Avengers review
Apr. 29th, 2012 05:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ishtar79OMG THAT WAS SO EPIC I WANT TO LIVE INSIDE THE MOVIE FOREVER AND EVER!
Ahem. But seriously, bravo, Joss, and to all the Whedon doubters: neener, neener!
-There was so much I loved about the movie, I don't even know where to begin, but one thing that especially stood out at me: pacing. Somehow, it hit just the right balance between establishing the situation, giving each character their moment to shine, and doing the big conflict and resolution, and never once did you feel that the plot was a random collage of separate stories. I loved that they took their sweet time even showing us all the characters: other directors might have chosen to assemble the Avengers in the first half hour, and then spend the rest of the movie in drawn-out battles, and the result would have been far inferior.
-And of course Whedon is famous for his witty dialogue, but he was thankfully economical with the quips and using them to their maximum impact, without the characters ever sounding like the cast of Buffy (I can't decide on my favourite line, though "He was adopted" and "I watched you sleeping" are way up there).
-The characters were all an improvement upon existing movie characterizations, or in cases like Natasha, Clint and Bruce, a significant expansion/rewrite. I was a bit sceptical about SJ as the Black Widow going in (especially since most of her trailer scenes consisted of "standing around looking fabulous in skin-tight leather"), but she was absolutely phenomenal in this. I appreciated how she could play her opponent like a fiddle, and her manipulation of Loki, though foreshadowed by her initial scene with the Russian gangster, was truly a thing of beauty. Also, I ship Natasha/Clint forever (their chemistry was a nice nod to their comic book backstory). And as much as I enjoy Norton in general, Ruffalo's Banner/Hulk was the best screen adaptation of the character (though the Mighty Avengers Hulk comes pretty close). You could feel both Ruffalo's genius, social dysfunction and constant suppressed rage, and the Hulk was just...FUN. Clint was fantastic, of course. With a slightly rougher edge than comics Hawkeye (though it really depends on what era we're looking at), but he still retained that snarkyness that makes him so special.
-I liked Loki a lot better in this than in Thor. The actor is always fantastic, but him dealing with humans as opposed to his brother exclusively made him seem like a genuine threat as opposed to a little boy having a tantrum. Also, the dark circles under the eyes were making him seem way hotter.
-TONY! If possible, he came off as even more of a narcissistic ass than in the IM movies, but man did he ever do it in style. I'm glad Paltrow agreed to do her small appearance, as Tony/Pepper makes all things better, and it was good to have somebody in the movie actually like Tony. Of course, this being Joss, the dysfunctionnal, narcissistic, morally dubious genius had his Big Damn Hero moment, but I like how much they downplayed the aftermath.
-Steve referring to Tony as Mr Stark=so IC and a brilliant reference to the early days of Steve thinking Iron Man and Avengers benefactor Tony Stark are two different people. I loved his general...Steveness, from being uncomfortable with his legend status, being the ultimate man out of time (he was SO PROUD to get that Wizard of Oz reference) and ultimately being all about Doing The Right Thing.
-Ok, so the Steve/Tony slashiness was rather scarce (if anything, there were some serious Tony/Bruce vibes), but it makes sense considering they lack the shared history. The antagonistic banter was plenty fun though.
-THOR! My adorable, oversized puppy who still wants to believe in his brother ("He was adopted"-HA!) despite everything. I liked that they remembered Jane Foster, despite Natalie Portman not being in the movie. Also, I would watch an entire buddy movie on the hijinks of Thor and Hulk.
-Samuel L. Jackson finally got to give us a proper performance as Nick Fury, and it was BADASS. I like that they remembered Fury is a shady motherfucker, and I knew that speech about Coulson was pure manipulation even before Maria pointed out that bit about the cards.
-MARIA HILL IS ON MY SCREEN, MY LIFE IS COMPLETE. She was so good at barely disguising her contempt for the Capes, I almost forgot to wonder what Robyn from HIMYM was doing in the Hellicarrier.
-Aw, Agent Coulson, we hardly knew ye. Given that they made him the ultimate fanboy in this, between this and a certain Serenity moment, I wonder what Joss is trying to tell us.
WHEN IS THE SEQUEL OUT ALREADY?
Ahem. But seriously, bravo, Joss, and to all the Whedon doubters: neener, neener!
