Avengers offical review thread (spoilers ahead)

[webhead2006]

I thought it be best to have a separate thread to discus our thoughts on the film. So once everyone sees it and not clucker the news/box office threads up. Discuss away on thoughts of the film.


Well I just got home from seeing midnight screening of the film. That was one wicked awesome film. Marvel again hit it right. It had action, it had drama, and it also had some great comedy moments. The theater I was at was totally packed, a lot of folks where cheering throughtout the film and laughing at the good comedy bits from stark, and hulk. Ruffalo definately did a great job as bruce/hulk. I really hope we get to see him in more avengers films and hopefully a new solo film for hulk too. Tom as loki was still a great preforamnce out of him like in thor. So if you liked him in thor you love him in avengers. The fight scenes with loki vs cap, hulk vs ironman,hulk vs thor, and thor vs lokie where solid fight scenes. Good action through them all. Special effects where top notch I had no issues with them at all ilm/weta and all the smaller fx houses put in good work. Joss I thought handled a big film very well, good action direction and solid preforamnces out of every actor. Another person I hope they stick with for sequels. I did love seeing maria hill, and other marvel characters that got shoutouts during the film. So in end marvel did good work here. This is how you do a super hero film. So I give them a big A for rating. I plan to go see the film again during the weekend, and can't wait to see the box office haul for us audiences.

[thecolorsblend]

https://supermanfilmwatchdog.forumcanadien.org/t759p15-marvel-s-the-avengers-official-box-office-thread

http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/170489-marvels-the-avengers-reaches-2811m-overseas-in-8-days

Marvel's The Avengers Reaches $281.1M Overseas in 8 Days

by SuperHeroHype
May 03, 2012

Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios announced this morning that Marvel's The Avengers earned another $20.6 million internationally on Wednesday, May 2nd. That puts the overseas total at $281.1 million so far.

In just eight days of release, Marvel's The Avengers has already passed the total international box office for Captain America: The First Avenger ($192 million), Iron Man ($267 million) and Thor ($268 million). Iron Man 2 earned $311.5 million internationally which the film will easily pass.

The action adventure opens in North America at midnight tonight!

I saw this right before I went to work but didn't have time to post it. I assume that some of you guys are at the midnight premier as I type this. I had to take Friday night unfortunately. Anyway, before the film even opened in the States it has already grossed nearly 300 million overseas! Certainly THE AVENGERS will rule the summer?! I'll be rudely surprised if TDKR even comes close!

It will definately rule the summer. I can't wait to see what the us opening numbers are.

They're gonna be fucking huge, y'all. And I suspect a considerable proportion of that will come down to repeat business. Because this son of a buck is not only worth seeing in theaters, it's worth seeing in theaters more than once.

Some spoilers ensue. Read this next stuff at your own risk.

But I do want to protect you guys at least a little bit from some stuff. Not so much the plot. Because Whedon knew what he was up to in this. The plot serves as a vehicle for humor, action sequences, effects, all the cool stuff. You can pretty much guess how the Apologists and the Nolanites are going to react to this. But Avengers is everything it needs to be. Everything. This sucker was always Marvel's baby. They could goof up anything else and still have something to work. But you goof up the Avengers? Show's over, hit the lights.

Loki uses the tesseract (too lazy to spell check) to gain entry to Earth. He promptly takes control of Hawkeye and some other SHIELD agents in part of his alliance with the inter-dimensional horde. By intention, Loki's scheme doesn't hold up because Loki can't see the forest for the trees. He wants to conquer but he doesn't understand that if he's successful, (A) he won't be on the throne and (B) even that presupposes there will even be a throne because what it would take to bring mankind to its knees won't leave much over which to rule. Is it really worth being the king of a garbage dump? To Loki, hell yes. He's just too myopic to see how self-defeating his entire cause is. He can strategize LAMF but he has no vision for the long term play. Such is his flaw.

Obviously the Avengers pull it together and kick the snot out of him. That much was never in question, now was it?

What I want to protect you guys from is the scale, the excitement, the humorous moments, the insane action sequences, all that stuff. Because ultimately that's what you're really going to remember about this movie. Who did Loki recruit to use as his army? If you're not a core Marvel fan, I'd give it 50/50 you'll even remember two weeks from now. But you'll sure as hell remember the confrontation between Loki and Coulson. And Hulk and Thor.

