The Avengers - Reviews, Spoilers, and discussion

The Avengers - reviews and discussions

So I was able to see the Digital 3D version of the Avengers yesterday, after convincing my brother to avoid studying for finals to see it, as my wife refused.  She likes Buffy and Angel, etc., but even Joss's presence didn't help, she watched the trailer and thought it looked stupid.  I watched the trailer and got chills.  

My reviews are always comparing my movie experience to the greatest two movies I've ever seen in the theaters, from a visceral reaction - The Matrix and Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring, with the Matrix the winner by far.  So anything approaching the feelings those two movies made in me in the theater has got to be good.

I hate spoilers, so fair warning, this has tons.  If you don't want to know, go watch it.  Everyone should go watch it.  

The movie started really abruptly, I was confused at first whether we were still watching a trailer.  The intro scene felt pretty flat, and a chase scene with a Norse god being driven away in a pickup truck was a little lacking.  In fact, Loki gets carried around by all sorts of things for most of the movie, which really makes his character a little wimpy-looking.  A Norse God needs to get around in vehicles?  Can't he freaking teleport?  He was a lot more powerful and scary in Thor, the actual movie.  I liked the actor, though, and his character is pretty intense.

Something I noticed is that the movie feels like a serial, almost like a few television shows put together.  There are multiple climaxes, battle scenes, then down time, then more battles.  I heard that criticism of the Matrix as well - apparently that's not the way classic movies are supposed to work, but I actually like it.  It feels more like a comic book, not just a huge explosion of activity, and it gives time to talk to the characters.  I didn't know who Black Widow was, and I didn't really have much opinion of her, even after the movie, but her scenes were well done.  In fact, the dialog was funny enough that the entire movie theater broke out laughing at least 3 or 4 times, which I rarely ever hear. It was a neat feeling.

Iron Man was a snot most of the time - as much as I like how he's portrayed, I don't really like him all that much.  He's arrogant and a jerk.  I felt for Cap, poor guy, doesn't even have proper super powers and he's in there trying to mix it up with Thor and Iron Man.  I didn't watch his solo movie yet, but I've got it reserved on Redbox for tonight, because I liked his character.  I didn't like his hood, though; they did as good a job as they could, but it just looks silly.  

The character that I was surprised to like so much was Bruce Banner / the Hulk, in both his tired, depressed form and in his enraged Hulk form.  It's really powerful when he tells his team that he tried to shoot himself and 'that other guy' spit the bullet back out.  I'm not clear on why the Hulk attacked the Black Widow and smashed his way out of the boat, but then somehow followed Cap's orders later in the film.  It was confusing, but probably didn't matter why, which was why they never bothered explaining it.

So, my favorite part in the whole film, the part where I got literally choked up/chills, and the entire audience burst out literally CHEERING?  When little Banner has driven into the middle of the mess on his old motorcycle.  He turns around and an flying alien the size of an oil tanker with the head of a snake is bearing down on them, chasing after Iron Man.  Someone tells him that he should 'get angry' and he quietly says something like 'I'm ALWAYS angry', turns, freaking explodes into the Hulk and punches the face of the huge alien into the concrete, causing it to flip end over end.  People were literally cheering and clapping, it was so intense.

Second best moment?  Cap's doing a quick strategy session as the Skrulls/Chitauri are pouring out of the sky, and after giving everyone battle orders, he says "Hulk?...... Smash!" and the Hulk starts screaming and just takes off, jumping from building to building, raging through the enemy like they were toys.  

There's a lot of spectacle, and the Iron Man, Cap, Hawkeye, and everyone gets a chance to show off, but Hulk definitely stole the show.  

That said, I really liked how the battle showed some damage to the heroes - they took a bit of a beating, Iron Man especially.  By the end of the movie he'd destroyed two suits.  

The movie, while having action, was not strictly just an action movie, however, and that's ok.  It was funny, witty, sarcastic, ridiculous, and also had some moments of awesome spectacle.  If I could sum it up, I'd say it was "satisfying".  I'd like to see it again, if I can bring myself to pay the crazy 3d prices.  I'm also glad it is making a ton of money so that Joss Whedon can finally get his day in glory.  The witty dialog and narrative that was clearly his added the spark to the movie that it easily could have not had, without his writing.  

Anyone else like it?  Other favorite moments?

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Permalink Reply by Nathan Barry on May 7, 2012 at 3:56pm

I loved it too. I haven't yet seem either Thor or Captain America but they are deffo on my list now. The main reason I hadn't bothered with then was because I thought both Iron Man movies were just OK and the two Hulk ones were just rubbish, so I was kinda giving up on Marvel for a bit. But Joss brought it back with a (huge) bang!

Fave Hulk moment has to the be just after he's finished his hissy fit on the (ridiculous) flying aircraft carrier. Everything is calming down and then he just punches Thor casually. Great timing - the whole cinema was in stitches then.

I think the best thing about it for me was totally down to the fact they could hit the ground running - no need for any 'origin' story nonsense. Even without having seen Thor and Cap's solo movies, I knew enough about their characters for the comics to just accept them and dive right in to the fun.

I also loved Black Widow - they way her character acts and pretends to get the info she needs and then just snaps out of it when she's done was brilliant. And superbly acted by Scarlet Johansen too.

