posted
I'm surprised there hasn't been more talk about secret scene number one (see the spoiler box below for my opinion on it.)
quote:Originally posted by Fanfic Lady: I thought it was pretty decent.
Not perfect, but good.
Yeah, some of the jokes fell flat and the aliens were pretty much cyphers (that's not a spoiler -- they appear at the very beginning), and Jeremy Renner lacks the charisma necessary for Hawkeye, but other than that, thumbs up all over.
I've seen reviews complaining that it takes too long to get going. I have no problem with the pace picking up slowly and the set pieces each topping the one before. Straight-ahead non-stop popcorn thrills give me a headache.
I know Scarlett Johansson is not everybody's idea of Natasha, but I think she was brilliant -- witty, classy, and sharp. The boys, except for the aformentioned Renner, were all fine, especially Downey and Ruffalo. And thank God we got Boy Scout Cap instead of Ultimate Cap.
I think Whedon did the very best he could given the tall order he was given. The sky's the limit from this point on, although I had a mixed reaction to the final "stinger" scene...
Click Here For A SpoilerThanos? Please, please, please, God, let the sequel be based on Avengers Annual # 7 and not the Infinity Fricking Gauntlet!
posted
So I got a chance to sneak off from work today and go see it (three whole hours of it!). I have to say I really loved it! It was well done on a multitude of levels where I could enjoy it as an adult, and yet it had me totally feeling like a kid again at different places.
I actually thought Whedon paced the film pretty perfectly like Fanfie said, and there was a pretty great balance of character / subtle moments with all-out action to the superhero-ey-ist max. There was also a very great balance of the Avengers themselves with the ground-level characters, and with Loki too.
The acting was absolutely fantastic and really made the whole thing for me. While everyone was pretty great, some real A+’s have to go to:
- Mark Ruffalo, giving probably the best Bruce Banner performance of all time. He basically revitalized the Hulk for me, even more than how well done the Hulk himself was. Which, by the way, he was—the Hulk was the breakout star of the show.
- Scarlet Johansson was actually pretty damn fantastic. Her role was not only strong but filled with subtleties. She made Natasha stand shoulder to shoulder with the big guns, yet her character was never so over the top that she was unrelatable.
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki was also fantastic. He’s a bit overshadowed by the rest of the cast, but its too his credit that ever scene he was in worked for me. If Loki was played by a bad actor, the movie would have bombed. The opposite happened here.
- Robert Downey Jr. continues to be my favorite actor in a superhero role. He’s just fantastic. He’s so good, in fact, that I could watch him eat food all day.
- And Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson was pretty damn terrific! He really was fantastic here, and the character went from being ‘a really awesome kind of favorite’ to a favorite. Plus…fyi big spoiler so don’t ruin it for yourself…
Click Here For A SpoilerI was shocked when he died, even though I should have seen it coming! That could have been a huge cliché but both he and Joss Whedon made it work. Tremendous scene. I wonder how many 9 year olds mourned?
Meanwhile, everyone else was also pretty good. Cap & Thor were also great, Fury was better than I expected to be honest, and Cobie Smoulders (my girl from How I Met Your Mother) is so incredibly beautiful that whenever she appears on screen my heart almost bursts out of my chest. Stellan Skarsgaard was also great in his little role.
My one casting / acting issue would be that we didn’t really get enough Hawkeye scenes to let Jeremy Renner show his stuff. I’m not all that familiar with the actor but I felt he was perhaps a bit limited in his usage here.
I loved the embracement of continuity from the past films as well—referencing Banner becoming the Hulk because they were trying to replicate the super-soldier serum; Cap’s history with the cosmic cube; Jane Foster being protected. And I really loved that Gwenneth Paltrow kindly took the time to play a solid cameo during two parts. That suddenly makes me really like her.
