With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania coming out this week to kick off Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I would like to look back at all the Phase Four movies. Well, almost all of them. I did not see Black Widow when it came out, and I forgot it was even a thing and never went back to see the movie, even though it is sitting on Disney+. Based on what I have heard, most people feel this movie was fine but pointless since the story of the movie takes place much earlier in the MCU timeline, and this movie came out after Avengers: Endgame, a movie in which (SPOILER ALERT) Black Widow sacrifices herself. The most interesting about Black Widow was the Scarlett Johansson lawsuit against Disney that ended in a settlement. Enough of Black Widow. Let’s get on with the rest of the Phase Four Movies!
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
This was the first movie I saw in theaters when moving to NYC, and the first time I went back to the theaters since the pandemic started. It was also the first time I went to an Alamo Drafthouse theater, which has now become my favorite movie theater. I have said the word “theater” a lot. Anyways, I had such a fun time with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. It has been a very long time since Marvel has done an origin movie, and Shang-Chi is definitely one of the strongest of those entries. There are two main takeaways I had after watching this movie. Firstly, the fight choreography in Shang-Chi is phenomenal. The movie used an eastern approach to the action with the aid of Jackie Chan’s stunt team, resulting in spectacular sequences, especially the bus fight at the beginning of the movie. Secondly, Simu Liu is going to be a star. He brings so much charisma and energy to the role of Shang-Chi, and I really am excited to see him more in later Marvel projects. The second half of the movie becomes more cliché, but the dynamic between Shang-Chi and his father carries this movie from beginning to end. Also, on a personal note, it was awesome to see an Asian-led Marvel movie.
Eternals
This was one of the more disappointing movies for me. The director, Chloe Zhao, was coming fresh off an Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture for Nomadland the year prior. The movie had an all-star cast: Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, and Ma Dong-seok. I was hoping for a very unique, cosmic adventure, something along the lines of a “introspective” Denis Villeneuve think-piece movie (Dune, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) smashed together with the weirdness of a James Gunn Guardians of the Galaxy movie. While there were glimmers of interesting ideas, the movie did not follow through on those ideas and fell back into the old Marvel tropes. There were a lot of moving parts, given that there are eight main characters, and I really think that the movie needed to commit to a completely different plot structure to accommodate everything. Maybe it should have been a show. I am not sure. Overall, I think it is an okay movie, but I really wanted something more given the talent involved.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
The closest thing I can compare this movie to is the Super Bowl. It was an event. You really had to experience this movie in real time to get the full impact. If you did not catch Spider-Man: No Way Home when it came out, you have already missed the hype train. Spider-Man took the world by storm and even restarted the pandemic with everyone going back to the theaters. This movie pretty much did everything that every Spider-Man fan wanted, bringing together all of the villains past, and of course, bringing together all three Spider-Men. Seeing Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man again reminded everyone what an incredible actor he is and that he really did not get a fair shot with his Amazing Spider-Man movies. But, another reason why I called this movie the Super Bowl is that it loses a lot of its impact afterwards. Sure, it feels good to rewatch highlights of your team winning the Super Bowl, but it is not as magical as when it happened live. And the same can be said with this movie. But Spider-Man: No Way Home greatly succeeded in what it wanted to do, which was be the biggest crowd-pleasing movie in the history of cinema (until The Flash comes out).
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
I feel this movie Is underrated. The issue was that Marvel marketed the movie as a “multiverse of madness,” when really the movie wanted to be something else. Unfortunately, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once came out around the same time, which is the definitive multiverse movie. So, even though this movie was not as bonkers and crazy as all the marketing made it out to be, I still found this movie to be a super fun time with some very memorable Marvel moments. What I appreciated most about Doctor Strange was Sam Raimi brought such a distinct style to the screen, which gave the movie a character of its own. There were a lot of campy camera zooms, grotesque action bits, and most importantly a strong heart to this film. Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch was one of the most terrifying villains that Marvel has done, and it really seemed that Sam Raimi wanted her action scenes to be as brutal and gnarly as allowed by the PG-13 rating. Benedict Cumberbatch is always great as Doctor Strange, and what I liked about his performance in this movie is that he brought a strong sense of empathy and compassion to a character feeling the ramifications of his actions from Avengers: Infinity War when he willingly gave up the Time Stone to Thanos, leading to five years of misery for half the population, even though it was the right thing to do. The weaknesses of the movie are the forced plot points and cameos that feel like notes from the studio, but even those moments Raimi dispatches with spectacular deaths. Go check out this movie on Disney+. It is worth your time.
Thor: Love and Thunder
Speaking of worth your time, I am not sure about this one. I did enjoy my time watching this movie, seeing it in IMAX with my roommate Scott. Chris Hemsworth is still perfect as Thor. Christian Bale is hamming it up as Gorr the God Butcher. And it was great to see Nataile Portman back as Jane Foster, or in the case of this film, Lady Thor. But, this movie falls short due to the direction of Taika Waititi, who acts as a double-edge sword for Thor: Love and Thunder. On one hand, he has such a distinct style and tone that a lot of fans will enjoy, which worked great for Thor: Ragnarök. But, on the other hand, when he lets the humor and “improvisation” of scenes go on freely, the film loses so much of its emotional punch. A lot of important character moments do not get the appropriate time to breathe and settle as another comedic bit gets thrown in. And over the course of the runtime, the comedy becomes overbearing and distracting. If anything, this movie needed to be much longer. The movie falls a little short of two hours, so I am not sure why another thirty minutes could have been added to let the more serious sequences of the movie to develop further. Despite these criticisms, I still want Taika to make the Thor movies (or any of his movies) the way he envisions them. Next time, focus less on the humor and more on the heart.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Speaking of heart, this was a lot to take in. The tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman took everyone by surprise, and his presence was sorely missed in this film. I am sure director Ryan Coogler did not have to make this film if he chose not to, but it really felt he wanted to go forward with Black Panther 2 to express his grief and to come to terms with Chadwick’s passing. For a movie to lose its lead actor after already finishing the script, it was a tall order to craft this film, and I am not sure Coogler could have made a better film than he did given the significant circumstances. Yes, this movie is super long, and yes, it is all over the place. But Coogler is able to achieve a much-needed emotional catharsis for everyone involved, from the cast to all the fans. Everyone is acting in this movie as if their lives depended on it. Angela Bassett’s throne room speech single-handedly secured her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Letitia Wright, despite what you may think of her, gives it her all. The villain Namor makes his long-awaited entry into the MCU, and I look forward to seeing him again in future Marvel projects. This was one of those movies that you really only need to see once to feel the weight of it, like a Schindler’s List (yes, I just compared Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to Schindler’s List).
Well, that’s it for Phase Four. Oh wait, they made eight TV shows and two TV specials? Oh god. I will get to them eventually.
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