The Avengers

This is it. The film that culminated all of the previous films in the Marvel Universe and the biggest crossover of superheroes in a high budget film known to man.

Its no surprise that The Avengers was a landmark in film history. I can't say it was the first time something like this had ever happened, but it was definitely the first time its happened with this big of a budget and this big of a lead up and build up coming into it.

The Avengers is the crossroads where all the heroes that we've met in previous films finally come together:

Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger

Honestly, its felt like a long time has passed since the release of the Avengers, when in reality, its only been about 3 years. But damn has it been an active 3 years.

Iron Man 3 (I will review it, just not before Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy

So there was a lot to build up to The Avengers, and there has been a crap load that came from it. That's not even mentioning the TV shows like Agents of SHIELD, and Daredevil.

This movie has been a powerhouse for a while.

Is it as good as we remember it?

The Avengers marks the return of Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston), the evil doing, power hungry, step brother of Thor from his standalone film as he infiltrated SHIELD and steals the tesseract, the artifact found at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger.

Loki corrupts the minds of Erik Selvig (played by Stellan Skarsgard) and Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner) and escapes, leaving the carnage of the tesseract in his wake.

It is at this moment that Director Nick Fury (played by Samuel L Jackson) of SHIELD, decides it is time to assemble a response team to track down Loki, save the people he's possessed, and take back the tesseract before Loki unleashes his new army to conquer Earth.

The plot for the film, is incredibly simple. Loki has evil power. Avengers assemble but don't like each other very much. Loki unleashed evil power. Avengers put aside their differences after the evil power is used to kill* their friend. Loki loses.

You of course know you're Avengers line up for this film as you've seen them at least once in some capacity between Iron Man and this film.

You start of course with Tony Stark (played again by Robert Downey Jr.). While I say the plot is simple, it does have a couple moments that test Tony Stark as a character individually. He's challenged on his commitment to being a superhero rather than a self centered, sociopath with an iron suit. This is actually something that is expanded upon in Iron Man 3 and I really like that a story arc was planted here and kept going throughout the franchise. This is actually where Marvel hits its stride because not only do events carry over to other films but the ways these events affect our characters do as well. I mean, what else can you say. Its Robert Downey Jr playing the iconic role he was born to play.

Then there's Captain America. And you know how I said in my Captain America review that people really didn't start liking Cap until The Winter Soldier. Well looking back, I really don't think its because of The First Avenger, I think its more because of this movie.

I don't think he's necessarily bad in this film, he's just not that interesting. He's the boyscout, he's the guy frozen in time. Captain America is just not quite as cool as Iron Man, or Thor, or The Hulk. He's just kind of in the background. And to believe that this guy is suppose to be the leader of the team, I just don't really buy it in this first film.

Again, I feel like the character is actually done really well in his first movie, but they really save a lot of the development of Steve Rogers till The Winter Soldier. And when I say save, I mean the entire thing. He goes from the lamest Avenger to the best one in a span of a movie and its actually really fascinating. But in this movie he's just kind of annoying.

I think its mainly because he just doesn't do anything as cool as the other Avengers. During the big battle, he's with Hawkeye and Black Widow who, don't get me wrong are cool, but are the second string Avengers. And that's what Cap felt like in this movie. A second string next to the Hulk, the god, and the Iron Man.

I'll make mention of these two real quick. They're pretty interchangeable. Don't get me wrong, Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johanasson) got really cool in Winter Soldier, but she wasn't incredibly interesting when it came around to this movie. And Hawkeye... well...

Its just such a bummer. I mean I don't feel bad for Jeremy Renner, the guy is in about three franchises right now and while he's not the star of any of them, he's still be nominated for multiple Oscars, yada yada yada. But his existence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been the saddest existence ever. His part is so minuscule in Thor that its not even worth mentioning, and in this film he's under Loki's spell for half the movie so we don't see him as a huge part of the team.

No wonder he was on Jimmy Fallon singing this hilariously true song.

So yeah, these two are like the chocolate chips and sprinkles you put on an already sugar filled cake. They're not incredibly needed but they're kind of cool and its fun to speculate about their role in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Going back to heavy hitters. Lets go to Thor.

While I wouldn't say that Thor is the most important part of this film, he does have a huge part to play because of the personal sting of the conflict.

Despite everything that happened in Thor, Loki is still his brother and he feels its his responsibility to get him back to Asgard, back to his family, but also to face trial for what he's done.

And I'll say it, Thor kicks ass in this film. Yeah we got to see it in his own movie but its fun seeing Thor be awesome in a team environment. You would think that a character like Thor who is basically a god would destroy every one of the Avengers with a quick stroke of Mjinor, but no, there actually is room for him to be a team player and the other Avengers actually do hold their own against the god of Thunder.

The too tempting element of this film that they gave into, and rightfully so, was since this was the first time these characters are on screen together, obviously they need to fight. Again, you would think that Thor would be able to take down all the Avengers very quickly. But even against someone like Captain America, he gets knocked down a few pegs.

And that's the great part about this film is that it had this perfect combination of these characters butting heads and then coming together to stop Loki.

