The Avengers Assemble $200 Mil
Holy shawarma! I expected big results, but the $200 million bucks for opening weekend exceeded my estimate by about $75 million. After the resounding success of the extremely good The Hunger Games, it looks like the blockuster summer is well underway.
Copyrighted image. All rights and terms of usage belong to the copyright holder – probably Marvel Comics and/or Disney. I just thought it would spruce things up a bit. No infringement is intended, and no claims are being made. If I need to remove the image, I will do so immediately.
I really enjoyed The Avengers (and my sons did, too) – I think it may be my favorite of the super-hero movies. And I really liked Captain America, Dark Knight, Spider-Man, Iron Man 2 (Iron Man was good, too), X-Men, Rocketeer, The Crow and Spider-Man 2. All of the characters were handled well, and I thought the plot, such as it was, held up pretty well, considering the character roll call.
Really, the plot was about what it should have been, considering that it’s an action movie. Honestly, it can’t be overly complex, as it requires a huge, galactic level conflict to keep all these powerful people occupied. After all, what’s an action movie without something to cause the heroes to struggle?
The first thing to notice was that the CGI was amazing, and truly made me believe that these characters were doing the incredible things they were. And I really liked the comic book-y touches (yes, my geek is showing – but I was a geek before it was cool!) they had in it. Such as:
- Tony Stark’s offhand reference to Life Model Decoys when trying to blow off Agent Coulson
- The fact that the Helicarrier had the number 64 on it. I am guessing that this was not an accident, as The Avengers first issue was published in 1964. It’s definitely possible that it was an accident, but I’d like to think that Joss Whedon and Co. did it deliberately.
- Duh author update: it was not deliberate. I checked and the Avengers comic was introduced in 1963. Bummer. Oh well, it would have been a nice touch. Well, Maybe I can get a no-prize here: Captain America was introduced to the Avengers in 1964, forming the basis of the modern Avengers…
- The Hulk/Loki confrontation and Hulk’s parting line to Loki: “Puny God”
- A reference to Project Pegasus at the S.H.I.E.L.D. installation that was destroyed in the beginning of the movie
- The scene of the Hulk leaping out of nowhere to catch an unconscious (and quickly plummeting) Iron Man after he’d sent the nuclear missle into the heart of the Chitauri world
- Folks applauded when the movie was over – I can’t remember the last time I heard that. I felt like applauding.
- I was surprised by the number of people who left before the two extra scenes rolled. I thought that after all these Marvel movies, that people (especially in the first week) would know that the extra scene thing is pretty much a given at this point.
I did have a few things that I questioned, but they are small and barely worth mentioning. But I’ll mention them:
- Captain America’s survival when Thor struck CA’s shield with his hammer. Cap’s shield would certainly have been able to withstand the impact. But I’m not so sure about Captain America.
- Professor Erik Selvig’s survival when Iron Man blasted the energy shield and sent him reeling. If that impact of that blast sent Iron Man reeling, and Selvig was closer to the impact point (and not in a suit of iron)…
- Tony Stark’s survival when Loki pitched him through that window
- Bruce Banner’s shirts rip to shreds when he transforms to the Hulk, but his pants always seem to stay intact. I’m not in any way advocating for shredded trousers, but it’s an interesting phenomenon. Maybe he wears Pajama Jeans?
Okay, these are pretty small nits to pick, as balanced against all of the great things this movie offers. As with any action movie, we suspend our belief and immerse ourselves in the overall coolness of the movie.
As a longtime comic book reader, I appreciate movies like this. Bringing something I loved as a kid and feel great nostalgia about as an adult to life. And taking it seriously, and not giving in to the campy side. Nice to know that there are comic book fans who are capable of making movies like this.
They definitely did their homework, nailed the characters personalities and dreamed up some really cool images and homages to go along with all that comic book magic. It was action packed, a little intense and very funny when it needed to be! Even the casual comic book fans were in on the jokes.
And who watching the movie was not affected by the fate of Phil Coulson (a teriffic character created just for the movies)? At least he got in one good shot on Loki and delivered a great line.
Final verdict? Give it an A+. A thumb’s up. Nine out of 10 tomatoes??? Whatver the ranking system, it was a truly excellent movie and I look forward to Avengers 2. Kudos to Whedon and the actors for making a movie that comic book lifers and newbies could both enjoy.
Now I think I’ll go get me a shawarma.
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Alone in His Field; No Zombies or Mad Men
Based on what I am seeing on Facebook, I am apparently the only person on Earth who is not lamenting the season’s end of The Walking Dead and also not watching (nor have ever watched) Mad Men.
But that’s OK – this sort of thing isn’t exactly new territory for me. I am often on the opposite side of the fence on matters such as this. For example: I never saw an episode of Lost. I know. I’ll pause now so you can pick up your drink, or get your heart restarted or just allow time for you to recover from the shock of this bombshell.
While I am sure that Mad Men is a fine TV show, and I am sure that the near universal praise for the show is fully and truly warranted – I have little interest in watching it. And truth be told, for whatever reason – I never did. My reasons for this are best kept to myself. Suffice it to say that I see Mad Men as a fairly generic, sterotypical, recycled set up that has been covered many times over by countless TV shows before it.
I’m sure that this is a narrow minded and frustratingly dismissive attitude to take, but I’ve gotta be me. Sometimes I will decide years later to check out a show from the past and find out that my assessment of it was inaccurate. I don’t see that happening here, but you never know. I can see this happening with Lost, but not with Mad Men. Time will tell.
Now, the Walking Dead is another story. I did watch the first season, and thought it was one of the best shows around. All I needed to hear is that it was based on a comic book and that Frank Darabont (he of Shawshank Redemption fame) was going to be the writer/director for at least some of it, and I was intrigued. And was not disappointed.
Those first six episodes were chilling, compelling, horrifying and just plain fun. Everything you’d want a show to be! At least, what you’d want a horror show to be. I found the story and characters intriguing and the acting and writing was top notch. Every episode left me wanting more, and wanting to see what happened next.
Season two was another story. Started off with a hootenanny, then got a mite slow midway through. Came up with a humdinger of a midseason finale, then drifted back to meandering until the end of the sophomore offering. Unlike with the first season, I was not left with a burning desire to see the next season. I was interested, but the luster had faded. And I think that Darabont had since moved on to other projects somewhere during the season.
I watched maybe the first two or three installments of season three, then called it quits. Among my ill conceived reasons:
Perhaps it’s for the best. I mean, we are talking about the extermination of the human race here. Eventually, all of these people will be Zombie Chow. I think I got the best of what the show had to offer, and I look back fondly to the scenes and moments that made the first two seasons so … utterly watchable.
Now, the good news in all of this is that I have a new show to be looking forward to: Joss Whedon’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. After The Avengers, I will definitely be giving this a look. And who knows, if things go well it could join Arrow and Big Bang Theory in a very exclusive club.
That being shows that I watch with anything resembling consistency.