Marvel Movie Marathon

So I feel like making a review series of all the Marvel movies, before I go see The Avengers this Saturday. For now I'll only do the good ones, but I'll check the less than good movies too if you guys really want to see what I have to say. So I hope you guys enjoy!

Blade - 1998
X-Men - 2000
Blade II - 2002
Spider-Man - 2002
Daredevil - 2003
X2: X-Men United - 2003
The Punisher - 2004

The Premise and Review
A movie about vampires! That doesn't suck! Although the vampires do suck blood, so that's more of a plus.

But enough about that, this is the Marvel movie that finally made Marvel movies cool to watch. Starring the comic book character Blade, it features the hero as he works to defeat leaders of a vampire cult, the Shadow Council, and the fanatic taking it over, Deacon Frost.

Blade himself is a vampire hunter, the best the world has to offer, but this comes from the fact he is a Daywalker, a vampire born without any of the weaknesses.

At the same time, a Dr. Karen Jenson is due to become a vampire, and must create a cure for both herself and Blade if they want to become human again.

The other main character is Abraham Whistler, a man who's faced the hard battles against vampires for years until taking Blade as a pupil. Mostly a mentor figure now, he still manages to show he's a force to be reckoned with.

The story itself is a decent one. The best parts I feel come from watching Blade or Frost in action, but I'll admit it can seem like not a lot happens. Still, it's worth watching and is a great start to the series.

Marvel Meter
A special feature for this review series, I'll talk about how Marvelous the movies are and rate it out of 10.

So for Blade, it's sad to say this movie fails pretty bad. It's a good movie, of course, but the Marvel fanservice isn't very high. Blade and Deacon Frost seem to be the only Marvel characters, and even then Deacon is cast as a young man instead of the older gentleman of the comics.

Although the movie stays faithful to the rules and regulations of the comic series, unfortunately the movie only gets a 3/10 from me. Hopefully the next movie will do a better job at being Marvelous!

Next time! X-Men!

The Premise and Review
In the not too distant future, the world is facing that fact that mutants exist. The secret can't stay secret any longer, and people with powers are springing up all over. Some people say that it's a leap of evolution, while other feel it is a danger that needs to be cured.

While the world is understanding this revelation, debating whether to pass a Mutant Registration Act, two sides of the mutant cause are forced to face each other. One side is the X-Men, a group of good-natured mutants that are trying to bring control and knowledge so people can cope with their powers. The other group is the Brotherhood of Mutants, a small team of mutants who plan on forcing the world to accept them.

There are lots of characters and lots of story behind this one, so I'll feature the main ones rather than go on every one.

The X-Men, the heroes of our story, are led by Charles Xavier, or Professor X, a telepath who wants to help mutants. He's kind and wise and cares deeply about his students. He's also has a deep history with our villain, but we'll cover that some other day.

Speaking of the villain, Erik Lehnsherr is Magneto, a mutant capable of manipulating metal of all kinds, and who believes mutants are vastly superior to humans. Having been in the Holocaust, he knows and witnesses humans being unable to accept them, so he creates a plan that will force them to.

And who better to start with than the head of the Mutant Registration Act and hater of mutants, Senator Robert Kelly? The senator from Kansas doesn't do much in the movie, but he sets off the plot which leads to the climax.

But who else is important to the plot? Marie, known as Rogue. A mutant with the power to absorb the memories and powers of a person she touches, she's considers her powers a curse and just wants then gone.

However, she's not the only one with problems, as Logan, or better known as Wolverine, is suffering from amnesia. He has no idea what happened, only that he's a mutant with healing powers, has metal claws, and has been unable to find his memories since he lost them in the 70s.

So yeah, lots of main characters alone, with a load of supporting cast. The story all these cast members bring is cool and fun and makes you think, so overall it works very well. I feel it may be a bit rough, but it still holds up very well and is worth watching more than once.

Marvel Meter
Unlike Blade, this movie triumphs in being Marvelous. The characters are all accurate, except for two. One of the mains, Rogue, suffers slightly at being less tough than I remember her. She never really gets that tough streak, but it's okay, she's still interesting.

The other character is Storm, and she's almost like Professor X's third-in-command. She doesn't really stand out as much as she should, and her character could be made a bit more interesting, but oh well, it doesn't hurt the movie.