Like Iron Man, Thor has arcs in this movie that carry over to his next film and a lot of that has to do with Loki. I think one of the best parts of the film is where he's one on one with Loki talking about the events of the last film. Its short and its more flushed out in The Dark World, but there is a relationship between these two that I really like. That's why I always say the Thor movies surprise me. I never think I'm going to enjoy them but then they come around and give me something like the relationship between Thor and Loki and I fall to the whims of Marvel. Those crafty bastards.

And then of course, you can't talk about the first Avengers film without talking about Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk.

Having seen this movie about a billion times, and the fact that The Incredible Hulk came out seven years ago, even though he's only been in one movie (plus an end credit scene in Iron Man 3) people now associate Mark Ruffalo with the Hulk more than they ever did with Edward Norton.

And that's partly because of the impact Ruffalo made with the character in this film. I almost wondering why this didn't happen before. Ruffalo just seems to enjoy the character a lot more than Norton did and its just something I'm excited to see in Age of Ultron (going in about an hour btw)

Looking back at The Incredible Hulk, I do like Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, don't get me wrong, but this movie was so iconic and the transition was so seamless that Ruffalo has just picked up the ball and ran with it.

The other part to talk about when it comes to the heroes is SHIELD, mainly Nick Fury (played by Samuel L Jackson) Agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) and Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smolders).

I have a whole post I want to write about SHIELD and a lot of the thoughts I have on the performances of these three will be in that post, but the short answer is, I loved all of them. Nick Fury is always a gem. Coulson shines in this movie, probably more than he has or ever will in the Marvel Universe. And I love Cobie. I think the three of them create a great element of SHIELD in this film. Again, criticisms of them will mainly be state in another post.

Because what's better than an all star cast? A fantastic villain of course.

While Loki still remains on top of the list of Marvel's villains, surpassed only by Wilson Fisk in Daredevil. I must say that Loki's plan isn't exactly the greatest plan in the world.

In short, Loki is a little bit of a loser.

He's borrowing power from an evil alien race, even though that never turns out great for anybody to be indebted to evil forces. His plan is basically this: get materials for the sustainability of the tesseract. While that's happening, get captured and antagonize the very people who were gathered to stop you. Unleash the Hulk, make people even angrier when you kill their friend, and then unleash a horde to take over the Earth those people who were always going to try and stop you but are now super pissed off at you live on. Great plan genius.

So why is Loki revered as such a great villain?

Well I think a lot of the credit goes to Tom Hiddleston. The guy is an incredibly talented actor and he's got that perfect British evil that people just eat up in action flicks.

But more than that, Loki is a bit of a tragic figure.

Even if you haven't seen Thor, you can figure out pretty quickly that Loki is not pure evil. He's more a mischievous evil.

There's a great line from Community where Annie is falling for this guy who says all these intricate things that sounds stupid but the way he says them makes it sound really cool. And in her girlish flirty voice, all she says is, "you're complicated" and she's puddy in his hands. I feel like that's Loki.

Loki has these phenomenal lines throughout the film. Lines like, I am Loki of Asgard, and I am Burdened with Glorious Purpose! He's evil but not evil enough that his dashing charms go to total waste.

And while his plan does have a couple holes in it, he's still a complicated and conniving bad guy. Again, I think Wilson Fisk is as complicated as you get with bad guys in the Marvel Universe, but Loki is definitely up there as a villain with some personality, charm, and some motivation beyond he wants to take over the world.

Is the Avengers Shakespeare? No. But its expecting that you've seen the past movies, you know the characters, and you know why they're coming together and their background.

And if you don't, it doesn't really matter because the focus is on a lot of the action and not so much the story. Its your classic comic book story, bad guy has an evil plot, good guys come to save the day.

While that not may sound interesting, its all about the execution and how its handled that decides whether or not The Avengers is a crappy film, or the 3rd highest grossing box office film ever.

Take a movie like Taken for example.

Taken has a very simple plot. Bad guys take Liam Neeson's daughter, Liam Neeson goes and kills the guys who took his daughter and saves her. There's no plot twists, no surprises, its just your basic Mario plot line.

Is it incredibly complicated, well no. But its an adrenaline filled rush of a movie with lots of cool action and Liam Neeson taking you on a journey.

Jump back to the Avengers. You've got a pretty simple formula again, but this time you have a god, a cocky billionaire playboy philanthropist in an Iron Suit, a guy who turns into a 6 foot tall green rage monster, and a man from World War 2 with super strength.

And then you've got scenes like this.

And this

And to top it all off, you have the humor and wit of Joss Whedon at the helm of this film.

Now I get a little annoyed when people speak so highly of Joss Whedon its like they think he's the second coming of Jesus Christ.

But the fact of the matter is, I think he's incredibly talented. His humor and wit are what made this movie incredibly entertaining.

And I'm not even going to bring him down in this review. Joss Whedon was the perfect choice to helm such a huge order of a movie. I've heard that directing these films have just broken this man, that he's tired, and its physically exhausting. Its probably the reason he isn't doing Infinity Wars.

