Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Director: Guy Ritchie

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris

Have I Seen It Before: Yep.

Did I Like It: I was a little down on Sherlock Holmes (2009) when I re-watched it recently, feeling like it was taking stray elements of the Doyle Canon and packaging it into an assembly-line action movie. All of the ominous portents of the Moriarty (Harris) to follow in that original film come to pass here. That means this becomes a sausage of typical action movie sequels, filled with bits of the Doyle Canon.

And somehow, I found myself enjoying it more than I did the original. Why? There’s something to be said for those genre films that feel unencumbered by setting things up. There’s a breezy adventure to be had here. It also helps that everything that did work about the original has mostly stayed in place here. Rachel McAdams is tragically underused*, but Downey and Law’s chemistry is still firmly in place, and the rustic score and production design set this apart from other on-screen Holmeses and Watsons.

With a rebound like this, it’s kind of a wonder how this film series hasn’t continued with several more entries up until this point. Even in those uncertain years before Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Oppenheimer (2023), a return to Baker Street might have been a smart move for Downey’s career. There are even whispers of a return trip with this version of the detectives (although who knows if Ritchie will be on board) is still in the offing, but I have a hard time imagining such a film existing without it being primarily about Holmes and Watson being over the hell. That feels less fun, and like it has been done before.

Then again, blanching at the idea of “it’s been done before,” would mean that no one would ever play the detectives again.

*She may be the Paul Winfield of female movie stars tragically underused in franchise sequels. I’m looking in your direction, this film, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Director: Guy Ritchie

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, sure. Some of you might have a hard time remembering, but in the late aughts, early twenty-tens, you were actually subject to being charged with a misdemeanor if you missed the theatrical run of a Robert Downey Jr. movie.

Did I Like It: Is the film great, or is it just that hard to screw up an adventure with Holmes and Watson*? Purists may want to blanche at any number of decisions made here. An American playing the detective is the kind of uncertain choice people might harp upon. Other Americans have played the role, to be sure, and while Downey manages to bring his breezy torrent of cool behavior to the role, there’s something in his attempt at an accent that makes one wonder if he ever really shook off the immersion he attempted in Chaplin (1992).

Jamming the stories of Conan Doyle into an almost obsessively paint-by-numbers action movie might draw some complaints as well. It’s fundamentally a buddy-cop movie. We see a big set piece in the early minutes of the film, and sure enough, it is the backdrop for the climax. To remind us all that it is indeed the late 2000s/early-2010s, Mark Strong plays our starter villain, and hints are strewn about that if we all avoided our potential misdemeanors, Holmes and Watson will face off against their rightful villain here in a couple of years.

And yet, it all kind of works. I had a good time then, and I have a good time now. Maybe Downey is really that charming. Maybe—and I really do think this is the answer—it is, indeed, a far loftier challenge to screw up Sherlock Holmes than we might have originally thought.

*Will Ferrell and company managed to get the job done in Holmes & Watson (2018), but the less said about that, the happier we all will be.

US Marshals (1998)

Director: Stuart Baird

Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr., Joe Pantoliano

Have I Seen it Before: I strangely remember seeing this in the theater during its original run. It seemed like such a densely plotted Rube Goldberg machine that me and my buddy immediately decided we should have that kind of ambition and launched into an attempt to write the kind of movie where government agents pursue other government agents, and no one is ever entirely certain where true loyalties lie.

We lasted about half an hour.

Did I Like It: Not a great sign that a bunch of thirteen-year-olds see the movie and think that the kind of storytelling on display is within their own grasp. Gone is the tense believability of The Fugitive (1998) and in its place is an over-written mess. Gone is the eminently smart but still grounded Dr. Richard Kimble as played by Harrison Ford and in its place we have Wesley Snipes playing a Wesley Snipes character who—even if he had his reasons—did the murder in question. Gone even is the implacable modern day Javert of Jones’ Gerard, and in his place is a man on quest for revenge that could have been any other character in any other action movie. There’s a reason Gerard and his ragtag group of agents didn’t continue with a new adventure every couple of years.

