Sorry again for not having a comic on Monday folks. But we’re starting a new storyline, so that’s gotta count for something right?
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So, yeah, I had original planned to write up this review last week, but as I previously mentioned I ended up having a uber-busy week. Three jobs can be a bit of a pain in the ass, but it pays the bills, right?
Anyways, down to business.
On Thursday/Friday (May 2nd/3rd), one of the most anticipated movies of the year… hell of the decade opened in theaters. Marvel Comics’ The Avengers!
And oh… my… GODS! (One ain’t enough here people)
To say it was a great movie, would be quite possibly the biggest understatement I could make right now. This was the type of Comic Book movie that not only have I, but most comic fans have been waiting for, all our lives. Action, comedy, rich characters, and a mythology that remained true to the source material, but also gave us something entirely new… I barely know where to even begin.
Directed by Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly fame), the film is essentially your basic “Bad Guys wants to take over the World” premise, in which the Norse God of Trickery, Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston), has gained control of the Cosmic Cube (AKA Tesseract), an ancient artifact of power, which he intends to summon a powerful army that will over take the Earth. In order to combat this great evil, Nick Fury (Played by Samuel L. Jackson) the super-spy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., decided to resurrect a failed program known as the “Avenger Imitative”.
This program’s intent is to assemble a group of the world’s greatest heroes to combat the threat of Loki and his army. Those selected for the team are Captain Steve Rogers AKA Captain America (played by Chris Evans), the Star-Spangled Super-Solider of World War II. Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Played , a Genius playboy with highly advanced combat armor. Bruce Banners (played by Mark Ruffalo), a scientist who after a failed science experiment, now transforms into the monstrous embodiment of rage, the Hulk. Former Soviet Spy and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff, codenamed Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), and her partner, expert assassin and archer, Clint Barton, codenamed Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). And finally, Loki’s adopted big brother, Thor, the Norse God of Thunder (played by Chris Hemsworth).
Together the Avengers try to save the world… assuming they don’t kill each other first.
Now if you read my previous post, then you’ll know where I, as a comic book nerd, stand in regards to the Avengers. I didn’t really grow up with them, and I wasn’t really a big fan of them, instead being more of an X-Men or DC Comics fanboy instead. That being said, I was aware of them, I did occasionally read books with the Avengers in them, and I did appreciate the importance they had for not only Marvel Comics, but the concept of Comics as a whole.
That being said, when Marvel began work on Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America, I was excited. And scared. After all, no one had ever attempted to make a franchise this big from the start. This was not just one character in a stand-alone movie. This was half-a-dozen characters all leading up to one massively big movie. Who wouldn’t be nervous? There was a lot of openings to mess up.
Now, without going into details about the previous movies (as those are each articles in themselves), Marvel Movies have had their hits and misses. While none of them were terrible, some were without a doubt better than others. My personal favorites from best to worst: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man 2. Still, regardless of whether the movies were perfect films, they were all fun, and they were all building up to something.
And that something was LEGEN-
Wait for it.
-Dary!
First the plot: Yes, the film has a very basic story. In fact, its possibly one of the most basic plots you can imagine. Bad guy wants to take over the world, good guys want to stop him. But just because the premise is simple, doesn’t mean it can’t developed and complex. Writer and Direct Joss Whedon, has for years been a God to the nerd culture. His work on Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, and even Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along, has developed him quite the following of fans over the years. This is to say nothing of his work in comics, such as his stint on Astonishing X-Men a few years back. He’s a writer/director that fans have come to love, and generally trust. And with good reason.
The idea of the Avengers as a whole is a daunting one. Unlike the X-Men, who are generally all united with one purpose in their films, the Avengers are comprised of a group of solo-heroes. They aren’t generally a team and they don’t have the same basic premise to their origins. We have two assassins, a technical genius, a Norse God, a super-solider and a green ape-like monster. None of these things are quite like the others.
But Whedon, who has always had a knack at writer for large groups of misfits, makes it work. He manages to integrate each of these different characters into the plot and into each others lives seamlessly. You never for a minute go “how can this work with that”. You not only accept it, but love every second it. The characters, who nearly all have been developed in their solo-movies, do not feel altered or unfairly presented, but instead come off as if they truly just walked on from the previous film.
Furthermore, Whedon manages to give every character their moment to shine. Many will recall that in the X-Men films Xavier and Wolverine was the central characters with Cyclops, Storm and Jean playing supporting roles. Whedon does not allow that to be the case here. Each character stands out, with no one, not even minor character like S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Phil Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) and Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders) fade into the background. They all stand out in their own way, making the audience feel invested in everyone’s story.