But I have to give Whedon a round of applause. Because for as thin of a plot this movie has. As many holes are in that plot. He still manages to make me smile every time I watch this movie. While I may not have the reaction I had when I first saw the movie, I still get excited every time the battle of New York starts up. There is a reason Marvel has flown so high, and it is because of this man and what he did with The Avengers. I've said multiple times in my reviews of the movies from Phase one in that they are good, definitely better than the superhero films that happened prior to them. But Joss Whedon brough the superhero genre to the next level with The Avengers. Suddenly better than what has happened in the past is no longer good enough. People like me won't settle for something like The Incredible Hulk anymore. These Marvel films need to be Avengers or Captain America caliber films. Thank You Joss Whedon, your direction has inspired movies for a generation.

Overall, The Avengers isa  great film. Yes its not an Oscar worthy film as far as story or dialogue, but its smart. Its fun. Its action packed. And it was the gasoline on a flame that was already going alright prior to its release. Phase one films would have been good for a little bit but its because of this film that those films are cherished... even though I would argue, they're not that good.

But hey you have to start somewhere.

As I finish this, I am on my way out to Avenger: Age of Ultron. What to expect? Well, you can read my review of the trailers for my thoughts on that. But in short, I have high expectations for this film. Some people think that Marvel is too big to fail. I am kind of in that boat as well, but I will go into this film with high expectations and hope to be blown away once again by a franchise that just keeps getting better and better.

But what did you think of The Avengers? Comment and Discuss below! Also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 to get updates on movie news and reviews. Also stay tuned because I'll be putting up my Age of Ultron review and my thoughts on SHIELD in the next couple days.

I'll leave you with this. Here's a Cracked video because I need to get going but can you spot the difference between Marvel and DC? Is it getting hard to keep track of the story in Marvel? You decide. Enjoy!

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger is not the worst movie in phase 1 of Marvel's cinematic universe. In fact, non-objectively, I actually really like this film a lot more than a lot of the other films in the first phase. This movie and Thor are actually my favorite of phase 1. Anyways, Captain America is not considered the worst of phase 1. Its also not the most forgotten one of phase 1.I think that both titles, in the eyes of the public, belong to The Incredible Hulk.

Captain America: The First Avenger is just kind of the movie that needed to happen to finish off phase one and give every member of the The Avengers his due before the culminating film happened. And unfortunately, that's kind of how the movie sees itself. Its not the movie they necessarily wanted to make, but it was the movie they had to make.

Which is a shame because there's a lot of stuff in this film that could have been really great. This movie could have been a really great film and I think its gotten better the more people have started appreciating Captain America since Winter Soldier.

Less I remind you, prior to the Winter Soldier, Captain America was really the loser of the Avengers. He was just kind of the guy there. There was no indication that he was the leader, or really even an essential part. He was just there. And that's why I think this movie is not as popular as the other films in Marvel's cinematic universe.

Captain America follows the story of Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans), a shrimpy boy from Brooklyn who wants nothing more than to enlist in the United States Army and fight the good fight in Germany against the Nazis in World War 2.

Now the period piece may turn some people off, but this was Marvel's chance to do something incredibly different than what they had been doing for four movies by now.

And yeah, Chris Evan's head photoshopped on a small body looks really stupid.

But the character of Steve Rogers is really an inspiring character. He's almost too boy scout but at the same time you pity the guy enough to make him a likable character. He's pure of heart, probably the embodiment of all that can be good in America.

He is recruited to join a secret experiment in creating super soldiers. The scientist involved (played by Stanley Tucci) has developed a perfect serum to create super soldiers and he believes that Rogers is the perfect subject for the experiment because not only does the serum enhance all the physical attributes of the subject, but it enhances the personality.

The first act of this movie is really good because it shows the struggle of Steve Rogers the shrimp, and the once in a life time opportunity to become something greater, something that he's always wanted to be.

The experiment of course works and Chris Evans transforms into the guy that makes all men in theater feel incredibly inadequate.

Now again, the first act of this movie is very good. It introduces the character fantastically, there's a great conversation between the scientist and Steve about him staying pure of heart no matter what. And there's a conspiracy as just as the experiment is a success, the scientist is killed by an agent of the Nazi fringe science branch called Hyrda.

Hydra is headed up by Johann Schmidt, a former test subject of the same scientist who made the serum that created Captain America. The experiment was not ready when it was put on Schmidt and it left him scared, promptly naming him, The Red Skull.

Now Red Skull could have probably the best villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, had he been developed at all, and if they had given him any kind of dimension besides he's incredibly evil.

Don't get me wrong, evil Nazi scientist, great idea for a villain. But the execution was just half assed.

Furthermore, I think by this point, Hugo Weaving had played every single villain known to man and he was getting sick of the typecasting.

But there could have been more, like the fact that Schmidt was the protege of the scientist played by Stanley Tucci until it didn't work. Its mentioned, but I never feel likes its a huge part of the story. In fact, once Stanley Tucci's character dies, he doesn't have a huge impact on the story.

