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After a really terrible doctor's appointment (the only good part was that because it went so poorly, I never have to deal with that disdainful receptionist again), I drowned my sorrows and tireds in Captain American 2. Assume everything below is spoilery. Also included are some spoilers for Thor 2.
I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON THEIR WONDERFUL FACES.
But first let's talk team building because the Avengers? Are a team. They're all broken up into their individual movies right now, but fandoms have been loving them for that since the first issue of the comics came out. Fandom has been writing the MCU cast as a team ever since we started to realise that the Marvel Cinematic Universe WAS a universe and that a team was being assembled; by the time The Avengers came out in 2012, we were already sticking everyone into the Avengers Mansion (we tweated that, later) and drowning ourselves in teamy goodness.
It's wonderful to watch the MCU slowly push its players in that direction for real.
Don't get me wrong, I love everything fandom has done. I love that we take for granted that they're a teamy team that eats, sleeps, laughs, fights, and even sometimes (rarely Nat or Tony, frequently Thor) cries together. It's so, so rewarding to watch the official universe pull that story together. Tony was always enough of a lose canon that SHIELD was never going to be homebase and I do not need to explain how much I enjoyed watching him seduce Bruce with science and faith and trust (interpret the "seduce" however you want, I like them all). I loved watching Thor make his stand for residence on Midgard at the end of Thor 2. That was the moment I went "Oh, yep. That's how we're building a team that's a team outside of a crisis."
And now Cap 2. The actual dismantling of the thread that's held all of these heroes' stories together. Even before we knew SHIELD was going to be exposed, laid completely bare, we saw Cap's restlessness and I think we were all thinking pssst, go join the rest of the Avengers. I'm so excited to see how Age of Ultron really brings them all together as a team in their own right, because that's got to be where we're headed.
Other miscellaneous:
-Yeaaaaaah, I basically had zero faith that Fury was actually dead. I'm not sure it was really meant to fool anyone? Because that's not even a new trick for Fury.
-WHEN DOES THE TEAM REALIZE THAT COULSON IS ALIVE? Because that's in the records that I'm sure JARVIS has poured over and parsed by now.
-I feel for Hawekeye, who's not even present to get to react to events (Nat is very in the Supporting Actor category, but she played such a voluntary and integral role in the plan that I'm good with her SHIELD-related angst).
-I don't like the way Natasha was written in this movie! She was very much One of the Guys and while I respect that those women can and do exist, I have pretty much zero interest in fictional women who act exactly and only like manly, macho men. Relatedly, I think poor Natasha's going to have fractured, inconsistent writing that we'll be able to break down, roughly, into two camps: Joss-led movies vs everything else.
-I probably need to sit down and look at why when Tony treats the press and government the way Natasha did, I'm repelled but also charmed, but I'm mostly just repelled with Nat.
-The elevator gang bang!
-When Steve jumped off the helicarrier with no real warning and just TRUSTED Sam to catch him and how that all feeds back into how Sam goes along Steve, because he has faith too, and oh my god, they operate like I do? Trust people from your gut and assume the best where you can. The try and do what's right and they're SO into personal loyalties. Oh my god, these two and their stupid, ridiculous trust-in-each-other faces. I want all of the fic, of every flavour, and I want it yesterday.
-I loved the Hydra subplot. I love that it grew and flourished in the shadows and hearts and minds of SHIELD, subverting all of good it did and could have done. It's an interesting story that the movie handled a lot clumsily, but I dig the concept enough to forgive the ham-handed execution. I even came around to the Winter Soldier being theirs. I was really gutted at first that Bucky wasn't KGB, voiding his backstory ties to Natasha (I'd assumed she was included in this movie because of them) but I came around and I'm not sorry, mostly. But I'm furiously annoyed about everything Sitwell, because what a waste of a character who wasn't even built-up into enough of a person for me to care about his treachery.
-Speaking of which, I really liked the rebooted vision for Hydra. So much better than continuing the same old not-actually-Nazis storyline.
-I'M STILL SAD I DIDN'T GET TO WATCH THIS WEEK'S AGENTS OF SHIELD BEFORE I SAW THE MOVIE. I'm making up for it now, but I think the before-after experience would have been awesome. (Speaking of AoS, wow, where in the world are they going to take the team now? Why did they call it what they did, knowing they were going to expose and burn the entire organization?) (ETA Watched the episode. I... do not really see why the tie-in is a big deal yet.)
-I did not expect them to skirt around Sharon "Agent 13" Carter's full identity.
-I loved everything about the Captain American exhibit, from the wide-eyed kid with good observational skills to Bucky's own visit. (Totally down with their not trying to wrap up All Things Bucky all in gone go. Plot for Cap 3, at a guess? Also there are rumours of a nine picture deal for Stan (!!!) which hopefully means what I want it to mean.)
-Steve back in the classic outfit to confront Bucky! I totally had a moment of squee when they did the big pose and dramatic camera angle. It works as symbolism and a reminder for Bucky, but I think I would have actually liked the message of the modern costume more. That scene was about their shared past, yes, but it was also about who they are now. This whole movie was about change, not about stasis.
-Without the eyepatch and trench and in sunglasses and lighting things on fire, Fury just looks like Samuel L. Sorry dude, your reputation precedes you. (I was also A+++ delighted by Fury's backdoor retinal scan protocol, because Y E P, that's exactly the kind of thing people are going to forget to account for.)
-Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam. More Sam, all the Sam, Sam Sam Sam. Also, can he and Rhodey fly the heck out of things and trash talk each other while they do it? Because yes. Yes. (Carol is of course MORE THAN WELCOME to the party and runs rings around them, because they need MACHINES to fly, lol.)
