Oh my yes...
The people at Marvel made the only move that made sense to make this movie work: they turned it over to Joss Whedon. The legendary creator of Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog took his ingenious character creation, quick dialogue and overall vision to the series and managed to weave the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor films into one freaking awesome movie. No time is wasted with lengthy explanations with who the characters are, back story, or character development and what we get is just pure unadulterated fun.
I want to emphasize the word fun. The story is coherent and flows beautifully, but it's about as deep as a $9.99 kiddie pool. Loki, Thor's brother and long standing champion of silly hat day at the office, is after the mystical energy cube thing Captain America was after. He's using it to pay off a mysterious benefactor who gave him a nifty little spear that makes people be his Facebook friend. The heroes lucky enough to get their own movies, plus the lovely Scarlett Johansson and the guy from The Hurt Locker, have to figure out how to work together before Loki can open up a portal and let a bunch of identical aliens take over the world. This isn't The Dark Knight, but not every meal needs to be filet mignon, but that doesn't mean fried chicken isn't bad either. It's the ultimate popcorn movie, like its predecessors, but even a movie snob like me appreciate it.
I'm going to lay a card out here, I've always been more of a DC fan then Marvel. As a kid I watched Batman the Animated Series and didn't really care for Spider-Man or X-Men cartoons till I was an adult. That being said, the idea of a bunch of Marvel hero movies and an Avengers movie didn't appeal to me at first until I saw Iron Man. Robert Downy Jr and Gweneth Paltrow got me interested enough to keep checking out the next films. I have to say that while I'm not exchanging my Batman slippers for Hulk slippers anytime soon, I definitely have a better appreciation for the characters. If you haven't seen them, it's worth checking the previous videos out either before or after The Avengers.
So if you're not one of the millions of people who saw Avengers opening weekend with my friends and I, get off the computer and go check it out. Until Batman graces us with his presence, it's the best super hero movie out this summer, and even then it's the only one you can bring your kids to. It's a fun filled action packed adventure that was worth every minute of the wait.
-JOE
See, I was the opposite. I was always more of a Marvel person growing up rather then a DC Comics guy. The X-Men, for example, I could feel connected to more so then any of the DC heroes.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say the movie was as deep as a kiddie pool. It did have one theme in particular that I thought was very interesting and starting to be common in Joss Whedon flicks.
Yeah me too. The '90s X-Men cartoon was awesome!! I still sometimes go back and watch it again on Netflix. Hurray for Instant Streaming!
DeleteThat, and I think X-Men had cooler GOOD female characters. The baddies in DC are awesome, but all the good gals are kind of boring. -coughbarbaracough-
Hay there! I happen to LOVE Barbara Gordon, before and after Killing Joke. In the animated series I LOVED Batgirl! BUT I will admit that Marvel does have much stronger female characters, including Rogue, White Queen, Scarlet Witch and Black Widow. Though I'll fight to the death over Harley Quinn any day (in case my love letter a few weeks ago wasn't indication enough.) :)
DeleteI've seen The Avengers but once. Although the plot was a deep as deep as movies like G.I. Joe, the comparison stops there. A very well done movie! Two thumbs up from me!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever laughed so often before in a movie, nor have I ever clapped during a movie before. It was that good!
I disagree about the movie lacking depth. Saving the world may be pretty standard, but The Avengers has a lot of subtle depth to it. It's not heavy-handed and obvious like the Dark Knight (which was fantastic too), but it's still there. We see it in Black Widow, the relationship between Thor and Loki, Tony Stark's interaction with Pepper Potts (the part where he makes that final, desperate call to say goodbye in case he dies!) and the Hulk (angry the WHOLE time). How Nick Fury uses a lie with the bloodstained cards to represent the Agent Coulson's true feelings and belief in the Avengers. The whole movie is full of these wonderfully HUMAN moments with people who are incredibly super human.
DeleteWhat action movie these days is deep? Everybody is going for the special effects more than character development. Having said that, I LOVED the Avengers. This movie was amazing and has made Joss Whedon even more awesome than I originally thought he was (and he's always been awesome). I'm a fan of both DC and Marvel characters, but I've enjoyed the Marvel movies more than the recent installment of Batman (I know Joe, we're no longer friends).
ReplyDeleteIf you have not seen the awesomeness that is Dollhouse, I highly recommend it (another Joss Whedon show that Fox was dumb enough to cancel).
Yes! If you want to see Joss do deep then you'll get a big cake (and eat it too) with Dollhouse. Dollhouse starts off slow but is the most amazing web of intrigue by the end of the first season. Such a great series!
Delete