No kids gloves here, guys. When Loki's army finally swoops in on New York, the city gets pummeled to shit. Remember in Singerman that a few windows got shattered and a gas line went up? Um, that's the first two seconds of this invasion. The sheer scale of the threat is a job only the Avengers are up to. Whedon isn't relying strictly on novelty to sell this thing. The Avengers have to do this together because they can't do it individually. The nature of the threat justifies the team up. This is where Apologist thinking always fails. If they even grant the premise of a superhero team up, they attempt to "justify" the characters meeting up with ridiculous ideas. Assigning specific tasks to specific characters (the "military" approach). Maybe they'll use the "thrown together by circumstance" bit (the "Dirty Dozen" approach). Or the "we're all in this together/mutual interest" thing (the leftwing extremist approach). But the Avengers were assembled specifically for this kind of trouble. No overthinking here. Take it outside, nobody cares. The Avengers is unapologetically an action movie.

Anyway. I will "spoil" one moment for you guys though. Loki and Hulk share a moment. And by "share a moment", I mean "Hulk slams Loki around by his cape like a rag doll. Repeatedly. And beats Loki into submission". Loki plays the "ENOUGH! I am a god so you just better recodnize!" card. Hulk's reaction? Rag doll. And then my favorite line of the entire movie- "Puny god".

Good luck hearing the line though with the audience screaming at the top of their longs at Loki finally getting his comeuppance.

Bottom line? This son of a buck is everything I've ever wanted in a superhero team up movie but never knew how to ask for. I saw TDK in theaters a few times. Never once did anybody lose their shit like they did in Avengers. Audience response, positive buzz, Hulk and a director who understands his task guarantee Avengers will do crazy business. Don't be too surprised if it's the top grosser this summer.

The gauntlet has been thrown down by Marvel. And honestly, given their track record up to this point, I question WB's ability to respond in kind.

[BHoward]

Colors,

I agree 100% with everything in your review. My only problem is this wasn't the Justice League. Which of course will be made now that WB sees a superhero teamup can be done very very well. Despite what the Nolanites say. But not to take away from this thread. Avengers was absolutely amazing. I'm a DC guy tried and true, but I give it up to Marvel as they seem to know what to do with their characters. I will be going back again today to take my two sons.

[webhead2006]

Colors the loki/hulk scene was great the whole theater was laughing at that scene, and then what hulk did in following scene to thor.

[Apologist Puncher]

Won't see it until tomorrow....

[non_amos]

Well, I just got back from seeing THE AVENGERS in IMAX while ago. Awesome sauce! I think my biggest complaint would be with seating. We had to stay in a long line & since there were 6 of us & we all wanted to sit together, then we had to sit near the front, which meant I had to look up at the gigantic screen the entire time! I prefer sitting at the back of the stadium seats because you can enjoy the movie better & it eliminates looking up all the time. I think my only other complaint is that I wish the Hulk had even more screen time! I was just getting started!

This film shows that Marvel did their homework. There was plenty of humor, action, the whole 9 yards! And the audience reacted accordingly. The Hulk & Loki was especially hilarious & you could hear the reaction in the crowd. Ditto for that Hulk & Thor moment. And I'll tell you what, time wasn't really a factor in this film, it flew by. And get this. While typing this, I just went into the other room to see Samuel L. Jackson's 'tweet' on INSIDE EDITION about wanting some film critic fired who gave the film a bad review! I guess that critic is a Nolanite.

Speaking of which, the new Nolan film was the first trailer they showed. And guess what? I don't recall hearing anything particularly monumental out of the audience's reaction. Just the usual jabbering. No breath-taking 'ooooos' & 'aahhhhs' here folks! And this is what's gonna rule the summer?!

[thecolorsblend]

Well, I just got back from seeing THE AVENGERS in IMAX while ago. Awesome sauce! I think my biggest complaint would be with seating. We had to stay in a long line & since there were 6 of us & we all wanted to sit together, then we had to sit near the front, which meant I had to look up at the gigantic screen the entire time! I prefer sitting at the back of the stadium seats because you can enjoy the movie better & it eliminates looking up all the time. I think my only other complaint is that I wish the Hulk had even more screen time! I was just getting started!

