The Avengers

[fajrdrako]

Okay, now I've had a good sleep, let me talk about The Avengers. The movie. And what a movie. You know, I really didn't think it would live up to my hopes and expectations, and it exceeded them.



My fears: that the plot would be thin, and hokey; that there'd be too many explosions and special effects, and too little storyline; that Black Widow would be marginalized.

Black Widow is not marginalized in any way, and she is wonderful, and she is true to the character in the comic - not made gentle or nice, but not demonized either. A strong, beautiful, powerful portrayal of a strong, beautiful, powerful character.

And the plot is thin, and hokey too, and that turns out to be a strength rather than a weakness. It's a sort of homage to the old aliens-conquer-Earth theme, which used to be a staple in comics but which seldom happens today. And it's combined with the "narcissistic villain who wants to rule the world" theme, and somehow Joss Whedon makes it work because he sees the joy in both themes and makes them convincing.

There are many explosions and special effects. The explosions did not bore me - I was caught up i the drama every time. And special effects? Best I've ever seen. I can't even think of a movie that comes close; the special effects in Thor were good, but not this good.

Of course I am prejudiced: I have loved these characters since childhood. But that could be a problem, too, because my Nick Fury isn't this Nick Fury, and the movie characters aren't the same as the comic book characters, and when it comes to character, a near miss can be worse than a total failure.

Not so. The characters were all what they should be. (One exception, maybe, but also not a problem.)

Okay. Specifics:

1. S.H.I.E.L.D. Of course I was looking forward to the Helicarrier, which gets exploded and destroyed again - yeah, that's a delightful comic book staple. But the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier is so useful that Nick Fury just keeps fixing it and putting it back up in the air, clearly, as here, with a little help from Tony Stark.
   
   Being in the Helicarrier gave me the same feeling I used to get when I was twelve years old and watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E., of a place huge, powerful, mostly good, and luminously wondrous with the possibilities of espionage technology.
   
   
2. I loved Maria Hill. Okay, I love Maria Hill anyway, in the comics, so it wasn't a hard sell. She doesn't do a lot, except be exposition for Nick Fury. But she is beautiful and smart and doesn't show weakness. Just as she should be. I want a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie with Maria Hill in a prominent role.
   
   
3. Of course, I would like a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie with Agent Coulson in a prominent role, but I'm not going to get it, because he died bravely and defiantly and it was one of the best death scenes I've seen in a long time - so well set up, especially after giving Coulson an endearing hero-worship of Captain America.
   
   I hope Coulson gets a worthy successor.
   
   
4. I line I loved:
   
   Pepper Potts: Phil Coulson -
   Tony Stark: Phil? His first name is Agent!
   
   
   My quotes are still approximate - I've only seen it once!
   
   
5. Tony Stark: better than ever. Not drinking, but still smart-mouthed, outrageous, and strong-willed. Just what an eccentric adventurer-genius should be. Slight disappointment: that he didn't flirt with Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff, but they played him as the lover of Pepper Potts, and since Pepper Potts in the movies is terrific, that's okay too. I like the way they show Tony's face when he's in the Iron Man armour.
   
   
6. Mark Ruffalo was amazing as both Bruce Banner and the Hulk. Not my physical image of Bruce Banner - but my goodness, he turned out to be perfect, because even when he wasn't the Hulk he evoked Hulkishness. This made the central Hulk theme so clear: that Banner, however much he may deny it, is the Hulk, and has to deal with that.
   
   
7. Loved the way Stark and Banner hit it off in happy scientific nerdishness. The techno-babble in this movie was loads of fun. They even reversed the polarities at one point!
   
   
8. Loved the way they played Captain America's sense of being outside his own time. You could tell he felt uncomfortable in the new modern world; his determination to stick to his own old-fashioned (but still good) values even if they were scorned by others; his delight at hearing a movie reference (to The Wizard of Oz) that he recognized.
   
   
9. I often go into a movie and fall in love with one of the characters. This time, I think I fell in love with all the characters.
   
   
10. I even liked the enemy aliens, who had a great visual style and a sense of menace.
    
    
11. Iron Man flying through the space portal to get rid of the nuke was a wonderfully heroic moment, but there were many. Especially from Iron Man. He likes to deny his own heroism, but... there it is.
    
    
12. Loved also the brief moment where we see Pepper Potts worrying about him. I was so glad she was in the movie - it added such a personal, human touch.
    
    
13. One of the best lines was delivered by Captain America: "Hulk - smash." It was all in the delivery. Chris Evans is so good.
    
    
14. If the characterization was weak anywhere, I thought it was with Thor and Loki. Espeically Loki, whose role was over the top and rather one-note: I'd have liked to have seen more of the sympathetic Loki, the reasonable Loki, whose sweetness may be a façade, but is evident. This is not a big complaint, because Tom Hiddleston's performance is so good, so charming, so delightfully full of anger and deceit and torment and pain and trickery, that he's fasciating anyway. Did he want to rule the people of Earth because he knows Thor likes them?
    
    
15. I was glad they mentioned Jane Foster.
    
    
16. Hawkeye. If anyone's role was marginalized, his was, which reflects his years in the comics as well. Once he stopped being Loki's thrall, what we got, was good. Convincing, if sketchy. I loved the implication of a bond between him and Natasha: common background, and both brainwashed. I'd like to see a Hawkeye movie, so we could get to know this Clint Barton better. I'm thrilled about the new Hawkeye comic coming up.
    
    I loved the way Clint Barton looked, though. A haunted look in his eyes, great biceps, fast and fluid use of the bow, physical fearlessness.
    
    
17. Loved the alien spaceships. And flyers. Loved he way none of it seemed derivative of Star Wars, but, without specifics, made me think of comic book aliens of early Marvel days.
    
    
18. Looking for something else entirely, I was amused that the first thing I found online this morning was an article about the fitness program for The Avengers cast. Inspirational, I hope.
    
    
19. Sometimes I love Joss Whedon's writing) Firefly and sometimes I hate it (Dollhouse). Obviously this fell mostly on the 'love' side of the ledger, and I could forgive even the death of Agent Coulson - well, maybe - because it was heroic and wonderful. And I liked Nick Fury's trick with the Captain America cards.
    
    
20. Which makes me think: I hope someone puts out a pack of Avengers trading cards. Just saying.
    
    
21. I can't even pick out a favourite scene. Maybe on next viewing? Perhaps the moment when the Hulk takes down Loki. Perhaps Black Widow's interrogation, in the beginning. Perhaps Iron Man with the nuclear missile. So many possibilities.
    
    
22. Nick Fury. I grew up loving the gruffly ungrammatical white Brooklynite, and never quite accepted the dour black man in his place in the movies - until now. I don't think Samuel L. Jackson's portrayal was very different, but given the material - given his script - finally, I came to love his version of Nick Fury, too.
    
    
23. And I love it that S.H.I.E.L.D. is dangerous because it has to be, and that the heroes quite rightly don't trust it, and that they didn't sign on as allies but will help when S.H.I.E.L.D. is fighting the good fight - and not when it isn't.
    
    
24. I loved the way the "A" of the Stark Towers sign could become the "A" of the Avengers Towers. Wonderful use of imagery, and I didn't see it coming.
    
    
25. I liked Diane Duane's comments.
    
    
26. I notice they continue to play Thor as a demi-god/alien rather than a "real" god, whatever that may be in context. Thor doesn't care: but it seems a little cheap.
    
    I love it when he does weather effects. Love that in the comics, too.
    
    
27. I like the way Iron Man's armour got more and more battered.
    
    
28. Shawarma.