This movie defines what it means to be Marvelous, it excels at referencing the comics and shows. Not only does the movie have all the characters from the comics and with intact powers, it feature the first Stan Lee cameo! It's definitely huge leap in the right direction, and I can safely give it a 10 out of 10!

Next time! Blade II!

The Premise and Review
Another movie about vampires! But does it suck? Well...let's find out!

Once again our star is Blade, the Daywalker who vows to hunt down vampires for a living. After the last movie, he finds out that

Spoiler:

Despite this, Blade stays strong and silent, determined to see his mission finished.

Traveling through Europe to complete this mission, Blade becomes allies with Scud, who builds him a base of operations in Prague and fancy new gadgets to aid his efforts. A lover rather than a fighter, he still knows when to help when the fights get tough.

Although, sometimes help doesn't want to help, and that comes up with the Bloodpack. I can't say much, but the Bloodpack are a group of vampires dedicated to stopping the major villain of the story. The two main members are Reinhardt, a man who hates Blade with a passion, and Nyssa Damaskinos, the daughter of overlord of vampires, Eli Damaskinos.

However, the real villain is not the vampires, but the new breed of vampire, Jared Nomak. A Reaper Vampire, he's much stronger than the average vampire, and using his new powers, intends to take down the Vampire Nation.

So with that, you can see the stakes are high for our heroes. The relation between Blade and the top Bloodpack members is fun to watch, but the others rarely hold much of the screen. However, they give a more serious feel with their militaristic training and efforts to preserve their kind, and on the whole, the world.

The story could use some work, but it succeeds in telling a good story with plenty of action, making you feel for the characters and want to see them succeed.

Marvel Meter
So, after Blade started the trend pretty badly, and X-Men shot the Marvel Meter to the top, you'd think this movie would do better, right?

No...it's actually worse than Blade. >_> To put it basically, Blade is the only Marvel character. This is pretty bad, not just in comparison to Marvel movies of today, but of X-Men, a movie two years older than this.

Now, to be fair, they actually tried to put in one other Marvel character, a villain, Morbius. However, Marvel decided they wanted to give him his own movie (and look how well that went). So instead Nomak is the villain, and he does a decent job, but still, it hurts the Marvelous count.

It hurts to give it such a bad score, since it was a good movie, but if it can't be Marvelous, then it can't, so this meter reading will be a 1 out of 10. Will the next movie do better? Well...

Next time! Spider-Man!

The Premise and Review
And at last we see the big headliner, the spectacular, amazing Spider-Man! So how does his first major movie blockbuster fare? Read on!

Spider-Man takes place in New York City in the present day. In this city lives Peter Parker, a teenager ready to leave high school and take on the world. If you know the general plot of the series, then you can imagine how his life is about to evolve!

However, he's not the only one getting a life-change! His best friend, Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn, has been bouncing from school to school. He's made friends with Peter, but unlike Peter, he doesn't have future prospects. As such, he knows he doesn't stand in a good light for his father.

Norman Osborn expects a lot from his son, and it makes sense why. He runs the company OsCorp, and has a deal with the military to produce a super soldier, and in limited time too. He's under as much pressure as his son, and that's no good!

But what is good is Mary Jane Watson, the love interest of Peter Parker. She inadvertently sets off certain events in Peter's life, and becomes intrigal to Peter as the movie goes on.

The movie's plot is simple enough as an origin story, but it always leaves you interested in what Peter or the other characters do next, and all of them are entertaining to watch, so it's definitely a movie you should see!

Marvel Meter
So how does the movie contend against the previous competition? Very, very well! While the movie isn't jam-packed with cameos like X-Men, it has other methods to earn a high score!

The movie continues the fantastic tradition of having Stan Lee cameo, but it adds onto that by having Bruce Campbell appear! While he's exclusive to the Spider-Man movies and certain games, he's always a good show and can outright steal a scene!

Add all that in with great references to the comics and having all the characters in character, the movie definitely earns a Marvelous rating of 10 out of 10!

Next time! Daredevil!

Spider-Man - 2004
The Premise and Review
Spider-Man is back in his next movie, Spider-Man 2! But, is it better? Well, let's find out!

Spider-Man 2 truly feels like a sequel to the first, as if it truly belongs. With it, it brings great story, action, and drama to the scene that Spidey is so famous for. The story is similar to the famous quote, but twisted to show us what life is without great power.