In terms of performances, I cannot find a single bad one. From Downey Jr. to Evans, each actor gives a performance they can be proud of. Evans’ Captain America manages to retain his 1940′s idealism, while still standing out as a strong leader. Downey Jr. meanwhile continues to play Iron Man as if the character was created for him. Hemsworth’s Thor continues to draw in his audience with his swagger and cocky grin. Meanwhile Johansson and Renner’s Black Canary and Hawkeye, both of who were minor roles in previous films, leap out into the forefront with such an amazing connection that the audience can’t help but sympathize with. And as always Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury is a badass. ’nuff said.
The most surprising performance however has to be Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk. Many were uncertain about him taking over the role, which was previously played by Edward Norton, stating a love for the previous actor or the belief that Ruffalo just didn’t have what it took.
How wrong they were.
Ruffalo’s Banner, while still the unhappy and self-loathing character who fears what he is, doesn’t come off as one note, as so many previous versions. For the first time in my memory, I saw a Bruce Banner that matched his comic counter-part. Yes, he hates the kind of creature he’s become, but he still pushing forward. He has moments of humor, and anger, and confusion and hope. Meanwhile his Hulk (voiced by Lou Ferrigno of the original TV show) is also portrayed better than before. In previous movies, he was portrayed as a confused mindless animal who attacked when provoked. In Whedon’s Avengers however, Hulk is given a personality. He can be a hero, a monster, a jerk, and even funny. (Oh man, can he be funny). There are times where he just steals the entire show.
In terms of bad guys, the primary villain is of course Loki. Tom Hiddleston, who turned in a great performance with Loki in Thor, exceeds in Avengers. Here, he truly get the opportunity to flex his “villain” muscle, playing a devious and subtle villain who’s every actions are part of a greater scheme, that nearly tears apart the team.
Moving onto special effect and action, this film has it all. Unlike many of the previous Marvel films, there is never a point where the climax doesn’t feel epic. The army that invades Earth is both terrifying and creative, and the fight scenes that make up the last 3rd of the movie are frankly some of the best I have seen since Lord of the Rings.
All in all, this movie is brilliant. I don’t recall the last time I saw a film that I felt this excited about. I highly recommend that people see, and I more so recommend to see it twice.
Oh and FYI: Stay until ALL the credits are done. Its well worth it. 
Before anyone says anything in regards to Monday’s Comic: no, I don’t hate Australia.
In fact, I’ve always wanted to go there, for numerous reasons. The culture, the wildlife, the landscapes, the cities and of course the people! Not to mention, Aussies have quite frankly my favorite Accents ever!
However, despite my love for Australia and its people, I won’t deny a bit of annoyance at the fact Australia was lucky enough to get the Avengers Movie, a whole week before the United States did. This annoyance was exasperated by a close friend of mine in Australia who saw the movie last week and has since then taken great evil pleasure in lording that fact over me.
Now in regards to the Avengers movie itself: I was never a big fan of the Avengers growing up. When it came to Marvel Comics, I was an X-Men fan all the way. I think that came mostly from the fact that there was a hit X-Men cartoon at the time and also the X-Men felt more accessible during the 90′s as they primarily had only two books (a three sub-team books), which made learning about the characters and story really easy (unlike today). Most if not all the X-Men characters were created in and for the X-Men comics, so their stories were easy to understand. Not to mention, I related a great deal to the characters in the X-Men books.
The Avengers meanwhile were a mixtures of countless heroes (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Scarlett Witch, Black Panther, etc…), most of who had their own solo-books ALONG with the main team book. As a kid, I kind found it hard to enjoy the Avengers because of the fact it was harder to keep up on everyone’s storylines.
Now that being said: I’m SUPER excited about the Avengers Movie. Mostly because Marvel has manged to do what no other comic-movie franchise has been able to do. And that’s create a fully-realized comic book mythology in a cinematic format. Every other comic movie made has been self-contained. This is the first time someone has taken the individual characters of multiple comics, and then combine them all into a proper super-team-up film. Its a massive project that taken about 10 years to develop; one character at a time.
Incredible Hulk, Iron Man (1 & 2), Thor and Captain America.
Now some movies were weaker or stronger than others, the fact is they succeed developing a rich universe for both fan-boy and newbie to enjoy.
Add to the fact Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angle, Firefly, Dollhouse and Doctor Horrible fame was the writer and director… My fanboy cup runneth over.
I’m not sure if its going to be everything I hope it will be, but regardless I’m excited.
A.