- 23,800
- Philippines
The Avengers: Some Assembly Required
Superhero teams are like an eat-all-you-can hotel buffet. Heaping platters full of awesome all laid out for your pleasure. If your team starts out as a team, like “The X-Men”, then there’s a shared flavour . It looks like X-Men, smells like X-Men and tastes like X-Men. Ensembles made up of solo superheroes, however, are another matter entirely. It's hard to reconcile differing histories, powers, technologies and magic systems and often different laws of physics (Vibraium? Adamantium? Arc Reactors?) into 32 pages of Superhero mish-mash.
Then there’s the headache of putting that all on sreen. It’s telling that despite the huge popularity of the cartoons and video games, there’s never been a serious attempt at a Justice League movie... or an Avengers Movie.
Until now.
This was perhaps the Mount Everest of Marvel Comic movies. As such, it required a lot of preparation, with several movies to expound the heroes’ different back stories. And yet, despite this, it was still going to be a challenge. Could you fit the dour and dramatic Hulk mythos into the same movie as a wise-cracking Iron Man? How do you explain a Boy Scout Supersoldier working for a sneaky Secret Spy Organization? Could you really mix Norse Mythology with aliens and get away with it?
Apparently, yes you can.
Joss Whedon is no stranger to movies with ensemble casts. And there is no director quite as immersed in comic culture. Somehow he manages to weave such an unwieldy melange of elements into a whole. Let’s dissect those elements one by one.
Being the most developed characters of the film franchises, Robert Downey Junior's Iron Man/Tony Stark was always in danger of running away with the whole show. Sort of like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the “X” films. Thankfully, he doesn’t, despite an excellent performance (once again) by Robert Downey Jr. Instead, he finds the perfect foil in Captain America, laying the groundwork for their fabled friendship and rivalry perfectly over the course of the film. I still don't like the new Cap suit, but i don't hate it, anymore.
Joss Whedon’s Nick Fury is a complex mix of cold-blooded spy, idealistic leader and bad-ass mutha... giving Samuel L. Jackson a chance to stretch his legs a bit. It’s a refreshing change from the simply dour Fury seen in splashes in the other film. Agent Phil Coulson gets much, much better dialogue and scenes than the chunky stuffed dished out to him in Iron Man and Thor. He also gets a personality. The last part of the SHIELD puzzle is Cobie Smulders, who plays Maria Hill, Nick Fury’s “by-the-book” second-in-command. She does a commendable job of playing counterpoint to Fury. She also does an excellent job of looking better in a skintight jumpsuit than Scarlett Johansson does. Even without opening her zipper halfway down her cleavage.
That said, both Hawkeye and Black Widow receive some much needed screen-time and back-story, and Whedon makes much, much better use of Scarlett Johannson’s talents than Jon Favreau did in the “Iron Man” films. What can I say? Joss loves chicks who kick ass.
Thor is more grave and mature this time around, a change that comes naturally in the progression of the “Thor” story arc. Fully in-character, he plays the perfect straight man for jokes and wise-cracks.
Mark Ruffalo’s casting as Bruce Banner was picture perfect. Bruce Banner is no suave action hero, and neither is Mark. He’s unkempt, quirky and funny, bringing a humanity to the character that was lacking in both of the recent Hulk films. Ruffalo looks a lot like Bill Bixby’s Banner, but truth be told, he’s the best Bruce Banner we’ve had thus far. Combined with a Lou Ferrigno (oh, yesssss) voiced Hulk, this character was the exclamation point on the film, despite not getting the lion’s share of screen time. Probably because we’ve never seen the Hulk done quite this well.
It’s hard to talk about the story without giving anything away, but yes, it involves an alien invasion. Yes, it involves Loki. Thankfully, with the wishy-washy emo backstory out of the way, Tom Hiddleston can focus on channeling his inner "Hannibal the Cannibal". Yes, it involves your classic heroic misunderstanding battle... more than one, in fact. And yes, it is awesome. The Avengers plays out like a comic book. No, not like a cruddy one-dimensional manga-wannabe, but an honest-to-goodness, action-packed, character-developing, quick-paced American-style comic book. I’m not going to pretend it’s perfect. Like a comic book, you'll need to read some of the back-issues to get up to speed, but even a ten-year old can follow the story. And there are the slow panels, and places where they could have gone for more dramatic camera angles. But, like Favreau with Iron Man, Whedon never pretends this is high cinema, which is a Freaking Good Thing.
If you know your Whedon, you’ll know what to expect: Great one-liners, well-crafted dialogue, good pacing, anti-cliche plot twists, chicks kicking ass and a genuine rollercoaster of a good time. It all ends with a battle scene that’s as long and drawn-out as in "Transformers 2: The Revenge of the Fallen", but where the former leaves you bored to death halfway through, this one had the audience on their feet and cheering from beginning to end. Shallow, popcorn cinema hardly gets any better than this.
images stolen from here:
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/GraphicCity/news/?a=47921
9/10 - Hulk Smash puny critics!
