. . . And there came a movie, a movie unlike any other, a
movie that was so over hyped that no single reviewer could critique it
alone. After four years, in the waiting
The Avengers (aka Avengers Assemble internationally) has hit theaters to
critical praise and record setting financial success. Of course the ScreenFix crew was there
opening weekend to see the film and give our impressions. ScreenFix Assemble!
Ryan: I think the thing that impressed me the most about The
Avengers is that it truly is a balanced superhero movie. All six members of the team get pretty much
equal screen time, equal number of quippy one-liners, and equal number of
awesome superheroic feats. Each member
of the team feels like they have a role and no one feels unimportant to the
team or tacked on to boost the team roster.
I also thought that the plot was very simple. The entire thing can be quickly summed up
with a synopsis of “Loki attacks earth.
Avengers get over their differences and save the day.” I am not sure a movie with so many characters
could have carried a more complex plot without alienating the non-comic reading
fans, but I would like to see a sequel delve a little bit deeper into the lore
of the Marvel Universe. If the scene at
the end of the movie is any indication, then
that is exactly what we can expect in the inevitable sequel.
Brian: As someone who wisecracked through “Thor” and didn’t
even see “Captain America” or “The Incredible Hulk,” my expectations for
“Avengers” fluctuated with the temperature in the theater as we waited for the
premiere. I was not surprised that the
film impressed me, even if I had forgotten it was directed by Joss Whedon until
the entire audience roared his name in outrage during the climax of the second
act (never mind that I also didn’t know that he wrote the screenplay until the
credits rolled). Though it may seem
redundant, I have to reiterate Ryan’s point that the film’s greatest strength
was its successful use of an ensemble of protagonists. It allowed for crowd-pleasing “what if”
battles between the good guys, which dovetail nicely with the team-building
conflicts that are at least as central to the plot as the imminent apocalypse. If I may offer a criticism, however, without
receiving the Internet equivalent of tar-and-feathering: for a film that
emphasizes an ensemble of heroes, why were we facing such an incongruous,
non-ensemble of villains? Not that Loki
didn’t provide a challenge of the proper scope, but wouldn’t that have been
easier to build (and made more sense) if the antagonist(s) were drawn from more
than just one of the hero backgrounds?
James: Before I dive into anything else let me just say I
really enjoyed the Avengers and if you have the chance I think you should
really go see it. Now let me get to the more nitty gritty part of my reaction.
I had a surprisingly hard time sitting down to write my thoughts about The
Avengers. It wasn't until I read the review
of Mark Ruffalo's Hulk by FILM CRIT HULK that I really came up with
something I felt was worth saying. The Avengers is a perfect bell curve of
assumed "Likeability." I mean "likeability" in a different
way than Film Crit Hulk because perhaps what I am reaching for is something
more like "Connectability". Captain America is the perfect example of
what I am getting at. For all intents and purposes a young boy who has had his
American Dream of fighting for his country fulfilled should be a character we
can all connect with on a personal level. What makes Cap special is all his gooey
humanity under his super ability. But the problem is that when a writer assumes
that a character will be liked they feel they can spend less time in the script
making us love the character and want to root for them. I will give them the
benefit of the doubt because almost all of the characters had their own origin
movies which was really the whole point of this great Avengers experiment.
Personally I would have liked to see more time spent at the
beginning having falling in love with the characters again. Don't misunderstand
me, the pointless superhero vs superhero fighting is an important part of the
genre, but it is misunderstood in The Avengers. It should be used to show the
humanity of the characters. To remind us who rather than what they are. Mark
Ruffalo comes into this film as a first time Hulk. He doesn't have a previous
film to lean back on to make us connect with his character. He has only about
as much screen time as any of the other characters but has to use it all
effectively to get us to root for him. It helped for me that this version of
the Hulk wasn't a completely mindless killing machine. For me the Hulk has
always been a character out of control of himself. I think the reason why
people connected more with this version of the Hulk over previous movies is
that although the Jekyll/Hyde character is a sympathetic one the writers did
not assume him to be. They worked to make us like him. Even though his screen
time is in the lower end of the list his is used the most efficiently. My
recommendation is first go see The Avengers for Iron Man. Robert Downy Jr. and
Jon Favreau have worked hard across two films to make us like the positively
unlikeable character of Tony Stark. Then go see it as second time and just sit
back and enjoy the "giant green rage machine" that is Mark Ruffalo's
performance as The Hulk.
Zoe: I don’t feel like writing a paragraph so here are some
bullet points on my thoughts of the movie:
- This is not Batman. It’s
not trying to be highbrow or deep; it’s trying to be fun. If you don’t
like “comic book” movies, you aren’t going to like this one. Part of the reason I liked The Avengers so much was the love
for all things comic book and Avengers that just permeated the movie, from
the catch phrases and in jokes to the “who do you think would win in a
fight” type match ups.
- While you do not need to
have seen the other movies, it will help. The Avengers is, for all intents and purposes, a multi-movie
sequel. From the get go, they are assuming you are at least familiar with
these characters. They’re given the slightest of introductions and then
boom, we’re off and running. At over two hours, character introductions
were probably sacrificed to keep it from becoming a three hour movie but a
little extra would have been nice.
- Everyone is on their A game. Seriously, the acting is
amazing. This is probably because each character is given the space to
develop. They all get their story beats and time to shine so when the
climax comes, you care about all of them and are invested in what happens.
We need more of this.
- The Avengers is proof that it won’t kill
you to hold the camera still enough to follow what’s going on during an
action scene.
- Remember that Joss Whedon wrote this movie. Prepare
your heart and bring tissues. He makes you care and then rips them away…
There
you have it, folks. If you’ve not
already done so, you owe it to yourself (or at least your inner comic book /
action geek) to check out Marvel’s The Avengers. It’s a great adventure with a great cast,
great characters, great writing, and if that isn’t enough to sway you, remember
that Chris Hemsworth has eyes and Scarlett Johansson wears leather. You’re welcome.
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