-There was so much I loved about the movie, I don't even know where to begin, but one thing that especially stood out at me: pacing. Somehow, it hit just the right balance between establishing the situation, giving each character their moment to shine, and doing the big conflict and resolution, and never once did you feel that the plot was a random collage of separate stories. I loved that they took their sweet time even showing us all the characters: other directors might have chosen to assemble the Avengers in the first half hour, and then spend the rest of the movie in drawn-out battles, and the result would have been far inferior.
-And of course Whedon is famous for his witty dialogue, but he was thankfully economical with the quips and using them to their maximum impact, without the characters ever sounding like the cast of Buffy (I can't decide on my favourite line, though "He was adopted" and "I watched you sleeping" are way up there).
-The characters were all an improvement upon existing movie characterizations, or in cases like Natasha, Clint and Bruce, a significant expansion/rewrite. I was a bit sceptical about SJ as the Black Widow going in (especially since most of her trailer scenes consisted of "standing around looking fabulous in skin-tight leather"), but she was absolutely phenomenal in this. I appreciated how she could play her opponent like a fiddle, and her manipulation of Loki, though foreshadowed by her initial scene with the Russian gangster, was truly a thing of beauty. Also, I ship Natasha/Clint forever (their chemistry was a nice nod to their comic book backstory). And as much as I enjoy Norton in general, Ruffalo's Banner/Hulk was the best screen adaptation of the character (though the Mighty Avengers Hulk comes pretty close). You could feel both Ruffalo's genius, social dysfunction and constant suppressed rage, and the Hulk was just...FUN. Clint was fantastic, of course. With a slightly rougher edge than comics Hawkeye (though it really depends on what era we're looking at), but he still retained that snarkyness that makes him so special.
-I liked Loki a lot better in this than in Thor. The actor is always fantastic, but him dealing with humans as opposed to his brother exclusively made him seem like a genuine threat as opposed to a little boy having a tantrum. Also, the dark circles under the eyes were making him seem way hotter.
-TONY! If possible, he came off as even more of a narcissistic ass than in the IM movies, but man did he ever do it in style. I'm glad Paltrow agreed to do her small appearance, as Tony/Pepper makes all things better, and it was good to have somebody in the movie actually like Tony. Of course, this being Joss, the dysfunctionnal, narcissistic, morally dubious genius had his Big Damn Hero moment, but I like how much they downplayed the aftermath.
-Steve referring to Tony as Mr Stark=so IC and a brilliant reference to the early days of Steve thinking Iron Man and Avengers benefactor Tony Stark are two different people. I loved his general...Steveness, from being uncomfortable with his legend status, being the ultimate man out of time (he was SO PROUD to get that Wizard of Oz reference) and ultimately being all about Doing The Right Thing.
-Ok, so the Steve/Tony slashiness was rather scarce (if anything, there were some serious Tony/Bruce vibes), but it makes sense considering they lack the shared history. The antagonistic banter was plenty fun though.
-THOR! My adorable, oversized puppy who still wants to believe in his brother ("He was adopted"-HA!) despite everything. I liked that they remembered Jane Foster, despite Natalie Portman not being in the movie. Also, I would watch an entire buddy movie on the hijinks of Thor and Hulk.
-Samuel L. Jackson finally got to give us a proper performance as Nick Fury, and it was BADASS. I like that they remembered Fury is a shady motherfucker, and I knew that speech about Coulson was pure manipulation even before Maria pointed out that bit about the cards.
-MARIA HILL IS ON MY SCREEN, MY LIFE IS COMPLETE. She was so good at barely disguising her contempt for the Capes, I almost forgot to wonder what Robyn from HIMYM was doing in the Hellicarrier.
-Aw, Agent Coulson, we hardly knew ye. Given that they made him the ultimate fanboy in this, between this and a certain Serenity moment, I wonder what Joss is trying to tell us.
WHEN IS THE SEQUEL OUT ALREADY?
no subject
Date: 2012-05-01 09:50 am (UTC)I was so pleasantly surprised by SJ's Natasha. But you're right, everybody was just spot on.
Oh, I still think Loki has some snarky moments, but you're right, he was more serious in this one.
Fury can never not be shady or manipulative.
I squeed at the end-I repeat, when's the sequel already?