I’m proud that I was able to go this whole review without damning director Stuart Baird—he of the ignominious Star Trek Nemesis (2002)—on spec, and generally finding beef with the idea that a skilled editor—which Baird clearly is—can be rewarded for bailing out a troubled film by getting the opportunity to direct a movie nobody could have possibly cared about.

Oops. There I go again.

But I suppose it could have all been worse. This could have been a more direct-sequel to The Fugitive and would have groaned through the better part of ninety minutes to put Harrison Ford back in prison clothes. We got off light.

Bowfinger (1999)

Director: Frank Oz

Cast: Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham, Robert Downey Jr.

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, sure. It feels like one of those movies that everybody had to see in the summer of ’99.

Did I Like It: There’s an easy criticism of this film that compares in unfavorably to Ed Wood (1994). It’s easy because it is, fundamentally, true. The story of Ed Wood and Bobby Bowfinger (Martin) are roughly the same. The down on their luck scurrying creature of Los Angeles stops at nothing to make a movie—any movie—and brings the people in his orbit along with him. Ed Wood is the superior film, but between being a black and white movie about a transvestite (complimentary), there was never any hope that it would play in Poughkeepsie. Reaching to make everyone funny, and filming it in the same colors everybody expects to see in any other movies, means that the film is ready for all time zones.

The film is lucky that it is quite funny, owing to able and steady direction from Oz. The film winds up taking skillful shots at both Anne Heche* and Scientology**, thanks to a wry script from Martin.

But the real secret here is Eddie Murphy. Certainly the most popular comedy movie star of the 80s—even Bill Murray often needed backup, and even Chevy felt compelled to make Oh! Heavenly Dog (1980) and National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985)—Murphy spent most of the 90s quietly becoming less and less funny. Here, he is back in fine form, thanks in no small part to the fact that he is able to let go of his well-earned leading man ego to alternately be the least cool guy in the room and make fun of his own image.

*Don’t believe me? Martin didn’t even try to hide it all that much.

**How is Tom Cruise expected to complain about the cracks, when MindHead is depicted as being almost too into psychiatry. People really should take lessons from him in how to make fun of someone not only to the point that they don’t know that they’re being made fun, but that the mockery actually reinforces their prejudices.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

Director: Ben Stiller

Cast: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise

Have I Seen It Before: Oh, sure. What else was there to do in the summer of 2008 but see whatever Robert Downey Jr. movie was coming down the pike?

Did I Like It: At the core, its a pretty funny comedy that manages to actually channel the scope and energy of the movies—chief among them Apocalypse Now (1979) and Hearts of Darkness (1991) with more than a little bit of Platoon (1986) thrown in—it mocks.

Obviously, there’s going to be some things in the film that don’t age well. The lengths to which Kirk Lazarus (Downey Jr.) tries to get into the head of Lincoln Osiris is not something that would pass the smell test today. Tugg Speedman’s (Stiller) futile attempt to reach for respectability in Simple Jack got a fair amount of guff at the time of release. But both of those elements are more about the foolishness of movie actors blindly reaching for those portrayals without really thinking about the limits of their own believability and good sense.

While whispers still exist that Les Grossman (Cruise) will get his own spin-off film one day (it doesn’t really feel like the kind of film that Cruise could possibly be talked into anymore; then again, it didn’t really feel like that back then, either), I’d submit that his is the character which ages most poorly. He is a riff on Hollywood assholes like Scott Rudin and Harvey Weinstein, but never is he played as a fool. Quite to the contrary, he’s a brash villain one can’t help but wish they were more like. He’s an ugly little man who has commanded every room he’s entered since the 80s. The film loves him in all his reprehensibility, and I admit I even like him.

But I probably shouldn’t.

Chaplin (1992)

Director: Richard Attenborough

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Geraldine Chaplin, Kevin Dunn

Have I Seen It Before: There was a stretch there in the early 2000s where I likely ran my VHS copy into sputtering dust from repeated viewings. But then, I’ll admit, I was sort of a strange kid. While I surely tried to keep the man Chaplin in my head when I was writing both The Devil Lives in Beverly Hills and parts of The Once and Future Orson Welles, but it would be hard to deny that a bit of this movie didn’t leak in there around the edges.

