The Avengers (2012)

[Jim H]

That always kills me in the comics.

Spider-man was an 18 year old back in '62...should be around 68 now. They age a few years here and there, then reboots back to the origin years.

That was one of the fascinating things about the Punisher - he aged correctly, meaning he was a highly skilled 60 something human towards the end.  Frankencastle isn't the same thing though.

[HappyGilmore]

That always kills me in the comics.

Spider-man was an 18 year old back in '62...should be around 68 now. They age a few years here and there, then reboots back to the origin years.

That was one of the fascinating things about the Punisher - he aged correctly, meaning he was a highly skilled 60 something human towards the end.  Frankencastle isn't the same thing though.

Never really read Punisher...he did age?  That's pretty cool.

[The Burgomaster]

Peter Parker aged for awhile.  In the first few Spider-Man stories, he was a goofy teenager in high school.  Then he grew into a college-aged guy.  50 years later, he still seems to be in his 20s.

[HappyGilmore]

I recall a point where Peter Parker seemed to be in his mid 30s or so and...not sure, but Aunt May died.  Then it was revealed at another point that Peter wasn't Peter, but was in fact his clone, Ben Reilly, and had a somewhat updated costume.  Then Peter came back and Reilly left. 

[The Burgomaster]

I recall a point where Peter Parker seemed to be in his mid 30s or so and...not sure, but Aunt May died.  Then it was revealed at another point that Peter wasn't Peter, but was in fact his clone, Ben Reilly, and had a somewhat updated costume.  Then Peter came back and Reilly left. 

I was out of touch with comics when a lot of this stuff happened.   

 

[HappyGilmore]

It was pretty sweet. It had been about five years since he had been cloned and most forgot. I think Marvel wanted to boost sales and toys, so when the costume came in they said he was the clone. Peter had a kid with MJ and moved to Connecticut.

[Archivist]

We pre-bought tickets for today, the official release date in Australia, which coincided with Anzac Day.  Movies normally open on Thursdays, but probably for reasons of a public holiday, The Avengers opened on a Wednesday here.  My cousin was one of the lucky ones who got to see a preview screening of The Avengers two weeks before it opened here, as he was one of the winners of a Facebook ticket giveaway competition, but he was made to sign a non-disclosure agreement and could not tell me anything!  Not that I wanted to know anything, anyway, as I wanted it to be as fresh as I could get it.

I will not reveal anything about the plot, but I will say that I was very, very impressed.

All main characters are given strong representation throughout the movie.  Each one of them gets to show their personality, both of the character and the way the actor plays them.  

Loki is much darker than in Thor, although I found him a little more one dimensional than his first movie.  If Tom Hiddleston comes back as Loki in a future movie, I would love to see him explore more of his sense of desertion and perceived betrayal, and a bit less of the grandiose mania. It's great to see Chris Hemsworth's Thor again.  He's has less of the swagger but more 'solidity' to the role, if that makes sense.  I would have liked to have seen some more swagger, though.  That part of Thor was tres cool.

Captain America is less innocent than in his movie, and is striving to catch up with the modern world.  Cap assumes something of a leadership role at many stages of the movie, which is as I remember in the comics.

Black Widow is played less for looks, as she was in Iron Man 2, and much more for character, intelligence and physicality, which I thought was great.  Hawkeye's character made me think of something from Alias!  Not kidding!  His archery rig is very impressive and smoothly integrated into the actions scenes, rather than made to stand out.

The biggest surprise for me was how Ruffalo handled Bruce Banner.  I think he had the most interesting character of the lot.  He did it with a kind of modesty and near-shyness, like he was afraid of touching things lest they make him blow up!

Samuel Jackson's character was interestingly low-key compared with everyone else.  Kind of like Mace Windu in the Star Wars movies in terms of screen time and involvement.

The special effects and fight scenes were spectacular.  The Hulk going nuts was awesome.  I've never been a fan of the Hulk, not in the comics nor in movies, but this portrayal of Banner/Hulk was both convincing and exciting.  The Hulk is actually scary.  And there is a lot of humor in the movie, often at times and from characters from whom you would not expect it.  Watch out for Agent Coulson and Captain America.  The audience laughed a lot at those scenes.  And there is one scene involving Loki toward the end that had the audience in absolute stitches.

And I am really, really impressed with how Joss Whedon handled such a large scale production with an ensemble cast.  There are obvious limitations with how much character development or even screen time each character can get in a movie with so many 'stars', and Joss did incredibly well to show them as they are, as well as give fans of each what they wanted.  I'm also very impressed that he's helmed one of the most anticipated movies of the year.  Apart from The Dark Knight Rises and Prometheus, I cannot think of anything else this year that has had this kind of eager attention prior to launch.

DEFINITELY go see this movie in the cinema.  It is big, loud and fast, and will benefit most from big-screen viewing.  Don't wait for the DVD or blu-ray.  Go see it in the theatre.  

