What Did You Think Of "The Avengers?"

Marvel's newest and biggest blockbuster film is now in theaters worldwide, and CBR wants to hear your reactions! Drop by the CBR forums and share your thoughts on "The Avengers!"


[I]Full article [URL=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=38508]here[/URL].[/I]

The movie was made with such enthusiasm you can’t help but be caught up in it. Epic action scenes and insightful humor make it vastly entertaining. But I can’t help being a little less than satisfied. It does finally get the Hulk right! Mark Rufallo plays David Banner with an awkward reluctance, making him engaging and relatable. Robert Downey Jr. has a magic he brings to the role of Iron Man and his scenes with Hulk/Banner are some clever, subtle moments in what is for the most part a non-stop thrill ride. But even with all the sharp dialog and fine acting, the movie is missing a overarching theme that elevates other great superhero films.
Nolan’s Batman is a study in vengeance and insanity, Spiderman (1&2) worked the “with great power comes great responsibility” idea and X-Men (2 & First Class especially) had themes of acceptance and empowerment; while the plight of the mutants can be considered an analogy/metaphor for racism, anti-semitism and homophobia.
Avengers though? just big dumb fun - but highly recommend.

[QUOTE=GBtmSF;15117383]The movie was made with such enthusiasm you can’t help but be caught up in it. Epic action scenes and insightful humor make it vastly entertaining. But I can’t help being a little less than satisfied. It does finally get the Hulk right! Mark Rufallo plays David Banner with an awkward reluctance, making him engaging and relatable. Robert Downey Jr. has a magic he brings to the role of Iron Man and his scenes with Hulk/Banner are some clever, subtle moments in what is for the most part a non-stop thrill ride. But even with all the sharp dialog and fine acting, the movie is missing a overarching theme that elevates other great superhero films.
Nolan’s Batman is a study in vengeance and insanity, Spiderman (1&2) worked the “with great power comes great responsibility” idea and X-Men (2 & First Class especially) had themes of acceptance and empowerment; while the plight of the mutants can be considered an analogy/metaphor for racism, anti-semitism and homophobia.
Avengers though? just big dumb fun - but highly recommend.[/QUOTE]

Exaclty. The main theme of Avengers is how some really different characters (and some of them can destroy cities) can overcome their frustration and fight together for the greater good. It's a little cliche but it was done right. That's how blockbusters should be made. Action, epic set-pieces, interaction between the main characters, character development, humor, strong female characters. Everyrhing was almost perfect. A great and fun movie.

[QUOTE=GBtmSF;15117383]The movie was made with such enthusiasm you can’t help but be caught up in it. Epic action scenes and insightful humor make it vastly entertaining. But I can’t help being a little less than satisfied. It does finally get the Hulk right! Mark Rufallo plays David Banner with an awkward reluctance, making him engaging and relatable. Robert Downey Jr. has a magic he brings to the role of Iron Man and his scenes with Hulk/Banner are some clever, subtle moments in what is for the most part a non-stop thrill ride. But even with all the sharp dialog and fine acting, the movie is missing a overarching theme that elevates other great superhero films.
Nolan’s Batman is a study in vengeance and insanity, Spiderman (1&2) worked the “with great power comes great responsibility” idea and X-Men (2 & First Class especially) had themes of acceptance and empowerment; while the plight of the mutants can be considered an analogy/metaphor for racism, anti-semitism and homophobia.
Avengers though? just big dumb fun - but highly recommend.[/QUOTE]

I honestly don't hold this against Avengers. It's a different beast that the individual Marvel films. It doesn't need an overarching theme to elevate it like other great superhero films. It is already 'about' something. It's about the team. It's about these clashing egos, different times/cultures, and ideals coming together, finding a reason to fight for something and make a difference. To throw more stuff in there would invite disaster. You include some other major theme, the movie becomes 'about' that, and forgets that it needs to work on bringing these characters together and give them equal focus.

This was the only way to do the film. You know a whole lot of the story has to be about how they guys struggle to come together, but eventually band together. That's why you make the story *about* that. That's the crucial centerpoint. You don't need to overthink "what metaphorical analogy can all these disparate characters equally explore while establishing the team," just make it about forming the team and let things develop organically.

With that done, you can focus on something else in the sequel. The ending scenes already seem to hint at a kind of 'civil war' esque tone of questioning whether the heroes are good, should be held responsible for the damage in the city, etc. Could be a lead in to what the second film might deal with.

[QUOTE=Robotech Master;15117521]

This was the only way to do the film. You know a whole lot of the story has to be about how they guys struggle to come together, but eventually band together. That's why you make the story *about* that. That's the crucial centerpoint. You don't need to overthink "what metaphorical analogy can all these disparate characters equally explore while establishing the team," just make it about forming the team and let things develop organically.

[/QUOTE]

Couldn't agree more. One thing I've always really liked about the Avengers as a book is that it was extremely character focused, and I felt like that translated really well onto the screen. The personality clashes and character flaws are the "theme" of the team, and personally, I find that very interesting and compelling.

I thought is was pretty freakin' epic. I really enjoyed it. It had the Avengers bickering for more than half the movie, but along the way they all came together in an amazing battle that was just so satisfying to watch. There are elements of sci-fi, drama, adventure, and mystery every step of the way. It's made all the more satisfying with how well this movie fits together with the previous movies going all the way back to Iron Man. Yet you don't have to see those movies to enjoy Avengers. It just makes it a rather sizable bonus. In terms of comic movies, Avengers has really raised the bar. After seeing the final scene at the end of the movie I have high hopes that it'll be raised again in the future.

It reminds me a lot of the Expendables. Lots of action stars (or comic stars) all together in a big loud mindlessly fun movie. Sadly, the wit that Joss Whedon is known for, the wit that RDJ is known to deliver to Oscar-nominated levels, just wasn't quite there. That actually hurts when you factor in the rewatchability value. Maybe I went in expecting too much from the hype. Left a little disappointed, but still glad I got to see it early. 3 out of 5 stars.

the Hulk was awesome and its Bruce Banner not David Banner, Ironman was awesome but did anyone expect RDJ not to be, there wasnt enough of Thor and way too much Black Widow, the effects were'nt great and then theres some cheesy lines, overall though its a fun summer film, definetly worth seeing

The movie was freaking awesome! But could someone explain to me how Thor returns to Earth with the rainbow bridge destroyed? I know Hiemdelle says there is always a way in "Thor" but I'm curious to know what that way is.

I absolutely [COLOR="#FF0000"][I]loved[/I][/COLOR] it! I laughed and I cheered, and I can't remember the last movie that made me do that.

[QUOTE=EricFox;15117713]The movie was freaking awesome! But could someone explain to me how Thor returns to Earth with the rainbow bridge destroyed? I know Hiemdelle says there is always a way in "Thor" but I'm curious to know what that way is.[/QUOTE]

I don't remember exactly the quote, but Loki made some off-hand comment "How much bla bla did Odin have to bla bla to get you back to Earth without the bifrost?"

[QUOTE=Cononach;15117757]I don't remember exactly the quote, but Loki made some off-hand comment "How much bla bla did Odin have to bla bla to get you back to Earth without the bifrost?"[/QUOTE]

Ah, okay. I remember that now. I guess Thor's father had a hand in sending him back to Earth to stop Loki.

Loved it.. Honestly, I've experienced some great 'wow' moments with super hero movies over the years but I don't think I've had a bigger smile on my face watching a super hero movie as I did with the 3 or 4 priceless Hulk moments as I have since, well.. "You've got me? who's got you..?!!?" 35 years ago on the big screen.. Not to mention a whole bunch of iconic moments with the other characters.. And the story was very well done..

My only two caveats? Wishing for a slightly more bad ass moment for Cap.. .. and the mid credit reveal. Honestly, considering the potential an Ultron or Kang story could do for these characters (technology as the enemy with Ultron or The Hulk fighting transposed NAZI and Dinosaur armies from Kang, anyone???) I take the reveal of the villain as nothing short of a sucker punch at DC.. making their obvious choice of a JLA villain, should they ever pull off their own movie, as looking like a rip of of this guy..

Very very good. The film did exactly what it needed to do. Use a simple yet engaging enough plot to unite these characters and give them all great characters moments showing why they are awesome and giving us amazing spectacles of cinema. Lots of action. Every actor filled there role and thankfully Whedon knows how to juggle multiple characters and make the audience care about them (see Buffy). Tons of fun. This needed to be fun and thats exactly what it was. Nothing groundbreaking but it did everything right. My one small complaint is that Whedon threw way to much of his witty one liner dialogue that he's known for on these characters, whichs worked for a while but got noticeable and a bit tiresome during the middle of the film. Oh and hopefully the next film can improve upon this by having a deeper plot and keeping everything else that worked in tact.

It was damn near perfect .