Did I Like It: But that may be the central problem with the film. I still enjoy it, but I do wonder if the whole experience rang hollow for many (and I can see now how it might be that way for some) because Chaplin himself is an unknowable figure, and therefore maybe not the best subject for a biopic. His contemporaries didn’t really know him. Attenborough and the screenwriters never really attained the level of understand for which they may have strived, hence the soft dramatic structure* of the film being a conversation between Chaplin (Downey) and the editor of his autobiography (Anthony Hopkins, never quite looking like he is doing anything other than doing Attenborough a favor). Even Chaplin himself never seemed to really know himself, as the filmmakers can’t help but note that his autobiography** is a prolonged attempt to dodge connection with the reader. Even Downey only seems to understand the man in fits and starts, although even that might be a bit of subterfuge hidden behind the confidence and craft on display.

That’s what we’re left with, unfortunately. A hagiographic survey which tries to re-create decades old comedy, but done well with Downey’s skill so it isn’t an embarrassing display of mimicry. That, and a John Barry score which sounds like it was taken from rejected tracks for a Bond score. 

*And to have a dramatic structure at all does put it above the larger pack of biopics. I’m looking in your direction, Napoleon (2023).

Oppenheimer (2023)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr.

Have I Seen it Before: Nope. Brand new. I’ll occasionally detour in this section of a review and talk about the movie going experience. I could take a moment (again) to extoll the virtues of seeing movies actually projected on film (Oppenheimer is shaping up to be the third film I have seen this year projected on 35mm), or wonder if I will make a second trip to a theater to try to take in the film on IMAX, as I live in one of those unluckily uncivilized parts of human civilization without a 70mm venue (more on that in a bit), but what I really would like to do is give a message to that guy with the two cokes. I won’t get into it too much, but the fact that it took you the better part of twenty minutes to realize you had intended to go see Barbie will be something many of us will never forget.

Did I Like It: Before, people might look at you a little sideways if you made a declaration like Christopher Nolan is the closest thing a generation like ours is going to get to a Stanley Kubrick. The idea that Kubrick would be found within 1000 miles of a Batman movie is equal parts insanely intriguing and just insane, and one usually had to ignore most of Tenet (2020) (which I probably need to give another shot), but that pure devotion to the camera as quite possibly the most important part of the film at hand gives them both the same ambition.

Now we can say—without getting those funny looks, mind you—that Nolan even succeeds in that ambition. All of the tools of a master filmmaker are put to use, and that use is not some genre entertainment. I have no beef with genre entertainment. Without it, I might cease to exist altogether. But the next time someone complains that movies aren’t real movies anymore, I think they are having the unfortunate inherent myopia of someone seeing things as they happen. One might long for the days of the New Hollywood, where Lucas was making THX 1138 (1971) and Coppola could nearly bring a studio to the brink of bankruptcy, but those days had their lauded turkeys and bland entertainments, too*. Oppenheimer will be one of those movies we remember.

It is intense. It is merciless. It runs through its material with no real need to graft a heroic arc onto J. Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy). I listened to the source material, American Prometheus, earlier this year and to my observations there appeared to not be much—if any—dramatic embellishment to bring the story to the screen. It’s a bold move that could have backfired and made the film frightfully boring. And yet, it isn’t. Oppenheimer is easily one of the best films of the year, and may yet take my top spot.

One other note I can’t help but make: I saw a comment—the source of which escapes me, tragically—which said that it is rare to see a film where there are easily close to a dozen career-best performances from bona fide movie stars. That’s true, but it would be hard to honestly engage with a review without dwelling on what Robert Downey Jr. has done here. For years he had been giving the best performances in tiny films, even when he wasn’t necessarily conscious of what he was doing. Then, surprising nearly everyone, he became the world’s biggest movie star. One might point to Dolittle (2020) as a sign that he couldn’t keep making franchises forever, but I imagine if he was committed to the idea of playing Iron Man forever, even in films which had nothing to do with Marvel Comics, he would have had more successes than failures in the long run. Instead, he tries now to surprise us all again and remind us why we all thought he was great in the first place.

*Granted, all of those trifles were shot on film, so even something like The Love Bug (1971), were it released today, would be in serious contention for a Best Cinematography Oscar.