Red Skull and Hydra are more concerned on the deployment of a new energy source Schmidt refers to as the powers of the gods.

Listen, I get it, you needed some connection from Captain America to The Avengers. You needed some kind of artifact that Loki needed to use in The Avengers.

But the tesseract is just not used well enough in this film. Yes Hydra forces use it, but its kind of in the background when you think the focus should be on the rivalry between Red Skull and Captain America.

Remember when the scientist guy had the conversation with Steve about Schmidt and how his personality and the evil within him was exacerbated by the power of the serum? You'd think that they would show the dynamic between pure evil in Schmidt and pure good in Steve. But nope, we gotta focus on the tesseract, or Bucky Barnes (because he doesn't have a big role in the future at all).

Basically after the first act, the movie goes a little bit haywire. First Captain America goes overseas to inspire the troops, but he feels like an entertaining monkey for the US government. Then he proves himself and has his montage of him and his men that probably should have gone something like this.

The main complaint with this movie is that it just seemed like it was scotch taped together. There were some great parts to the movie, there were some themes that probably could have been flushed out more and the movie would have been great, but overall, the film is just kind of mediocre. 

The plot of Hydra is just to take over the world... That's it. 

Its just not an overly complicated story. Hydra bad, Captain America good. Conflict!

But the unfortunate part is that there could have been more in this film. I've said it a couple times now but this movie had a lot of things going for it. 

Relationship between Agent Carter (played by the gorgeous Hayley Atwell) and Steve Rogers. It starts out good and there's definitely some kind of chemistry between the two, but there never was a great explanation as to why they were suddenly in love with one another. Sure, I get it, its war, but that could have been a much better love story. 

What about Steve and Bucky?

Well again, it starts out good, showing the relationship between Bucky and Steve when Steve is small guy and then how it kind of switches when he gets all stereoided out. Does it go anywhere? No. Half the time he's off to war, captured, or "dead". 

The relationship are never really capitalized on. 

And for the people that don't necessarily have a great relationship with Rogers are just kind of there to either add star power or add a nod to the larger universe.

Why was Tommy Lee Jones in this film? Because the movie needed some kind of star power and big

name for people to come see it. Why was Howard Stark in this film? Because he has the same name as Robert Downey Jr's character.

And these aren't even great performances. Tommy Lee Jones looks bored, Howard Stark (played by Dominic Cooper) is just in the background. In fact, that character could have been played by anybody, just throw in some tech savvy guy and the movie carries on fine. It did not have to be Howard Stark.

I'll be honest, when I first saw this film, I did think it was kind of cool they added Howard Stark into this film, but watching it now, its kind of a waste of the character. I don't know what his role has been in Agent Carter, or any of the non-movie mediums, but I think if you're going to have a high profile name like that, have it have some kind of significance.

Overall, the movie could have been a lot more. Its an alright popcorn flick sure, like most of the Marvel phase 1 films. But where phase 2 really got it right was not just making these entertaining action films, but also smart entertaining action films. Suddenly characters had a purpose in films like Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Again, subjectively, Captain America is up there with Thor as my favorite of the first phase of Marvel. Honestly, (and this could change) it goes Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2.

But honestly, this film is not that good. Is it better than a lot of superhero films prior to it, of course it is.

That is the thing you have to understand about phase 1 of Marvel's cinematic universe. All five movies, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America were all so much better than the crap that had been released before it. Its leagues and bounds better than Daredevil. Its leagues and bounds better than The Fantastic Four. Its leagues and bounds better than the 3rd Spider-man film. Phase 1 is not a horrible set of movies.

But let's not get too wrapped up in the nostalgia of these movies. Sure they seemed great when we first saw them because we were used to superhero movies with a light hearteded edge, basically anything not Batman Begins, to be campy and dumb. But with films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy, and X-men: Days of Future Past, the standards keep getting raised higher and higher.

So while Captain America, Iron Man and all these films were the pioneers at creating a cinematic universe and making good superhero films, let's be honest, we've come a long way, even from these films.

I of course still enjoy watching them and love what they represent, but I think its time we stop saying that Marvel can do no wrong, because what I'm afraid is that with films like Ant-man, they will regress back to this phase. Phase 1 was acceptable from 2008 to 2012, but we have higher standards now.

But overall, I do like Captain America, especially in the context he's in now. The film is, again, a popcorn flick and yeah its campy, yeah its kind of silly, but its Captain freaking America. Let's give this movie more credit than we gave it in 2011 and thank god that we've come farther since.

But what did you think? Comment and Discuss below! Also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24. There you can get updates on new movie news and reviews.

I'll leave you with this. For a more in depth look into the history of the character of Captain America, this is actually a really interesting look into how the character has evolved since its creation. Enjoy!

Daredevil TV Show

If you've been reading any of my reviews on other superhero TV properties, you'll know I'm not a huge fan of them. I struggled for a whole year to get through the first season of Arrow. I am struggling to get through Agents of SHIELD just so I can give some kind of comparison because my god, while those shows are incredibly difficult to get through, Netflix comes in with some of the best television out there.

