*insert clever one-liner here*
Saw the Avengers last night...
...and had a great time!! Was just what I hoped it would be: a big, brawling, popcorn-popping, people-stoking blockbuster with human touches peeking through. I knew it was Joss so the one-liners didn't surprise, but didn't distract, either. (Meaning, I didn't feel like I was inside a Buffy episode, but I could see the family resemblance.) Joss deployed the quips well, defusing tension, keeing the character ball rolling even through the big fight set pieces. (And of course the delivery was top-notch as well. :D RDJ - and Jon Favreau - take a bow! Joss did say the DNA for this movie was Iron Man, after all.)
Overall, I'd say this was a fanboy's total wet dream (to direct, as well as to view); the fanboy being Joss, of course. He delivered the wedding cake everyone was waiting for, and also sprinkled around enough insider references to satisfy the die-hards. It worked really well to have all the other films leading up to this one, because it meant we didn't have to spend a lot of time on backstory for anyone. (Who greenlighted that? What a triumph.) I did think there were a few moments that could've been edited down (the collapse of the SHIELD hideout, that odd moment where they focused on an empty corridor for ages before revealing that it was the entrance to Loki's new lair), but in general the pacing felt snappy, taut, especially for a relatively long film.
When they kept talking about the tesseract, did anyone else wonder where Meg and Charles Wallace were? No? Just me? ;P I kept picturing Mrs. Whatsit folding her skirt.
Scarlett surprised me in this. I've never really 'gotten' ScarJo - I mean, I can see that she's striking, but never really was drawn to her. Something about her in this film worked for me, though. Dunno if it's the lighting, her costumes, or even just that her face is a little bit more sculpted now, in her late twenties (possibly because she's in awesome shape for this film, but when has she ever not been fit?). Natasha Romanoff is a deliberately intriguing character, not least because one senses a parallel between the creation that is Scarlett and the one that is Black Widow. I'd totally watch the - no doubt already in the works - spinoff with her and Hawkeye. (I'm not totally shippy about them yet, which is odd considering that I was completely into Arthur/Ariadne after one scene in Inception.)
(Side note: I told Mr!Indi that Hawkeye/Black Widow were a popular ship now. He said, "I don't know... I just picture Hawkeye from M*A*S*H*." LOL!!
... that Hawkeye would certainly have a lot of fun trading quips with Tony Stark, I'm sure. :))
Which brings us to Jeremy Renner. I thought he was a nice little divertissement in MI: Ghost Protocol, so was pleased to see him here. I do prefer him in "real" clothing vs. his costume. I find his looks (in-character) intriguingly un-handsome - oh, I don't want to say something mean here... he has a character actor's face and presence to him, and a leading man's physique (except for being so wee. :)). Which are all things that work for me, actually.
In fact - taking a step back and looking at the whole film, for a moment - while I thoroughly enjoyed the huge spectacle, post-viewing what I really want is for them to spin everyone back out into their own films, or into films with unexpected combinations of characters in them. Because what I love most about superhero movies is the human moments: when they show a hero's loneliness, or exasperation, or their little love spats. And that's hard to do when you're tasked with showing off an ensemble cast, and sounding all the key action hero-y/backstory notes.
Back to Whedon and his Big Damn Superhero Show. Good: Keeping the flavor of each character intact, and giving them all something character-appropriate to do. Which we already knew he could do. He gets it. Showy fight scene with cool outfits, check; perfectly-timed comic aside, check; somber reflective moment to close, check.
ETA: Another thing they got right was the 3D. Normally I dislike that tech, because it makes me dizzy. But they used it in the right places, bringing depth to the visually crowded fight scenes. (And because my glasses slipped down a couple of times, I noticed they dialed it down when they didn't need it, like in talky scenes on the flying aircraft carrier.)
Not as good: No single weakness that leaps out at me, really. Oh, wait - yeah, not enough women. Agent Hill was kind of blah. She could've been a Trinity. She even looked like her. Or a Spock, or even a quirky tertiary character on the order of Doc Cottle or Chief Tyrol. There were a lot of personalities to shoehorn into the running time. But dammit, she was the only other female named character!
Ah, remembered the other little thing that niggled me: When Loki shows up in Stuttgart, bellowing "KNEEL!!" - I kept thinking he should've tried it in German. I know most Germans are quite good at English, but still. ;P And what opera was he at? Did I see that correctly as Lohengrin? If so, wrong Wagner. :D
EATA: Couldn't believe my ears when Loki called Natasha a "mewling quim". Did the censors not catch that? Or maybe they did, and that's why the "13" in the PG-13 rating. Oh Loki. So talented at hurting others.
Other highlights: The audience - a lot more mixed, age-wise, than I'd expected. RDJ's Stark with his ridiculous charisma and living on the knife-edge of inappropriateness and humor. Ruffalo with a wonderfully world-weary, hangdog Banner. Thor and Loki grappling with their sibling issues. ("He's adopted." Belly laughs from the audience, including me, but at the same time I was also wondering how it played to viewers who are adopted.) That fight scene in the city which, oddly enough, recalled Atonement for me in its grand pan from one Avenger to another as they fought inexhaustible numbers of foes. The giant alien carp. The weariness on Cap and Natasha's faces, deep in the battle. Hawkeye shooting without looking, and finding his mark. All the fine, fine posteriors - male and female - showcased in leather and spandex. Hulk cutting off Loki's speechifying. Hulk: smash!!