This film shows that Marvel did their homework. There was plenty of humor, action, the whole 9 yards! And the audience reacted accordingly. The Hulk & Loki was especially hilarious & you could hear the reaction in the crowd. Ditto for that Hulk & Thor moment. And I'll tell you what, time wasn't really a factor in this film, it flew by. And get this. While typing this, I just went into the other room to see Samuel L. Jackson's 'tweet' on INSIDE EDITION about wanting some film critic fired who gave the film a bad review! I guess that critic is a Nolanite.

No question about it. If you don't like the Avengers movie, it's because you don't get what it's all about. It's no more complicated than that.

Speaking of which, the new Nolan film was the first trailer they showed. And guess what? I don't recall hearing anything particularly monumental out of the audience's reaction. Just the usual jabbering. No breath-taking 'ooooos' & 'aahhhhs' here folks! And this is what's gonna rule the summer?!

The more time goes on, the more convinced I become that people are going to be very surprised at how much better the Avengers will do at the box office than TDKRises. It's hardly the done deal the Apologists and Nolanites want to believe it is.

[non_amos]

thecolorsblend wrote:

The more time goes on, the more convinced I become that people are going to be very surprised at how much better the Avengers will do at the box office than TDKRises. It's hardly the done deal the Apologists and Nolanites want to believe it is.

I just had a thought which maybe ain't really original but it occurs to me that TDKR may be getting more hype about 'ruling the summer' from these various sources because they idolize Christopher Nolan. After TDK & Inception it's like the dude can do no wrong! So I think their 'box office predictions' go hand-in-hand with their sentiments. And besides, to these people, Avengers is 'popcorn entertainment'. I've already read one comment online where someone called Avengers 'TRANSFORMERS WITH A BRAIN'! But just remember critics, it's the fans that's gonna decide this summer!

[thecolorsblend]

I just had a thought which maybe ain't really original but it occurs to me that TDKR may be getting more hype about 'ruling the summer' from these various sources because they idolize Christopher Nolan.

Yeah, thought that was the consensus we all had.

After TDK & Inception it's like the dude can do no wrong! So I think their 'box office predictions' go hand-in-hand with their sentiments. And besides, to these people, Avengers is 'popcorn entertainment'.

And it is. The thing though is that I don't consider that a criticism.

I've already read one comment online where someone called Avengers 'TRANSFORMERS WITH A BRAIN'! But just remember critics, it's the fans that's gonna decide this summer!

Critics are increasingly irrelevant in this day and age of blogs, message boards, facebook and all that shit. They'll probably stay around out of tradition (old media don't like anything that steps too much on their hegemony, least of all innovation and communications advancements) but they stopped mattering the minute 51% of the country was online.

[webhead2006]

I saw it again last night for a second time. Just as good as first time. And this crowd was packed and reaced at all the good parts. Loki and hulk stuff is one of the moments for the film.

[non_amos]

And get this! Even in the group of people that I went with, they not only 'dug' the Hulk but they even raved about the guy playing him, Mark Ruffalo! They really liked what he brought to the table! I guess the cast change didn't hurt here. Your loss Norton?

[thecolorsblend]

Not a big Hulk expert, never read the comics, blah blah blah.

That said, I never thought we had anywhere to go but up as far as Bruce Banner is concerned. Bana? Bland. Norton? I guess I don't see what everyone else is seeing there.

Ruffalo? Third time is the charm, no doubt about it.

[Apologist Puncher]

Saw it today.

Amazing film.

A few things surprised me too. I was expecting Iron Man to be the de facto "leader" of the team, due to his obvious popularity. Because the minute he showed up on-screen, people in my packed theater went nuts. They did something very, very right when they threw RDJ and Jon Favreau together is all I'm sayin'. But to see Evans as Captain America leading them was a very nice surprise, and very fitting. I also expected a funeral scene for Coulson too. I think it would have added some "emotional impact" to the film. But that was nowhere near a deal-breaker.

And yes, the Hulk stole the show. EVERYONE loved when Loki tried to go all monologue with him, and got an ass-whuppin' instead. The look on his face was HI-LARIOUS.

