Marvel Cinematic Universe, Generic Writing that Sells

Even if you have been living under a rock, you have heard of Marvel and its cinematic universe. I don't know why anyone would live under a rock, but what the hell, live where you want as long you're not hurting anybody.  Before I get sidetracked too much, I'd like to tackle the most popular and successful movie franchise at the moment and talk about how overrated it is.  Now before you start throwing Starbucks coffees at me while simultaneously calling me a hipster douche, give me a few paragraphs to explain myself.

It's a good thing the leader of the Avengers, Captain America is leading this poster...

Let first start off by talking about the things that Marvel does really well in their movies.  The protagonists are all likable and their interactions with others most of the time is really interesting.  In my opinion, this is the most important aspect of a story.  It's so important that nailing this aspect allows you get away with mediocrity in other parts of a story, as evidenced by the success of Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The movies are also always fun.  The characters are having fun, and you get to enjoy the ride with them.  Prime example of it is Guardians of the Galaxy that came out in 2014.  The action scenes are fun and the CGI is on point every single time.  All Marvel movies tend to have likeable protagonists that you want to root for and are fun to see on screen, good action scenes with great CGI followed by the scores that tend to be on point.  Not to mention bringing so many worlds together from different comic books may be something that may never be done this well.

Now lets get to the negatives.  Let me start it off by saying that I do enjoy the Marvel movies.  I will continue to watch every single movie they make.. then completely forget about them the next day because of how incredibly shallow the stories are and how little depth is in every single movie bar Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier.   The movies are not memorable and there isn't a story to think about once you're done.  It's just a really generic storyline with some comic book paint sprinkled in there.  The stories don't have any plot-twists that shock you.  I can call where the story is going, step by step, and I'm not a smart guy so that should not be happening.  The only real plot-twist that I can remember is Ironman 3, and that was a shit show excuse of a surprise.  I was left wondering what just happened, but I imagine Ironman comic book fans must have been pissed off.

Oh look, it's the same poster Marvel uses for all their superhero movies!

The villains are generally terrible.  Ok, there is one or two that are below average.  But the rest are some of the most forgettable, non-threatening villains that I can't remember.  I never feel the heroes might not achieve their goal and defeat the villains.  Not to mention characters don't really die.  This is a huge issue I have in general with comic books and manga altogether, the bullshit fake deaths that happen on a regular basis to build false tension.  But just as a has been magician that uses the same trick, you can only do it so many  times before you fool me.  Also who gives a shit about good character development?  Not Marvel.

It also feels like a generic stat sheet of what to put and what not to put is used for every single Marvel movie.  Apparently every fucking character is a witty sitcom comedian with perfect one-liners and just the right delivery.  The overuse of comedy gets annoying at times, and I'm someone that loves to laugh and loves comedy.  You made me dislike comedy Marvel, what the fuck?!  I feel like we are reaching some sort of climax of the blog post so instead of using something original, I'm falling back to dropping F-bombs everywhere.  It's kind of sad that Disney's Pixar animation studios that make movies for kids that adults can tag along have more meaningful and impactful storylines.  Their movies all stay with me longer than any Marvel movie sans Winter Soldier. 

Please be great...

And no, I'm not letting DC out of this.  I like the DC comics more, but they have bombed spectacularly with the Green Lantern, which was an abomination.  Even Man of Steel had some problems but unlike Marvel movies, it wasn't a fun, forgettable experience like most of their movies.  Snyder just had a few segments in the movie that were written or executed horribly.  I'd give Man of Steel a 7.5, and most Marvel movies fall under the 7-7.5 scale with Ironman 3 hitting 6/10.  Winter Soldier was definitely not perfect, but I still give it a 10/10 with Ironman 1 a 9/10 and Guardians an 8.5 despite having several flaws that all Marvel movies have.  This is the segment where I give numerical score and pretend to be a movie critic.

