The Road to the Avengers: The Incredible Hulk (2008)

I feel I must start with full disclosure, I liked the  Eric Bana Hulk movie. I thought they took the story and humanized the Hulk as well as giving him an interesting villain to battle which had nothing to do with the comic books. Normally, that's the kind of thing that would piss me off, but I've never been a fan of the Hulk comics so I didn't mind if they strayed away from them. I was also a fan of the 80s Hulk television show and watched it and the live action Spiderman movies every chance I got. It's okay that they were cheesy because I was just a dumb kid and didn't know any better. When I learned that they were making this movie, I learned at the same time that Ed Norton was replacing Eric Bana and that they were going to reboot the story. I was skeptical about why they would need to reboot a movie that I thought was pretty good. I don't know how the first one did at the box office, but I thought pretty well since they were immediately talking about a sequel. At first I thought it might be a money issue, but I can't imagine that Norton made less than Bana for their respective Hulk films. Throw in the other big names that started getting attached to the sequel and I knew something was up, just not what. Then the rumors started that based on the success of the X-Men, Spiderman and Iron Man movies that they were looking to put out an Avengers movie. I could see at once the wisdom of leading off with Iron Man, but the Hulk, no matter who was starring in it would not have been my choice to promote the Avenger's Line. I would have gone with Captain America and then a movie about Dr. Henry Pym in anyone of his heroic guises along with his wife in one of her guises, or was there only one as the Wasp?
This all sounds like I am leading up to saying that I hated this movie, but I didn't. On the contrary, I thought it was quite good. William Hurt was great as General "Thunderbolt" Ross. He was the blustery kind of General that expected to everyone do everything his way whether under his command or not. Liv Tyler's Betty Ross was the weak point but I thought she did an adequate job. Actually, I can' think of anyone who could have done better with the lines she was given and the way that she was portrayed in her professional capacity, where she was made to look like a sidekcik at best. Had their been more in the role, they would have needed a better actor. I don't know anything about the comic book version of the Abomination other than what he looks like and that he's a gamma-irradiated freak. I thought Tim Roth's portrayal of Emil Brodsky was appealing.
What I really paid attention to this time around, it being my second full time through the film, were the small details. There are several references to S.H.I.E.L.D. before the little Tony Stark cameo at the end. It will be interesting to see how the other 3 movies that precede the Avengers show the presence of S.H.I.E.L.D. The first Iron Man movie is literally crawling with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. I'm guessing upon rewatch of Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America I'll quite a few as well.

The Incredible Hulk on IMDb

A question for Mr. Dylan

Dear Mr. Dylan,

How, exactly, does one win the war after losing every battle?

Sincerely,

Me

G.I. Joe: Retalliation (2013)

I admit that I had been looking forward to this movie. You could almost say that the first G.I. Joe movie (and the Transformers movies) was a guilty pleasure, except I don't feel that guilty about it. They did not remake the cartoons I watched as a kid, nor the comic books I read. But let's be completely honest here, those cartoons and comic books served the sole purpose of selling more toys. Marvel worked a little bit on trying to make the Autobots and Decepticons fit into their universe, mostly with a mini series that featured them and G.I. Joe and Cobra with a small part, little more than a cameo really, by Spiderman. The G.I. Joe comic at least had some mini series spin-offs and developed some story lines far away from what the cartoon did, however they were obligated to throw in at least some of the new characters and contraptions whenever Hasbro released another batch. They mostly provided simple stories for us kids to act with our toys if we had right ones. Present company included. I've got to say that I personally, when left to myself, i.e. not playing with my dollies with my friends, saw G.I. Joe teaming up with the Rebel Alliance to fight the evil Empire which had joined forces with Cobra because those generic Cobra soldiers looked a lot like the Bespin guards who we all know are Stormtrooper wanna-bes. Then legos would get involved to make fortifications quickly followed by the Transformers and some other robot toys, as mechs to help their sides do battle. But, eventually they all joined forces to battle He-Man and his posse. He-Man even though vastly outnumbered would lead his giant troops to victory, only to appear to be thwarted by the Warlord (from DC comics) who lead forces including Hercules who were the same size as the He-Man figures, but they would join forces at the crucial moment and the Star Wars/Transformers/G.I. Joe army would be defeated with the rare exception when the Justic League of America would show up to fight the giants. But mostly I built defenses and little vehicles to prepare for the epic climax.
The first movie was a sci-fi action film with some surprisingly strong characters. This time around the sci-fi is pretty much dropped. Oh, it's there, but is secondary at best. What has replaced the sci-fi part is a ninja part, or more correctly, G.I. Joe seems to be part of a ninja movie.The character building has been completely replaced by more ninja action
With that being said, it's not a very good sequel, but it is a decent movie. Aside from a very small number of characters, it's new folks all the way around. Don't they know that the new toys were always fun because you integrated them with the old toys, not replace the old toys?  I guess not.
I had heard before the first one came out that there was a planned trilogy. I wonder if those plans still exist or if two and three got pushed together. They totally leave the end open for more, but the story arc seems to be pretty well wrapped up. I guess I'll have to just wait and see.

