In the
past few years Marvel has taken over the market in the movie business.
They opened up with Iron Man and showed the world that it was possible to
make you believe that a man could build a suit of armor that allowed him to
fly. In the following years they've continued to build upon that success
with film after film culminating in the most recent "Guardians of the
Galaxy" which took the viewers and fans far beyond the reach of Earth and
into space. So throughout the years what have been some of your favorite
moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that they've created and allowed us to
watch and enjoy? Well, I'll list you a few of mine and I'll go in order
with at least one favorite scene from each movie.
Iron
Man - First I would like to state that they started off by
casting Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark. This is a man who has basically
lived his life damn near a mirror to Tony Stark's fake life. He's dealt
with fame, women, money, substance abuse and trying to rebuild your life
afterwards. He was basically hired to play himself. All he had to
do was put on a suit. From there it was straight up a gold mine.
Robert Downey Jr. was catapulted back into the fore front of main men for
acting gigs and has forever been cemented in our hearts and minds as the
ultimate Tony Stark. No matter who they cast after him no one else will
do a job like he has. Just like Michael Keaton's portrayal of Batman.
Not to mention that this movie made a billion in revenue. Now my favorite
part in this movie was the test flight where Tony Stark takes his Mark II for a
spin and ends up crashing through the roof of his garage. He crashes onto
one of his priceless cars and gets blasted with fire extinguisher from one of
his robotic "dummy" arms. Classic.
Avengers - Where to start with this movie? You have a cast of people who all have extraordinary abilities and you have to make it worth my $8.75. How do you do that? You hire Joss Whedon who has a knack with making a movie with a large cast work so that everyone gets equal enough time pertinent to their characters. After that you throw in every character that the Marvel Universe has built up or shown and give them something to hit. The Chitauri and Loki. This movie was such an overnight sensation that people consider this the epitome of the superhero movie. You can't do it better than this. There's comedy, drama, danger, action, and when it’s over a sense of not only fulfillment but a craving for more. When I was overseas and this movie came I out I bought four bootleg copies of the movie until I found one that was movie quality and then I watched it over and over again. I couldn't wait to for the next phase of their plans to begin as I was catapulted on an adventure that culminated with a glimpse of Thanos smiling as he warned that to go against Earth is to court Death. I got goose bumps. My favorite part of this movie was when the alien attack was on the Avengers were all doing their thing trying to reign in the Chitauri. Iron Man flies past the Black Widow who was on a flying chariot trying to reach the scepter. He flies down up the street taking out several Chitauri before turning back around and firing repulsor beams into Captain America's shield who instinctively redirects the beams into the crowd of the Chitauri. Iron Man then takes off firing on other Chitauri who are climbing the building to get to Hawkeye who is firing well placed arrows where they need to be placed. The last shot of this scene was where Thor and the Hulk were fighting on the back of a troop transport and they took it down together crashing into Grand Central Station where the Hulk and Thor take a moment to breathe before the Hulk hits Thor. This was such a fanboy/geek chic moment that I was moving back and forth in my seat when I first saw it and even still to this day I get excited watching their instinctive teamwork at play.
My
2nd favorite scene from this movie is the part where Loki is berating the Hulk
telling that he is a God and that he should be worshipped and then the Hulk
grabs him up and starts pounding him into the ground mercilessly before he lets
him go and walks away and says, "Puny God."
Iron
Man II - Not only was this the sequel to Iron Man but this was the
first time we see another suit of armor in play. We also see the War
Machine in action fighting alongside Iron Man taking out the robots all
controlled by Whiplash. Scarlet Johansson's Black Widow was introduced in
this movie as first a secretary for Pepper Potts and then is revealed to be a
Shield Agent assigned to keep tabs on Tony Stark. Marvel was able to
expand on the character of Tony Stark. He was now slowly dying from the
very thing that had saved his life and he was in a race to find a way to stop
himself from dying. Past that Tony was viewed as an everyday man with
money and a suit of armor. He had a birthday party in his suit. The best
moment of this movie was when he was driving through the Monaco Grand Prix and
is attacked by Whiplash. Once Happy throws him his suitcase he popped it
open was able to unfold a suit directed from the case and pulled it on.
He was then able to fight against Whiplash capturing him. For all
of us who use to read Iron Man during the 80's-90's era we are all familiar with
the suitcase that Tony Stark used to keep on him in the event of emergencies.
When he was attacked he would open it and step into his Iron Man suit.
Oh man, I know so many people who were so happy to see that moment it
makes them satisfied and able to trust Marvel that they are able to show our
favorite characters and portray them according to how we remember them.
Captain
America: The Winter Solder - The opening to The Winter Soldier is by far the best
portrayal of Captain America's actual abilities when compared to a normal
trained soldier. The scene opens up in DC near the monuments where Cap is
running and he passes by Sam Wilson who is at first just a man trying to get
his daily jog in but after the sixth or seventh time of hearing "On your left"
he tries to catch up to Cap but can't. The instant comradery shared
between a couple of fellow soldiers makes them both instant friends and you can
believe that they are friends the further the movie progresses. Sam
brings a soldiers devotion to duty and fighting a worthy cause that also
mirrors Captain America's need to fight for a cause and not just a job for
security reasons. This is one of those movies that has action but also a
plot that makes you think about the actual political climate of our country today.
However, the best scene in this movie is where Captain America is on an
elevator and he begins to notice the personnel that are slowly starting to pile
in. After the doors close he asks would anyone like to get out before
they start. Then he proceeds to take each and every man in that elevator
to school showing them why he's the super soldier.
Guardians of the Galaxy - And finally I bring you to a close with the Guardians of the Galaxy. First I'll lead with $774 million worldwide revenue. Second, the cast was the second best group casting aside from the men and woman who made the Avengers. This was also a gamble for Marvel as they had to make a movie with characters who were relative strangers to people who were not familiar with the comics. I was relatively worried about this movie as I was a fan of the Guardians from the comics. When I watched Peter put on his headphones and start dancing to Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" I fell out laughing literally from my seat. People looked at me as if I was having a seizure attack. After that they were laughing along with me as we watched Starlord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Drax, and Gamora struggle to deal with each other’s wildly disproportionate attitudes while trying to save the galaxy. From seeing the Nova Corps come to life to seeing the multi-colored people of Xandar to Yondu's Arrow this movie grabbed you and held on until the very end. My favorite scene in this movie you would think would be the scene with the Collector's Vault but no I was excited about something else. Yes, it was pretty cool seeing the many fascinating things that the Collector had stored away in his vault from Howard the Duck to Adam Strange's Cocoon to a member of the Chitauri as well as one member of the Dark Elves from Thor II. No my favorite scene in this movies came at the end when Ronan was ready to destroy the planet he is distracted by Starlord who is singing The Five Stairsteps "Ooh Child" while dancing in front of him inviting him to a dance-off.
My
second favorite part of this movie was immediately after that when Starlord had
grabbed ahold of the Power Gem and was trying not to be incinerated from its
power and his comrades all come together to share in the burden and he turns
the power back on Ronan declaring, "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy,
bitch!"
And
there you have it my 7 favorite moments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from
Iron Man on down to Guardians. What's your 7 favorite moments? And
if you haven't seen any of the movies I've mentioned stop what you're doing and
go grab a friend and watch these movies. They're not only entertaining
but they're fun and you'll enjoy them.
