When a movie breaks the record for largest opening weekend and causes one of the biggest nerdgasms of the last twenty-five years, you just know that a Mega-Post is the only way to truly delve into this phenomenon. Click the link to see some of our perspectives on one of the biggest and most ambitious movie releases in history.
[WittySciFiPun]:
I have to admit, my expectations for The Avengers weren’t that high. Not that I thought it was going to suck, but I didn’t think it would be much more than just an “okay” superhero flick. As while I enjoyed the first Iron Man, its sequel didn’t do much for me, nor did Captain America or Thor. So I had my doubts that a film containing all of these superheroes (plus others) could work that well. Boy, was I wrong. I would go so far in calling The Avengers my favorite Marvel movie adaptation of all time.
For me, what set the movie apart was its humor. Sure, other superhero movies have the occasional visual gag or witty one-liner here and there, but The Avengers has comedy fused into its spine. It flows throughout the film, bouncing alongside drama but never becoming overbearing. In addition, the chemistry between all of the main characters is fantastic, whether they are fighting against each other or working together. The different personalities of the Avengers team mixed perfectly, to my great surprise. The Dark Knight Rises will have to do something quite special in order to take The Avengers’ place as my favorite movie of the summer, if not the year.
Finally, I would advise watching The Avengers with a large audience. Not that it doesn’t stand up on its own (because it does, no doubt in my mind), but at times the movie just feeds energy into the audience, and at the packed showing that I went to, that energy was repaid in full. Cheering, laughing, gasping, almost always in unison- the reactions of my fellow moviegoers made the experience all the more exceptional. I’m pretty sure that watching The Avengers in theaters on opening weekend will be something that sticks with me for a long time.
Gray Anderson:
I have two opinions concerning the movie. First and foremost, it was great to watch: I loved the banter among the characters (Joss Whedon did much of the writing, so I’m not surprised here…see Firefly for another wonderful example of this sort of work), and it says something about his ability to work with the characters and actors to achieve an end result that many of the best moments in the film involved the characters shouting at one another and generally not getting along well. The action sequences were also quite good.
With that said, I really did not like how Loki was handled, while Nick Fury managed to be generally unlikable. In Thor, Loki was scheming and switching sides every five minutes…but there was something about him that managed not to be terribly menacing or brazenly evil (at least by Hollywood standards). Moreover, there was a solid argument to be had that of the two brothers, he was the competent ruler of the two: He might not have been the ruler that Asgard wanted, but in the long run his reign was more likely to be good for Asgard than the Thor of most of that film, and definitely likely to leave Asgard in a safer, more secure position. This time around, Loki was just plain mad…and it was in many ways the sort of ‘sadistic bastard’ mad found in Heath Ledger’s Joker mixed with dictatorial megalomania. Compared to his portrayal in Thor, Loki has devolved substantially.
Nick Fury also didn’t come across well, either. As always, Samuel L. Jackson plays a wonderful badass…but there were also times when he was just an ass. I’m not going to weigh the presentation of the character for comic book accuracy, but there’s a point in the movie when the main characters find out some of the stuff Fury was working on…and let’s just say that his lack of disclosure does not go over well. At all. At best, he’s a high-handed manipulator…but as even the characters determine, Fury is untrustworthy and duplicitous at times. While this is understandable (and in some cases, yes, it is necessary), it also makes him at best something of an anti-hero…and unlike most anti-heroes, Fury lacks the likability of many of them.
Junior Varsity:
What I really admired about what the Avengers did was that the bad guy wasn’t all bad, and the good guy wasn’t all good. Let me explain:
Tom Hiddleston did a wonderful job capturing Loki in all his sneering evil. But there were some moments of the movie that we could see he was being pressured. When he talks to Thor on the mountain, that whole conversation was very brotherly, and we could see that Thor still wanted Loki to come back from the “dark side”. Then in his underground lair, the scene with the alien…thingy…Loki stood up to the alien, momentarily. Finally the moment with Thor on Stark tower, when Thor almost persuaded Loki to come to the “light side”. Sure, Loki might’ve been faking just to get his opportunity to stab Thor, but I thought it was a nice moment of doubt, which in my opinion, made him more than just a cheap 2D villain.