Edited to add: unlike the other recent Marvel movies, this one departs from the usual practice of having a vignette after the credits have concluded.  There is, however, a vignette after the first section of the end credits.  We stayed all the way to the end, just in case they showed something else, but there was nothing.

[dean]

^ As above, a very solid movie and Whedon's history as a Marvel writer shone through as he was able to really give it the comic-Avengers feel but well adapted to the movie-Avengers universe.

[tracy]

^ As above, a very solid movie and Whedon's history as a Marvel writer shone through as he was able to really give it the comic-Avengers feel but well adapted to the movie-Avengers universe.

Hot dog!

[Archivist]

The reports of the first day's takings are coming in.  The Avengers had the second highest opening day box office earnings of any movie in Australia, EVER.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/04/marvels-the-avengers-breaking-records-overseas-already-after-todays-early-release/

I spoke to someone who said that she tried getting tickets but sessions were sold out all over the place.  Someone else said that larger cinema complexes were actually cancelling other movies so they could screen The Avengers instead!  As they were standing in line, the electronic schedule signs blinked, three movies disappeared, and three more cinemas opened up with The Avengers.  I've been told that by lunchtime, the larger cinemas were so packed that the lines spilled out through the shopping centres and into the streets!

I am so happy for Marvel that one of their movies has had this kind of response.  Who ever thought that a superhero movie would be so widely anticipated and seen?  I'll bet that the investment group that put all that money into Marvel are clapping right now, too!

Go, Marvel!  Go, Joss Whedon!

It does make me wonder what is going to happen when The Dark Knight Rises opens!  That is the only movie I can think of that has had such long and eager anticipation.

[HappyGilmore]

I've watched some trailers online again, recently.

This movie CAN'T suck from what I've seen.  I've been waiting since I was a kid for a live-action Avengers flick, and after getting a few Iron Man flicks, Captain America, Hulk and Thor...ahhh.

I'm just glad it's getting released now, cause I have a huge feeling that Dark Knight Rises will completely TROUNCE it when it comes out later this summer.

That's one I'm waiting for as well.

[Archivist]

One suburban cinema complex that I sometimes visit has 14+ screens.  This Saturday they are screening 14 sessions of The Avengers 3D and at least 12 sessions of the 2D version.  At least three pairs of sessions start at the same time, so you'll get two sessions of The Avengers starting at 2pm, for example.  This is insane, that's up to 24 screenings of one movie in a single day.  I'm just glad we got tickets early and went to a little independent cinema.

[Archivist]

A friend pointed out something very funny and quite unexpected today.  He said that when he saw the posters for The Avengers, he saw almost every period of history represented.

Hulk = caveman / neanderthal man
Thor = Viking era / barbarian times
Hawkeye = bow and arrow = primitive tribes -> iron age
Cap America = shield = medieval knights
Black Widow = modern firearms age
Iron Man = space age / the future

I had never thought of it that way, but he is right!

[HappyGilmore]

Hawkeye's character made me think of something from Alias!  Not kidding!  His archery rig is very impressive and smoothly integrated into the actions scenes, rather than made to stand out.

The biggest surprise for me was how Ruffalo handled Bruce Banner.  I think he had the most interesting character of the lot.  He did it with a kind of modesty and near-shyness, like he was afraid of touching things lest they make him blow up!


The special effects and fight scenes were spectacular.  The Hulk going nuts was awesome.  I've never been a fan of the Hulk, not in the comics nor in movies, but this portrayal of Banner/Hulk was both convincing and exciting.  The Hulk is actually scary.  And there is a lot of humor in the movie, often at times and from characters from whom you would not expect it.  Watch out for Agent Coulson and Captain America.  The audience laughed a lot at those scenes.  And there is one scene involving Loki toward the end that had the audience in absolute stitches.

I'm off to see this tonight.  In about twenty minutes I'm leaving actually. 

I'm excited to see this.  Big fan of Hawkeye, so that should be interesting.  He was played well in the film?

As for the Hulk...personally he's my favorite of the Marvel characters.  I'm a big fan of the comics, and loved the '70s Bixby show.  The '03 film by Ang Lee didn't appeal much, although I did like the one starring Ed Norton.  I heard recently that Mark Ruffalo was actually signed to a multi-film deal recently for The Hulk.  Not sure if they're doing very many solo-Hulk films, but I'm assuming that he'll play into a likely Avengers sequel, as well as potentially future sequels for Iron Man, Captain America or Thor.  If response to The Avengers is good, I could see Hulk getting one more shot at a feature, although longtime fans may be let down, as they might give it another 'reboot' instead of just carrying on from the last one in '08 despite a cast change.

[trekgeezer]

Saw it this afternoon, it was great!   It's very fun movie and all the characters get their due.   I think the character that was the most surprising is Mark Ruffalo  as Banner /Hulk.      I think this was the best portrayal of the big guy.

It really is a good movie, has the right amount of laughter and there was even applause at the end.

I may go see it again.