The Avengers

[emmram]

So I finally watched The Avengers last night. I avoided it for weeks--which, probably a bad idea, because when I asked around last night if anybody wanted to come to see it with me, practically all the people I'd asked (which, admittedly was not very many) said they'd seen it too many times already. Finally I asked my brother because I knew he hadn

Comments

[monicawoe]

Thor, for whom I have a gigantic soft-corner like you wouldn't believe.
It's the eyes, I think. I have the same problem.

I would like Banner & Stark to have a morning show about science called Banner & Stark - Science & Snark!

and here, for your viewing pleasure (the only part I wanted to re-watch over and over)

[emmram]

Hahaha, could be. :D I go all melty when it comes to Thor. And this wasn't the case in the actual film that focussed on him. :p

Science & Snark!

I'd watch the hell out of that.

ROFL. That will never cease to be brilliant.

[ienablu]

not in an appropriate state of mind to really comment, but yeah, can I just apologize for that whole Americentrism thing? Because yeah, while I will admit I am not the most worldly person, I knew the points you pointed out where more than a bit problematic. :/

As you may have noticed, I have a Thing for brothers with disturbed relationships.
o rly?

And I agree about the Coulson dying thing -- I spent the next twenty minutes after they killed him off fuming, to the point where I didn't enjoy the movie all that much.

[amberdreams]

Coulson! Yes - I was gobsmacked they killed him off. I knew nothing about his character before this movie but he was so cute!

[ienablu]

I was a bit in love in Coulson when I saw him in the first Iron Man movie, and gobsmacked is a good way to describe my reaction.

[emmram]

You don't need to apologise--I mean, it's Hollywood, and it happens and I usually just roll with it, but this time, they actually made a conscious decision to have Dr. Banner help heal people in an Indian slum. This could have been fine if they bothered to include even a single other Indian character, even as a two-second extra, maybe working for Shield, or maybe just happened to be in New York and got caught in the crossfire. But no. The sole representation they got was "slum dwellers living in squalor being helped by this Westerner". That bothers me a 1000 times more than if there were no Indian representation at all.

... uh. Sorry. Ranting again. :/

o rly?

Yeah, well, you know *shrugs* the theme does come up from time to time on this journal...

Dude, Coulson was easily my favourite person there. I was cheering when he faced down Loki, and then--"oh come on! You can't kill him, movie! Goddammit."

[amberdreams]

You know, I totally missed that Banner was supposed to be in Kolkata at the start there. I think I was assuming it was some sort of fantasy 'poor country' that wasn't supposed to actually exist - something reinforced by that weird isolated shack they ended up in because what crowded slum city anywhere real would have that much space?

Anything ridiculous that I came across I had this in mind all the time "This is an American movie about American superheroes (led by a man called Captain America, no less), who are the only ones who can save the world." and your point # "This movie clearly does not expect me to take it seriously." Those two thoughts firmly in place, I just went with the flow and enjoyed the romp for all the reasons you've so clearly expressed (thank you!).

I wonder if you or anyone else can explain - is Natasha supposed to have any superpowers? She never seemed to exhibit any in this film.

I have no idea why so many people are raving about this film, it was a lot of fun but not really memorable...

[emmram]

Well, the sequence does have the people speak Hindi and the women wear sarees, so it's pretty obvious it's supposed to be an Indian city slum, and then Banner mentions Calcutta specifically later on.

Yeah--you just can't take this movie seriously at all, so it seemed just a little pointless to get worked up about some issues. But they're there, and I wasn't finding very many people (apart from Kolkatans) talking about it, so. Once you work that out of your system, the movie's very enjoyable.

Natasha does mention having a "specific skill set" and from what I've seen of her in Iron Man 2 and here, no, she doesn't have any superpowers. She's, uh, Badass.

it was a lot of fun but not really memorable

That's it, though, isn't it? It was funny and witty and had some lovely action sequences, but it had nothing that other superhero movies haven't already done, sometimes even better.

[amberdreams]

I don't know how all that washed over me at the beginning but clearly it did (or maybe I'd just forgotten in the intervening weeks since I saw it).

I'm glad Natasha has special skills rather than superpowers because I really liked her character and wanted her to be a kick ass, unaltered human.

I would watch it again but only because I am a sucker for all that daft stuff and soak it up like a sponge. I have no urge to write fanfic for the genre - though having said that Thor and Loki have crept their way into my Spn_genbigbang somehow... I hasten to add they are Norse Thor and Loki, not Marvel though I expect the difference might be subtle.

[tahirire]

Natasha, Fury, Hill, Stark and Hawkeye don't have Superpowers.

Natasha is also not American, she's Russian by origin. She was raised as an assassin and was a double agent with the German deep science division Hydra for a long time before Hawkeye pulled her out. Her origin story shall be kick. Ass. :)

[vail_kagami]

Though I do agree that the portrayal of other countries/contients is problematic (in a lot, lot of movies), I think Bruce didn't help people in the US not because poverty doesn't exist there but because he tried to be very far away from the US

[emmram]

I understand that Bruce wanted as far away from his past as possible. I honestly don't fault him for coming over and helping the poor and sick in the slums--it's the general idea that's bothering me like, a lot. In a movie where there is literally no other Asian character/reference, to be throwing in a scene like that? Not on.

LOL the Stuttgart scene. the extras playing the Germans were supposed to yell in German when Loki chased them around but they didn't know any German words besides Oktoberfest, Autobahn and Kindergarten.

AHAHAHAHA. And with the sledgehammery Hitler references and everything. At that point, I just wanted to go, "movie, what are you doing?"

I've been told that this is a comic-book movie and hence embraces comic-book campiness and stereotypes and jingoism. Which, hey, sure. Doesn't mean I have to embrace it, too. Democracy! :D

Right?! Bruce and Tony easily stole the show. I kind of adore them driving off together in the end and Tony offering Bruce the Stark R&D dept. Whoo! They are just two wonderfully realised

[vail_kagami]

Really. Well, kind of. It's a case of Maried In Another Universe - and they turned Tony into a woman there, beause God forbid Captain America be gay in any universe. But yeah, married. And the only thing we ever saw from that universe was their wedding kiss. And they married in full uniform/armor, save the mask, of course, and Natasha (Tony's female name) was only seen in profile and had Cap's face mashed against hers, so that pic caused some confusion among the fanbase. :D

Also, the rest of the Avengers refer to them as mom and dad. And... You know what: Just look at this. (Though it's missing the scene where Steve is defending naked!Tony with his sword.)

I adore Thor. He's just... I didn't know what I expected when I watched his movie, but I didn't think he's be so damn likable. Also, I really like Jane. It's a pity she wasn't in the Avengers.

And Bruce and Tony made the movie for me. Doesn't help that I have never seen a more perfect casting than RDJ as Tony Stark.

[tahirire]

Wow, um.

I apologize on behalf of my entire country?

*shuffles away*

[emmram]

I apologise. I've come to realise that I've made a number of people on my flist feel bad with this, which was not my intention. It was more like an opportunity to vent about some things I've been thinking about for years, and it wasn't meant for this journal. I'm sorry.

[tahirire]

Lol, it's okay. I firmly believe that one's own lj is a perfect place to vent. I just, erm, had no idea how to respond.

*hug*