Avengers Assemble!

Thor is my favoritest Hero ever in case you didn’t know that by now

OMFG.

I donโ€™t know how else to adequately describe how much I loved this movie.

I saw The Avengersย twice in 2 days.ย  The first time after an epic all-day Marvel Movie Marathon with my NBFF Geek Outlaw.

And the second time on Sunday morning with my Mom and SO. Afterwards we went to Smash Burger which I thought was really funny. Iโ€™m not gonna lie, Iโ€™m probably going to go back a third time and see it in 3D. I donโ€™t normally watch 3D movies that were converted in post-production but Iโ€™ve heard the 3D is pretty good so Iโ€™m willing to give it a shot. It was also one of the funniest movies Iโ€™ve seen. I donโ€™t think Iโ€™ve laughed that hard since Bridesmaids.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead! So don’t read past this if you don’t want to be, umm, spoiled.

When Thor came out I predicted that Loki would be the main villain in The Avengers (that much was obvious from the teaser after the end credits) and that the plot would center on preventing Ragnarรถk, a major plot point in the Thor comics. And while it wasnโ€™t exactly an apocalypse (unless you were on the island of Manhattan), the end of the world as we know it was a real possibility so Iโ€™m going to consider myself 12% right, with an argument being made for 15%.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOrNdBpGMv8]

The basic plot line is as follows: After letting himself fall (not being pushedโ€ฆbut nice word twisting there Loki) Loki explores the tree of life for a bit before forming a partnership with The Other (frequent Whedon collaborator Alexis Denisof) and the Chitauri. Loki agrees to give The Other the Tesseract (aka Cosmic Cube) seen in Captain America in return for an army to conquer Earth. We humans arenโ€™t too big on that and we fight back as usual, this time relying on The Avengers, a hodge podge team of superheroes led by Nick Fury and SHIELD, a super secret agency. Loki uses that brilliantly deceptive tongue of his to divide our heroes before they see the big picture and come together to save mankind and Manahattan (with the help of some real life Army Reservists by the by).

Now, Iโ€™m going to be nitpicky for just a second and point out a few things that differ from the comics. Nick Fury/SHIELD did not assemble The Avengers. We donโ€™t get to see Avengers founding members Ant-Man (Henry Pym) and Wasp (Janet van Dyne). Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye are later additions to the team. The Chitauri are a race of history-meddling shapeshifters and we never really see their true form. This shapeshifting ability was apparently tossed for the movie.

And I am completely OK with all of those changes.

Avengers assemble!

Iron Man (Tony Stark):

Tony (Robert Downey Jr) got most of the best lines in the film.ย  His nicknames for the other heroes were HI-larious.ย  The ones that immediately come to mind are Legolas (Hawkeye) and Point Break (Thor) but there were so many others that I canโ€™t think of off the top of my head. He had a great bromance going on with Bruce Banner and I was happy to see the two wunderkinds drive off together at the end of the film. I thought it was interesting that they chose to completely ignore Rhodey (War Machine) since he would probably only skip this fight if he were trapped in an underground bunker somewhere, but I canโ€™t say that Iโ€™m surprised.ย  There was already so much going on and you can only say โ€œwe sent them halfway around the world for their own safetyโ€ so many times. They did feature Pepper Potts quite prominently though. Iโ€™m not a big Gwyneth Paltrow fan but I do enjoy her as Pepper so that was fine. Anyone else notice that Tony wore a Black Sabbath t-shirt for a large chunk of the film? A nice little reference to their song โ€œIron Manโ€ that I found amusing.

Hulk (Bruce Banner):

Mark Ruffalo is officially my favorite Bruce Banner. He was positively adorkable. His shy, soft-spoken good naturedness (is that even a word?) was so appealing that I never want to see anyone else play him ever again.ย  It was a very good call to model Hulk after Ruffalo using the same technology used for Avatar as opposed to having him be pure CGI. I read ย that Hulk was a combination of Ruffalo and a male stripper from Long Island which is awesome. At the end of The Incredible Hulk it seemed like Bruce was working on controlling his alter ego. It appears that he succeeded. Much like his evolution in the comics, we see Hulk being uncontrollable when heโ€™s caught off guard and in control when itโ€™s his choice to change. Iโ€™m not surprised that we didnโ€™t see Betty Ross but I was expecting some kind of reference to General Ross, especially after watching the Agent Coulson one-shot โ€œThe Consultant.โ€ Hulk had so many great moments in this film but my favorite is probably when he picked up Loki and started smashing him back and forth before calling him a โ€œpuny god.โ€ Harry Dean Stanton had a funny little cameo as a security guard that witnesses Hulkโ€™s plummet to Earth and solemnly informs Bruce that he has โ€œa condition.โ€

