What Did You Think Of "The Avengers?"

[40yearoldnovafan]

I loved it Marvels best movie so far. But I still don't know who the hell those aliens are?

They stated the aliens were Chitari. The Chitari had their origin in the Ultimates. They are shape changerss (basically the Ultimate's version of Skrulls). They were in the Ultimates cartoon.

Obviously, they did not use the shape-changing characteristics in the movie.

I know some people complained about them not being good villains - you don't know their motivation, they don't speak, blah, blah, blah. But that is a complaint you hear a lot in movies where the invading forces are aliens. To me, they are invading, they want your stuff, they are not going to stop and talk nice.

The real villain was Loki - and he was good at it.

Jimmy

[GRANT!]

I really loved it. Admittedly it was shaky at the start and it was far from perfect but once the characters starting interacting the movie just kept getting better. As far as It goes in terms of spectacle it can't be beat but the character moments held it together.

It also the closest thing we've gotten to A Star Wars/Lord of the Rings epic in the superhero genre.

[GRANT!]

I thought the humor was pretty spot on. Of course , not every gag hit the spot but enough hit the spot to make it memorable for the audience. Most of the people watching were laughing when i watched it.

I agree. The movie comes alive when the jokes start coming in. Levity makes these characters seem real to me.

[GRANT!]

I thought Stan Lee's part was underutilized. I really expected a bigger part for him than just a quick end scene video clip. His scene in Thor still tops them all in my opinion.

I think he shot a scene with Chris Evans that was scrapped. I think there was a bunch of things that were cut. Like what were Loki and his lackies trying to get in Germany? And it seemed like Maria Hill had a bigger part.

[GRANT!]

Only problems I had were I couldn't understand what the hell Thanos was saying in the beginning of the film. I also had a hell of a hard time understanding The Other as well.

That was The Other narrating actually. Who I heard was Alexis Densioff (which is kind of cool). Yeah the mix at my movie theatre was kind of bad so there was some lines I missed. I got the basics though.

Also is Thanos and The Other going to be like Nick Fury and Coulson of the next few movies? Where they make a few appreance to setup Avengers 2?

[regnak]

I think he shot a scene with Chris Evans that was scrapped. I think there was a bunch of things that were cut. Like what were Loki and his lackies trying to get in Germany? And it seemed like Maria Hill had a bigger part.

I think they were after iridium to use in making the tesseract heat up and open the gateway.

[Jared]

Ah, so the hooded fellow as called The Other? Is he from the comics?

I do think it would have helped to expand upon the invaders a little bit. With what we saw...how were they expecting to actually take over the world? Only their big transport beasts are particularly hard to kill, but they didn't have weapons or fly very fast. By all indications, the nuke probably would have wiped out their force. Sure, they could presumably send more...but the portal isn't *that* big.

I didn't. I actually don't even think that particular death was necessary given the number of other agents that died on the ship.

Did you give a crap about any of those agents? Did you even know their names?
That's why it was necessary.

To the audience, extras are less than human unless they're children or dogs.

[Serik]

I think they were after iridium to use in making the tesseract heat up and open the gateway.

Loki went to the opera in Germany to "steal" the eye of one of the researchers who worked at the lab where they keep the iridium. Barton then used a hologram of the eye to gain access to the lab.

[Alex]

Ah, so the hooded fellow as called The Other? Is he from the comics?

I do think it would have helped to expand upon the invaders a little bit. With what we saw...how were they expecting to actually take over the world? Only their big transport beasts are particularly hard to kill, but they didn't have weapons or fly very fast. By all indications, the nuke probably would have wiped out their force. Sure, they could presumably send more...but the portal isn't *that* big.



Did you give a crap about any of those agents? Did you even know their names?
That's why it was necessary.

To the audience, extras are less than human unless they're children or dogs.

I had a huge problem with the nuke, because there were aliens invading from a portal in the air, so to stop them from invading, they were going to nuke the city.
How does that make any sense?

[OrpheusTelos]

That's the theme I've reading a lot. It must be amazing going to a movie to hear or feel the excitement of the audience. That type of atmosphere is very rare for almost any movie.

It was kind of surreal for me. My theater was only about half full because I went to an early show, but the crowd still got pumped for the second half of the movie, especially when the Hulk was on screen.

[J. Robb]

What a fun movie. The Hulk was hilarious, and Chris Evans nails Captain America.

"To court Death" was a great line for all the comic geeks.

I expected Coulson to show up at the end. I think he'll be back.

[GRANT!]

Did you give a crap about any of those agents? Did you even know their names?
That's why it was necessary.

To the audience, extras are less than human unless they're children or dogs.

I was bummed he died. And he had a close relationship with the other characters. He was like the Rick Jones of the Marvel Movieverse.

[GRANT!]

I had a huge problem with the nuke, because there were aliens invading from a portal in the air, so to stop them from invading, they were going to nuke the city.
How does that make any sense?

It would probably blow up that portal machine too....

[smhoulihan]

He gave it 3 stars, perhaps, but it was full of digs and just lacking in respect of the genre as a whole. He respects films but disrespects the fictional genre of superheroes, and doesn't get where these movies draw its metaphors, so I don't think he's the best person as a go to reviewer for superhero movies.

Wouldn't you go to a reviewer who has the best working knowledge of movies for a movie review? By your logic, only fan sites like aintitcoolnews and badassdigest should be considered when reviewing superhero movies.

The great thing about Ebert is that he isn't a fanboy, he's a legitimate critic who can view The Avengers objectively.

Here's an excerpt from his review:


"These films are all more or less similar, and "The Avengers" gives us much, much more of the same. There must be a threat. The heroes must be enlisted. The villain must be dramatized. Some personality defects are probed. And then the last hour or so consists of special effects in which large mechanical objects engage in combat that results in deafening crashes and explosions and great balls of fire."

Is this unfounded criticism? While The Avengers is great, and no one has ever brought together a group of heroes from disparate films before, it's not exactly reinventing the wheel as far as comic book film structure is concerned. Here's another one from Dana Stevens of Slate:

"But a colossally scaled blockbuster like The Avengers lacks both the agility and the motivation to question its reason for existence. Its primary purpose is not to explore or subvert the superhero movie, but to lay the groundwork for more of them (Ruffalo, who arguably steals the movie as the rumpled, reluctant Banner/Hulk, has just signed on for a six-movie deal.)"

And finally, William Morris of The Boston Globe:

"As plots go, it�s standard. But Whedon clearly prides himself on adding some zing and zest to the bam and pow. This is a happily quotable movie (only a third of the good lines go to Downey) that wants to be cool without forcing the issue."

These three reviews are all certified fresh by the way (The Avengers is enjoying an impressive 93% rating).

A legitimate critic can look past the fanboy hype and their own geekiness, and see the film for what it really is, instead of salivating at every geek moment. That's why their opinion is valuable.

The superhero film has become such a standard of summer blockbusters over the last few years, it's easy to see why non-fans, like Ebert, may be a little burnt out by the experience.

[king arthas]

Dang I really want to watch it now, I'm gonna have to go soon.