What Did You Think Of "The Avengers?"

[Lord Bravery]

All three times i've seen it the audience laughed, cheered... was just going crazy there. And this is in the UK where we usually have "stiff upper lips" in the cinema. This film just made people go crazy.

[Lord Bravery]

Those of you saying the Avengers had very little depth, if any, and are comparing it to mindless explosion fests like the Expendables must've been watching a different movie. This movie has much more in common with something like the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot from a few years back. That's the closest thing I can compare my experience to from more recent movies. This comparison is better yet and more accurate probably -



But the Expendables? Come on! That's just ridiculous. You people must've been high when you saw the Avengers. As proof, just take a look at these detached from reality statements -

You're preaching to the choir man. I think comparing Avengers to Expendables is a huge disservice to Avengers. I like Expendables, but it's very purposefully one big cliche of a film.

[GRANT!]

There were some great Hulk moments in this flick...this was by far my favorite.

Would love to know how much MoCap work Ruffalo did on the Hulk. Apparently a stunt guy did some MoCap for him as well (much like most of the MoCap on Iron Man is a stunt guy).

[DeadXMan]

Would love to know how much MoCap work Ruffalo did on the Hulk. Apparently a stunt guy did some MoCap for him as well (much like most of the MoCap on Iron Man is a stunt guy).

Most of Iron Man and IM2 is a guy in the armor ( either RDJ or StuntMan) The over imposed the gadets coming out or gears moving.

[jesse_custer]

I can't agree with this comment. Bruce Banner is one of the most relatable characters out there. There's a lot of people out there that have a side of themselves they're not proud of, that comes out when they don't want it to. The super-hero stuff is bells and whistles, at the core many of these characters are easily relatable.

I have a side to myself that I'm not proud of, but that side could never save the day and kick ass. I'm sorry, but this movie has no semblance of reality. It was a great action movie. That's it.

Those of you saying the Avengers had very little depth, if any, and are comparing it to mindless explosion fests like the Expendables must've been watching a different movie. This movie has much more in common with something like the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot from a few years back. That's the closest thing I can compare my experience to from more recent movies.

Comparing the Avengers to The Expendables is a compliment. Both movies have funny dialogue and plenty of good action. Both movies just round up a bunch of heroes and throw them at each other and at the bad guys. It's fun stuff.

Abrams' Star Trek is just lame with its weak villain and poor action directing.

[GRANT!]

Most of Iron Man and IM2 is a guy in the armor ( either RDJ or StuntMan) The over imposed the gadets coming out or gears moving.

It's a mix. If you watch the behind the scenes stuff on both movies there's scenes where Downey or the stunt guy is just wearing a MoCap suit without any armor or partial armor.

There was spy footage of the iron man stunt guy getting attacked by aliens and that was all MoCap.

[Darrell D.]

Bruce Banner the new Michael Keaton Bruce Wayne, or what? Totally would not have picked that particular actor for that particular role, but he nailed it, man. Nailed it.

I had no fears; Ruffalo is a very capable actor.

[listenuscrewheads]

Disagree completely that the Avengers lacked story, emotion, or character development. A lot of those things are overshadowed by the sheer spectacle of it, by its relentless assault on the senses, to be sure. But all the other important stuff that makes for a great movie is there, just in this case, it's more subdued and nuanced. You have to read between the lines, it's not spelled out for the audience in a literal sense. Let us also not forget, this is first and foremost an action/adventure film with sci-fi/fantasy elements. It doesn't immerse itself in sociopolitical allegories like the X-Men movies did, therefore it shouldn't be expected to be as heady. I for one am a little fatigued with the angst-ridden solemness of the X and Bat film franchises. I found the Avengers to be absolutely exhilarating and a welcome change of pace for superhero movies. Try watching the actors in their roles when they're not speaking, always helps me notice/understand things about their personal interpretation of the character. Also, the Avengers aren't the X-Men or Batman. Not in the comics, cartoons, or anywhere else, and they never will be. They are their own thing, and I'm liking it the best right now.

eh, you seem to be agreeing with me here, yes, it's a high quality action/adventure movie, but that is about it, that is what you are saying, and that is what I was saying. Like many high quality action/adventure movies, it has some good laughs and interesting character moments, but nothing that deep really, it also doesn't have to make much sense in that department, like, what the hell does Banner's 'I'm angry all the time...' statement mean? It just sounded like a cool thing to say before he Hulked out, rather make any kind of sense. But it was cool so that's ok, although i personally thought it was a bit dumb, not cool, I would have preferred him just turning into the Hulk due to the oncoming danger, ie the usual way he does.
Maybe someone can explian that line to me, because I don't get it. It contradicts everything that was said before, about him being in control etc, and please don't tell me it is some deep shit about him being angry all the time and that meaning it is his natural state now, so it doesn't affect his hulk outs, because that is bs.

Anyway, I don't have that many Avengers comics, the 1st Essentials book, some of the run from the 70s when the Beast joined, some of the Roger Stern run from the 80s...but from what I have read the mian point of drama comes from the arguments amongst the group, and the romantic relationships and their complications(Scarlett Witch and Vision, Swordsman and Mantis, Black knight fancying Wasp etc...), but in this movie the only real drama that was like that was expalined away by the influence of Loki's staff, which was a bit of a cop out if you ask me, it would have been better to have had these guys flipping out at each other due to normal reasons, pressure, ego, insecurities, heat of the moment, etc...and there were no romantic entanglements at all.
So, not much *real* drama there.