Wonder Boys (2000)

Director: Curtis Hanson

Cast: Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey, Jr., Frances McDormand

Have I Seen It Before: Oh, my, yes…

Did I Like It: I was having a conversation with a friend recently, and she described Free Enterprise (1999) as one of—if not her absolute—favorite film ever. That caused me to shake my head a bit, as even when I first saw that film at the tender age of 17-or-so, I found the film to be a cheap, misanthropic riff of Play it Again, Sam (1972) and Swingers (1996) (and that’s when it was hitting its intended target). Seeing my dubious reaction, she immediately explained that watching the film feels like “being with my people.”

She hardly turned me around on the fictionalized exploits of Mark Altman and Robert Burnett (or Shatner rapping, certainly) but I couldn’t help but think of this movie.

I can’t imagine myself as accomplished and revered (or even as easily traditionally published) as even the most hapless character in the movie, but: Have I sat, mildly disaffected at a party, idly providing character histories for the people apparently enjoying themselves? Yes, yes I have. Have I stifled a laugh while attending a writing lecture? Yes. Yes, I have. Many times. Have I thought that writing conferences were kind of silly, and only wanted to go do some writing or hang out with other people that might actually have some ambition towards the completion or consumption of a book? Yes. Many, many times. Would I feel like I don’t have anything to contribute to an adult conversation other than movie trivia, and would be far more interested in priceless movie memorabilia than anything else at the host’s house? Have you met me?

Maybe these characters are not “my people,” but they are what “my people” are often like at their best. They’re what I want my people to be.

That’s more than enough to recommend the movie, I would think. But is it objectively good. Do I extol the virtues of the film, only to invite the sideways glances I give Free Enterprise? I would think not. The film manages to wrangle Chabon’s sprawling contemplative novel into a night-in-the-life story which tends to deflect the maudlin and embrace the jaunty. Putting aside my sentimental feelings for the movie, Douglas harnesses the same “likable asshole” energy which even ten years earlier would have been right in Jack Nicholson’s wheelhouse. The rest of the cast is great, too, to a performer straddling the line between funny and authentic*.

*Remember when Robert Downey Jr. was in movies which didn’t give a rat’s ass about the four quadrants? I do too, and… I might just be itching to get to my screening of Oppenheimer (2023).

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Director: Oliver Stone

Cast: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones

Have I Seen It Before?: Nope.

Did I like it?: One can’t help but go through a movie like this and wind up with a few questions.

My first question is this, and may betray the reality that I’m missing the point: How did the Coca-Cola Company feel about the use of their polar bears? I can’t imagine they were into it or even sought the product placement out, but then again, I can’t rule it out.

Is it fair to judge satire through the prism of the time that has passed since its creation? Maybe, but it’s as good a point as any to start. America was a violent place in 1994, and we couldn’t stop watching it on TV.

It’s a quarter of a century later. We’re more violent. We’re covering it more. The parasitic relationship didn’t die with Robert Downey Jr.’s character. The only change is that the killers of the 21st century are far less likely to live to their exclusive interview.

If it’s not fair to judge the film through the prism of time, it’s probably not fair to judge it because the problem diagnoses didn’t get fixed. Our politicians are still dishonest if it gives them the slightest advantage, even those we saw Wag the Dog (1997). The trend of humanity to embrace its ignorance continues apace, despite the fact that Idiocracy (2006) is a thing. If anything, I’ve only watched more TV since The Cable Guy (1996), a film which is clearly built on the foundation of Natural Born Killers.

What were the other questions with which I was left? First, was manic Tommy Lee Jones ever really a thing, and I just happened to miss it? Second: Is the forthcoming Venom 2 going to be a sequel to this movie? Only time will tell.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Director: Jon Watts

Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Zendaya

Have I Seen it Before: Absolutely.

Did I Like It: I think it’s pretty perfect.

And, no, that’s not just because Michael Keaton is actually in the movie.

It’s a little bit about that, but there are other things, too.

Let’s talk about basics. This film presents—or more accurately, continues from Captain America Civil War (2016)—the second cinematic reboot of the wall-crawler. As opposed to the tedious The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), this new version of the character justifies his existence by being existing in a world different than what we might normally expect from the character. 

Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is not an old bitty (not that there is anything inherently wrong with being an old bitty). MJ (Zendaya) isn’t really MJ, and in fact there may not be a real MJ. Also, we may never have to see some teen beat cover boy react as a spider bites his hand. We’ve seen it. We don’t need to see it again. For that matter, what we don’t know what the hell Uncle Ben looks like in this iteration, and that’s refreshing, too. I want to say Bradley Whitford, but I just want to keep putting cast members of The West Wing in everything (the only thing that the Garfield series got right, by the way). Comic book purists might have cause to complain, but they really need to lighten up. Variety is the spice of life, or at least the spice of summer tentpole movies.

Beyond that, it works in its own rights, completely divorced from either the large Spider-Man mythos or the large MCU. It’s one of the more engaging teen comedies produced in the last several years. Tom Holland channels the best parts of Matthew Broderick and Michael J. Fox to makes a character that may not always seem like a reel teen, but certainly seems like a character from a real teen movie a la the era of John Hughes prime. The idea that Toomes (Keaton) is both Parker’s arch-nemesis and his girlfriend’s dad is the right layer of conflict for one of these movies. It’s an amazing twist that feels organic and surprising, even after having seen it a couple of times.

I really can’t gush about this film more. Like the original Iron Man (2008), it’s a revelation when I was only expecting a diversion. It’s outstanding that my review of the film has gone this long without mentioning one more performance by Downey Jr. While I’ve been in light mourning for Tony Stark, I’m reminded by this film that there is probably plenty of life in the Marvel movies yet. Even if Gwyneth Paltrow receives far more credit (in this instance only) than she may fully deserve.

On one more strange note: Is it weird that this film is in the running for best Captain America film, and the last Captain America film also has a competitive play for best Spider-Man movie? What a time to be alive and watching movies in the summer.

Captain America Civil War (2016)

Director: Joe and Anthony Russo

Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr.*, Scarlett Johannson, Sebastian Stan

Have I Seen it Before: Even after the somewhat lackluster impact of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and the incredibly frustrating Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) only months before, my appetite for superhero mega mashups had not abated.

Did I Like It: Yes…

But…

It’s worth trying to decide what the movie really is. Is it the trilogy capper of the tale of Steve Rogers (Evans) started in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Or is it Avengers 2.5? 

I may be in the minority, but I still tend to think of it in the prior aspect. And in that respect, it largely succeeds. Cap’s idealism that was thoroughly quashed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) makes a comeback here, stronger but changed. The friendship between Cap and Bucky Barnes (Stan) comes full circle, and by the end Cap feels as if he has fully joined the world around him, even if that world has changed significantly since he first set out to find his place in it.

And yet, it’s hard to ignore the trappings of this kind of story. It’s a big, sprawling international stories. It brings characters from other franchises into the festivities. It introduces new heroes—and iconic ones, at that—into the Marvel universe. It is also a makeshift entry into the Avengers franchise.

Robert Downey Jr. brings his skills to full bear here, and it would have been iffy to not give him as much to do as this film does. Also really expensive. Tom Holland enters as a full-on delight, simultaneously channeling the essence of prime 80s-era Michael J. Fox and instantly erasing the memory of Andrew Garfield. Given the maddeningly little amount of time that we spend with Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), it’s nice to see a little more of their awkward courtship.

So, it actually works as an Avengers film as well. I think I’ve decided that it can be both Cap film and Avengers movie, especially because it works as both. If one really needs a cohesive version of this film, it is most likely the greatest dramatization (certainly in the context of a big-budget fare) of somebody trying to introduce and assimilate their old friends to their new friends. It’s always awkward.

But ultimately, Captain America here solidifies his reputation as the secret weapon of the first three phases of the MCU. Iron Man was the face and the heart, but even he had to contend with the average quality of Iron Man 2 (2010) and the debatable quality of Iron Man 3** (2013). Thor never reached his potential until Thor Ragnarok (2017). Cap had three solid films, and each are in a particularized genre. World War II epic, mid-70s conspiracy thriller, and now 2010s Superhero event. There’s something to be said for that.

*It took me a solid minute to decide who to put in the top billing there. The film credits Evans first, and I opted to go that route, although an argument can be made in the other direction.

