Let's just not come in tomorrow. Take a day.
I have seen The Avengers! And I really enjoyed it, though it did not hit me in the feelings the way Thor did (it is hilariously unsurprising, given my kinks, that that's my favorite of the Avengers movies to date). I think part of it was a question of expectations; I think I expected the movie to be more about them BEING a team, and less about them BECOMING a team? So all the conflict in the first half kind of threw me, and-speaking as someone who could not care less whether Iron Man or Thor would win in a fight (though I realize that a LOT of people do care a LOT about that kind of question, so I'm glad that it happened for those people)-I kind of wanted them to quit wasting time and just hug it out and save the world already. Heeee. Again, this is unsurprising, given my kinks. (And funnily enough, one of the things I've been enjoying most about these Marvel movies is how GOOD they are with the team vibe, so to have LESS team in this movie that was actually ABOUT A TEAM is kind of hilarious, though of course it makes total sense that they approached it that way.)
But it was really damn funny (I have been giggling over "he's adopted" for DAYS; there were SO MANY great lines in the movie but for some reason that one is my early favorite, Chris Hemsworth's delivery was just PRICELESS), and everyone in it-both actors and characters-was fantastic, and I loved that everyone had their own significant contributions to make, and the Bruce/Tony bonding was GLORIOUS, and Steve was dreamy and responsible and competent and Tony was snarky and competent and Natasha was SO FUCKING BADASS and competent and Thor was adorable and competent and Hawkeye was hot and tortured and competent and Nick Fury was diabolical and competent and Loki was craaaaaazy in his kind of amazing face (srsly, Tom Hiddleston has an INCREDIBLE FACE, and also his VOICE, I want him to SAY THINGS ALL THE TIME) and Bruce was mild-mannered and yet simultaneously terrifying and competent and THERE WAS A LOT OF GOOD STUFF. Also the Tony/Pepper was PERFECT and AMAZING and made me super SUPER happy, and Maria didn't make much of an impression on me besides general competence, but I loooooove Cobie Smulders (well, I love Robin Scherbatsky) so that made me really happy as well. And I am now shipping Clint/Natasha LIKE CRAZY, OMG, PARTNERS WITH HISTORY, HELLO THERE BULLETPROOF KINK. AND, for all my issues with him, Joss is still a better writer than 98% of action-movie writers out there, and this so easily could have been an absolute trainwreck, and instead it was funny, smart, cohesive, well-balanced, and generally extremely well-executed, so major props for that. (I also liked a lot of the non-superhero-related touches, like the significant number of women on the bridge of the crazy flying aircraft carrier-WHICH WAS AN AWESOME TOY BTW-or the way Steve worked with the firefighters and police in the last act, the reminder that there is an actual human element here, and that that is heroism, too.)
But in general I wanted a bit less explodey and a little more shawarma, though I realize that is not how action movies work, especially action movies with gigantic big-name ensembles. But that's what I wanted. But that's why we have fandom! Which is pretty amazing. (I also realize I am in kind of an unusual place as an audience for this movie, where I have dipped my toe into the fannish waters enough to be really invested in how awesome and hilarious this team can be as a team, but I am not immersed enough in the fandom to fill in the analytical blanks between the explosions. [Also, P.S., I love a good explosion. I just love a good character interaction MORE.] So I think that affected my response as well, and I've been poking around a bit at some meta and it's been really fascinating.) I'd also like to see the movie again now that I know what to expect-I think that might actually make a significant difference.
Also I did REALLY REALLY enjoy the ACTUAL shawarma scene, once I finally saw it, because I let myself get talked into leaving after the first credits scene (we had to meet a guy back at our house). NEVAR AGAIN. THE THING I WANTED MOST FROM THE WHOLE MOVIE, AND I MISSED IT. *facepalm* It was AMAZING, though, such that I am pretty sure that in the future I'm going to be using "shawarma" as general shorthand for casual TEAM-y shenanigans, in this canon and anywhere else. YES. "NEEDS MOAR SHAWARMA," I shall say, and there it shall be.