In the past, I think I've always liked the idea of Daredevil more than I actually like the execution of him in media. Even in the comic books, which I didn't read, he just looked kind of silly.

I mean a lawyer who is blind but has heightened senses and moonlights as a masked vigilante. Awesome. Red leather suit with horns on his mask and a name like Daredevil. Not so Awesome.

If you've read my review on the 2003 Daredevil, you'll know that the bar was set pretty low for a television show. Anything could have come out of this show and it probably would have been better than that god awful movie which I am now calling the male equivalent of Catwoman.

Still, I didn't really have high hopes for the Daredevil TV show. Like I said, I struggled through the first season of Arrow. I cannot stand Agents of SHIELD. I was coming to the conclusion that maybe I just don't like superheroes on television. Its not a bad conclusion, some stories are just better suited for the large screen. Its something that is bound to happen here and there.

When I heard that they were doing a series of shows on Netflix of lesser known heroes like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage, (what I later figured out were going to culminate into the Defenders), I though, Meh, its just Marvel trying to get more presence on TV, a market that hasn't been good to begin with, but I would say that while I struggled through Arrow, at least I found it enjoyable... I really hate Agents of SHIELD.

Well... Daredevil really proves that wrong on so many levels.

Like I said, the concept of Daredevil is really interesting. Matt Murdock (played by Charlie Cox) is a lawyer starting his own firm with his friend from college, Foggy Nelson (played by Elden Henson). These two are out to help people. The little guys who are innocent and/or in need of attorneys to help them get proper justice.

Now Matt is blind. He was blinded when he was a child and an accident caused hazardous chemicals to burn his eyes. The show isn't totally clear whether or not the chemicals heightened his other senses, although that is what the comics say, but though he lost his sight, his other senses are incredibly heightened and he's able to do things even a person with sight couldn't do.

Along with being a lawyer, Matt moonlights the streets of Hell's Kitchen wearing a black mask and fighting crime as the vigilante the people of New York call the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

I'll say right here that I really, really like the black ninja-like costume of Daredevil in this season. It really looks like he just put on some underarmor and a mask and went off to go fight crime. He doesn't look like a superhero, he looks like a vigilante, two words that are very similar but have different connotations.

The other thing that I love about Daredevil is the way that they show that he is able to sense his surroundings and function better than most people who can see.

In the film, they had this weird Matrix-y vision going on which basically showed that Ben Affleck could see, just in blue.

I'll give the movie some kind of credit, it probably looked cool for the time and it was an interesting way of explaining the sensation of being blind but still being able to fight crime. 

In the television show, they do actually show what Matt sees. Its somewhat similar but instead of blue, they describe it as seeing the world on fire. 

Call it the same thing maybe, but the thing that separates this explanation from the 2003 movie is that they show this vision once. I don't even think they really needed to. I think they could have explained it and I would have thought it was awesome and actually a little bit sad. 

But more importantly, the show is good at showing Daredevil go about his business being blind, doing these crazy things, and yet never showing us what he sees. And at the same time, there's a sense of knowing how he's doing it. 

Its hard to explain but the fact that the television show didn't show as much makes Daredevil a fascinating hero and makes his abilities so much more different than any one else in the Marvel Universe, or any superhero in general. 

In general, the character of Matt Murdock is just done very, very well. The show utilizes the multiple

episodes of television to properly show his origin story over multiple episodes instead of showing it in one montage.

This allows for the origin story to relate back to what is happening in the main story and keeps the action going, developing character, and gives more of an experience.

In the film, Matt seemed to become a master of his newfound powers right away. It was so quick, there was no registration of the abilities, no development of them, honing them into becoming what they are in the main story. This is all done incredibly well in the film.

The next thing I want to talk about is the villain, but before I do that, I need to talk about the setting.

Yes the show takes place in Hells Kitchen, New York, like a lot of television shows, but the great thing about Daredevil is that it takes place in the Marvel Universe New York.

Part of the whole reason the conflict in the story is there is because it ties into the events of The Avengers.

Matt and Foggy get an office building to establish Nelson and Murdock at a great price because of "The incident", referring to the attack on New York in The Avengers.

The bad guys ridicule their henchmen because they got beat up by a guy in a mask. If he had an metal suit or a magic hammer, that'd be different. But its a guy in a black mask.

But most of all, the show's main villain utilizes the state of Hell's Kitchen, as a start of his expansion of his criminal empire.

You see when Daredevil was made, New York was a shithole. You read anything about New York prior to the late 90s, you know that it was just dirty, it was unsafe, it was dangerous. New York was just not a place you wanted to be. This is a perfect playground for a masked vigilante. And it makes sense too.

But now, post Guliani New York is a little bit more safer and while it would be cool, there's not as great of an explanation why New York is so dank and dark, like it was in the 2003 film.

But you see with the events of The Avengers, suddenly New York has seen damage. It may not be the dank dark place it once was, but Marvel has created an opportunity for criminals to profit off the events of The Avengers.

And before I talk about that particular criminal, that is good integration.