Similar to this was the portrayal of SHIELD, Nick Fury in particular. In the comic book world, as in real life, one is always dealing with a certain amount of moral ambiguity. Samuel L. Jackson also did a great job, from the beginning. He stood up to Loki in the SHIELD facility, trying to save the Cube. Then all the business about SHIELD making weapons with the Cube technology, and Phase 2 showed a darker side. This also was echoed in the moment when Agent Hill mentioned that the collectible cards had been in Coulson’s locker. Then again at the end when the Board decided to launch the Nuke, and Fury did everything he could to stop it – against orders. So Nick Fury in my mind was also very interesting as a character.
Not that the main superheroes weren’t. I’m just giving these two as good examples.
So that might be a different perspective than just AVENGERS AVENGERS OMG YAY. It was very sophisticated, and I admire Joss Whedon above all, for bringing it to us.
Angel in the Mirror:
Okay, so, let me preface this review by saying that I don’t actually know anything about the Marvel Universe. I only know what I’ve seen in the recent Marvel movies. That being said, I’m always a little wary of superhero movies, because I’m afraid that if I don’t know the universe I’ll be lost. Far too often an adaptation seems to rely on people being familiar with the series and having read/watched the source material before getting to the theaters. The later Harry Potter movies definitely suffered from this problem. Some of the X-men movies also had that problem (not including First Class, which was a reboot of the universe entirely).
I was a little worried walking into The Avengers. Even though I had seen all the previous movies, I still knew practically nothing about the Avengers themselves, or any enemies they might face. I’m happy to say, however, that the film stood up to the example set by the previous movies. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and I wasn’t ever lost or confused. Might it be a little confusing for those who haven’t seen the other movies? It’s possible. But, it’s easy enough to get the gist of what’s going on and not get too cluttered in who’s who and what’s happening.
If you’re worried about seeing this movie because you’re not the biggest Marvel fan, or not the biggest superhero person, and you don’t know the stories, don’t be. It’s an easy movie to follow, at least, for someone who doesn’t know anything about Marvel. My friends who know the universe seemed just as satisfied with the movie as I was, but, I’ll let them have the final say on the adaptability of it. It’s a good movie that combines action, adventure, a little bit of drama, a lot of comedy….basically everything you could want in a movie. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun movie for a night out.
Metaphysical Physicist:
To me, this movie provided a good balance of story, humor, and action. Unlike other recent movies like say, the most recent Transformers, it was not endless battle scenes. It seemed to me to have a nearly perfect balance of action, characterization, and humor. The battle was what you’d expect from marvel, superheroes having minor disagreements that wreck small forests, or carving a path through a horde of enemies. The characterization doesn’t do much on an individual level, but you do see the avengers growing closer as a team. They go from rocky beginnings eating shwarma together at the end. Still, to me the best aspect of the movie is the humor. Of course personalities like Tony Stark (Ironman) the self-proclaimed “billionaire/philanthropist/playboy” will clash with those like Steve Rogers (Capt. America) the literal poster boy for following orders. And when they do it’s hilarious to watch. And just to make things more interesting, let’s throw in Bruce Banner (aka The Hulk), a guy with “legendary anger management issue.” It’s the small moments of comedy that come from these personalities that make this movie truly exception, whether it be Thor reminded everyone that Loki is adopted, Ironman taking over a PA system to blast rock music as he shows up to save the day or the hulk commenting on what a “Puny God” Loki is. Much as he did with Firefly Joss Whedon seemlessly merge humor and drama for a top notch movie.
The Red Shirt Crew Blog and Podcast Network 