I’ll be honest, I didn’t like Tyler’s portrayal.  Something about the actress just rubbed me the wrong way, and I don’t exactly know what it was.  But the more times I have watched the movie, the more she grows on me.  She did just fine, so really, I have no complaints there.  Betty’s father Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, played by William Hurt was such a great antagonist.  He was an egotistical military man that is so easy to hate.

And then there was Hulk’s main rival, Emile Blonsky, aka, the Abomination, played by Tim Roth.  He was an interesting character, in that in order to fight the Hulk, he becomes obsessed with becoming a bigger monster.  I actually don’t know much about how the comic books treat the Abomination, so I can’t comment on how the two compare with each other, but here, he felt a little generic, just a grey version of the Hulk.  But really, who else could they have pitted him against in the film that introduced him to the MCU?  Though, as I’m thinking about it.  I understand that even though the Eric Bana Hulk was not officially part of the MCU, this movie essentially picked up where that previous movie ended.  And this movie made the Hulk kind of cool in my mind.  So now I might have to go back and watch that other film, just to get a little more insight into the character.

Now, I’ll briefly address the elephant in the room.  This was the only time Edward Norton played Bruce Banner / the Hulk.  In all his subsequent appearances in the MCU, he was replaced by Mark Ruffalo, who I actually like better in the role.  I’m not saying Edward Norton was bad.  I just can’t imagine what direction the character would have gone in, if Norton had continued to play the part.

Top 10 Favorite Parts

1. Banner is running from the military and Blonsky.  ParKOUR!
2. Hulk destroys the bottling factory.
3. Banner reunites with Betty, and cannot make love to her.
4. Banner is trapped in the bridge at the University, and changes into the Hulk.
5. Hulk fights an enhanced Blonsky and saves Betty from being killed by Thunderbolt Ross and his men.
6. Banner suppressed the change in Dr. Stern’s lab.
7. Blonsky gets injected with Banner’s blood and becomes the Abomination.
8. Banner jumps from a helicopter and only changes into the Hulk after hitting the ground.
9. Hulk defeats the Abomination.
10. The post credit scene where Tony Stark pays Thunderbolt Ross a visit.

Cast Photos

Character Posters

Thor

I have to say that Thor is probably my favorite MCU character, and I’ll be honest, a lot of that has to do with Chris Hemsworth.  Not only is he incredibly handsome, but he has personality for days.  He is an actor that has proven, time and again that he is not just a pretty face (and body), and that he has the skills of an intense dramatic actor, when the need arises.  He can also do comedy, which is sometimes harder than drama.  Hemsworth has it all. 

But on top of all that, the character of Thor is awesome.  I have always had a love for the mythology of Greek gods and goddesses.  Norse is a little less known to me, but I know a bit, and as far as I can tell, from what I know of Thor from comic books, I think the script captured the God of Thunder perfectly.  So he was acted wonderfully, and written accurately.  What’s not to love.  This being the beginning of the Thor franchise within the MCU, Thor starts out as a vain, brash, hot-headed boy, son of a King, powerfully played by the incomparable Anthony Hopkins, and a powerful warrior. 

But the movie was so much more than just Thor.  We were introduced to another major player in the MCU, Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston.  In fact, Loki was so well-played and was such a popular character, that he eventually got his own TV series, which was really good!  And we got a few minor characters.  The Warriors Three, Fandral, Volstaag, and Hogun were there, though I would have liked a little more back story on who they were and why they were there..  True, they were only minor charaqcters in the comic books, but I think a little more could have been done with them.  And there was Lady Sif, a good, strong female hero.

So of all the new cast members, I want to make special mention of Anthony Hopkins’ Odin.  He was incredible, and practically stole every scene he was in.  He played the All-Father, and there wasn’t a hint of weakness in him.  Even when his emotions of love, guilt, and regret at his treatment of Loki caused him to falter and fall into the Odinsleep, there was still a core of strength that was impressive, and that was all Hopkins.  And his improvised growl of fury at Loki while disciplining Thor was both powerful and appropriate.  I mean when your son disobeys you and ignites a war because of his arrogance, I guess rage is the only response that will suffice.  Just one more example of how great an actor Anthony Hopkins is.

So the main thrust of the movie is Thor’s story arc, how he grows from that brash, disobedient boy, into a mighty hero with a sense of responsibility and respect for the world around him.  But to follow that journey, we have to experience that fall from grace, and his redemption, coming in the form of self-sacrifice.  In the end, he is willing to sacrifice himself to save innocent lives, and his girlfriend.  Oh yeah, he meets Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, a beautiful young Earth scientist who turns into an infatuated schoolgirl whenever Thor is around.  Not that I can blame her.  He’s just so incredibly nice to look at.

The visuals and the aesthetics of the movie are beautiful.  The glowing colors, the majesty of Asgard, even the arid beauty of the New Mexico desert, all made for a gorgeous backdrop to the story.  The costumes, the sets, and the digital effects were simply spectacular.  The Rainbow Bridge looked fantastic on the screen, as did the boss fight that allowed Thor to redeem himself and once again become worthy of lifting his hammer.  The whole movie just looked incredible, though I could do without all the tilted angle shots.  The film’s director, Kenneth Branagh, put in around one hundred eighty Dutch angle shots in the film because he said that is the way they appear in the comic books, and it helped to translate the dynamism from the pages to the screen.  But I think it should be used as a purposeful effect, and when used too liberally, the effect is lost.  After a while, it just becomes distracting.  But that is only a minor complaint for a movie that was all part of Feige’s master plan to establish the major characters of the MCU before bringing them all together to create the larger tapestry, which is still being woven today.