Thor (Thor):

How they planned on getting Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to Earth after the destruction of the Bifrรถst was something I was very interested to see. Loki comments that it must have taken a lot of dark magic on Odinโ€™s part to make it happen. Iโ€™m looking forward to seeing the repercussions of that in Thor 2. Now that the cosmic cube resides in Asgard, Thor should be able to return to Earth and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) at will until the Bifrรถst can be remade. Jane was one of those โ€œwe sent her far, far awayโ€ quickies and thatโ€™s too bad. I would have liked to have seen her go up against flying monkey Erik and her (sure to be hilarious) reaction to Loki in all his Asgardian finery. This ordeal was so much more personal for Thor.ย  Within a very short time he lost his kingship, was betrayed by his brother, changed his whole mentality, fell in love, lost his brother, and had to save Midgard. The fact that he has an โ€œonly I can be mad at and deal with my brotherโ€ attitude in the beginning is certainly understandable. And his comment about Loki being adopted made me LOL. It was fun to see Thor duke it out with Hulk. Itโ€™s made clear in the movie that heโ€™s one of the few individuals who CAN be a match for Hulk. Go figure that it would take a god. The best part; however, was the conclusion of that fight. Having been interrupted by a fighter jet distraction the first time around, Hulk took the opportunity of punching Thor across Grand Central after they worked together to bring down a Chitauri mega monster. Brilliant.

Captain America (Steve Rogers):

Poor Cap. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is such a smart and instinctive guy but the fact that heโ€™s a fish out of water and placed next to two of the worldโ€™s foremost geniuses, makes him seem a bit dense (his excitement at understanding the flying monkey reference was endearingly adorable). But his leadership skills and strategic ability are never questioned by his fellow heroes once the fighting begins. This is a guy whose entire world has been flipped upside down and yet he doesnโ€™t even flinch. People need saving and by God, heโ€™s going to save them. This includes a cute blonde waitress (Ashley Johnson). Anyone else find it interesting that her nametag said โ€œBethโ€ which is a nickname for Elizabeth? You know what else is a nickname for Elizabeth? Betsy. As in Betsy Ross aka Golden Girl, Capโ€™s onetime partner and girlfriend. I canโ€™t help but wonder if that is a coincidence. Considering itโ€™s Joss Whedon, Iโ€™m thinking it had to be intentional.

Black Widow (Natsha Romanoff) / Hawkeye (Clint Barton):

I seriously want to see more of the Hawkeye/Black Widow relationship.ย  I think they should give the two of them their own Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. There is plenty of history (and sexual tension) between the two of them to make it interesting and entertaining. I donโ€™t know what it is about Jeremy Renner, but there is something very appealing about him. Heโ€™s not your stereotypically handsome action star but I kinda wanna jump his bones anyways. I think Iโ€™ll add him to the runners up list. Iโ€™ve always been told that Scarlettย Johansson is a bit of a bee-yatch but Iโ€™ve seen her perform on Broadway (in Arthur Millerโ€™s A View from the Bridge) and she is a fantastic actress. I also think sheโ€™s one of the sexiest actressesย working today (Geek Outlaw thinks so too). She certainly holds her own with the boys in this movie. Considering Black Widow and Hawkeye are ordinary humans (albeit with extraordinary skill sets), you have to suspend belief a bit when watching them survive falls and body slams that would normally kill a person instantly but barely leave a scratch on them. And yet, I didnโ€™t care about the improbability of it all. The awesomeness outweighed the practicality for me.

SHIELD:

Samuel L. Jackson is having way too much fun playing Nick Fury, creator and director of SHIELD (sorry, I donโ€™t like putting periods between the letters, I think it looks weird) and Iโ€™m having way too much fun watching him. Itโ€™s nice to see him have more to do than scold Tony or show up in the end credits. Nick Fury started SHIELD after WWII (he mentions his friend Howard Stark as a fellow founding member during Iron Man 2) so if youโ€™re not a reader of the comics you might be wondering why he looks 45 years old. They donโ€™t explain it in any of the movies but his aging has been slowed by the Infinity Formula. Just so you know.