**For the record, I am solidly #teamironmanthree

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Director: Joss Whedon

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth

Have I Seen it Before: I’m having a hard time remembering the last time I wasn’t in a theater during the first weekend in May watching some kind of Marvel movie. I’m relatively sure it was 2001. Kids, ask your parents.

Did I like it: This has generally been considered one of the entries in the series that worked the least, and I can’t say I disagreed with that assessment at the time of release.

But here, with the Infinity Saga now complete, I wanted to believe that it had a Back to the Future Part II (1989) vibe, and would feel more satisfying when the setups that this film is filled with are more completely paid off.

And in some cases, it does work better. The vision Stark (Downey Jr.) has of the Chitauri’s return has much more resonance now that we have all seen the Endgame and where Stark would wind up.

In other cases, the movie isn’t working all that great. Thor’s sojourn into the cave doesn’t even really feel like a good set up for the beautiful confection that is Thor Ragnarok (2017), and most of the other characters visions at the hands of Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) don’t quite hit like one might hope. While the aforementioned Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) are interesting and watchable new characters, their introduction into the world will make a fuller exploration of the X-Men in this universe (now that Disney/Marvel has acquired 20th Century Fox and by extension, the entire Xavier brand) when that time comes.

Even the stuff that isn’t necessarily meant to set up other films fails to function completely. Nearly everything involving the Hulk (Ruffalo) and Black Widow (Johansson) never fails to connect. It’s a shame, as both actors have proved to be MVPs in other Marvel films. The less said about the sun down thing, the better. Future films were wise to drop those elements as quickly as they could.

But there are things that work by their own rights. James Spader as Robo-Alan Shore is a delight, and he deserves more credit. Vision (Paul Bettany) is a bizarre creation that gets better and better with every film in which he appears. Stark and Banner’s initial efforts to create Ultron (Spader) bring to mind the more thrilling creativity that Stark exhibited in the first Iron Man (2008). The party scene is low-key delightful. Robert Downey Jr., Robert Downey Jr., and finally Robert Downey Jr.

Ultimately, though, it is still a case of a film not quite successfully reaching for the ambitions it sets out for itself. It’s not an awful thing, but it can 

Iron Man Three (2013)

Director: Shane Black

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pierce

Have I Seen it Before: Robert Downey Jr. in the role that made him a bonafide movie star? I mean, he’s probably going to be playing Tony Stark forever, so I don’t know why I felt compelled to see it on opening weekend, but there I was…

Ahem.

I may still be getting over some issues brought up by Avengers: Endgame (2019). Please, by all means, proceed with reading this review.

Did I Like It: Some people say it is the worst Marvel movie ever. In a world where Fantastic Four movies keep getting worse, I don’t know how that’s possible. Some more reasonable people want to say that this is the worse MCU film ever. They are still way, way wrong.

In my review of The Avengers (2012) I couldn’t help but note that the film—from a purely cinematic standpoint—is sort of pedestrian.

This film doesn’t have that problem. It is absolutely a Shane Black film in every way. That is a delicious thing to behold. It’s funny. It’s action packed. It’s more often than not surprising.

Is it fully an Iron Man movie, though? Some would say no, and hence their complaints. I say it is fully an Iron Man movie, with the knowledge that he spends less time in the suit here than he does in any other film that features him beyond a cameo (I’m looking in your direction The Incredible Hulk (2008)). This allows Downey the actor to play scenes more fully than he might in other films. It’s good. He’s a good actor, and we may have forgotten that while he’s been playing old shellhead.

There was a slight concern that Downey might walk away from the role after this picture was over. His contract had been fulfilled, and he was getting increasingly more expensive for Marvel. As such, there is an attempt at a happy ending for the character.

And then he signed another contract, and the story of Tony Stark continued. It leads to my one complaint about the film: The ending is counterfeit, and the one he does get is far more grim.

The Avengers (2012)

Director: Joss Whedon

Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo

Have I Seen it Before: I was there opening weekend. It kind of feels like we were all required to show up for it.

Did I Like It: I also think we all tended to like it.