That's the thing, if they are gonna divide up the screen time equally between characters for each of these movies, there is not gonna be much time for character development, so to take the Avengers movies on their own, without the benefit of the solo movies, all you are probably gonna get is a trilogy of punch ups.
Which is fine, there are many great punch up movies out there, but let's not be snobby about this, let's call them what they are, action/adventure, shoot em ups, brainless but well executed action films...

People keep going on about how much of a miracle this movie was in the writing department, but I would not even put it in Whedon's top twenty achievements writing wise, there is no room here for that kind of accolade, and many writers have been balancing the acts between the heroes in the Avengers comics for decades now. Why is it so different to do this for a movie?

This is why it is good that the X-Men films focused on a couple of characters each film...Wolverine and Rogue, Magneto in X1...Wolverine, Rogue and Ice-Man's relationship, Pyro in X2...Wolverine and Storm in X3, Xavier, Magneto, Mystrique and Beast in FC...because we actually got a lot of character drama out of those films, as well as super-hero spectacle and team ups.

All I'm saying is, don't be snobby about the fact the Avengers is a punch up movie, that's all it is at the end of the day.

Y'know, before he signed up to do the movie, Whedon said he wasn't interested in writing an Avengers comicbook, he was more of an X-Men guy, and I can see why, there is automatically more to explore there, whereas with Avengers, at best the drama is gonna be about soap opera elements, or it might even touch of the politics of war, as this mvoie did, but they will never be able to fit much into two hour movies, esp with the leaning on spectacle and constant wariness of equally dividing screentime.

Also, they seem to be rushing the solo movies again, the first Iron-Man is the only solo film so far they have made that felt like a fully fleshed out superhero film worthy of the hero's story.
So I wonder if time will be so kind to this MCU treadmill of solo movies building up to Avengers clashes, or whether they will be looked upon much as the Transformers movies are now, as fluffy diversions, while it's other super-hero flicks that will get the dramatic accolades, and help non-geeky people take them seriously, as the better stories did in the 80s with comics.

the new Iron-Man flick looks promising, like they are tryintg to get back all the goodwill they got from the first movie, but they are still rushing into Thor2(apparently why Branagh and Patty Jenkins jumped ship), presumably to gear up to Avengers again.

edit: with all the bashing Fox has taken for their superhero films over the years, it would be highly ironic if they started producing the more thought provoking superhero films, the X-Men Fc trilogy, the supposed adaptation of Daredevil's Born again, Josh Trank possibly doing FF...just when Marvel are doing their own films.

[G. Boney]

I absolutely LOVED it, 10/10!

However, did anyone else expect a mention of Rhodey? They didn't seem to mention him, and I thought, if he still had his armor he'd probably come in handy. At least be mentioned.

Yeah that was a strange omission. Aliens are invading but no one thinks the guy with the extra set of super armor could be helpful, lol.

[listenuscrewheads]

Yeah that was a strange omission. Aliens are invading but no one thinks the guy with the extra set of super armor could be helpful, lol.

It would be easily explained away, that Rhodey was detained doing army work, I'm surprised they did not have a line in there explaining his absence.

A better question would be, how are they now gonna address the questions raised in Iron-Man 2? The government was flipping out at Iron-Man to turn over his armour tech after Micky Rourke trashed a grand prix, surely they would be outfitting the military with Iron-Man suits now, as they would have legal control over the tech?
I guess they might ignore that too in IM3.

[Mac Danny]

Avengers makes me want to see it again in IMAX and 3D and pay $40 a ticket. I never pay for Imax or 3D but I want to see this movie again and again.

When I first watched it, I found myself straining to enjoy it for a bit. Then the third act hit and BAM I was hooked.

A great film. just a fantastic movie. I want to see it again. Now.

[MRMIRACLE]

There were some great Hulk moments in this flick...this was by far my favorite.

Oh yeah, best moment of the whole film, BUT, it lacks something without Loki's arrogant mouthing-off leading into it.

[MRMIRACLE]

It would be easily explained away, that Rhodey was detained doing army work, I'm surprised they did not have a line in there explaining his absence.

A better question would be, how are they now gonna address the questions raised in Iron-Man 2? The government was flipping out at Iron-Man to turn over his armour tech after Micky Rourke trashed a grand prix, surely they would be outfitting the military with Iron-Man suits now, as they would have legal control over the tech?
I guess they might ignore that too in IM3.

Easy answer is that they scrapped the Hammer-oid project after the disastrous events in Iron Man 2 and that Rhodey made good on his "you can have your suit back" quip. Maybe we'll find out in IM3.

[verslibre]

Maybe they should pretend most of IM2 was a bad dream.

[MRMIRACLE]

Does anybody think they may be setting up a rest of the team (plus perhaps some new members) versus the Hulk for the sequel? In the comic, the Avengers spent a healthy chunk of their first two-dozen issues trying to run him down after he left the team over a misunderstanding in #2.

I could see our behind the curtains threat putting a misunderstanding like that in motion.