Superhero teams are like an eat-all-you-can hotel buffet. Heaping platters full of awesome all laid out for your pleasure. If your team starts out as a team, like “The X-Men”, then there’s a shared flavour . It looks like X-Men, smells like X-Men and tastes like X-Men. Ensembles made up of solo superheroes, however, are another matter entirely. It's hard to reconcile differing histories, powers, technologies and magic systems and often different laws of physics (Vibraium? Adamantium? Arc Reactors?) into 32 pages of Superhero mish-mash.
Then there’s the headache of putting that all on sreen. It’s telling that despite the huge popularity of the cartoons and video games, there’s never been a serious attempt at a Justice League movie... or an Avengers Movie.
Until now.
This was perhaps the Mount Everest of Marvel Comic movies. As such, it required a lot of preparation, with several movies to expound the heroes’ different back stories. And yet, despite this, it was still going to be a challenge. Could you fit the dour and dramatic Hulk mythos into the same movie as a wise-cracking Iron Man? How do you explain a Boy Scout Supersoldier working for a sneaky Secret Spy Organization? Could you really mix Norse Mythology with aliens and get away with it?
Apparently, yes you can.
Joss Whedon is no stranger to movies with ensemble casts. And there is no director quite as immersed in comic culture. Somehow he manages to weave such an unwieldy melange of elements into a whole. Let’s dissect those elements one by one.
Being the most developed characters of the film franchises, Robert Downey Junior's Iron Man/Tony Stark was always in danger of running away with the whole show. Sort of like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the “X” films. Thankfully, he doesn’t, despite an excellent performance (once again) by Robert Downey Jr. Instead, he finds the perfect foil in Captain America, laying the groundwork for their fabled friendship and rivalry perfectly over the course of the film. I still don't like the new Cap suit, but i don't hate it, anymore.
Joss Whedon’s Nick Fury is a complex mix of cold-blooded spy, idealistic leader and bad-ass mutha... giving Samuel L. Jackson a chance to stretch his legs a bit. It’s a refreshing change from the simply dour Fury seen in splashes in the other film. Agent Phil Coulson gets much, much better dialogue and scenes than the chunky stuffed dished out to him in Iron Man and Thor. He also gets a personality. The last part of the SHIELD puzzle is Cobie Smulders, who plays Maria Hill, Nick Fury’s “by-the-book” second-in-command. She does a commendable job of playing counterpoint to Fury. She also does an excellent job of looking better in a skintight jumpsuit than Scarlett Johansson does. Even without opening her zipper halfway down her cleavage.
That said, both Hawkeye and Black Widow receive some much needed screen-time and back-story, and Whedon makes much, much better use of Scarlett Johannson’s talents than Jon Favreau did in the “Iron Man” films. What can I say? Joss loves chicks who kick ass.
Thor is more grave and mature this time around, a change that comes naturally in the progression of the “Thor” story arc. Fully in-character, he plays the perfect straight man for jokes and wise-cracks.
Mark Ruffalo’s casting as Bruce Banner was picture perfect. Bruce Banner is no suave action hero, and neither is Mark. He’s unkempt, quirky and funny, bringing a humanity to the character that was lacking in both of the recent Hulk films. Ruffalo looks a lot like Bill Bixby’s Banner, but truth be told, he’s the best Bruce Banner we’ve had thus far. Combined with a Lou Ferrigno (oh, yesssss) voiced Hulk, this character was the exclamation point on the film, despite not getting the lion’s share of screen time. Probably because we’ve never seen the Hulk done quite this well.
It’s hard to talk about the story without giving anything away, but yes, it involves an alien invasion. Yes, it involves Loki. Thankfully, with the wishy-washy emo backstory out of the way, Tom Hiddleston can focus on channeling his inner "Hannibal the Cannibal". Yes, it involves your classic heroic misunderstanding battle... more than one, in fact. And yes, it is awesome. The Avengers plays out like a comic book. No, not like a cruddy one-dimensional manga-wannabe, but an honest-to-goodness, action-packed, character-developing, quick-paced American-style comic book. I’m not going to pretend it’s perfect. Like a comic book, you'll need to read some of the back-issues to get up to speed, but even a ten-year old can follow the story. And there are the slow panels, and places where they could have gone for more dramatic camera angles. But, like Favreau with Iron Man, Whedon never pretends this is high cinema, which is a Freaking Good Thing.
If you know your Whedon, you’ll know what to expect: Great one-liners, well-crafted dialogue, good pacing, anti-cliche plot twists, chicks kicking ass and a genuine rollercoaster of a good time. It all ends with a battle scene that’s as long and drawn-out as in "Transformers 2: The Revenge of the Fallen", but where the former leaves you bored to death halfway through, this one had the audience on their feet and cheering from beginning to end. Shallow, popcorn cinema hardly gets any better than this.
images stolen from here:
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/GraphicCity/news/?a=47921
9/10 - Hulk Smash puny critics!
Last edited:
That adds to the good vibe, somewhat, and I think it enhanced my enjoyment of the film. 