Wow, didn't think I had that much to say about the film! It was a jolly good time and I need to see it again so I can hear all the lines I missed that were drowned out by audience reaction. As the farmer said to Babe: That'll do, Joss. That'll do. :)
Cross-posted on Dreamwidth (
comments). Comments welcome there or here, as you please! :)
...and had a great time!! Was just what I hoped it would be: a big, brawling, popcorn-popping, people-stoking blockbuster with human touches peeking through. I knew it was Joss so the one-liners didn't surprise, but didn't distract, either. (Meaning, I didn't feel like I was inside a Buffy episode, but I could see the family resemblance.) Joss deployed the quips well, defusing tension, keeing the character ball rolling even through the big fight set pieces. (And of course the delivery was top-notch as well. :D RDJ - and Jon Favreau - take a bow! Joss did say the DNA for this movie was Iron Man, after all.)
Overall, I'd say this was a fanboy's total wet dream (to direct, as well as to view); the fanboy being Joss, of course. He delivered the wedding cake everyone was waiting for, and also sprinkled around enough insider references to satisfy the die-hards. It worked really well to have all the other films leading up to this one, because it meant we didn't have to spend a lot of time on backstory for anyone. (Who greenlighted that? What a triumph.) I did think there were a few moments that could've been edited down (the collapse of the SHIELD hideout, that odd moment where they focused on an empty corridor for ages before revealing that it was the entrance to Loki's new lair), but in general the pacing felt snappy, taut, especially for a relatively long film.
When they kept talking about the tesseract, did anyone else wonder where Meg and Charles Wallace were? No? Just me? ;P I kept picturing Mrs. Whatsit folding her skirt.
Scarlett surprised me in this. I've never really 'gotten' ScarJo - I mean, I can see that she's striking, but never really was drawn to her. Something about her in this film worked for me, though. Dunno if it's the lighting, her costumes, or even just that her face is a little bit more sculpted now, in her late twenties (possibly because she's in awesome shape for this film, but when has she ever not been fit?). Natasha Romanoff is a deliberately intriguing character, not least because one senses a parallel between the creation that is Scarlett and the one that is Black Widow. I'd totally watch the - no doubt already in the works - spinoff with her and Hawkeye. (I'm not totally shippy about them yet, which is odd considering that I was completely into Arthur/Ariadne after one scene in Inception.)
(Side note: I told Mr!Indi that Hawkeye/Black Widow were a popular ship now. He said, "I don't know... I just picture Hawkeye from M*A*S*H*." LOL!!
... that Hawkeye would certainly have a lot of fun trading quips with Tony Stark, I'm sure. :))
Which brings us to Jeremy Renner. I thought he was a nice little divertissement in MI: Ghost Protocol, so was pleased to see him here. I do prefer him in "real" clothing vs. his costume. I find his looks (in-character) intriguingly un-handsome - oh, I don't want to say something mean here... he has a character actor's face and presence to him, and a leading man's physique (except for being so wee. :)). Which are all things that work for me, actually.
In fact - taking a step back and looking at the whole film, for a moment - while I thoroughly enjoyed the huge spectacle, post-viewing what I really want is for them to spin everyone back out into their own films, or into films with unexpected combinations of characters in them. Because what I love most about superhero movies is the human moments: when they show a hero's loneliness, or exasperation, or their little love spats. And that's hard to do when you're tasked with showing off an ensemble cast, and sounding all the key action hero-y/backstory notes.
Back to Whedon and his Big Damn Superhero Show. Good: Keeping the flavor of each character intact, and giving them all something character-appropriate to do. Which we already knew he could do. He gets it. Showy fight scene with cool outfits, check; perfectly-timed comic aside, check; somber reflective moment to close, check.
ETA: Another thing they got right was the 3D. Normally I dislike that tech, because it makes me dizzy. But they used it in the right places, bringing depth to the visually crowded fight scenes. (And because my glasses slipped down a couple of times, I noticed they dialed it down when they didn't need it, like in talky scenes on the flying aircraft carrier.)
Not as good: No single weakness that leaps out at me, really. Oh, wait - yeah, not enough women. Agent Hill was kind of blah. She could've been a Trinity. She even looked like her. Or a Spock, or even a quirky tertiary character on the order of Doc Cottle or Chief Tyrol. There were a lot of personalities to shoehorn into the running time. But dammit, she was the only other female named character!
Ah, remembered the other little thing that niggled me: When Loki shows up in Stuttgart, bellowing "KNEEL!!" - I kept thinking he should've tried it in German. I know most Germans are quite good at English, but still. ;P And what opera was he at? Did I see that correctly as Lohengrin? If so, wrong Wagner. :D
EATA: Couldn't believe my ears when Loki called Natasha a "mewling quim". Did the censors not catch that? Or maybe they did, and that's why the "13" in the PG-13 rating. Oh Loki. So talented at hurting others.
Other highlights: The audience - a lot more mixed, age-wise, than I'd expected. RDJ's Stark with his ridiculous charisma and living on the knife-edge of inappropriateness and humor. Ruffalo with a wonderfully world-weary, hangdog Banner. Thor and Loki grappling with their sibling issues. ("He's adopted." Belly laughs from the audience, including me, but at the same time I was also wondering how it played to viewers who are adopted.) That fight scene in the city which, oddly enough, recalled Atonement for me in its grand pan from one Avenger to another as they fought inexhaustible numbers of foes. The giant alien carp. The weariness on Cap and Natasha's faces, deep in the battle. Hawkeye shooting without looking, and finding his mark. All the fine, fine posteriors - male and female - showcased in leather and spandex. Hulk cutting off Loki's speechifying. Hulk: smash!!
Wow, didn't think I had that much to say about the film! It was a jolly good time and I need to see it again so I can hear all the lines I missed that were drowned out by audience reaction. As the farmer said to Babe: That'll do, Joss. That'll do. :)
Cross-posted on Dreamwidth (
comments). Comments welcome there or here, as you please! :)