There have been 13 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I must admit that I am not a fan of these films whatsoever. I wouldn't consider myself a film snob who critiques everything about fairly simple films but I have certain issues with the MCU that I'd like to see resolved.
For starters…have you ever said “wow, I never saw that coming?” while watching a Marvel film? For me, it’s a resounding NO. This doesn't make their films bad in any way, or degrade their stories one iota. But this does mean the MCU is trudging through the swamp of lazy cinema. It has proved quite profitable by this point, but this could become a problem in the near future for someone like me. I’m personally asking myself if it’s even worth watching a two hour movie that doesn't make me personalize with a character or only has the ability to keep me interested throughout the film by making me chuckle.
I’m not asking Marvel to reinvent the wheel of comedy or action, I’m just saying PLEASE have a gripping story so I forget that these movies are in fact meant to drive children to buy toys. If you’re invested in a good character driven story, then you forget the bells and whistles that a story and its writers are using at its disposal. Marvel doesn't do this; their movies relay that events are controlling the narrative, not the characters themselves.
If you really think about it, the reason why they have made 13 films is entirely because their stories are 100% controlled by the events, if there’s a cause and effect to a situation, you can drop Iron Man or Hulk in a movie at any time or even any story line. You could exchange core quintessential stories “specific” to that character in the comics, it would fit fairly snug for any character in this Cinematic Universe. Conventional reasoning for screen writing is that you give a story that fits the character, not the other way around. For someone like me who looks behind the smoke and mirrors, it’s an unfortunate but well enough produced cog that’s being made right now. And in doing so, I have been getting bored for several years now.
Good cinema is going in a movie theater and having an experience, not having to think about the inner mechanics of the plot or why a character made a particular action. Bad cinema is watching a movie and literally thinking while the movie is still in fact playing. If you are thinking to yourself, “I know where this is going” or “those graphics are bad” then the movie has failed to grip you emotionally with the characters journey within the first 15 minutes. If the movie ends and you walk out of the theater, talk about your reactions to the overall experience and never talk about it again until you the trailer to the sequel two years later, it is bad cinema. I have done all of this for every single Marvel film I have ever seen.
I doubt Marvel will change its ways since the formula works so well for them. But for someone like myself there is a way to make it back to their fandom…and that means making a true character driven story that honors the character and not honoring the character by using an event from the comics as a cosmetic band aid to the boring character arc (Ex: slapping the words “Civil War” on the title). I’ll just have to wait and see if Marvel can reassure me, although their time is running out.
Ben Doss