We now know The Avengers films are meant to be the biggest of big tenpole movies. The idea of the four-quadrant picture was created in hopes of movies like this. It’s not the place for an iconoclastic filmmaker to play with what it means to be a blockbuster. It’s more like the season finale of an extremely successful TV show. It takes a workmanlike temperament, and if you can get a large cast of main and supporting characters to mesh well together and each have their moments in the sun. 

Enter Joss Whedon.

He’s a good TV writer. It’s in his blood. He has ushered in rightful classics like Buffy, and done such memorable work on short-lived shows like Firefly, that they are somehow still remembered long after their untimely death.

But this film—only his second feature as a director after Serenity (2005)—is a big budgeted TV episode. It’s shot like one, with everything functionally but artlessly lit. Visually, it may very well be the least engaging of all the Marvel films. That can be a tough competition.

And yet the film works because all of Whedon’s skills are brought to bear. Iron Man (Downey, how could anyone else play the role) has shaken off any first sequel jitters and is back in fine form. Thor (Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) do their Thor and Loki thing. Hulk/Bruce Banner (Ruffalo) finally finds the right alchemy for the role and manages to be the most entertaining part of film, a feat Hulk has not measured up to until now. Even Captain America (Evans) manages to find a few wholesome quips that keep him Cap, and not some pale shadow of the funnier characters around him.

That these characters work together at all is a pleasing, giddy surprise, but it ultimately isn’t a memorable film in its own right. That’s okay. That wasn’t Whedon’s job. Thankfully, we could—at the time this film was released—still look forward to a slate of much more interesting, stranger films featuring all of these characters.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Director: Jon Favreau

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell

Have I Seen it Before: Sure.

Did I Like It: Yes… But at the same time, it is in fair competition for the worst MCU movie so far.

Just as the original Iron Man (2008) is a great example of the need for shared cinematic universes to start with a great movie first, and then build from here, its sequel is a pointed example of where Marvel has occasionally mis-stepped, and the Distinguished Competition has wallowed. Too much of the movie is devoted to setting up future films. Indeed, the strangely turgid scenes featuring Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) make them seem like their in a waiting room for their future appointments with Thor and Captain America. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) has the same problem. See Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016) and even the supposed culmination of all their efforts, Justice League (2017), or really any DC film that isn’t Wonder Woman (2017) or, maybe, Aquaman (2018) for other examples.

The film feels less vibrant than its predecessor in other ways as well. I feel a need to not speak ill of any appearance of Robert Downey Jr. as the character, as it turns out those appearances are a non-renewable resource, but he feels less funny, more shackled to a pedestrian script here. It’s the last time it will feel this way, and is only more apparent as he continued to inhabit the role. Gone, too, is the visceral creative quality. The sequence of Stark creating a new element (?) is both tacked on and not nearly as satisfying as Stark’s initial creation of the suits in the first film.

And yet there are watchable elements to the movie. The idea of Sam Rockwell as a pale shadow of the cool watchability of Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark is the film’s most fully realized idea, and Rockwell swings for the fences. It’s unfortunate that Justin Hammer couldn’t appear in other films, but it quickly becomes clear that Tony Stark is moving on to bigger and badder things.

It sounds like from the above that I am down on the film. It’s still insanely watchable. It’s just not their best effort.

Iron Man (2008)

Director: Jon Favreau

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrance Howard

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, so many times. That first time feels like a million years ago. Then there are times when it feels like it was just yesterday. Sorry. I may still be working through some Avengers: Endgame (2019) feelings, as at the time of this writing, I only saw that film for the first time this weekend.

Did I Like It: Of course. The thing that Marvel did—and may have only lucked into—where DC’s larger universe has failed, is that they made a highly watchable first movie. 

Some people might say that Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger (Jeff Bridges) is a lackluster villain, and that the third act looks a lot like many of the other superhero films in the decade or so that preceded it. These are all valid concerns, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe proved from its infant days that a weak villain wouldn’t keep these movies down. This film converted verifiably great film actor Robert Downey Jr. to unassailable film star, Robert Downey Jr. Few people can pull off both. In fact, he might be the only one.

