Dept. of Do I Need A New Fandom?
So. The Avengers.
Tomorrow is my first day back from vacation, and I know the week is going to be a bear (not as much of a bear as it would have been, had certain folk at work gone above and beyond to make sure I get paid this Friday despite forgetting to put in my time card when I got back from Canada, which is another story). I plan to celebrate making it to this coming Friday by going back to see The Avengers in a movie theater.
Because, oh my goodness, I like that movie!
There were so many reasons I loved it, not the least of which were:
Natasha! Ms Romanov was smart, scared, brave, dangerous, human, cunning, caring, ruthless, and as far as I'm concerned, the most-rounded member of the team and of the cast. I understand that there's a lot of Scarlett Johansson dislike out there. I do not share it. I also know there are folks who are ambivalent about how Joss Whedon views or writes females. I can't speak to that because I know him largely from Firefly, Dr. Horrible and some of the early Buffy - not nearly enough by which to judge. But at least in terms of how he and fellow writer Zak Penn handled the Black Widow, I'd have to say he did an outstanding job.
Clint Barton. Jeremy Renner sold me on his Clint/Hawkeye. I liked him for many of the same reasons I like Natasha - he's not super-powered, he's just really, really good at what he does. And his story - the possession and recovery - were fascinating.
Tony Stark learning to be a hero.I've always liked Downey's Stark, but he's particularly good in this. The moment he closes his eyes and falls back to Earth, he's obviously willing to give his life for it. That bit (kind of reminiscent of one of the best - and completely non-Batman-centric - bits in Frank Miller's original Dark Knight series) hit me particularly well.
Other things I liked? Chris Evans making Captain America even more likeable, complex and adult than he had been in his own movie - and I liked that movie a great deal. Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner, about who others have written more intelligently. Samuel Jackson, who actually got a chance to act, and pulled off an ambiguously honorable spymaster, who is also wicked impressive with a rocket launcher. Tom Hiddleston's Loki, who reminded me of the Loki I enjoyed reading in Walt Simonson's Thor adventures of the 1980s; an amoral villain with just enough conscience to render him real and the teeniest bit relatable, but not enough to redeem himself. He's no woobie (I share much of the estimable
selenak 's views about Loki.) And, hey, he wore the horns! I love the horns! Clark Gregg's purely magnificent Agent Phil Coulson, who I am certain will be a factor in the next Avenger's movie, don't tell me otherwise, tra-la, tra-la. Oh, hell, all the characters. (Can we see more of Maria Hill and Pepper Potts next time, please?)
Also? The Hulk rag-dolling Loki. Shwarma. Thanos (THANOS!!! I always loved Thanos!) and so very much more. Also, Shwarma. Because you can't just say it once.
The dialogue was just as fast, intelligent, and witty as others have reported it. The pacing worked well. And the story made more sense than it had a right to, although I'm willing to bet that my comic book sensibilities helped make it so.
And yes, after I saw it the first time, I told BB that I could see myself writing fic for the Avengers. It's the first time I've ever been interested in writing outside of the Whoniverse (with the exception of one June-centric White Collar idea). I probably won't, but obviously there's something in the movie - the relationships, the team-building - that pushed a button. So I've been reading some other people's Avengers fic, mostly via recs from
selenak ; so far, I'm looking for especially liking Natasha and Clint oriented stories, but there are a lot of good stories focusing on the other characters as well.
So, yeah, I'm going to see it again. And I'm going to try very hard - very hard - not to get tangled up in another fandom. I really don't need it.
P.S. Two Avengers recs of my own: we were emergencies by
gyzym is subtle, dense, emotionally draining, and made me believe whole-heartedly in Clint and Natasha as people, friends, lovers and dysfunctionally awesome heroes. It's also extraordinarily erotic; explicit, but totally integrated and necessary to the story. Wardrobe Malfunction, or, Passing the Bok, by
spiderine ( here on lj and here on dw) made me laugh because it's a pointy little stick, wielded with wit by the author and poked in the eye of female-diminutive marketing.
This entry was originally posted at http://kaffyr.dreamwidth.org/225784.html?mode=reply, where there are currently
comments. You can comment there or here; I watch both.