Plus, the movie was loaded with little easter egg subtleties that referenced both the films and the comics. A great one is that when Cap & Iron Man are arguing, and Cap tells Tony that he’s always fighting for no one but himself, Tony throws back in his face that he’s just a science experiment who only gets his heroism “from a bottle”. Fantastic nod to “Demon in a Bottle!” It actually took me a few seconds to realize that! I have a feeling there are a bunch of those moments I’ll get on the second viewing.
I really thought Whedon did a good job. And I’m not really the biggest Whedon fan. But his humor added a nice element to the movie that let viewers know to sit back and enjoy the show. Even Cap had funny moments! He portrayed the Hulk so well that I desperately want a Joss Whedon directed, Mark Ruffalo acted Hulk movie!
As for two after credits scenes:
Click Here For A SpoilerThanos! Yes! I totally did not see that coming!
Click Here For A SpoilerThe second scene was hilarious! Funny and brilliantly done. And yet, without getting too over the top about it—it was so Marvel. Heroes doing regular things, feeling regular exhaustion.
So let’s summarize: Fun. Exciting. Well-acted. Well-directed. Makes me feel like a kid but pleases me as an adult. Pretty damn great if you ask me.
Here’s hoping the next one has Hank & Jan!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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I'd be interested in seeing your thoughts on how they could possibly make Hank & Jan work without falling into the obvious traps; I assume you've read the discussion on that very subject between Set and myself on Page 1 of this thread.
posted
Actually, after thinking about it a bit I think the solution is pretty simple. Namely, keep it simple. The way to approach them is to reflect how they were in their earliest years without getting into all the subsequent ridiculous nonsense that followed them. This is exactly the approach they took with Iron Man in the first film: almost half the movie was based on his 12 page origin; it worked because they kept it simple and stuck to the basics about what made them great.
I'd say with Hank & Jan they should resist the obvious cliches of the bickering yet lovable couple, which has always been a reflection of bad writing. On the more extreme side, forget the abusive shit all together, leaving it for poor writers (and asshole writers with no originality).
I'd say open with the idea of a funny, adventuring partnership that is kind of becoming a couple and therefore you can't help but love: Ant-Man and the Wasp.
As the movie goes on, Hank has his doubts about proving himself, and in the second act, despite Tony & Banner assuring him it's unnecessary, he dabbles with his powers to become Giant Man. It doesn't need to be harped, and can be seen as an awesome development, yet subtly implies the change comes from a bad place. At movies end, Hank has his big moment where he wins his battle by being intelligent and clever--that strength & power are good, but only a shallow thing compared to how you use them. Hank emerges, a competent hero whose self-confidence is firm.
Meanwhile, Janet is the quintessential flighty, wealthy fashionista with a sense of humor, though when the going gets tough we see the real her: smart, courageous and capable. Hank even chastises her for not taking things seriously when she tells him midway through that he doesn't need to enhance his powers. Perhaps Natasha isn't too sure of her because she doesn't take her seriously (and she flirts with Tony, Thor and Cap, the last becoming uncomfortable). But while she is part comedy relief in the beginning, by the films end her arc is completed by showing just how serious she can be when the chips are down--perhaps even saving the day (but at the least showing she is not only smart & brave but a true leader).
Hank & Jan both succeed on their own but lend each other the support to do it. In the end, a nice romantic kiss moment would be quite welcome.
They'd each work best with all the others on screen. The Wasp proving her mettle to Thor and Cap just works for me. Hank thinking up a solution that Tony hadn't considered does too.
And I want Tony to call Hank 'high pockets'.
I heard years ago talk of Eva Longoria and Nathan Fillian in the roles. That would actually have really worked for me.
(You always get me to think out long posts--I love it!)
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I wont say who bought the big one, but I do have to wonder if it was a LMD, since they carefully mentioned it in the movie for no apparent reason.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
Set
There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met.
posted
Re-introducing Hank and Jan for the modern day, I'd at least borrow from Ultimate Jan, that she's got powers innately, not merely as a result of being tinkered on by Hank. (I'm not sure if they can use the word 'mutant,' because of Fox owning the X-Men movie rights, 'though.)
