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Avengers!
So I saw The Avengers today. Spoilers behind the cut.
The Avengers doesn't offer much in the way of plot twists or deep thoughts. That's okay. That's not why people go to see it.
It's not even because they want to see people in brightly-coloured costumes beat up bad guys.
No, people go to see The Avengers because they want to see Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye beat up bad guys. And because there is one big question that needs answering:
Do they pull it off?
"It" being gathering all these people from previous movies and making a coherent film, without short-changing any of them.
I have to say, I loved this movie. I loved it so much that I want to go see it again. Given the price of movie tickets in my home town, that's pretty impressive.
It's the little things. Like Agent Coulson's utter nonchalance as Black Widow asks him to hold the phone while she beats up the mob guys, because he has no doubt as to the outcome. Tony and Pepper's banter, Pepper calling Coulson by his first name and asking after the cellist he's apparently dating. Cap beating the crap out of a punching bag, and then turning to the many others lined up on the floor next to him. Cap wordlessly handing Fury ten dollars after losing a bet. It's Coulson telling Thor that they've moved Jane to a safe place, Maria Hill answering how Fury can see all the screens with one eye (he turns around), Hawkeye seeing better from above. It's Banner's joke that getting him into a submarine isn't a good idea, and Hulk casually backhanding Thor because he hasn't forgotten that Thor was hammering on him earlier.
It's the character arcs. Iron Man learning selflessness and becoming an actual hero, Captain America finding his place in this time, Banner learning to appreciate "the Other Guy". The others don't have character arcs per se, but they provide the emotional depth - Black Widow is obviously distraught that Hawkeye has been brainwashed into the other side, and through that, we care about him coming back (since one short cameo in Thor really wasn't enough to form an emotional attachment to the character in the movieverse). And Thor?
Thor really wants his brother back. He keeps giving him chances, but despite those brief looks of pain and want, Loki can't stop what he's doing.
The action flows well, the characters play off one another brilliantly, there are callbacks to previous movies without being inaccessible for those who haven't seen them (I still haven't seen Hulk), and everyone get a chance to shine. Somehow, this huge ensemble cast don't overwhelm either one another or the story they're trying to tell.
Do they pull it off?
Hell, yeah.
The Avengers doesn't offer much in the way of plot twists or deep thoughts. That's okay. That's not why people go to see it.
It's not even because they want to see people in brightly-coloured costumes beat up bad guys.
No, people go to see The Avengers because they want to see Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye beat up bad guys. And because there is one big question that needs answering:
Do they pull it off?
"It" being gathering all these people from previous movies and making a coherent film, without short-changing any of them.
I have to say, I loved this movie. I loved it so much that I want to go see it again. Given the price of movie tickets in my home town, that's pretty impressive.
It's the little things. Like Agent Coulson's utter nonchalance as Black Widow asks him to hold the phone while she beats up the mob guys, because he has no doubt as to the outcome. Tony and Pepper's banter, Pepper calling Coulson by his first name and asking after the cellist he's apparently dating. Cap beating the crap out of a punching bag, and then turning to the many others lined up on the floor next to him. Cap wordlessly handing Fury ten dollars after losing a bet. It's Coulson telling Thor that they've moved Jane to a safe place, Maria Hill answering how Fury can see all the screens with one eye (he turns around), Hawkeye seeing better from above. It's Banner's joke that getting him into a submarine isn't a good idea, and Hulk casually backhanding Thor because he hasn't forgotten that Thor was hammering on him earlier.
It's the character arcs. Iron Man learning selflessness and becoming an actual hero, Captain America finding his place in this time, Banner learning to appreciate "the Other Guy". The others don't have character arcs per se, but they provide the emotional depth - Black Widow is obviously distraught that Hawkeye has been brainwashed into the other side, and through that, we care about him coming back (since one short cameo in Thor really wasn't enough to form an emotional attachment to the character in the movieverse). And Thor?
Thor really wants his brother back. He keeps giving him chances, but despite those brief looks of pain and want, Loki can't stop what he's doing.
The action flows well, the characters play off one another brilliantly, there are callbacks to previous movies without being inaccessible for those who haven't seen them (I still haven't seen Hulk), and everyone get a chance to shine. Somehow, this huge ensemble cast don't overwhelm either one another or the story they're trying to tell.
Do they pull it off?
Hell, yeah.