As a story, it's a great way to explore Peter Parker and his dual identity of Spider-Man. He's become fed up with the Daily Bugle's treatment of Spider-Man and is trying to find ways to survive in the big city while attending college.

However, unlike the last movie, Peter's not so lucky with his friends. Harry Osborn, despite still his best friend, is now in charge of OsCorp, his father's company, and is still dealing with the dark actions of the last movie.

And even with Harry busy, he still has no opportunity to focus on Mary Jane Watson, the love of his life, as she reaches for the stardom she's been working so hard for.

The last noteworthy character to report, and the big role model for Peter in his educational career, is Doctor Otto Octavius. Him and his wife Rosalie are attempting to create a self-sustaining fusion reaction with the help of OsCorp.

The film does a good job at focusing on the main characters and have them push all the plots together into one intense event. With excellent music and visuals to feast us, it proves to be an amazing sequel worthy of Marvel.

Marvel Meter

A fantastic Marvel movie comes with a fantastic Marvel score, and this isn't surprising here! Although not a cameo cannon like the X-Men series, it does give you all the elements that make Spider-Man what it is.

Despite this, it does give cameos from various famous people, including the excellent Stan Lee!

Aside from Rosalie Octavius being a new character (Otto was not married in the comics), and the Ditkovich father and daughter being new as well, everyone is a regular from the series.

It stays incredibly faithful to the source material and keeps all the characters in check. No one feels out of character, and you can see and understand their progression. The movie gets a Marvelous rating of 10 out of 10!

Next time! Fantastic Four!

The Premise and Review
The story of a boy who gets hit by toxic waste...wait. Well, aside from that, today we're covering Daredevil!

The main character of the movie is Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer working in a crime-ridden section of New York. The toxic waste he was hit with not only blinded him, but helped to enhance his other four senses to form a radar sense. Not only can this help him traverse the city and fight crime as the Daredevil, it also acts as a lie detector, so he only takes cases of innocent victims. His sense of honor and justice is very well defined in this movie.

His best friend and partner, Franklin Nelson, or Foggy, is not as devoted however. He's become tired of taking cases where the pay is too low, but he stays loyal to Matt and the cases they handle.

Matt's love interest, Elektra Natchios lives a mostly carefree lifestyle, loving her father Nikolas and being a tough person as well as fighter. She's trained all her life with martial arts and sai blades, so she knows how to defend herself pretty well.

Someone else who can defend himself is one of the villains of this movie, Bullseye. A man with practically perfect accuracy, he acts as an assassin for hire. With his ability to use anything as a deadly weapon, he is a force to be reckoned with.

But the main villain of the movie is the Kingpin. Working from the shadows high above the city, Kingpin can be linked to much of the crime found all over New York. However, his mysterious nature has practically made him a myth to the public.

The plot of this movie seems to be about vengeance, and lots of it. Matt was vengeance for his father's death, Elektra has her own reason, and it just builds from there. It's decent as an origin story (it actually feels more like an origin story for Elektra), but it gets through it quick to focus on the main character; too quickly, I feel. Still, it is one of Marvel's better movies.

However, it should be noted there are two version. The theatrical version, and the longer Director's Cut, which is usually shown on TV. Many prefer the longer version by a lot, so be wary of that when you watch this movie to get the best of it.

Marvel Meter
X-Men and Spider-Man truly started the Marvelous trend, and this movie follows in their footsteps pretty well. Most of the characters are portrayed correctly and are in the Marvel comics, except for a few, and the story is pretty good and faithful to the comics.

However, there are flaws to this movie. For one, Elektra's character can be poor quality to downright bad, depending on which version you watch. She never really falls into the role of a badazz assassin in the movie, and in the theatrical version she's more girly and into Matt than the original. Either way she's not good or overly talented.

Matt himself suffers, but mostly due to the theatrical version. To spoil the movie for a bit,

Spoiler:

Aside from a couple characters not being comic characters (Father Everett, Wesley Owen Welch, Nikolas [his name is really Hugo Kostas Natchios], Dante Jackson), and that Matt is a bit too cocky and forward with his powers and skills, it's still a great movie. Plus, it has a nice Stan Lee cameo, along with plenty of other name cameos, so the Marvel Meter stays nice and strong for this movie, giving it a 8 out of 10!