I second what colors said above. You have to see it more than once.

It's that good.

[thecolorsblend]

But to see Evans as Captain America leading them was a very nice surprise, and very fitting.

Of all the obvious things for me to forget about...

And yes, the Hulk stole the show. EVERYONE loved when Loki tried to go all monologue with him, and got an ass-whuppin' instead. The look on his face was HI-LARIOUS.

All of this makes me wonder that a Ruffalo Hulk movie might eventually come to theaters. Between the good will Avengers generated and Mark Ruffalo's superior turn as Banner, I don't see too much standing in the way of that. "But what about the TV show?" Methinks the proper arrangements could be made to, ah, "deal" with that.

[Apologist Puncher]

Of all the obvious things for me to forget about...

Evans pulled it off too.

All of this makes me wonder that a Ruffalo Hulk movie might eventually come to theaters. Between the good will Avengers generated and Mark Ruffalo's superior turn as Banner, I don't see too much standing in the way of that. "But what about the TV show?" Methinks the proper arrangements could be made to, ah, "deal" with that.

It'll happen.

Since it came out overseas, and now here, people have been talking about the Hulk being their favorite character from the film. Since Marvel just signed him to a 6-picture deal like Evans, don't count on it being 6 'Avengers' films.

[non_amos]

Of all the obvious things for me to forget about...

Evans pulled it off too.

All of this makes me wonder that a Ruffalo Hulk movie might eventually come to theaters. Between the good will Avengers generated and Mark Ruffalo's superior turn as Banner, I don't see too much standing in the way of that. "But what about the TV show?" Methinks the proper arrangements could be made to, ah, "deal" with that.

It'll happen.

Since it came out overseas, and now here, people have been talking about the Hulk being their favorite character from the film. Since Marvel just signed him to a 6-picture deal like Evans, don't count on it being 6 'Avengers' films.

If I'm not mistaken, on one of the links posted here about Avengers somewhere but too lazy to look & I believe it may have been posted by Webhead. Anyway, the point is, I remember the article stating the above about Ruffalo but also something else. It seems that 'TPTB', i.e., Disney and Marvel, were so pleased with the Hulk's reception in the film, even before it's domestic release, that they mentioned wanting a solo Hulk film for 2015!

This past week Ruffalo was a guest on Jimmy Fallon's program & Fallon asked him about the 6-picture deal, which Ruffalo confirmed but then Ruffalo said something that seemed contradictory. He seemed to suggest that the producers felt that the Hulk had 'run it's course' as far as solo films were concerned. Do you not see anything contradictory with these 2 statements?! Most people are really digging on Ruffalo's performance & not just as the Hulk but also as Banner. I've only heard one person I know so far that's said anything negative about Ruffalo. Guess who? My neighbor, the 'free Internet movie' guy who will not buy a theater ticket to save his life! Probably not even for Avengers, even though I've tried to convince him. He's never even seen a 3-D movie, at all! Anyway, he told me that he liked the Hulk but that the Hulk looked 'computerized'. Were we watching the same movie?! As for Ruffalo, he didn't know the guy's name but he said something like 'the guy playing the Hulk, I just don't know about that guy'. He obviously didn't like Ruffalo. But he's the only one I know so far. But keep in mind, the version of the film he saw was the bootleg version that's currently online, the one that's in such poor quality that I only watched 9 minutes of it before throwing in the towel. But then I went to IMAX. Big difference!

[thecolorsblend]

Evans pulled it off too.

Yeah, let's talk about that, shall we?

For starters, I NEVER had a problem with Evans as Cap. I rewatched Cap just last week and I enjoyed it as much then as I did the first time in theaters. It's just a fun ride and I got a big kick out of it. So he was never "bad" to start with.

Now, I don't know what the hell happened when he did Avengers. He could've done the same basic thing as he did in Cap, if you ask me. He could've totally phoned it in and you know what? I'd have been perfectly happy. Just recycle the same basic performance he gave in Cap, collect his paycheck and go home. Whatever.

Instead, he made the physical effort with his training. He looked the part.