I started getting nervous when they got personal with Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) at the beginning of the movie. That never bodes well for someone as cryptic as him. My psychic movie skills kicked in and I figured out what was going to happen to him pretty quickly. Iโ€™m in mourning. Even though his character was manufactured purely for the screen and doesnโ€™t appear in the comics, Iโ€™m going to miss not seeing him weave in and out of the various individual films. If you havenโ€™t seen it, watch โ€œA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thorโ€™s Hammer.โ€ Itโ€™s Agent Coulson showing off more than his wit for once. RIP Phil.

Had Joss Whedonโ€™s Wonder Woman flick taken off, Cobie Smulders would most likely have been cast as Diana. But that project was shelved and instead she won the role of Agent Maria Hill (beating out Firefly alum Morena Baccarin). Boy, is she a looker. Wow. She also stars on How I Met Your Mother with Alexis Denisofโ€™s wife and Whedon regular, Alyson Hannigan. Cobie wasnโ€™t given a trainer for the movie so she hired one herself to teach her how to act like an agent. I like a girl who does her homework.

The 12-person SHIELD Council should be more in shadow, we shouldn’t be able to see their faces. No one knows who they are, not Nick Fury, not even each other. If we can see their faces, we can use facial recognition software to find out who they are. But thatโ€™s me being nitpicky.

The guy on the bridge playing Galaga? Classic.

The Helicarrier is a character in its own right and plays a huge part in the film. It exists because a mobile headquarters is much more difficult for an evil organization *coughHYDRAcough* to find and destroy and protects any potential host nations from being a target. They took it one step further in the movie and gave it cloaking technology which was totally badass and a nice little treat for this Trekkie.

Loki:

Iโ€™m very quickly becoming a huge fan of Tom Hiddleston. I had never seen him before Thor but heโ€™s perfection as Loki. And this is coming from someone whose way into anything related to Norse mythology. In the comics Loki is the first villain The Avengers go up against so I was happy to see that they kept that. It would have been much easier to pick a different villain and avoid the whole magic vs. science conundrum. The various directors, producers, writers, Marvel Execs, etc. did an excellent job of making the magic scientific and the science magical so it didnโ€™t feel forced and it made sense to the laymen. They get an A+ for teamwork.

Anyone who leaves the movie theatre before a Marvel movieโ€™s end credits are over is an idiot. Thereโ€™s always some little nugget of awesomesauce just waiting to delight our senses. In this case we got two of them.ย  The first one shows The Other talking to a mysterious master about the fact that humans are not to be trifled with.ย  They donโ€™t say who this master is but Iโ€™m thinking its Thanos. If anyone has another theory Iโ€™d like to hear it but Iโ€™d bet money that Iโ€™m right. The second one has our heroes sitting around eating shawarma just after the battle while the employees clean up debris in the background. No one speaks (although Bruce does start chuckling) and itโ€™s hilarious.

Iโ€™m a massive Whedonite so Iโ€™m probably totally biased but I have to give Joss Whedon mad props for this movie. Itโ€™ll probably go down as one of my top 5 favorite movies ever and a lot of that is due to him.ย  He rewrote the script and had a vision that wove together four different franchises into one seamless and elegant package.ย  The combination of action, drama and humor is classic Joss. I think that one of the other directors would have made an excellent film as well but Joss made it magical and I hope they are smart enough to keep him as the director of all future Avenger films.

I hope so, Joss. I hope so.

“These people shouldn’t be in the same room let alone on the same teamโ€”and that is the definition of family” โ€“ Joss Whedon

5 out of 5 Sci-Fives!


Comments

  1. What do u think about Thanos being beihind it all? And did the restraunt scene at the end make u laugh.

    1. I think I can’t wait to see how they incorporate him into the sequel! I totally laughed ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. I have to agree that the movie was incredibly epic, and definitely deserves every penny of the $207million + it earned this weekend, and I’m proud to say I contributed to that amount twice as well, first at the midnight IMAX and then again on Sunday afternoon in 2D.