Jan's father could end up hiring grad-student-from-hell Pym to come up with a solution for his daughters tendency to zap people she touches (more elegant than wearing a rubber suit). Pym, having just finished PHDs in entomology, computer networking and particle physics, is intrigued by the offer of having his student loans paid off and Janet's unique condition. And so they meet, and being Pym, his 'cure' involves Pym particles (allowing her to shunt excess energy to wherever the excess mass goes when they shrink), tying their 'origins' together.
.
I think the coolest thing about Ruffalo's Banner is that he was more like the Bill Bixby Banner, a bit jaded with his situation, while the movie Banners have been a bit closer to their origin, and been much less in ownership of their 'condition.' (Son, you got a condition...) I would *not* have liked Banner being portrayed as meek or easily cowed or afraid of 'the Other Guy,' and this interpretation of Banner was neat in that he seemed very aware of how close he was to being a 'person of mass destruction.' Even in the room with Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and surrounded by SHIELD agents, Banner never looked intimidated, and even came across as intimidating, himself.
I like that Whedon used as many characters as he did. Pepper Potts wasn't needed in this movie, and yet her presence was a welcome sight.
I read an interview with the director after Captain America, and he mentioned that the script called for Cap to crack some jokes, but that Chris Evans objected, saying that they were out of character, and that somebody else should crack the jokes while Cap stayed 'the straight man.' When I initially heard how funny this movie was going to be, I was afraid that Cap would be out of character, to 'fit in' with a more Iron Man level of quippyness. (Joss is known for his characters witty banter, after all!) I was happy to see that this was not the case. Cap remained pretty serious, and I'm glad that the 'most be funny because it worked in Iron Man!' mandate didn't get spread out to mangle the characterization of everyone else.
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
Just got back with the family from seeing this.
Joss Whedon did a great job with this.
Thor coming back to Earth was touched on in an almost throwaway line from Loki.
Mark Ruffalo was brilliant as Banner. Just the right amounts of everything to make his 'revelation' believable. The Hulk was unbelievably fun in this movie. I do really hope they give him a chance at a solo shot with some real villains to smash. A re-imagined U-Foes could be fun...Maybe a Wrecking Crew.
The rest of the cast was great. RDJ continues to chew through any scene that he is in. I really cannot ever see another actor taking over for him eventually.
Like the reveal in the credits as to who was pulling the strings.
Loved the final scene as well. Too funny. Glad they decided to include it.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Re: Hank & Jan, there was a scene I had planned for my now-discounted "Stern-verse" Avengers stories where a super-powerful villain has Hawkeye cornered, and Hank as Giant-Man sneaks up behind the villain and does essentially what you-know-who did to you-know-who-else in one of the most memorable scenes of the Avengers movie (the scene Set referred to earlier in this thread as the gorilla and the luggage scene.)
posted
I think Dane should be introduced as a SHIELD Agent (ala Widow and Hawkeye). Master of all things knife and sword related.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I'd rather see Dane with an origin more faithful to his comics one. He could still work for SHIELD, but as a timid scientist turned reluctant swashbuckler.
posted
I finally saw it last night, and I loved it. My favorite line was Thor's sheepish, "He's adopted."
Only disappointment: I expected that the serpentine thing that was shown in the trailer would be the Midgard Serpent. Turned out it was just one of the alien invader ships.
-------------------- Chaim Mattis Keller ckeller@nyc.rr.com Legion-Reference-File Lad
From: New York, NY, USA | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
I skipped the trailers, so I was taken completely by surprise by the serpent-ships. Weirdly enough, they reminded me of Marrina's true form from the opening issues of the Walt Simonson run of the Avengers comic -- an impressive visual to be sure, thanks to John Buscema, but far from one of the high points of nearly 50 years of Avengers mythos.
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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