But he also gave a justifiable performance following on from what went down in the Cap movie. He was still naturally inclined to take control of situations but he sometimes felt completely out of his depth on certain things. But he didn't do so in a way that made Cap look weak or stupid. He was simply a strong man, a natural leader trying to find his place in this crazy new world he'd woken up in. Evans never betrayed who and what Steve Rogers is all about; he simply took the character he set up in the first Captain America movie and took him to the next level in Avengers.

Arguably he had the hardest job of all. Downey could be a smarmy wiseass and get away with it. Nobody would mind. Jackson could've chewed scenery all day long, sarcastically putting all and sundry in their place. Black Widow could be shadowy and mysterious. Between all the different characters, a lesser actor might've felt like there wasn't much turf that someone else didn't already have staked out. But Evans knew what he had to do in the movie and he did one hell of a job, if you ask me.

It'll happen.

Since it came out overseas, and now here, people have been talking about the Hulk being their favorite character from the film. Since Marvel just signed him to a 6-picture deal like Evans, don't count on it being 6 'Avengers' films.

Not to split hairs with you on meaningless details but I'd though the Evans contract was for something like nine movies. That, as I heard it, was one of the problems behind finding an actor to play Cap. A three picture deal is one thing. Six is another. But the idea of nine was so staggering that a lot of actors had the attitude of "I'm an actor, not a slave!" Don't quote me on this though.

To your main point, Ruffalo's contract for six films... well, as you say, there's plenty of room in there for a solo Hulk movie or two. If it takes a bit longer to get there, hey, I'm perfectly fine with that. Ruffalo was worth waiting for as far as I'm concerned. If it takes some extra time to adjust the schedule to work out a solo Ruffalo film, well, there's plenty of Marvel goodness to enjoy while we wait. Bana never did it for me, I never saw the hype with Norton (he was okay, don't get me wrong, but I never understood why people spooged their pants over the guy) but Ruffalo hit all the right notes for me. He was never too far off from where I thought the character should be. It took ten years but for my money Ruffalo's turn as Banner is definitive (for whatever that's worth coming from someone who only likes Hulk based on the movies).

You can't completely eschew the Norton movie from a Ruffalo film but I don't think that's completely necessary anyway. You can just pick up the storyline with whatsisfacethescientist becoming The Leader or whatever else is on the horizon.

Marvel Studios officially can do whatever the hell they want as far as I'm concerned. Let 'er rip, you know what I mean?

EDIT- And fucking hell, Chris Hemsworth! Again, I loved him in Thor. Never had a problem with him, his training/work outs or his performance there. But, again, he took it to the next level in Avengers. He wasn't the reckless, battle-hungry brat he was through a decent chunk of the Thor movie. He'd matured, he'd grown, he was starting to become what Asgard is someday going to need him to be. But at the same time, he'd basically lost the only brother he'd ever known and he bled over it. It killed him inside to do what he had to do to take Loki down. Hemsworth brought all of that across without ever making Thor whiney or emo. You feel Thor's conflicted emotions but Hemsworth always has his performance under control so it doesn't go over the top. There's regret but there's no angst. There's sadness but there are no tears. He mourns for his brother but he doesn't beat his chest over it. He was both powerful and, to a degree, vulnerable in the movie without either ever getting out of balance. With everything I've heard people say about Avengers, oddly enough it seems like Thor and Hemsworth have kind of been overlooked (at least so far) and that's a damn shame. I won't let it stand around here. Hemsworth delivered the goods in Thor and then he did it again in Avengers.

[webhead2006]

Ruffalo was a great add for the cast and he was a very good enjoyable part of the film. I do want to see what else he can bring to hulk and glad he has been making fans love him too. For me still hulkk scenes where the best in the film. And I too would have liked a funeral scene for couslon. Maybe it is one of the many deleted scenes. There is around 20+mins wehdon did cut as they said his first cut for film was like 3 hrs long. So hopefully there is some good deleted stuff. I did also like salvic and maria hill characters. Hopefully maria will get to do more in future films. Overall still marvel has hit it way out of the part. And now we are into phase two and should be a fun ride to see where marvel goes from here.

[Apologist Puncher]

Saw it again today, and thought I'd point out a couple of things I noticed.

1. Did anyone else notice that they used footage from 'The Incredible Hulk' in the "homework" they gave RDJ's Tony Stark?

