While it’s true all of Western Europe is guilty, there’s a reason why people point to Britain first and foremost. Its empire was pretty much the codifier of what people think of when the word “superpower” is used. There wasn’t such an uncontested concentration of power in a single polity that could be projected globally until the UK came out on top from the Napoleonic Wars then went on to subjugate Asia and Africa by the mid-late 19th Century, essentially becoming master of the world market and trade networks (at least until the onset of WWI). Not even the Spanish and Portuguese Empires held such a monopoly. Even after the start of Britain’s terminal decline into becoming America’s lapdog in the cold war, it still influenced world politics in ways that still affect us today (relevantly, it was originally Israel’s patron power before the US supplanted them sometime in the 70s/80s).
Marvel films are the popcorn flicks of the 2010s. None of them are masterpieces, but most are just a fun watch.
But now they’re often not even that. Besides a few outliers (No Way Home, GOTG3), they fail to even be entertaining popcorn flicks. I’d say the line is National Treasure. If it’s better than National Treasure, that’s a solid popcorn flick. If it’s worse, then it’s not worth watching.
It’s certainly no The Mummy (Brendan and Rachel obviously, not Tom’s shitty effort that killed the whole “Dark Universe” franchise two movies in), which is about where I draw the line on popcorn guff.
Guardians had the things I hate about MCU but was entertaining enough to be enjoyable, because they leaned in to how wacky it was I think. Rest of MCU was just done to a crisp even then.
Yeah I’d say they were pretty bad and then got worse. They were agreeable movies for a diverse group at one point, even if they weren’t all Marvel-heads. The Joss Whedon style of quippy self-referencing dialogue and unlikable protagonists is their major weak point, it got old between Firefly getting cancelled and the first Marvel movie but hadn’t been overdone in pop culture yet apparently.
An MCU sex scene:
“That was so hot how you did that thing 3 scenes ago …I guess we’re alone now”
“Yeah… this is the part in a movie where sex happens…”
“I suppose if sex were going to happen, we would start like this…”
Nobody says they were masterpieces. But they were entertaining - and excellent at it as far as cheap entertainment goes -, now they’re just sad to watch. I followed it closely until No Way Home, that was my closing point. From now on, I’ll only watch Spider-Man movies because I’m a huge fan of the character. Couldn’t care less about the multiverse they’re selling
That and No Way Home were going to be the last I was going to watch, and I’m still trying to work up the energy (?) to watch the latter. I will, eventually, I guess, but with the Spiderverse movies being A Thing, it feels pointless.
Oh they do be selling it that’s for sure. I haven’t checked in to Spider Man since Enter the Spiderverse, which I thought was really cool. Marvel I didn’t even like the style of the first movies, but I felt obligated to see them since I was technically part of what is now “nerd culture,” and I think a lot of us felt the same obligation to see them for nerd cred. Now they’ve just commodified it to shit and milking every drop they can out of it.
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