Tomorrow is my first day back from vacation, and I know the week is going to be a bear (not as much of a bear as it would have been, had certain folk at work gone above and beyond to make sure I get paid this Friday despite forgetting to put in my time card when I got back from Canada, which is another story). I plan to celebrate making it to this coming Friday by going back to see The Avengers in a movie theater.
Because, oh my goodness, I like that movie!
There were so many reasons I loved it, not the least of which were:
Natasha! Ms Romanov was smart, scared, brave, dangerous, human, cunning, caring, ruthless, and as far as I'm concerned, the most-rounded member of the team and of the cast. I understand that there's a lot of Scarlett Johansson dislike out there. I do not share it. I also know there are folks who are ambivalent about how Joss Whedon views or writes females. I can't speak to that because I know him largely from Firefly, Dr. Horrible and some of the early Buffy - not nearly enough by which to judge. But at least in terms of how he and fellow writer Zak Penn handled the Black Widow, I'd have to say he did an outstanding job.
Clint Barton. Jeremy Renner sold me on his Clint/Hawkeye. I liked him for many of the same reasons I like Natasha - he's not super-powered, he's just really, really good at what he does. And his story - the possession and recovery - were fascinating.
Tony Stark learning to be a hero.I've always liked Downey's Stark, but he's particularly good in this. The moment he closes his eyes and falls back to Earth, he's obviously willing to give his life for it. That bit (kind of reminiscent of one of the best - and completely non-Batman-centric - bits in Frank Miller's original Dark Knight series) hit me particularly well.
Other things I liked? Chris Evans making Captain America even more likeable, complex and adult than he had been in his own movie - and I liked that movie a great deal. Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner, about who others have written more intelligently. Samuel Jackson, who actually got a chance to act, and pulled off an ambiguously honorable spymaster, who is also wicked impressive with a rocket launcher. Tom Hiddleston's Loki, who reminded me of the Loki I enjoyed reading in Walt Simonson's Thor adventures of the 1980s; an amoral villain with just enough conscience to render him real and the teeniest bit relatable, but not enough to redeem himself. He's no woobie (I share much of the estimable
selenak 's views about Loki.) And, hey, he wore the horns! I love the horns! Clark Gregg's purely magnificent Agent Phil Coulson, who I am certain will be a factor in the next Avenger's movie, don't tell me otherwise, tra-la, tra-la. Oh, hell, all the characters. (Can we see more of Maria Hill and Pepper Potts next time, please?)
Also? The Hulk rag-dolling Loki. Shwarma. Thanos (THANOS!!! I always loved Thanos!) and so very much more. Also, Shwarma. Because you can't just say it once.
The dialogue was just as fast, intelligent, and witty as others have reported it. The pacing worked well. And the story made more sense than it had a right to, although I'm willing to bet that my comic book sensibilities helped make it so.
And yes, after I saw it the first time, I told BB that I could see myself writing fic for the Avengers. It's the first time I've ever been interested in writing outside of the Whoniverse (with the exception of one June-centric White Collar idea). I probably won't, but obviously there's something in the movie - the relationships, the team-building - that pushed a button. So I've been reading some other people's Avengers fic, mostly via recs from
selenak ; so far, I'm looking for especially liking Natasha and Clint oriented stories, but there are a lot of good stories focusing on the other characters as well.
So, yeah, I'm going to see it again. And I'm going to try very hard - very hard - not to get tangled up in another fandom. I really don't need it.
P.S. Two Avengers recs of my own: we were emergencies by
gyzym is subtle, dense, emotionally draining, and made me believe whole-heartedly in Clint and Natasha as people, friends, lovers and dysfunctionally awesome heroes. It's also extraordinarily erotic; explicit, but totally integrated and necessary to the story. Wardrobe Malfunction, or, Passing the Bok, by
spiderine ( here on lj and here on dw) made me laugh because it's a pointy little stick, wielded with wit by the author and poked in the eye of female-diminutive marketing.
This entry was originally posted at http://kaffyr.dreamwidth.org/225784.html?mode=reply, where there are currently
comments. You can comment there or here; I watch both.