Avengers Assemble!

[BewareofNick]

Well, I went to the midnight showing of the Avengers last night. It definitely lived up to the hype.

 

Captain America

 

Iron Man

 

Thor

 

Black Widow

 

Hawkeye

 

Hulk

 

Nick Fury

 

Agent Coulson

 

enough spoiler space????

 

This is definitely one of the top three comic book movies of all time. I'd place it at #2, with #1 being The Dark Knight and #3 being 1978's Superman. Chris Evans has definitely moved past Johnny Storm and really displays the gravitas Cap requires. Not to mention he is fucking built. Robert Downey Jr continues his top notch performance as Tony Stark. When faced with the opportunity to make the ultiamte sacrifice, he doesn't hesiatate. Chris Hemsworth shows off his muscly arms and the torment he feels over his brother Loki. Tom Hiddleston plays Loki with the same delicious mischief he did in Thor. Loki also learns what it means to be a puny god Mark Ruffalo portrays a much different Bruce Banner than Ed Norton, but more importantly, they get the Hulk absolutely right in this movie. Hulk even listens to Cap, and Cap keeps the Hulk's assignment simple: Hulk...SMASH!

 

So, with all this power, you might wonder how the Black Widow and Hawkeye hold their own. Scarlett Johannsen gets some of the best fight scenes and really shows why the Widow is the best in the spy business. Jeremy Renner shows how cool Hawkeye can really be. Samuel L Jackson brings even more complexity to Nick Fury and we get the scene we were all waiting for...Agent Coulson vs Loki.

 

Being a Marvel movie, we get the obligatory fighting between hereos. Thor and Iron Man go it for quite a while until Captain America makes them stand down. Black Widow gets to take on both Hawkeye and the Hulk...and she wins

 

There are two after credit scenes. One sets up Avengers 2..and the last one has to be seen to be believed.

 

5 out of 5 stars.

[jawjateck]

Already saw it as well. When Chris Evans was working out in the gym punching the bag, damn damn damn! One of the most perfect V-shape torsos packed in a t-shirt I've ever seen. Yummie-licious. Was a dang good flick too.....

[BewareofNick]

Already saw it as well. When Chris Evans was working out in the gym punching the bag, damn damn damn! One of the most perfect V-shape torsos packed in a t-shirt I've ever seen. Yummie-licious. Was a dang good flick too.....

 

Where did you see it? I went to Atlantic Station

[josephga]

Haven't seen it but it set a record for opening usa $200,300,000 overseas $441,500,000

[jawjateck]

Where did you see it? I went to Atlantic Station

 

Went to Atlantic Station Regal too, except I didn't do the midnight premiere. I caught the Friday matinee on my off day.

[maxwellissmart]

Haven't seen it but it set a record for opening usa $200,300,000 overseas $441,500,000

 

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. They were able to focus on character development more so than I thought they would.

[Rod Hagen]

It makes me kinda sad because Joss Whedon now has zero motivation to ever put out something experimental, non-hollywood, non-overblown, again.

[maxwellissmart]

It makes me kinda sad because Joss Whedon now has zero motivation to ever put out something experimental, non-hollywood, non-overblown, again.

 

I disagree on a number of points—and I didn't even like the film that much. Everything that's produced for the screen is to make money at the end of the day. That's Hollywood and that's the reality of the situation. I thought JW actually did a great job of finding a way to make me care about all of the major characters and to structure the movie to play to their strengths and give them an interesting voice. The plot of the movie was its major flaw, with the villain being a close second. Loki wasn't the villain as much as the cosmic cube, and the CGI monsters that came forth were just dull.

[Rod Hagen]

I disagree on a number of points—and I didn't even like the film that much. Everything that's produced for the screen is to make money at the end of the day. That's Hollywood and that's the reality of the situation. I thought JW actually did a great job of finding a way to make me care about all of the major characters and to structure the movie to play to their strengths and give them an interesting voice. The plot of the movie was its major flaw, with the villain being a close second. Loki wasn't the villain as much as the cosmic cube, and the CGI monsters that came forth were just dull.

 

I don't think his aim with say, "Serenity", was to make a lot of money. I realize you didn't say "a lot" but my point is that in the past J.W. clearly made television and film more for fans than the public (the title alone guaranteed low numbers for "Buffy"), and as the ultimate middle-aged fanboy he was simultaneously the perfect, and least likely, choice for this film.

 

There are few elements of Whedon brilliance in The Avengers--for instance Hulk swinging Loki like a rag doll just as Loki was about to make a big Villain speech--but yes he did a much better job of rounding the characters than the vast majority of recent Hero movies. Nevertheless, it's still much more JJ Abrahams or, gulp, Michael Bay-style Chaotic Cinema than Buffy/Angel/Firefly/Serenity (I never saw Dollhouse).

 

Anthony Lane blamed that chaotic element on Marvel's tendency to overreach, but he must not know that Whedon created a fantastic animated comic version of (I think "Amazing"?) X-Men that barely reached, and totally rocked. Angel and Buffy only truly overreached in their last seasons, I presume due to studio pressure. No, the movie's fatal flaw is that Whedon made a movie for everyone, and he's never done that before, not wholly. I hope he's not lost to us. I hope this isn't another Tim Burton thing where a glorious potential falls to commercial shit. I hope Whedon can rise above his success. But, that's not usually how Hollywood works. And this, more than anything he's ever done, is a Hollywood movie and, most importantly and to say the least, a Hollywood Success. So, Bye Bye Whedon, we hardly knew you.

[BewareofNick]

The Avengers has passed the $1 Billion mark worldwide.

 

Robert Downey's payday will be in excess of $50 Million.

 

I have to disagree with regards to Loki. He was the villain. The Cosmic Cube was a means to an end. The problem with Loki has always been that he never considers the potential consequences of what he does. Loki loves to cause mischief and he has a blind hatred for Thor. This short sightedness will always be his downfall.

 

Whedon finally got the Hulk right. As Bruce Banner notes in the movie, "I'm always angry." Hulk interrupting Loki's speech by throwing around like a ragdoll was awesome and prompted Hulk's only two words in the movie: Puny God.