    1. Likewise…or should I say Lokiwise? LOL, sorry, I love bad puns ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. Nothing wrong with bad puns ๐Ÿ˜‰

  3. Dalmarus Avatar
    Dalmarus

    As a ummm… probably disturbingly fanatic when it comes to Marvel’s epic space comics, that’s definitely Thanos. During the discussion right before you see his face in which they mention “is to court Death” (he’s Death’s consort), you see his hand lift from the throne he travels the universe in. And let me say, when I saw him, I was completely shocked… I never in a million years thought to see The Infinity Gauntlet story done on the big screen, but with that teaser, we just might! ^_^

    1. It would be pretty frakking epic!

  4. A great review! I would add that one of my favorite lines / set ups was Banner’s response and quick change into the Hulk: “Now you know my secret: I’m always angry.”

    1. That was so badass. I had the hugest grin plastered on my face when he said that and smashed the space worm.

  5. Mama Jedi Avatar
    Mama Jedi

    Love, love, love this movie and I really want to see it again. I hope Joss Whedon was paid handsomely because he deserves it. Every minute of this film is Great!!! I definitely want to see more Marvel movies of this quality. A new high standard of quality has been set and lo be the superhero/fantasy film makers who don’t see that they have to really step it up now.

    1. Let’s go see it in 3D tomorrow lol

  6. Great review HNG! It was an honor seeing the movie with you, and had a blast during our Marvel Movie Marathon! I definitely think you should see it for a 3rd time in 3D… I’m also tempted myself.

    My review will be up on http://www.GeekOutlaw.com soon… hopefully no later than tomorrow!

    1. Sci-five NBFF!

  7. Jimbo Goheen Avatar
    Jimbo Goheen

    Joss wove elements from the 616 universe (“normal” continuity), the Ultimate line AND the solo films to create a perfect EPIC. A LOT of the film followed elements from the Ultimate comics: S.H.I.E.L.D. creating the “Avengers”, the Chitauri aliens (i.e., the Skrulls, for all you folks who stayed until after the credits!), while using the “Maria Hill” character from the 616 universe. This was my first 3D film and the effects were SPECTACULAR! Being a fan for well over 30 years, I can honestly say that this film was WORTH WAITING FOR! ‘Gotta see it in Dbox now!
    Only complaint? No one uttered the words: “Avengers Assemble!”- You’re welcome to edit that out!-

    1. Bad Mitch Avatar
      Bad Mitch

      I waited the whole thing out to here the battle cry, and I was amazed it wasn’t there. I can’t see Whedon intentionally leaving it out, I bet it makes the Director’s Cut dvd.

      But I hate to burst your bubble but the giant purple guy in the credits wasn’t a skrull, that was Thanos of Titan.

  8. I finally got to see this today after pretty much shutting off my computer and my friends for the whole weekend. I did not want to see or hear anything related to the movie until I watched it. 3D is worth it.It was an AWESOME movie

    Like you I don’t go watch most of the 3d movies, because if it wasn’t produced that way it wasn’t meant to be watched that way.

    1. Several peeps have said the 3D was good. I’m sold. I’m going for a 3rd time to see it in 3D lol

  9. Yes 5 outta 5 sci-fis! I gave it my max rating too… this movie is beyond awesome!

    I think that godfather alien dude in the credits is truly Thanos… can’t be Galactus…

    1. Yeah, I’m convinced it’s Thanos. Everyone else seems to agree as well.

  10. Nathan Avatar
    Nathan

    Awesome movie review Tracy (and Geek Outlaw too). I am also a huge Joss fan from the days of Buffy. I have really enjoyed the individual character movies leading up to the Avengers and I was concerned that ultimately the Avengers would be a let down. I am beyond words happy that not only did it live up to the franchise but far exceeded my expectations. I am 99.99% certain that the character in the “first” end scene is Thanos. The main element that I was leery of was the loss of continuity between films with the loss of Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, but I fully agree Tracy that Mark R. is the best one I’ve seen so far. The little “Joss-isms” and quips in my opinion turn this from a good movie to one of the best that I’ve ever seen.

    1. Thanks! Agreed on all points!

  11. JUST came home from seeing it with My Beautiful Wife. We both loved it! We were totally geeked out!
    The Hulk’s slamming Loki around like a rag doll was a classic!

    1. And the expression on Loki’s face immediately following was hilarious lol

      1. Oh, you betcha! After watching Thor twice on DVD, and the Avengers, it seems to me Loki has had several years worth of bad days… Oh, my!