I don't need Samuel L Jackson chewing Coulson out to know that Agents of SHIELD is connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I don't need pointless cameos and in jokes to know that these universes are connected. I may not be the brightest person in the world, but I'm not dumb.

I can gather that Daredevil is going around in a New York that was attacked by aliens just by a quick mention. Even the line about an Iron suit or a magical hammer may have been a little much for me, if it wasn't so quick and they didn't make a big deal out of it.

Those references are cool and all but it doesn't make a television show, or movie good. This is what I'm figuring out by going back and watching the Phase 1 of Marvel's films. Iron Man 2 was not good. It doesn't matter how much screen time Samuel L Jackson has talking about the Avengers, it doesn't matter how many Captain America shields Coulson shows up with, that movie was not good.

These things are fun nods, sure, but when they take a moment out of the movie to point out, here's that easter egg we put in here for you, its a sign of a bad film. Same with TV shows. Agents of SHIELD did not have a good start and throwing in Sam Jackson at the end did not help it at all.

Daredevil knows how to be subtle with its hints at a larger universe, and they don't take away from the story which is centered on Daredevil, not the Avengers.

But let's finally get to one of the best parts of the TV show, the villain, Wilson Fisk.

Wilson Fisk (played by Vincent D'nofrio) or The Kingpin (though he's never called that) is the best villain Marvel has ever produced.

Yes, he is better than Loki.

Now I know its different, Daredevil had 13 episodes to develop this character, the story arc allows for full episodes to be dedicated to this one character.

But god damn, Wilson Fisk is hands down the best villain created to be shown on screen by Marvel studios.

You may think, how? He's a crime boss who wants to run New York through his crime enterprise. How is that a compelling villain. But just the way this performance is executed makes this character more than anyone expected.

Wilson Fisk has two sides to him. One is the dark, just down right evil, Kingpin who beat the shit out of a guy, threw him in the way of a car door, then decapitated him with said car door. But then you have Wilson Fisk the person. The man child. The socially inept character who really just wants to make Hells Kitchen a better place in his own twisted way of thinking. The Wilson Fisk who creates the love story of the series. There is an actual relationship between him and Vanessa Marianna (played by Ayelet Zurer).

But its this combination of such an evil, but really conflicted character, that ties together perfectly with this man who puts on a black mask and fights crime.

This Daredevil has the disadvantage that other superheroes in the Marvel Universe in that he is not accepted. He is not praised as a hero. Going back to what I said of the difference between a vigilante and a superhero, Daredevil is definitely a vigilante.

Somehow the conflict of that vigilante justice that lays within Matt, and the trauma of Wilson Fisk, just make these two brilliant adversaries. They're not really polar opposites, but just the way the show does it makes these two's conflict even greater. I love the way one affects the other and neither one can keep going while the other one is there. This culminates in 13 episodes that are probably my favorite Netflix original content I've seen. Its just down right good.

The minute I was done with these 13 episodes, I wanted more. The characters are so good, not just Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. Everyone shines in this show. I got so excited when the show was renewed for a second season. While its not the same, this show got me excited for AKA Jessica Jones and made me read up on that more.

Suddenly, I was not longer sighing at the hours going into making TV shows when they could be making more movies, I wanted more Daredevil.

And that feud between Marvel and DC, well Marvel just got the upper hand when it comes to TV now.

If they put as much effort into Jessica Jones and the other Marvel series coming out on Netflix, I am incredibly happy.

And it just points to the fact that Marvel still reigns supreme.

I have faith in DC that they can show their strength when Batman V Superman comes along, but damn they have a long ways to go. There is no comparison between Daredevil and Arrow, or The Flash, or whatever DC has cooking over at the fucking CW. The quality of entertainment on Netflix and what them and Marvel are creating, blows anything DC has right now out of the water.

Does that mean that DC is doomed to fail? No. I think they can learn from Marvel and make just as create products. They just have to stay away from the crap and make new original stuff.

Anyway, the overall take away from this is that if you have Netflix and haven't watched Daredevil, go watch it. Its great.

The only complaint I have of the show is the red costume.

I really don't like it. The great thing about the show is how gritty and real it is. When Daredevil is injured or gets punched, you actually feel like he is in pain. Also, his costume, the black one, like I said, looks like something I could put together and go out and fight crime. The show in many ways looks like Marvel's attempt at a Dark Knight feel to their properties. And because its so realistic, he at multiple points says that he needs something a little bit more practical, a little bit more able to stop blades and stuff.

So when he shows up in this red costume with horns, I just kind of came out of it for a little bit. By this point I loved the show so it didn't take too much away from it, but I just thought it looked a little silly.

I really hope by the second season they trim it down a little bit, do it in a way that doesn't look so clunky, or silly. But I just don't like this version of the armor.

Everything else though, phenomenal. One of the best TV experiences I've had in a long time.

But what did you think of the first season of Daredevil. Does it make you excited for more Marvel/ Netflix shows? Did you like it? Comment and Discuss below! Also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 to get updates on more movie (and some TV) news and reviews.