To close this off, my opinion isn't worth much.  Everyone has different tastes which explains why I'm giving reasons why the Marvel movies are very flawed, yet they print money after each installment.  Either way, I am beginning to get a little burned out of comic book movies, especially when the movies from Marvel seem like a suit gave a paper indicating the generic bullshit that needs to be added for every single movie.  I hope to see more movies like the Winter Soldier that had a compelling villain that was dangerous and a memorable story that connected with our society, albeit with a comic book spin added into it.  Me thinking like this shouldn't hurt your experience on those movies.  It's just opinions, preferences and bullshit at the end of the day, but yeah Marvel Cinematic Experience is essentially a fun, but incredibly shallow and forgettable experience.  Other than the Winter Soldier.  Yes, I do have to repeat it several times.

Art Exposure: The illustration of The Order 1886

The latest speed painting for February was The Order 1886, a video game on the PS4 created by Ready At Dawn.  Considering I made the topic about a game in a console that I owned, it was obvious that I would buy it.  I did so on the day of release.  The graphics in this game are absolutely incredible, the best I have seen so far.  However what impressed me is the style and feel on top of the wonderful graphics.  In terms of presentation and feeling like this is a world that your mind buys when playing, it's one of the best I've seen.

This blog post is just more about admiring the artstyle with the high graphic fidelity of this game:

Brilliant use of film grain.  Usually it looks tacky, but in this game it adds a lot to the feel of the game.

This is ingame.  In the actual game.  CGI graphics :')

The level of detail here is mind-boggling

For illustrators out there, check this game out if you have a PS4.  Last time I remember constantly stopping to look around and just enjoy the scenery was 6 years ago I believe when Uncharted 2 released.  They wanted to emphasize their cinematic experience, which they succeeded.  You really do feel as you are in this world and the style of the game is incredibly appealing.  You might also have fun playing it.

In The Creative World - Use Your Friends

Wait.. wait.. WAIT!!!  Don't run away, it's not what you think.  If you thought this was meant in a malicious way, you are a horrible human being.  If however, you're thinking that the title is a click bait title for the sake of pulling in 1 more viewer than I normally pull then.. yes, that's pretty much it.  This blog post's primary role is for you creative people to do something that seems like common sense, yet a ton of you still don't do it.  Ask other creative people for advice on projects you work for.

My work revolves around illustration, all related design work, web development, and some writing.  I have several friends that I use for all these creative outlets.  In regards to illustration, I use several friends.  Two of them being my good friends I went to school with, another is professional comic book illustrator, and another is my illustration teacher in college that is now my friend.  In regards to design, I use another friend that I went to school with along with the designer that taught me both design and front end development during my 2 month period where you work before graduation as a requirement.  Two of my best friends are programmers, so I can ask them for help on what I need to look for in web development, sometimes via hangouts while I'm at work.  My sister wants to be a professional writer in the future and has the grammar & vocabulary that an idiot like me does not come close to.

My point is use the people around you.  It's very likely some will come and ask for your input as well.  If they don't.. well then, you need to get better because they clearly don't think your input means much.  Before you start crying in a corner how you will never be good enough.. well actually go on ahead and do it.  A good cry as long as noone ever hears or knows about it is good for you.  Now I never cry because I am a man, and men don't cry.. but I have heard that it is good for you...

Recently, I was creating a mobile video game app logo for a company.  Throughout my creative process, I talked to one of my friends which helped me reach the logo to a level I don't think I would have had I not asked for her view on it.  Sometimes no matter how many hours or how long you look at a project, you need a pair of fresh eyes (that sounds creepy...) to take a look at it.  Having another perspective is huge and many times can give you a nice roadmap in telling you if you're going in the right direction.  This is something that sounds so simple, yet a lot of people in the creative world don't do it.

Speed Painting 32: The Order 1886

The Order 1886 seems to be the first really big game coming out on consoles this year.  I love story driven games like Uncharted and The Last of Us, and this game really piqued my interest.  Knights of the Round Table who never age and have been living for centuries to fight Lycans, aka werewolves.

The entire premise for the first game is set in England.  From what I've seen, the story seems incredibly interesting.  The game has the typical 3rd person shooting and what looks to be some exploration/creepy sections in the game, which is what I focused on during the illustration.  I created a scenario where the main character Gallahad is searching in a room and the blood leads the viewers eyes to one of the Lycans.  There's a few little tid bits here and there but I'm not going to tell you.  Where's the fun in that?