2. I've seen people on some boards act confused about this, but wasn't it obvious to everyone here that Loki's spear was causing the friction they were all feeling in Banner's lab? Heck, the slow rotation to everything being "upside down" behind it should have made it clear?

3. The Hulk really did RULE in this movie.

4. Can't wait to see it again.

That is all. For now.

[thecolorsblend]

1. Did anyone else notice that they used footage from 'The Incredible Hulk' in the "homework" they gave RDJ's Tony Stark?

*raises hand*

2. I've seen people on some boards act confused about this, but wasn't it obvious to everyone here that Loki's spear was causing the friction they were all feeling in Banner's lab? Heck, the slow rotation to everything being "upside down" behind it should have made it clear?

I thought it was fairly ambiguous how much the spear was responsible for. My take was that it amplifies the sin or the weakness or the flaw or whatever you want to call it. Loki's spear didn't create anything that wasn't already there; it simply brought all the shit to the surface and put people the characters into open and direct conflict with one another.

But whether it invented stuff that never existed or if it amplified what was already there, it had to do something because, um, everybody blames Loki for all the static... and he doesn't deny any of it.

3. The Hulk really did RULE in this movie.

And Ruffalo ruled the Hulk.

4. Can't wait to see it again.

Freaking DITTO! I've only seen it once but my girl and I have already pencilled in a return engagement. It's too good to only see once in theaters, as far as I'm concerned. Can't remember the last time I felt that way about a movie to be perfectly honest.

[non_amos]

I noticed that 'homework' right away. I'll have to admit to being a little surprised about the TIH footage because that was obviously a different design for the Hulk but they also didn't show any closeups either. I guess what they showed they were able to get away with without having to contrast the difference to Ruffalo's version.

I've only seen it once but hope to go back soon. One thing I do remember though & didn't think of it previously. I remember when IRON MAN first showed up on screen & took to flight & everything, the crowd in that IMAX erupted! They were LOUD! And this is supposedly a '2nd-tier' character?! I have a feeling this sentiment will carry over into IRON MAN 3.

[webhead2006]

Yup I thought it was cool for them reusing that hulk footage. And as for the mind issues in the first time I saw it I easily picked up it was the spear/jewel. I don't see why most wouldn't pick up on that.

[thecolorsblend]

Yup I thought it was cool for them reusing that hulk footage. And as for the mind issues in the first time I saw it I easily picked up it was the spear/jewel. I don't see why most wouldn't pick up on that.

It only occurred to me last night after I wrote my bit up there but, thanks to Nolan, a lot of fans now need to have every single last little stupid thing didactically spelled out for them. So I guess it makes sense that some people didn't pick up on this. And I guess it also makes sense that most of us Realists did notice it.

[webhead2006]

Very likely colors. Some folks just don't pick up on little things or subtleties of things. For me I always been a visual learner, and always like to look at the details of things. So like ap brought up on both things. Was something that I picked up on and got quickly what joss was doing.

[thecolorsblend]

Saw it again today. This was my second viewing.

I doubt any of you need me to tell you that it holds up on second viewings... but if you do, well, I am. So whatever.

A second time through allows you to look past the plot (what there is of one) and just enjoy the dialogue, the performances, the actors, the effects, the whole burrito.

The obvious moments are just as good the second time 'round... in fact, maybe better as you can appreciate certain things a lot more. The Thor/Hulk battle is a pretty good example. You can dig in to the details of the fight; the rhythm and pacing of it, the intricate computer effects, that kind of stuff.

The second viewing also bolstered my argument that a midnight premiere is a phenomenon unto itself. A lot of people disagree with me on this but the opening bit with Tony and Pepper is a good example. At the midnight show, Downey had pretty much the whole audience rolling in the aisles. Knocked 'em dead. They hung on his every comma. Today's crowd? Well, they chuckled a few times but I think the Tony/Pepper zingers mostly went right by them (the 12% stuff in particular). There are other instances of this too. Rogers giving Fury the $10 bill. Things like that.

The next time somebody tells you that there's no point in seeing a movie at midnight... well, if you value the experience of it, sorry, but they're just wrong. It's no more complicated than that.

[Sponsored content]