I'll leave you with this. Here's a video explaining some of the good stories from the Daredevil comic. Its pretty easy to understand for people who don't know comics that well, (Me) and I like the guy who does these videos. Enjoy!

Another Fantastic Four Trailer

Holy smokes, when I wrote this, it had been a ridiculous week for trailers. It started with Terminator Genisys... which I'm pretty apathetic towards. Then Star Wars blew the socks off people. Then Batman v Superman got leaked and that's been dividing the crowd. I don't know if The Fantastic Four people were like, we have to get on this high of trailers along with everyone else, but to me, this trailer was a whisper compared to the huge monsters that came before it.

But regardless of the wagon it jumped on, how is this trailer?

I don't know. I definitely am not as big of a Fantastic Four fan as I am say, Batman v Superman or whatever. I'm sure my biases are there.

But nothing about this film stands out to me.

The trailer gives a little bit more on plot and what exactly is happening in the movie.

Reed Richards (played by Miles Teller) is brought in to a project headed up by Dr. Franklin Storm (played by Reg E. Cathey). He meets Sue Storm (played by Kate Mara) He meets Johnny Storm (played by Michael B Jordan). And he meets Victor Domashev (played by Tobey Kebbell).

He brings along his friend Ben Grimm (played by Jaimie Bell) and they're working on a project that cracks interdimensional travel.

Does that sound cool? Yes.

Does this trailer excite me? No.

I can't quite pin it down yet.

Maybe its Miles Teller. The guy looks and sounds bored in this trailer. I haven't seen Whiplash yet so I can't say I've seen his best work, but I'm not totally convinced on Miles Teller yet. I wasn't wild about him in Divergent or Insurgent. And outside of that, I really can't tell yet.

We do get a little bit better of look at the powers of all the members of the team and don't get me wrong, as much as I think Miles Teller looks bored in this trailer, him and the rest of the cast are very talented.

There's just been something about this film that has always been off with people. There has been a lot of news bringing this movie down. News likes the production has been a mess, news like the director walked out for a little bit for some reason. Just a lot of politics.

And this movie has a decent amount of pressure on it. We all, in one way or another know what kind of mess the first Fantastic Four movies were. They were not good because they were so campy, and came out in a time when people didn't take superhero movies seriously.

And honestly, they probably did the right approach. Make the movie silly, campy, whatever. I mean think about it, you've got a stretchy guy, a rock dude, a guy who can burst into flames, and a girl who can turn invisible. That's a weird set up.

But the first light and funny Fantastic Four movies didn't do too well, so where do you go from there? Dark and serious.

I don't know. I am really back and forth with this film. On one hand, the first time I saw the trailer, I got a little bit excited. Its cool to see this team come back to the big screen and it made me interested in the project. Obviously, I'm going to see it to see if the film is good or not. But the trailer really doesn't make an impression on me. Not nearly as much as Batman v Superman or Star Wars.

Now that's not really fair because those properties have been hyped up for years. This movie had a lot more to prove and I feel like some people were shut up by this trailer.

I definitely didn't come out of this trailer thinking the movie was going to suck, but the big thing is that there isn't anything drawing me to this movie. There's nothing amazing or new in this trailer that gets me overly excited.

The other big thing I'm sure that came out of this trailer was that we got to see Doom for the first time.

For someone who, again, knows nothing about the Fantastic Four and only know Dr. Doom from the first film, I am really apathetic towards this look.

Personally, I didn't hate the way Dr. Doom looked in the first movie. Was his origin kind of dumb, yeah it wasn't good at all. And I'll say the same thing about Doom as I will for the entire movie. The standards are set pretty low as far as previous iterations. As much as people think that this movie is going to suck, or this movie is not going to be good, in comparison with the one from 2005, its going to be awesome.

I don't, not like the trailer. Again, its cool to see the story finally shaping and the idea of seeing a narrative with people with powers always gets me, the problem is that there's nothing in this trailer that makes me believe this movie is going to stand out as a great movie.

The only way it will is if this movie is more than just a movie that helps Fox keep the rights of The Fantastic Four from returning to Marvel. The only way it will is if I go through that movie caring about the protagonists and their journey. And the only way it will is if this movie stands out from other films.

The Fantastic Four cannot just be another superhero origin story. It can't just be the tired tale of four people who are in an accident and come out of it with special abilities. Because that is no longer enough for films like this. There are too many superhero films for them to just have another origin story and expect me to care for the next movie when they start developing these characters finally.

There are parts of this trailer I like. But there's nothing that stands out. I will still watch it, but I have pretty low expectations at this point.

Those are my quick thoughts on the new Fantastic Four Trailer. What do you think? Do you think the film is going to be good or will it just be another superhero origin story? Comment and discuss below! Also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 and get updates on movie news and reviews.

I'll leave you with this. On a totally different note, here is the red band trailer for Ted 2. While I have low expectations for Fantastic Four, I am incredibly optimistic for Ted 2. Enjoy!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Trailer

Its been a trying weekend for me. There's still some residue from the whole ordeal going on, as well as a lot of crap going on this week so I probably will not be posting anything for a week or so. We'll see, I'll post what I can.