Next time! X2: X-Men United!

The Premise and Review
After such a long wait, the X-Men are back, and ready for action in their new movie! Starring an even bigger and better cast than last movie, do they rule over the prequel? Let's find out!

Since many members return and since I'm avoiding spoilers, I'll just state that Professor X, Magneto, Rogue, and Wolverine all reappear in the movie.

Another newcomer is Kurt Wagner, a blue, also demonic mutant with the power to teleport. Formerly from a circus, which nicknamed him Nightcrawler, he kicks the movie off. He's very religious and inspires faith in others.

On the other hand, our villain, Colonel William Stryker, has no love for the mutants that inhabit the world, and has begun working on convincing the president he's in the right. His motives for hating mutants is a strong one, typical for the series.

In addition to all these characters, more secondary characters get spotlight. One of which is Dr. Jean Grey, a telepath and telekinetic user who helps teach at the Xavier Institute. She's never had a full grasp of her powers, but this movie may bring her more understanding at long last.

Bobby Drake, or Iceman, acts as Rogue's boyfriend and the supporter for her continuing struggle with her powers. He has good control over his power to create ice, but he still has much to learn, as does his good friend.

John Allerdyce, or Pyro, is another mutant with good control but much to learn about his fire powers, but his temper matches his powers, and he aspires to become greater than the humans think of him.

Overall, like the prequel, this movie can be tough to judge with so many characters, but amazingly each character featured is treated well and is interesting.

The story itself is a good one, and advances the plot from the first into the second with ease. The entertainments, effects, characters, structure, plot, they all work so well for the movie. The only flaw is that things can become vague and confusing as the story moves along, but it is otherwise a very solid entry to the franchise.

Marvel Meter
And now things get tough; this movie shines like a gem, just like the prequel, and ranks high on the Marvel Meter. But with a price.

This movie features many names, cameos, all sorts of goodies for the fans to eat up and enjoy, and they're good, but at times they are given different origins.

For example, Pyro didn't start out as a student, he was part of another mutant team. Changing this results in an interesting character, but not exactly a loyal one.

Another infamous example is Hank McCoy's cameo, which now has been ruined by First Class (at least for now).

These are all minor gripes, to be true; nevertheless, the issues are there, and of course it doesn't help that Stan Lee never cameos. However, as it is all minor, I'll give the movie a 9 out of 10! Let's hope they keep up the good work!

Next time! The Punisher!

Finally back in the mood to write this series again, and we're starting with a good movie too! The Punisher!
The Premise and Review
In America, crime frequently occurs, and even with all the government's agents, it's a tough war to win. Thankfully, we have the FBI helping, and a secret agent Frank Castle to help us.

As is usual, I can't give away much about our main character other than he becomes the Punisher, and he definitely makes a good one. You like him all the way through, and he shows he's had some great training and knows his guns. A great hero indeed.

And thankfully, he has good friends to rely on too. Joan, a meek girl who works to be positive despite her situation; Mr. Bumpo, a large but kindhearted man, and Spacker Dave, a cowardly but loyal friend of the other two.

But villains are needed to make the hero, and we've got a few! There are bounty hunters Harry Heck and the Russian, both of who have their own methods to take down the Punisher, making sure he has plenty of challenge.

Of course, they're only bounty hunters. The real villains behind it all are the Tampa crime family, the Saints. They start the movie off, and it's Frank's ultimate goal to take them all down in his own creative way.

The movie isn't just about revenge, it's really about punishment and what consequences you must face for your actions.

It should also be noted that this is the second of three different Punisher movies, all in different universes. The first was made in 1989, the second is this one, and the third is from 2008. I chose to review this one because I heard it was good while the other two weren't, so that's something to remember.

Marvel Meter
With all that settled and done, we can focus on the Marvel Meter! This movie does do a good job of telling the story of the Punisher. We see many of the characters and their origins, and every one of the heroes are made likable. Even a couple of the villains are pretty cool.

However, the flaw of it all is that most of the villains are not Marvel characters. The entire Saint family, their associates, Harry Heck, and even some of Frank's family.

Otherwise, the movie does good job at staying Marvelous, but because of the flaws, I give it a 7 out of 10!

Next time! Spider-Man 2!