G.I. Joe: Retalliation on IMDb

The Road to the Avengers: Iron Man (2008)

Can you imagine how this film would have gone had they cast it differently? Perhaps you could have gotten some to do the Obidiah Stain character proud that wasn't Jeff Bridges like maybe Ron Perlman. But who could you get to play Pepper Potts? Maybe Charlize Theron. But what about Tony Stark? I can't think of anyone except Downey. Not Brad Pitt, because he's nto charismatic enough, though certainly a fine actor and handsome man. Marvel had already been burned by Ben Affleck in Diredevil (which isn't that bad of a movie). Matt Damon and Viggo Mortenson are great actors but like Brad Pitt are missing that little something. There is Jason Lee who has that kind of personal charisma to pull it off, but not the acting chops. Maybe, just maybe, you could have cast Aaron Eckhart as Tony Stark and pulled it off. He had some of that going on in the Dark Knight. There is one character that you know the actor can be replaced on, and that's the Colonel Rhodes character which saw Don Cheadle replace Terence Howard. So, the alternative cast is Aaron Eckhart as Tony Stark, Charlize Theron as Pepper Potts, Ron Perlman as Obidiah Stain and Don Cheadle as Colonel Rhodes. It might have been good. In an alternate universe that film was made, and if I ever perfect my Transdimensional Inducer Mechanism, aka T.I.M. I swear that I will report back with a full rundown.
In all of the super hero movies over the last few years that are based on comic books, almost none of the characters are as cool or as likeable in the films as in in the print media. Some are as good, like Ron Perlman as Hellboy or Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and pretty much everyone in Watchmen. Out of all of them, there is only character that I like better in the movies, which is to say that I like him in the movies, but don't care for him so much in the comics, and that is Tony Stark. I would say that is about 75% due to Roberty Downey Jr. and about 25% to the writing.
When you think about it, Iron Man is almost Marvel's answer to Batman. I think the main difference is scope. Batman doesn't wear armor but he largely battles street thugs and super villains that are more about brains and schemes then about brute force. Iron Man on the other hand is all about taking on the big causes. In fact, the bigger the better. The other difference is how they approach the issue of being a super hero without any super powers, though both are arguably geniuses. Bruce Wayne turns himself into a weapon and makes do with retasking technology around him to work as the cool toys the Batman uses. Tony Stark on the other hand is always striving for the upper hand through superior tech and devotes his considerable intellect to solving the problem with technology much of which he invents as opposed to making himself a weapon. I think this is Marvel's answer to the problem posed by Detective Comics with their Batman. How can one man with nearly limitless resources but no super powers compete against super powered individuals and make a real difference in the battle against evil? Well, you build a super suit and you fight the good fight. DC, who mind you rolled Batman out some 25 years before Marvel debuted Iron Man, came to the conclusion that you make the man as hard as any man can possibly be. You make him physically hard, mentally hard and emotionally hard.
I'm on an Avengers Film Extravaganza now (though I still need to watch one more flick for the FFE) and I'm going to watch them in order which means that next up is the Hulk with Edward Norton followed by Iron Man II, Thor, Captain America and then the Avengers. I've only seen the Avengers one time so far, but I think not counting any change that may come about from a second watching, I think this is my favorite of the series. Though if the Avengers had included Natalie Portman instead of just showing a picture of her I might be telling a different story.

Iron Man on IMDb

The 4400 Season 4 Disk 4:

Episode 13: The Great Leap Forward
It's over. The 4400 is 86ed, so to speak. Sorry, that's the best I've got.
This was definitely a series finale episode. Sure, life goes on for most of our characters at the end, but all the lingering questions are answered. I was afraid that they were going to leave a lot of openings, perhaps even create a couple, just in case, you know, there was a grassroots ground swell that got the show brought back. But they did the honorable thing and put her to bed.
In the very first episode we're introduced to Tom who has been recruited into NTAC from the FBI and Diana who has been recruited into NTAC from the CDC and for about the first half of the season they would reference her training as an epidemiologist. It got brought up again in season two when they needed a reason for Diana to be helping Kevin with his research. Throughout the course of the show, however, she acted more like an FBI agent than Tom ever did. I only bring this up because I would like to mention that it would have been nice if they had actually utilized her medical background, and because the way they arrive at the "Great Leap Forward" in the finale is through a power induced promicon virus. Suddenly there were quarantine and airdrops and Diana coordinating with FEMA and the Red Cross. It was nice to see it come full circle.
I've mentioned several times about episodes that remind me of episodes of Alphas, which while coming later than the 4400, I saw first. There have been a lot of similarities and even whole plots lifted by Alphas and I had complained away from the blog about one show ripping off another one. Then, after watching the finale, I watched some of the special features on the dvd, and lo and behold the two main producers for the 4400 are the two main producers for Alphas, also known as the shows creator and shot-caller. Too bad that they made the same show twice. There are so many interesting possibilities that one could do with the super hero genre, it's kind of sad that they limited themselves to this one vision. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed both shows. When the third season of Alphas starts up, and I guess I need to make sure that has not happened already, I will watch it. I do feel like I understand it's characters quite a bit better now, and while the motivation behind certain characters has remained shrouded, I think I know what they're up to.
So, here's the deal with the 4400. Watch the first season. If you like, it, the rest of the series will prove to be worth it. If you can force yourself to get through the first season and are unsure, or maybe just hate Laura Allen, I mean her character. No, I think I actually mean her. If you can hold on just a little longer, the show will change for the better and you will be rewarded. If you can't make it through that first season, it's okay. I understand. Try giving Alphas a shot, it's actually quite good from the very beginning. And yeah, Summer Glau is in both, so you'll be okay on that front.

The 4400 at IMDb