But I did want to post something about the newest trailer for my most anticipated movie of 2016, and maybe just most anticipated film in general. I don't know if it surpasses Star Wars, but I am pumped for this movie.

Short answer. I loved it!

The trailer is divided into 2 with the focus being on the title characters, Batman and Superman. The first half is on Superman, showing how since Man of Steel, he's been such a figure of controversy. Some people see him as a god, a savior, some people see him as an intruder, even a false god.

I knew the movie was partly going to focus on the world's reaction to a demi god like Superman on our world, but I guess I didn't think they were going to go as far as some people thinking he actually is a god. Its an area that has never really been focused on before. In the Marvel Universe, its been established that these superheroes exist, they're apart of society as we know it, but they're more for merchandizing and stuff. Even though Thor is a god, people don't worship him. People don't see him as a savior.

I mean Superman has always been an analogy for Jesus but its always been in the subtext. Now its front and center which I think is a really cool way of doing it.

And of course, one of the skeptics that talk of Superman is Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.

We don't see him yet.

I don't know, I'm still not one hundred percent on board with Eisenberg.

Granted, the only things that have alluded to his presence in this film is this picture and the short little line he has in the trailer, "Now we know, demons don't come from hell below, they come from the sky."

Am I excited for a totally different incarnation of Lex Luthor. Yes I am. But I will have to see Lex Luthor in a trailer before I say he's a good idea for the part.

Eisenberg continues to be the wild card here and we'll just have to see.

The trailer continues, showing images of Superman being awesome. All leading up to a statue of Superman with the words False God written on the chest. At that point I got the tingles and I think I was on board. You basically know a part of the conflict that is going on in the film and I am one hundred percent on board.

But then you just add on more greatness when the second half that focuses on Batman starts up.

We then hear Alfred (played by Jeremy Irons) saying, "That's how it starts, the fever, the rage, the feeling of powerlessness. That make good men cruel."

Now, is he talking about Bruce Wayne, is he talking about Lex Luthor. I don't know. The trailer makes us believe that he's talking about Bruce Wayne and possibly feeling helpless and powerless compared to Superman, but I don't know, I'm still not quite certain.

I mean if it was a Michael Caine Alfred speech, he's be making it to Bruce Wayne and he'd be talking about a new villain. I don't know. Maybe things are a little different. We'll have to see.

We see a lot of shots of Batman, and he looks freaking awesome. I think if there were still doubts about Ben Affleck and how he looks as Batman, I think those doubts are out the window now. For me, its now Ben Affleck actually showing me whether or not he's a good actor or not. Only time will tell.

But of course we have the scene that was teased at Comic-Con where Batman is looking up at Superman in his mechanized suit.

You can tell things are about to go down.

And he delivers probably the best line in the trailer. "Tell me, do you bleed? You will". Cut to the logo of the trailer, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Blackout.

And there was not a spine untingled in the room.

Honestly, this is how the movie should have been advertised the entire time. This is the movie I've been craving ever since they announced they were doing this movie. A film centered on the conflict between Batman and Superman. I would have preferred it to be a sequel to Man of Steel with Batman in it, but from this trailer, it looks like a simple crossover film with Superman and Batman at odds with each other.

I didn't need to know that Wonder Woman was going to be in the film, I didn't need to know that Aquaman was going to be in the film, I didn't need the title to be Dawn of Justice, suggesting that this might be a prelude to the Justice League.

All that in theory sounds great but that's not the vibe I got from this trailer. Its just a teaser but I got the feeling that this movie was going to focus in on Batman versus Superman.

This trailer did not make this movie feel like a prequel to the Justice League, it did not feel like a teaser for The Justice League. It felt like the story is going to be focused on the title characters.

And that's all I wanted.

I hope this trailer is getting people back on topic and getting the movie back onto its main target. Telling a story.

Will this story lead to a larger franchise, yes. But that shouldn't be the purpose of the film. The purpose of the film should not be to create a franchise. That's what happened with The Amazing Spider-man 2, and look how that turned out.

An entire franchise cannot lay on the shoulders of one movie. Now, if they were going to lay on the shoulders of one movie, it would probably be this one, especially since its not a direct Man of Steel sequel.

All I can say is, this trailer did the right thing. You're on the right track Zack Snyder. This is what I have to say to you now.

One last thing worth mentioning. I think Christopher Nolan had very little to do with this movie besides an advisory role as an executive producer, but I think the one thing he added in, at least on the trailer, was the signature Nolan Batman pose.

Its the one where Batman is standing on a tall tower or something just bruiting over the city.

Don't get me wrong, it looks awesome, but think about it. How did he climb all the way up there? Why did he climb all the way up there? I'll tell you why. To look freaking awesome, that's why.

But those are all my thoughts on the trailer. I'm really looking forward to this film. What do you think? Comment and Discuss below! And follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 to get updates on movie news and reviews!

I'll leave you with this. Here's the trailer, but done with Christopher Reeves and Adam West Superman and Batman. I gotta kick out of it. Enjoy!