This entry was also posted at http://cantarina.dreamwidth.org/192014.html. (comments:
)
I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON THEIR WONDERFUL FACES.
But first let's talk team building because the Avengers? Are a team. They're all broken up into their individual movies right now, but fandoms have been loving them for that since the first issue of the comics came out. Fandom has been writing the MCU cast as a team ever since we started to realise that the Marvel Cinematic Universe WAS a universe and that a team was being assembled; by the time The Avengers came out in 2012, we were already sticking everyone into the Avengers Mansion (we tweated that, later) and drowning ourselves in teamy goodness.
It's wonderful to watch the MCU slowly push its players in that direction for real.
Don't get me wrong, I love everything fandom has done. I love that we take for granted that they're a teamy team that eats, sleeps, laughs, fights, and even sometimes (rarely Nat or Tony, frequently Thor) cries together. It's so, so rewarding to watch the official universe pull that story together. Tony was always enough of a lose canon that SHIELD was never going to be homebase and I do not need to explain how much I enjoyed watching him seduce Bruce with science and faith and trust (interpret the "seduce" however you want, I like them all). I loved watching Thor make his stand for residence on Midgard at the end of Thor 2. That was the moment I went "Oh, yep. That's how we're building a team that's a team outside of a crisis."
And now Cap 2. The actual dismantling of the thread that's held all of these heroes' stories together. Even before we knew SHIELD was going to be exposed, laid completely bare, we saw Cap's restlessness and I think we were all thinking pssst, go join the rest of the Avengers. I'm so excited to see how Age of Ultron really brings them all together as a team in their own right, because that's got to be where we're headed.
Other miscellaneous:
-Yeaaaaaah, I basically had zero faith that Fury was actually dead. I'm not sure it was really meant to fool anyone? Because that's not even a new trick for Fury.
-WHEN DOES THE TEAM REALIZE THAT COULSON IS ALIVE? Because that's in the records that I'm sure JARVIS has poured over and parsed by now.
-I feel for Hawekeye, who's not even present to get to react to events (Nat is very in the Supporting Actor category, but she played such a voluntary and integral role in the plan that I'm good with her SHIELD-related angst).
-I don't like the way Natasha was written in this movie! She was very much One of the Guys and while I respect that those women can and do exist, I have pretty much zero interest in fictional women who act exactly and only like manly, macho men. Relatedly, I think poor Natasha's going to have fractured, inconsistent writing that we'll be able to break down, roughly, into two camps: Joss-led movies vs everything else.
-I probably need to sit down and look at why when Tony treats the press and government the way Natasha did, I'm repelled but also charmed, but I'm mostly just repelled with Nat.
-The elevator gang bang!
-When Steve jumped off the helicarrier with no real warning and just TRUSTED Sam to catch him and how that all feeds back into how Sam goes along Steve, because he has faith too, and oh my god, they operate like I do? Trust people from your gut and assume the best where you can. The try and do what's right and they're SO into personal loyalties. Oh my god, these two and their stupid, ridiculous trust-in-each-other faces. I want all of the fic, of every flavour, and I want it yesterday.
-I loved the Hydra subplot. I love that it grew and flourished in the shadows and hearts and minds of SHIELD, subverting all of good it did and could have done. It's an interesting story that the movie handled a lot clumsily, but I dig the concept enough to forgive the ham-handed execution. I even came around to the Winter Soldier being theirs. I was really gutted at first that Bucky wasn't KGB, voiding his backstory ties to Natasha (I'd assumed she was included in this movie because of them) but I came around and I'm not sorry, mostly. But I'm furiously annoyed about everything Sitwell, because what a waste of a character who wasn't even built-up into enough of a person for me to care about his treachery.
-Speaking of which, I really liked the rebooted vision for Hydra. So much better than continuing the same old not-actually-Nazis storyline.
-I'M STILL SAD I DIDN'T GET TO WATCH THIS WEEK'S AGENTS OF SHIELD BEFORE I SAW THE MOVIE. I'm making up for it now, but I think the before-after experience would have been awesome. (Speaking of AoS, wow, where in the world are they going to take the team now? Why did they call it what they did, knowing they were going to expose and burn the entire organization?) (ETA Watched the episode. I... do not really see why the tie-in is a big deal yet.)
-I did not expect them to skirt around Sharon "Agent 13" Carter's full identity.
-I loved everything about the Captain American exhibit, from the wide-eyed kid with good observational skills to Bucky's own visit. (Totally down with their not trying to wrap up All Things Bucky all in gone go. Plot for Cap 3, at a guess? Also there are rumours of a nine picture deal for Stan (!!!) which hopefully means what I want it to mean.)
-Steve back in the classic outfit to confront Bucky! I totally had a moment of squee when they did the big pose and dramatic camera angle. It works as symbolism and a reminder for Bucky, but I think I would have actually liked the message of the modern costume more. That scene was about their shared past, yes, but it was also about who they are now. This whole movie was about change, not about stasis.
-Without the eyepatch and trench and in sunglasses and lighting things on fire, Fury just looks like Samuel L. Sorry dude, your reputation precedes you. (I was also A+++ delighted by Fury's backdoor retinal scan protocol, because Y E P, that's exactly the kind of thing people are going to forget to account for.)
-Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam. More Sam, all the Sam, Sam Sam Sam. Also, can he and Rhodey fly the heck out of things and trash talk each other while they do it? Because yes. Yes. (Carol is of course MORE THAN WELCOME to the party and runs rings around them, because they need MACHINES to fly, lol.)
This entry was also posted at http://cantarina.dreamwidth.org/192014.html. (comments:
)