  12. Tim Wilson Avatar
    Tim Wilson

    I have to wholehearted ly agree with your review with a few additional points.
    1. Thanks for sharing what Hulk said after beating down Loki. There was too much laughter in the theater to hear it.
    2.I geeked out over Hawkeye’s bow. I was wondering how much of his special arrows we would get. In the comics he has repeatedly said he could use any shaft with the special arrowheads. I loved the bow-quiver device for switching the heads around.
    3.The 3D was okay. More importantly, the 3D trailer for Spiderman was amazing.

    1. Oh man, I know I missed SOOO many great lines because of all the laughter! The second it comes out on DVD I’m taking it home and watching it with captioning so I can catch everything. My friend Meghan is an archery buff and she majorly geeked out over Hawkeye’s bow too. I gotta admit, it kinda made me want to try archery. That, and the fact that I just watched the whole BBC series “Robin Hood” on Netflix ๐Ÿ˜‰ I haven’t tried it since I was a Girl Scout but I’ve got great aim with guns and I’m curious to see how well that translates.

      1. I’m not a great shot with a bow, nor am I a crack marksman with a firearm, but I remember something that I heard once from an archer… for a powerful bow, inside a certain range you aim BELOW the target, because the boost from the bowstring launch will cause a rise in trajectory up to a point. A quote I remember is “She pulls a hundred pound war bow, and at a hundred yards, she’s still aiming low.” (I think that was in Heinlein, I may misremember.)

  13. I went to see Avengers in IMAX 3D right off the bat at Seven Bridges in Woodridge, IL this past Sunday. An hour & 50 minutes in there was a lightning strike and the projection system crashed hard. Total dark screen. After 30 minutes someone finally came in and told us they were giving out rain checks. Since I had to work the next night, I STILL haven’t seen the rest. I was so pissed I barely kept my inner Spock on. I think I have movie Pon Farr. Arrrrrgh!

    1. Oh man, that sucks!! I had a movie shut down on me once, I can’t remember what movie it was but it wasn’t anything I was super excited about and they were able to start it up again 1/2 hour later and I was still pissed, I can only imagine how pissed I’d be if it was Avengers! Hopefully you can go back soon and see it.

      1. I had that happen to me once. (The theater is no longer there, which may be a good thing… I don’t know.) The movie was Americathon, with John Ritter, Peter Riegert, Meat Loaf, and Harvey Korman.
        I walked, I didn’t get a rain check, and I didn’t ask for my money back. I was too ill from watching that piece of dreck.

  14. Hi, just found your site recently and really dig it! Thought I’d throw my two cents in as I just got back from an Avengers screening a few hours ago. GREAT flick.

    Although I do think the possibility exists that Agent Coulson isn’t dead. We only hear Fury tell everyone he’s “down”, and that the medics “called it”. And we never actually SEE Coulson die. But he also says later that the team needed a “push” to motivate them. We know he’s willing to lie to achieve his goals, and lying about an agent’s death to motivate Stark and the others would be a pretty minor lie in comparison to everything else we’ve seen thus far.

    Also, knowing that Whedon directed this, I almost expected Iron Man to get stuck in space, with the last line of the film being “Well, here I am….” lol

    BTW, Hulk vs. Loki – I haven’t laughed that hard in a theater in quite a while.

    1. I hope you’re right about Coulson! And welcome aboard, glad you like the page ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. Chris Avatar
        Chris

        Near the beginning Stark pretends to Coulson that he is speaking to a LMD (Life Model Decoy). It could have been a Coulson LMD that got “killed” by Loki…..

    2. I could swear I remember the Hulk pounding Loki and calling him a “puny god” (no, I haven’t seen the rest yet) i. One of the 70’s comic books, but I haven’t had them unboxed to read since the 70’s. That’s right, I have a box with about 400 comics from the early 70’s in it tucked away. I read the hell out of these when i was about 5 until I was about 17.

      BTW, HNG, I have been following you on FB for a few months, just came to the blog for the first time this week. You’re adorable! Where were girls lije you when I was a teen?? Oh, that’s right, they didn’t exist…anyway, LL&P, HNG!

  15. lol you really never are bored, are you? ๐Ÿ˜‰

  16. Just found your review…I know, a bit after the fact. Very thorough and very to the point. If I hadn’t already seen (and loved it), I would have made a point to, just from your review. Thanks! Looking forward to the DVD release big time!

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