Venom is set to release this week to very little fanfare as the ever Popular anti-hero is given the 12A cinematic treatment much to the dismay of it’s fans whilst some fans still hold excited trepidation, In this weeks Club we take a look at either our favourite or least favourite moments/films in ALL Marvel properties that have made it’s way to film… We will try not to just go on about Spider-Man 3 but expect to see it:

Clarissa

Okay, so my all time favourite film ever ever is Big Hero 6! I just love it! I could watch it back to back it makes my heart melt! I have a couple favourite bits, the hairy baby scene! The bit where Baymax tapes himself up and then acts completely drunk and face plants the stairs and lastly Tadashi is here. I love this film because I think it does an excellent job with Hiro’s characterisation I think it deals with his grief and anger so well. Next up we have the opening scene for Guardians of the galaxy 2, I love the juxtaposition of baby Groot dancing to Mr blue sky whilst the rest fight of a giant monster in the background!! As for least favourite…. I don’t think I have one??? I mean I guess (unpopular opinion time) captain america is my least favourite maybe.

 

William

Get ready for me to blow your fragile little minds. Low point of the MCU? Ironman 3. High point of the MCU? Ironman 3! Okay i get it that doesn’t make much sense but hold up and let me explain myself. Ironman 3 is a strange beast, coming hot on the heels of Avengers was always going to make this entry suffer in comparison and some will say its the worst but others will say its great. I personally just think it does somethings really well and others incredibly badly. What I hate is the villains and their overall scheme basically a bunch of super powered terrorists who are no better at it than regular terrorists… With leading big bad Aldrich Killian being a weird cross between super genius and fucking fire breathing dragon just proving that really Iron Man 3 wanted more than one villain but couldn’t work it out in time. What I love is how we see a more human side to Tony Stark, as the only member of the Avengers who isn’t a seasoned warrior or green rage beast, Tony is clearly struggling with the darker side of his heroics and having panic attacks several times throughout only finding a coping mechanism in doing what he really does best. creating amazing tech to save the world!!!

Ben

Personally I like every film in the MCU about as much as each other. That isn’t saying that there are not some bum parts at all, none of them are perfect. But they all have a redeeming quality that makes the film worth while within the MCU. For example, Thor: The Dark World, the acting quality is sub par, and there’s always lots going on, but the story is really important for the universe, and someone who goes on about loving stories can’t just hate a film because part of it if below standard. I may not like it, but it’s still important. I also can’t just choose a favourite film because there are too many good parts, Spider-man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: Ragnarök, its impossible to choose. Everything has its place within the MCU.

Javier

So the highs can be summed up in one little phrase ‘THE MCU’. I could go on and on about how they perfectly balanced the comic to film ratio, borrowed enough from the comics whilst doing their own thing, created their own universe that fans were happy with and put in enough easter eggs to satiate the easter bunny for the rest of time to come…..but i won’t. Lets talk about the lows and mistakes that happened before (and even during) the MCU.

If you’ve never watched any Marvel films before the MCU you should go back and treat yourself. There are some absolute gems don’t get me wrong (such as X-men 1 & 2, Spider-man 1 & 2) but there are a lot of travesties. My least favourite being, X men Origins: Wolverine…my least favourite as it was for one of my favourite characters but the worst telling of his story I’d seen on-screen. They get pretty much every detail of his creation incorrect and also manage to mess up Deadpool at the same time. This is a real low point for Marvel films as a whole. other lows include Elektra, X-men 3, Spider-man 3, ghost rider 1 & 2….and so on. Thanks christ for Kevin Feige and the MCU.

Chris

Whilst I could always rag on Blade: Trinity (the first movie I ever walked out on at a cinema) or the early 00’s Fantastic Four titles, I simply don’t recall enough about them to provide much of a comment – both were completely forgettable, and the only reason I know Rise of the Silver Surfer was a thing was because I recall going ‘Oh, they made Galactus a bunch of smoke..? Ok.’ So I’ll talk about a movie I do recall, that just felt crappy to me: Thor: Ragnarok.

The movie is just…lackluster? It was made post Guardians of the Galaxy, and it shows, because it really, really wishes it was the sequel. A lot of the issues, I think, boil down to the fact that a lot of the dialogue was improvised: Chris Hemsworth detailed in an interview that “We had a great script, and then each day, we’d sort of branch outside of it. And sometimes we’d come back to the original script, which was better, but sometimes we’d find something different.” Different doesn’t always mean good – Jeff Goldblum is a comedian; the rest really aren’t. So sometimes you’ll end up with really gold lines, and sometimes you feel like you’ve stumbled upon Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and friends trying to mimic an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? And the only consistently funny character is Korg, the Maori rockman.

The idea of going to an alien world is interesting, but somewhat fumbled as the majority we see is just gladitorial combat and weird, dull pastel architecture that reminds me of melted plastic. Goldblum and supposed main antagonist Cate Blanchett are wasted for most of the film, and Karl Urban’s Skurge doesn’t need to exist? Although Tessa Thompson is alright as Valkarie, it didn’t feel like she had a huge amount to do, which resulted in me simply not caring she (Spoilers) supposedly died at the start of Infinity War, I guess. Along with the rest of the Asgardian surviours and tag alongs from this film. (End Spoilers). By the end of the movie, you’re just waiting for it to be done, and come out of the haze thinking ‘Well, ok, that was a thing, then’. It’s just a lot of decent ideas just didn’t get handled well, I think, hampered by attempts at memorable one-liners that just sort of fail awkwardly. The Dark World was forgettable, so its a shame Ragnarok is not.