Top 10 Favorite Parts

1. Odin’s exposition at the beginning to set up the narrative.
2. Thor’s battle with the Frost Giants
3. Odin punishes Thor and the growl.
4. Loki discovers that he is a Frost Giant
5. “Another!” Thor smashes the mug.
6. Thor attacks the SHIELD facility to get his hammer.
7. Lady Sif stabs the Destroyer
8. Thor’s powers are restored and he kills the Destroyer.
9. Thor’s battle with Loki, and the destruction of the Rainbow Bridge.
10. Odin’s conversation with Thor at the end.  Reconciliation between father and son.

Cast Photos

Iron Man

So this was the movie that really started it all off, and it was awesome.  But that is a lot more significant than you might think.  This was the real beginning of the MCU.  Back then, in 2008, nobody knew, nobody had any clue just how massive and how good the franchise would turn out to be.  I tend to think that if this movie had performed poorly at the box office, I doubt they would have made that many more of them. 

At that time, superhero movies were not that highly regarded, and it’s no wonder why.  There were a few successful examples like the first two Superman films, or the first two Batman movies.  But then both of those properties turned out some real clunkers, and superhero movies became jokes.  Yes, there were a lot of good examples of superhero movies like some successful Spider-man films or the X-men franchise, but even they eventually started to go down the same road.  I mean, just look at the multiple attempts to bring the Fantastic Four to the screen or even The Incredible Hulk.  Put them all together with films like Cat Woman and Green Lantern, and you have a hard nut to crack  But Iron man was a good movie first, and a superhero movie second.  And defying expectations, the movies in the Marvel franchise just kept getting better.  But even after all the MCU installments that have been released up to date, this one is still very re-watchable.  It still holds up.  The story, the acting, the visual effects, the characters, the humor, and the exciting action sequences, all combine to make for a really entertaining movie.

Of course, the casting was spot on.  Can you imagine anyone but Robert Downey Jr. playing the part of Tony Stark?  Of course not.  It is his role, and nobody else’s.  Gwyneth Paltrow, playing the part of his professional assistant, Pepper Potts, was great, as was Jon Favreau, playing his bodyguard and driver, Happy Hogan.  Other notable members of the cast were Terrence Howard as James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, and Shaun Toub as Ho Yensin.  Then there were the bad guys, Jeff Bridges as Obediah Stane, and Faran Tahir as Raza.  Everyone took their jobs seriously and turned in great performances.

And about the story, I have to say that the creators tried to base as much of the fantasy in reality as they could.  They eased audiences into the concept of a guy in a technologically magical suit of armor by starting off rough and clunky, and the letting us see the development and evolution of the super-suit.  The started us off in the real world, and introduced elements that could almost be seen as possible in the world in which we live.  We didn’t have to stretch our imaginations too far to see the progression… with one exception.  During Stark’s escape from the terrorists, he flies out and ends up falling out of the sky to land in the desert.  I’m sorry, but, the fall would have killed him, or at least broken half the bones in his body.  But he just walks it off.

So the villain, wonderfully played by Jeff Bridges, (I don’t think he was ever given an official super-villain name) was good, even though he followed a very common comic book nemesis trope.  He was just a carbon copy of the hero.  So the real conflict was resolved by who knew how to use the technology better.  Who was smarter?  Well, clearly, Stark, who was the real genius from whom Stane stole all the tech needed to make his own power armor.  It made sense that Tony was able to out-smart the bad guy several times and kill him.  Yeah, amazing how easily Stark took to killing, isn’t it?  First the terrorists, then former business partners gone bad.

I also loved Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson.  I liked the character, and I liked the way the actor portrayed him.  And though I liked Terrence Howard, I didn’t mind that they changed the actor to Don Cheadle in subsequent films.  It isn’t that Howard was bad.  It’s just that Cheadle was better.  And just one final thought.  After watching the entire Infinity Saga, then re-watching this movie, it becomes clear that right from the beginning, Kevin Feige had a revolutionary master plan that worked beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.  It was a huge risk that paid off.  Like I said:  good movie first, superhero movie second.

Top 10 Favorite Parts

1. Tony’s conversation with the soldiers in the convoy, perfectly establishing his character right from the beginning.
2. Tony’s Escape from the terrorists.
3. Tony asks Pepper to reach into his chest.
4. Stark builds his new Iron Man armor and tests its flight capabilities.
5. Tony and Pepper almost kiss.
6. Iron Man saves the villagers in Yinsen’s home village.
7. Pepper is almost caught by Stane when she hacks into his computer and learns of his involvement in Stark’s abduction.
8. Iron Man fights Stane and kills him by asking Pepper to overload the big Arc Reactor.
9. “I am Iron Man”
10. The Post Credit scene where Nick Fury makes an appearance.