New project! How’d it come about?
So I was revisiting my MCU rankings, and to have something running on the side while I worked, I decided to put them on in reverse order, to see if the worst ones were as bad as I remembered. That led me to wonder how short these movies would be if I made a Good Parts version of them.
(Back when I was at EA, I would host “Good Parts” versions of action movies that I liked, skipping to the best fight scenes and eschewing the boring plot bits. This worked especially well for movies like Fist of Legend.)
My idea is to edit the MCU movies by cutting out all the bits that I always skip whenever I rewatch them. The stat geek in me will keep track of the scenes to see if there are any patterns in what I like and don’t like. Given my general disdain for MCU villains and CGI-heavy third acts, I’m expecting to cut a lot of those.
The scene classifications I’ll be using:
Hero: The protagonist is in the scene
Villain: The villain is in the scene
Secondary: Secondary characters of note are in the scene
Character Building: It reveals something of the characters in the scene
Action: It’s an action scene
Filler: I don’t feel like it serves any direct purpose in the film. (Not necessarily a bad thing.)
I’m not being a stickler with any of these tags, so there’s plenty of margin for error.
I’ll also use the opportunity to rank the movies from scratch, and see how it matches up with my current rankings.
So here we go. I’m five movies in, and I’m having a blast. I’m do%ing all the documentation, haven’t done any actual film cutting. (I’m wondering if I ever will, it may end up being totally unnecessary.) What have I found out so far?
Iron Man
Current rank: 16 of 33
I’m going in chronological release order. Might as well.
Before rewatch:
Scenes I love: Tony in the lab designing the armor is by far the best part of this film, and really the only thing that I actively rewatch.
Expectations: I’ll pretty much keep any scene where Robert Downey Jr works his magic. Pepper Potts will probably be an auto-include. Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane will probably be a 50/50 proposition. Not expecting to keep the final fight.
Rewatch stats:
Time to process: 55 minutes
Length of cut scenes: 23:36
Length of iffy scenes (Scenes that I’m undecided on, but keeping for now): 23:18
Length of total movie: 2:05:45
% with cut scenes (Percentage of original movie remaining after removing cut scenes): 81%
% with iffy scenes (Percentage after removing cut and iffy scenes): 63%
Hero scenes kept: 81%
Villain scenes kept: 25%
Action scenes kept: 83%
Time of scenes I love: 10:33
After rewatch: I cut a lot of the cave captivity stuff, not surprising. Kept a lot more of the action scenes than I thought I would, and even the final fight was an iffy, not a full cut.
Incredible Hulk
Current rank: 32 of 33
Before rewatch:
Scenes I love: Can’t think of one.
Expectations: I really don’t know what I’ll be keeping from this. I don’t have a single fond memory of this.
Rewatch stats:
Time to process: 1:19
Length of cut scenes: 1:14:47
Length of iffy scenes: 8:20
Length of total movie: 1:52:12
% with cut scenes: 33%
% with iffy scenes 26%
Hero scenes kept: 20%
Villain scenes kept: 29%
Action scenes kept: 40%
Time of scenes I love: 0. There was nothing.
After rewatch:
Yeah, not much made it through, barely over a quarter.
I kept a good number of the Emil Blonsky scenes; Tim Roth is actually really good in this; I always enjoyed watching him. (At least until he becomes the Abomination.)
The early action scenes are relatively better than the final one.
Unlike most MCU movies, I didn’t care for the protagonist at all. Offscreen issues aside, Kevin Feige made the right choice in ditching Edward Norton Jr.
Iron Man 2
Current rank: 15 of 33
Before rewatch:
Scenes I love: Again, Tony in the lab, this time discovering the new element, is my favorite part. I like the Monaco fight and all of Scarlett as Black Widow. Pepper always rocks.
Expectations: I’ll cut most of the stuff w/ Justin Hammer and Whiplash. Hammer is smarmy in a “don’t like to watch” kind of way. Whiplash is just plain boring.
Rewatch stats:
Time to process: 0:34
Length of cut scenes: 35:00
Length of iffy scenes: 5:31
Length of total movie: 2:04:26
% with cut scenes: 72%
% with iffy scenes: 67%
Hero scenes kept: 76%
Villain scenes kept: 44%
Action scenes kept: 50%
Time of scenes I love: 29:43
After rewatch:
Everything went as expected. For a movie squarely in the middle tier, I’ve seen it an awful lot of times. It’s a fun film, and although they’re right next to each other in the rankings, it’s just a smidge higher than IM1. RDJ is really in his element here, and is more fun to watch than in the original movie, even with the unfortunately drunken party scene, which definitely doesn’t make the cut.
I forgot to mention the congressional hearing, which is a favorite of mine from this film.
Thor
Current rank: 29 of 33
Before rewatch:
Scenes I love: Thor shattering the mug in the diner. Natalie Portman looking cute in a few scenes.
Expectations: Very low. I haven’t seen this movie more than two or three times, I think.
Rewatch stats:
Time to process: 1:25
Length of cut scenes: 44:21
Length of iffy scenes: 20:22
Length of total movie: 1:54:39
% with cut scenes: 61%
% with iffy scenes: 44%
Hero scenes kept: 56%
Villain scenes kept: 47%
Action scenes kept: 50%
Time of scenes I love: 3:20
After rewatch: Not as bad as I remember; Tom Hiddleston really was an inspired choice for Loki, I’m so happy Marvel cast him. And it’s really fun to see him here at the beginning of it all, knowing the growth he goes through.
I’ve noticed that the movies I know really well take way less time to catalog. A lot less need to watch the scenes over again.
Captain America
Current rank: 12 of 33
Before rewatch:
Scenes I love: Watching Steve up through his transformation. Anything with Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter.
Expectations: The first half is way better than the second. I’ll be keeping very little of the Red Skull; A one-note villain, through no fault of Hugo Weaving.
Rewatch stats:
Time to process: 30:00
Length of cut scenes: 33:33
Length of iffy scenes: 17:31
Length of total movie: 2:03:23
% with cut scenes: 73%
% with iffy scenes: 59%
Hero scenes kept: 74%
Villain scenes kept: 11%
Action scenes kept: 50%
Time of scenes I love: 10:29
After rewatch: No surprises. This movie gets better every time I rewatch it.
New rankings:
Captain America
Iron Man 2
Iron Man
Thor
Hulk
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