Also, LOL shawarma bump.
So more than anything, I'm looking forward to seeing what fandom does with this playground, now that the foundation has been put in place. Also if anyone's got any Clint/Natasha recs and/or teeeeeeam recs (any pairing or no pairing, really), let me at 'em, please! :D
This post is also at Dreamwidth! http://brynnmck.dreamwidth.org/287244.html Comments at Dreamwidth:
But it was really damn funny (I have been giggling over "he's adopted" for DAYS; there were SO MANY great lines in the movie but for some reason that one is my early favorite, Chris Hemsworth's delivery was just PRICELESS), and everyone in it-both actors and characters-was fantastic, and I loved that everyone had their own significant contributions to make, and the Bruce/Tony bonding was GLORIOUS, and Steve was dreamy and responsible and competent and Tony was snarky and competent and Natasha was SO FUCKING BADASS and competent and Thor was adorable and competent and Hawkeye was hot and tortured and competent and Nick Fury was diabolical and competent and Loki was craaaaaazy in his kind of amazing face (srsly, Tom Hiddleston has an INCREDIBLE FACE, and also his VOICE, I want him to SAY THINGS ALL THE TIME) and Bruce was mild-mannered and yet simultaneously terrifying and competent and THERE WAS A LOT OF GOOD STUFF. Also the Tony/Pepper was PERFECT and AMAZING and made me super SUPER happy, and Maria didn't make much of an impression on me besides general competence, but I loooooove Cobie Smulders (well, I love Robin Scherbatsky) so that made me really happy as well. And I am now shipping Clint/Natasha LIKE CRAZY, OMG, PARTNERS WITH HISTORY, HELLO THERE BULLETPROOF KINK. AND, for all my issues with him, Joss is still a better writer than 98% of action-movie writers out there, and this so easily could have been an absolute trainwreck, and instead it was funny, smart, cohesive, well-balanced, and generally extremely well-executed, so major props for that. (I also liked a lot of the non-superhero-related touches, like the significant number of women on the bridge of the crazy flying aircraft carrier-WHICH WAS AN AWESOME TOY BTW-or the way Steve worked with the firefighters and police in the last act, the reminder that there is an actual human element here, and that that is heroism, too.)
But in general I wanted a bit less explodey and a little more shawarma, though I realize that is not how action movies work, especially action movies with gigantic big-name ensembles. But that's what I wanted. But that's why we have fandom! Which is pretty amazing. (I also realize I am in kind of an unusual place as an audience for this movie, where I have dipped my toe into the fannish waters enough to be really invested in how awesome and hilarious this team can be as a team, but I am not immersed enough in the fandom to fill in the analytical blanks between the explosions. [Also, P.S., I love a good explosion. I just love a good character interaction MORE.] So I think that affected my response as well, and I've been poking around a bit at some meta and it's been really fascinating.) I'd also like to see the movie again now that I know what to expect-I think that might actually make a significant difference.
Also I did REALLY REALLY enjoy the ACTUAL shawarma scene, once I finally saw it, because I let myself get talked into leaving after the first credits scene (we had to meet a guy back at our house). NEVAR AGAIN. THE THING I WANTED MOST FROM THE WHOLE MOVIE, AND I MISSED IT. *facepalm* It was AMAZING, though, such that I am pretty sure that in the future I'm going to be using "shawarma" as general shorthand for casual TEAM-y shenanigans, in this canon and anywhere else. YES. "NEEDS MOAR SHAWARMA," I shall say, and there it shall be.
Also, LOL shawarma bump.
So more than anything, I'm looking forward to seeing what fandom does with this playground, now that the foundation has been put in place. Also if anyone's got any Clint/Natasha recs and/or teeeeeeam recs (any pairing or no pairing, really), let me at 'em, please! :D
This post is also at Dreamwidth! http://brynnmck.dreamwidth.org/287244.html Comments at Dreamwidth: