Reviews for *** The AVENGERS *** are in and... WOW !!!

[RockinRobin182]

You need to turn your brain off to enjoy a Transformers movie. Even then, you might not. This? Leave the brain on. Everyones talking about how funny the dialogue is, and yes, at times its quite funny (Roeper said its funnier than most modern comedies), but thats only part of it. I laughed. But I also cried (well, teary eyed...I'll try to hold on to some masculinity...). Most importantly, I had to restrain myself from jumping out of my seat, throwing my fist in the air and yelling "F*ck yeah!". Multiple times.

[K Von Doom]

I was expecting a lot from this movie based on the reviews and friends who saw it before me. In the movie theatre, once the previews ended and the movie started, I thought "Okay, I'm ready to be wowed". The movie started off slow, which is understandable because they had to establish the plot and whatever else, so I was anxiously waiting for quite a while. Loki appeared and I was like "Yay, something!" but his entrance was just okay. The first wow moment came over half an hour into it, when Captain America confronted Loki. From that point on, the movie moved as a faster pace. Time did not fly by any means, but it was faster than the first half hour of the movie. It was a steady pace bringing the team together and establishing the threat. I thought the most clever bit of dialogue was when the heroes became confrontational towards each other on the helicarrier – you'll know what I mean when you see it.

The final forty minutes of the movie is the fastest because it's the final battle. There are lulls of course. For example, there's an alien invasion but we see Hawkeye, Cap and Black Widow standing around sometimes (probably assessing the situation or resting between fights) which is a bit strange. The stops in fights made it look like the Earth wasn't really in danger. Personally, I saw the alien threat as a bit of a joke because they seemed to be funnelling through the portal as a leisurely pace, just enough for the heroes to handle and they weren't really overwhelmed at any point. There were supposed moments of danger for the heroes but it didn't get the heart racing so it fell short on that front. There is one awesome sequence in the final battle with no cuts so it illustrates the scope of the invasion. There's a cool moment at the end with Stark Tower, which I saw as a nice touch.

Few downsides: The name Hawkeye wasn't really used much and when they referred to him as Hawk, some people mistook it for Hulk for some reason. There was no physical danger to the heroes – Loki was good in manipulating and such but he got easily beat down a couple of times – some hired muscle (Destroyer or Executioner) could've helped. Where was War Machine (minor point and I know he's not an Avenger)? Pepper Potts got a long cameo but why didn't Jane Foster or Betty Ross get one (a picture doesn't count)? Widow's wrist blasters weren't used but were shown for some reason.

Robert Downey definitely gets the best lines amongst the heroes, followed closely by Ruffalo, surprisingly. I'm not a big Hulk fan but I thought this portrayal of Hulk was great. Captain America gets his share of moments. Thor gets a little shortchanged on the clever dialogue but makes up for it with direct tussles against Ironman, Hulk and Loki. I would rate it as a 8.5/10, just slightly better than the first Ironman movie, and a notch above Thor, Captain America, IM2 and TIH. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's the Star Wars of this generation but it does rank, to me, as high as the Lord of the Rings.

[Tien Long]

of course the movie fails to deliver us man-candy. No shirtless thor, no shirtless Captain America, but we did get a couple of nice, firm, round shots of Black Widows ass-ets.

Y'know, Joss stated in an article for the NYTimes how he wanted to portray the women as being sexual and not sexy. I have to say, that mentality was apparent in the characterization of Black Widow. Her cleverness, confidence, and control of the situation made her seem more attractive to me than any "barely there" lingerie shot. Truth be told, after this movie, I definitely would like to see a Black Widow solo film.

However, if you're talking about great, sexual characters, Gwenyth Paltrow stole the show for me. She matched wits with Robert Downey Jr.'s Stark and looked hot in her jean shorts while doing it .

What a bunch of interesting reviews. For those of you who saw it, where would you say that it ranks against Captain America?

Personally, I say Avengers easily outshines all of the other previous Marvel films. There was a lot more action and clever dialogue. By having all of these characters come together and contrast with one another, there was much more character building as well. It's definitely a very smart film too. Don't shut your brain off, because for the most part, all of the moments and pieces make sense.

[g-dawg]

You need to turn your brain off to enjoy a Transformers movie. Even then, you might not. This? Leave the brain on. Everyones talking about how funny the dialogue is, and yes, at times its quite funny (Roeper said its funnier than most modern comedies), but thats only part of it. I laughed. But I also cried (well, teary eyed...I'll try to hold on to some masculinity...). Most importantly, I had to restrain myself from jumping out of my seat, throwing my fist in the air and yelling "F*ck yeah!". Multiple times.

I was visibly weeping in the theater. That was how good it was. You're right, that silly 'turn your brain off' mentality does not belong here. You'd want to be conscious and breathing while watching this.

Pepper Potts got a long cameo but why didn't Jane Foster or Betty Ross get one (a picture doesn't count)? Widow's wrist blasters weren't used but were shown for some reason.

I was a bit sad that Jane or Betty weren't here. Would have added to the whole 'shared universe' thing the Marvel movies have.

Oh, and Widow DID use her blasters. When she's scuffling with aliens, she often sticks her fist into their necks and zapping sounds can be heard. Not exactly how I remember them being used, but they were there.

[Mia]

So what do you want, clever dialog and action or just action or just witty dialog? You are confusing me. It's going to be the ultimate mix of story, action and character moments. Don't wait for a half price showing, go see it right away. I hope to.

A strong coherant plot with good character development...and yes great action scenes. From the posts I’ve read thus far the only reason to see this film is the cool action scenes and the special effects. Nothing or no one has demonstrated that the film isn’t really anything but live action cartoon aimed at 15 year old video game playing boys. There seems to be no depth to the film. Which is why I think that I will just wait to see the film at a half price showing.

[Lord Bravery]

A strong coherant plot with good character development...and yes great action scenes. From the posts I’ve read thus far the only reason to see this film is the cool action scenes and the special effects. Nothing or no one has demonstrated that the film isn’t really anything but live action cartoon aimed at 15 year old video game playing boys. There seems to be no depth to the film. Which is why I think that I will just wait to see the film at a half price showing.

There is depth to the film. The depth comes with the characterisation and how they interact.

Banner and Tony Stark's interactions in particular are really good. Not just for laughs, but it adds a whole load of depth to Stark and it's the first time we see Banner start to accept his alter ego instead of seeing it as a curse he wants to get rid of. Steve Rogers has a certain amount of sadness and awkwardness to him, which makes sense because he's a man from a bygone era. As the film goes on you can see him get more used to it and confident. By the time the final battle rolls around you can totally buy him as the leader. But Thor has the most emotional arc. He wants to stop his brother but he is conflicted on how to do so. Imagine your little brother or sister does something wrong, they need to be punished, but it's you who wants to do it, you don't want anyone else to do it, you know what i mean? Black Widow also has a lot of development here too. It's basically a dysfunctional family that has to learn to get along as the film progresses.

The villain is complex and well developed. He acts like a malicious asshole, but you can sense that he's acting out of desperation and that it is a facade to cover up his inferiority complex about his brother, Thor. His motivation is actually really good. There is a scene in Germany that is just really, really amazing. Hiddleston is brilliant as Loki.

Also the plot is straight forward; Bad guy wants to win, good guys have to stop him. But it's the details and twists that make it good. Nicky Fury and SHIELD show their true colours, which i found surprising even if it was totally true to the comics. The Cosmic Cube seems to just be a plot McGuffin, but is really is a metaphor for the global energy crisis.

If the movie didn't have depth or well written characters i can root for, I wouldn't like it. This is the film Michael Bay wishes he could make. Big spectacular action, but with a coherent story and well developed characters. This is Joss Whedon, he knows a thing or two about characterisation.

[Fast]

A strong coherant plot with good character development...and yes great action scenes. From the posts I’ve read thus far the only reason to see this film is the cool action scenes and the special effects. Nothing or no one has demonstrated that the film isn’t really anything but live action cartoon aimed at 15 year old video game playing boys. There seems to be no depth to the film. Which is why I think that I will just wait to see the film at a half price showing.

...almost every single person has talked about the character aspects far more than the action pieces. I haven't seen it yet either but it almost seems like we are seeing far different things perusing through this thread.

[niconico00]

During the mid-credit scene, a guy sitting next to me said:
spoilers:

Look, it's Hellboy!

end of spoilers

[niconico00]

Oh, and Widow DID use her blasters. When she's scuffling with aliens, she often sticks her fist into their necks and zapping sounds can be heard. Not exactly how I remember them being used, but they were there.

If I'm not mistaken you can also see some kind of an electric flash

[Ronin1108]

Fox News Movie Review.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...ntcmp=features

aka Hey Guys we think you did a great job!!!.....oh yeah we're keeping daredevil [trollface] lol

[edhopper]

Not reading the thread to avoid spoilers, so forgive me if this has been discussed. Is it worth seeing in 3D since it was not filmed in it? I usually go with 2D if the film wasn't made for 3D.

[Lord Bravery]

Not reading the thread to avoid spoilers, so forgive me if this has been discussed. Is it worth seeing in 3D since it was not filmed in it? I usually go with 2D if the film wasn't made for 3D.

I'm not a fan of 3D either. Especially post converted 3D. But in my cinema it was actually good. Particularly in the final battle. There is this one tracking shot of Iron Man in the foreground and this big dragon thing further off in the distance and the 3D works really well. Also with Hulk jumping around like a juiced up gorilla it looks great.

[Omega Alpha]

Not reading the thread to avoid spoilers, so forgive me if this has been discussed. Is it worth seeing in 3D since it was not filmed in it? I usually go with 2D if the film wasn't made for 3D.

The 3d doesn't get in the way, but it doesn't help much (this isn't Avatar or Hugo).

[Mat001]

I was a bit sad that Jane or Betty weren't here. Would have added to the whole 'shared universe' thing the Marvel movies have.

I think it was a matter of saving it for "Thor 2", with Jane. Pepper being in it works since she's usually Tony's conscience in his films. And Betty, probably didn't want to go there.

[Superbeast]

I think it was a matter of saving it for "Thor 2", with Jane. Pepper being in it works since she's usually Tony's conscience in his films. And Betty, probably didn't want to go there.

The Incredible Hulk cast's sequel options in their contracts passed the point of being viable and it would not have been financially prudent to renegotiate a brand new contract with Liv Tyler just for a brief cameo, nor is it likely her agent likely be open to them given the film was considered disappointing.

Real life issues of cost effectiveness do dictate things like this. Also Portman making a cameo would have been difficult since she was pregnant at the time of filming.