Phase One Ends with Earths Mightiest

Rating: Null/10 (12 November 2018)

Marvel has proven itself. They made people care about Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America. They built up this massive interconnected universe which is all leading to one massive movie. The entire future of this franchise laid in the hands of this movie. Did it payoff? Obviously it did, but why? Why did Joss Whedon's blockbuster become the 3rd highest grossing movie of all time?
Marvel and Whedon had a lot to prove with this movie. They had to prove this massive gamble they took with a connected universe was worth it. And they did.
The cast played a big part in this. Seeing Iron Man meet the Hulk and Thor fight Captain America was awesome. Their personalities all played off each other excellently, with RDJ leading the charisma meter. Hulk was recast for this movie with Mark Ruffalo, a worthy replacement for Norton. He makes the character his own. This is the first movie I really started liking Black Widow. Johansson gives a great performance and her writing is great. Jermey Renner does good for what he's given, which isn't little, but he shines in the next movie. Tom Hiddleston does great as Loki, with his few comedic moments being highlights. Samuel L. Jackson is great as Fury, and Clark Gregg really shines as Coulson. The cast is great, not a single person is miscast.
The writing is good, with quips galore. It sets up the epic battle at the end excellently, and the character interactions make the movie. A few characters feel wasted though. Evans and Hemsworth both do amazing, but they feel underused. Hawkeye is famously shoved to the side, and that's a real shame. The opening twenty minutes are pretty boring, but the movie picks up after that. But I think it's still very well written.
The effects are all great. They finally got the Hulk right. He looks like Banner, just ripped and green. Cap's suit sucks though. Iron Man's suit looks life like. The alien army looks good, everything looks great.
I love this movie. I'll never forget watching this movie for the first time and being utterly astounded. Marvel had crafted a masterpiece in my opinion, and I thought this was it. If only I knew how truly epic this series would get.
9/10