It’s also a fairly engaging story about the creative process. I’ve never created a mechanical suit of armor, but I have written a few books and engaged in other creative endeavors, so the process of suitmaking resonates with me. The Mark I is like a first draft. Lurching, awkward, and only if your lucky will it work in fits and starts. The Mark II is a good revision. All of the obvious problems have been fixed, but you only discover all new problems you hadn’t yet considered. By the time the suit is hotrod red and gold in its Mark III iteration, it has finally started to sing, much like later polishes. And yet, still you want to make refinements to your design. 

I want to be Tony Stark in my own way. Figuring things out. Always funny regardless of what’s going on. And now? Well, go read my Endgame review. But, as I’ll soon try to make the point in another venue, every story has to end, but there’s always charm in going back to the beginning and revisiting old friends.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Director: Joe and Anthony Russo

Cast: Robert Downey Jr. (why you got to do me like that?), Chris Evans (or as he shall forever be known, Creepy Uncle Steve), more Gwyneth Paltrow than I thought we were going to get, and Jake Johnson as Thor.

Have I Seen it Before: Opening weekend. Man I wish I had seen it months ago, but that’s a completely different question.

Did I Like It: As I’m typing this I’m a little emotionally compromised. For any number of reasons. I’m reasonably sure I liked it, but let’s find out together.

Well, we certainly have a new way station for any future games of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” Come to think of it, after the additional name drop in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), I’m a little surprised we didn’t get an appearance by Mr. Footloose himself. Michelle Pfeiffer is in it. Tilda Swinton is in it. Rene Russo is in it. Robert fucking Redford is in the picture, and he said he stopped acting. I’m relatively sure that anyone with an active membership in the Screen Actor’s Guild (with the notable exception of Edward Norton and Terrance Howard) is in this film. It might single-handedly explain the recent dip in unemployment.

One might get the sense that as packed with characters as it is, this (final?) Avengers picture is the final realization of that famous scene improvised for Parks and Recreation by Patton Oswalt, but every minute feels earned, and successfully pays off ten years and twenty-two films previous set up. It’s 

Some of it’s time travel doesn’t quite pass the smell test, primarily when we are considering the ultimate fate of Captain America. Even if one were to sufficiently explain these apparent plot holes, how he managed to get the Soul Stone back to Vormir beggars all belief.

And then there’s the finality of it all. I’ve already dipped into a few minor spoilers above, but if you haven’t seen the film by the time you read this (and something about the early box office figures tell me you have), go see it. We’ll mourn our permanently fallen heroes later. Now, I kinda want to go back to the beginning with Iron Man (2008).

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Cast: Robert Downey, Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine, Chris Pratt, Criss Cross, Your Mom

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, sure. I’m hip to the new movies the kids like.

Did I Like It: What’s not to like? Is that damning praise? I’m not sure.

I remember when X-Men (2000) was coming down the pike sometime in the last millennium. Everyone had a fear that it would be impossible to tell a coherent—to say nothing of interesting—superhero story that would have to serve as many ten characters within one finite runtime.

It seems like such quaint times now, and I’ll leave you wonder if I’m only talking about Marvel movies.

At any rate, the second sequel to The Avengers (2012) reaches to incorporate nearly every corner of the decade-old Marvel Cinematic Universe, breaching the divide between—by my count—nine different franchises, eighteen different films, and thirty-three different characters.

And it mostly succeeds. On second viewing of the film, the does feel a little bit like it is three separate Marvel ensemble movies lightly edited together. Few characters get an arc, and even those that do have a decidedly unfinished quality. Which, admittedly, is by design.

The film sings in the final act when the disparate plots begin to coalesce, but the filmmakers are playing us for fools. The carpet is quickly pulled out from under us, and we are left only with the hope that they can turn things around for the universe in the next movie, the knowledge that there will be a next movie, and the absolute certainty that Marvel and Disney aren’t going to stop making Black Panther movies.

Man, those final minutes are wrenching, even if we have a growing suspicion to its impermanence. Even other, similar downer endings (The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Back to the Future Part II (1989) immediately come to mind) go out of their way to let us know how things will eventually be put right. This one just cuts to black, and won’t even hint at a title for the next adventure.

I don’t know, I just worry Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) won’t survive Untitled Fourth Avengers Movie (2019). Even an army of suits will not be able to protect him from Aunt May (Marisa Tomei)—the filmmakers having confirmed that she survives the cataclysm of Thanos (Josh Brolin).