Two things I couldn't suspend my disbelief for though - the aforementioned flying aircraft carrier and those giant fish-like alien things at the end. They were just too far off what could ever be possible, even in a world of superheroes.

Permalink Reply by Oliver Gingrich on May 7, 2012 at 4:18pm

Yeah, I agree with the ridiculousness of those 2 items.  I think the aircraft carrier was in the comics, so they probably had orders from Marvel to put it in, but it did seem like a giant waste of fuel, since there were no enemies attacking them at that point.  Also, why bother being invisible from the WATER when the enemies can all fly?  Protecting from an attack of the fish people?  That's just pointless.  I knew the second it took off that it would be falling because someone would shoot out one of its propellers.  Oh well.

And I actually kind of liked the huge aliens, except that they died REALLY easily and thus, lost their impact a bit.  It also made no sense why SHIELDS giant aircraft carrier didn't, you know, launch aircraft at the flying enemies until the very end by accident.  Basically, the thing did nothing helpful except be a flying deathtrap.  

But I understand that the plot was basically designed by Marvel, since that's kind of the business they are in, and given to Joss to add Joss-isms to and to film, so I don't blame him entirely for some of the little weirdnesses.  But on the whole, those things didn't take away from the overall awesome feeling that the film left me with.  

Permalink Reply by Kevin Clem on May 7, 2012 at 6:37pm

How about the big villain reveal during the credits, I must have been among my peers as the entire theater let out a collective gasp before breaking into applause.

Also planning on going to get shawarma after seeing the movie again later this week.  

 

Permalink Reply by Kevin Clem on May 7, 2012 at 6:41pm

So to nerd out a little: Bruce Banner if forced to hulk up has no control, hes basicly just pissed and will take it out on anyone. If he willfully changes he can direct his anger at targets, and chose his allies.

And yes the helicarrier is right out of the books, as is Stark tower, which later becomes the Avengers Tower.

Permalink Reply by Nathan Barry on May 15, 2012 at 6:49pm

I'll admit to not being a massive Marvel geek, hence not recognising the Helicarrier. It's still pretty silly though!

I've been trying to get hold of Thor and Captain America ever since I got back from seeing it, but iTunes only has SD version for sale, no rentals at all and Netflix and Lovefilm don't offer it to stream, so I'm stuck waiting for it to come along by post. I could always buy the Blu-rays I suppose! #tightwad

Permalink Reply by Kevin Clem on May 15, 2012 at 8:56pm

I thought those movies were excellent, especially cap' - which even my non-geek wife loved. 

Calling my Starwars watching, Doctor Who quoting, catan settling wife a non geek may not be completely  true. 

Permalink Reply by Dave Hale on May 16, 2012 at 2:15am

That kind of sounds like my "non-geek" wife. lol

Permalink Reply by Russell Collins on May 23, 2012 at 1:17am

I was actually quite impressed with the movie. The writing was brilliant and all the aforementioned little funnies (as well as the special added scene at the very end of the credits) made me giggle with a geekishly glee that really doesn't happen that often.

My major complaint, however, was some of the pacing. I recall thinking to myself, about a third of the way through the movie, who was missing from the team. And when it dawned on me that the main villian's half-brother hadn't showed up yet, I felt a little disappointed. For someone who had sworn to protect the Earth, he missed a pretty big red flag when Loki showed up. But, perhaps it just took a while for Odin to figure out a way to send him back to Earth.

Other than that, I thought the characters were well cast, though I still miss Edward Norton in the role of Banner. I thought Mark Ruffalo did a decent job, but his portrayal just didn't catch me like Norton's did. But I was still happy. Downey Jr. can play a smartass like no one else, Chris Evans has really brought a special charm to Cap, Scarlet Johansen was able to bring that special spy arrogance to Widow, and Jeremy Renner was pretty kick-ass as Hawkeye... and on that note, isn't Hawkeye supposed to be deaf?

All in all, great movie. I will purchase it as soon as it is released, which I think is in July if I read correctly. And if you haven't seen all the stand-alones, you really should. The Captain America movie blew me away, and you can't beat seeing Anthony Hopkins as Odin in Thor.

Permalink Reply by Rob Keisacker on June 25, 2012 at 3:00pm

I too have to agree that this was very well done.  Going into the Avengers, we had watched Iron Man, and I had seen both Hulk's, which like Nathan said were rubbish.  The storyline did a great job at intertwining things together.  It was nice to see that not all heroes worked together from the beginning.  I believe that added to the plot and gave the movie some depth for the fact that the characters grow.....ie:  Iron Man and Captain America's headbutting back and forth, Tony Stark getting through to Banner in regards to letting his inner beast out.  :)  All in all, a great movie, and so many great parts.

We have come to the realization that for every movie we watch, we have to stay through the end credits.  Always fun to see what is coming next.  Since going to Avengers, we have went out and bought Green Lantern, Iron Man 2, Captain America, Thor, All of the X Men movies, and I am sure a few others.  We have added yet another area of Geekdom to our household!  :)  

For those of you on Facebook that are Marvel Fans...I play Marvel:Avengers Alliance if anyone wants to team up.  :)

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