I have a bold idea: have the U.S. government producing the next 10 Avengers features to get itself out of debt. With $700 million banked worldwide after a mere 13 days, Disney should net north of a billion before Blu-Ray sales.
So what transpired to make this Marvel film so successful? Was it the MARVEL fanboy nation, the hype machine, Joss Whedon’s deep Buffy fan base, what was it? Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that when the sun shone through the Staff of Whedon in the Disney map room, it revealed the location of the Ark of the Cash Covenant.
Writer/director Joss Whedon had a major challenge with The Avengers. Superhero movies have to follow a formula, and the formula isn’t guaranteed. In fact, with a movie like The Avengers, there was the very real possibility of failure. But it didn’t fail – to my mind, it succeeded beyond reasonable expectations. Let’s have a look at why.
I’m not reviewing the picture here, so most of this assumes you’ve already seen the film. And if you haven’t, seriously, get thee to the theater.
This movie was actually testing me, as I almost missed opening weekend. A sick teenager and spending too much dough on groceries (eating is way overrated anyway) nearly kept me home. It’s usually not hard to catch an opening day or weekend show without fear of sellout in my small town, and with The Avengers playing in two theaters on four screens, I had the numbers on my side. Or did I? I locked me in a guaranteed time for movie substance abuse courtesy of Fandango.
Arrive 30 minutes early – check.
Tickets – check.
Massive crowd – holy check.
I walk through the crowd as only a fanboy can on such occasions, like Billy Dee in a Colt .45 ad, except these weren’t Dobermans surrounding me, they were meaner. I hear some grumbling about not waiting my turn for tickets. This is a fanboy movie lady, I beamed my tickets to my hand via the wormhole that is my laptop. The IQ status in this room is Stark level. Have fun in line, or a Benjamin gets you three guaranteed. I actually thought she was going to bite, but common sense won out. Definitely not a fanboy.
In my sunny realm you can buy a gallon bucket-O-popcorn for $17.50 and refill it all year for $3.50; there is no better deal anywhere. I add a $50 Cherry Coke and the children of the corn and I settle in the back row (BONUS), ready to chill for 3 hours easy. Previews are good but I have been a proponent of less in trailers for some time now so I pay as little attention as possible. Moviegoers see films because they are art, and you certainly do not need a preview of Matisse to decide if you want to see his art in a show, you just go because you like art. They could have tested this theory by saying “Dark Knight summer,” “Spiderman summer,” no trailers necessary, I’m there opening night for both.
Opening night for The Avengers is electric. The film’s villain may not be overly fond of what follows a lightning strike, but when you get one like this picture, I beg to differ.. This time what follows is not campy comic movie but epic with a capital E. Joss Whedon has done just enough research to please the fanboy flotilla and create a general backstory for the average moviegoer as well.
When dealing with ensemble superhero movies, the traditional problem is you need to tell a coherent story in two hours, while ensuring that everyone gets enough screen time to be relevant. Plus you often have years of lore and backstory to fill in. More often than not you wind up with a narrative mess along the lines of The Fantastic Four. Technically The Avengers is actually the sixth movie in a series – Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk are all officially prequels to this picture. But since those were of varying quality and since you can’t assume everyone in the audience saw them, Whedon’s job with The Avengers wasn’t made any easier by this fact.
The first quarter of the movie sets up the effort to create the team and the issues of putting together such an eclectic group of individual superhero personalities. While some critics have complained about the amount of time devoted to setup, let’s try to remember that the Avengers spent an entire year resolving this in the first run of their comic book series. Only an inebriated lower companion monkey would think that 15 minutes was too much time spent resolving such an ongoing, complex issue.
I have been an Avengers fanboy from the comics of my 1970s childhood to my current mailed subscriptions. I could have spent five hours watching backstory, but a mainstream movie prevent such wet dreams from occurring. The amount of lore concerning the Avengers is black hole deep; for Whedon to cover what he did in less than 3 hours is an achievement unlocked. Naysayers will piss and moan about content, but take it from a knowledgeable historian: the alternative would have been a muddled mess to newcomers and a crime against the lore to long-time fans. Instead, Whedon gives us impressive equality of story and characters throughout the film.
The interaction of the characters was well played and while I was concerned with Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark overpowering everyone, it didn’t matter; line after line of flawless jabs and insults left my spleen potentially lacerated post-movie. Quality references to Point Break, Lord of the Rings and sexual performance were quick and tightly woven as not to dwell on a potentially cheesy line. Instead they came across as normal sarcastic banter from the historically jaded, womanizing, career alcoholic Tony Stark.
Speaking of Stark and womanizing, I was pleased to see Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) included in this film and hope that such a known character in the Marvel universe will get the supporting role in more features. Fanboys are aware that Stark is famous for sleeping with Pepper Potts and Maria Hill in the Stark Disassembled comic run (mad props Stark, mad props).
I was not surprised to see that the majority of character interactions involved Stark, as his arrogant personality matches the Ironman suit’s attributes of 100 ton strength and multiple VI targeting solutions during a battle. Stark believes he is the best, and rough housing with Thor is how he tests and analyzes for future encounters. Captain America, awesome as he is, can’t compete with either of the two and in the comic universe would be in a full body cast recovering from the force of Thor dropping Mjolnir on his shield. The shield would be fine but they would have had to get a backhoe to pull him out of the well he made on the way down. So characters were established well power-wise but a little too indulgent with Cap for my taste (and yes I stopped my Captain America comic subscription when they killed him for a crappy story line). I also keep waiting to hear “flame on” so it’s hard to purge that out of my head and it didn’t help that Thanos was sneak peeked after the credits rolled.
It’s ironic that potentially the next big villain comes from the Fantastic Four universe because it’s going to be a bugger getting Johnny Storm and Captain America in the same film, given Chris Evans plays both. I suppose if they use the version of the Vision with Johnny Storm inside they could pull it off, but then the Vision would need to be an Avenger, and well crap… I’d just use the Johnny Storm is dead comic series version and then Kazaam, problem solved.
So we are rolling along halfway and the continuity is good, dialogue is great, and I am super happy with the new Bruce Banner, played by Mark Ruffalo. I was sold after he tested Black Widow in India, that was gold. I was actually looking for more Banner dialogue, as he grew on me every time he was on screen, until he turned into smells like big green teen spirit. Then it was over, I am not sure why; this CGI was better than the last version’s, but it was. Perhaps it was lighting, or angles, maybe even choreography. I say it was Ruffalo’s killer hair and CGI face on the Hulk itself. You just don’t want to piss the big guy off and this was deftly played out when Widow runs away like a free hooker in the secret service’s Columbian hotel. The look on her face, showing the pain of fresh S.H.I.E.L. D. commissary fixings in her Hawkeye BVD’s, said it all for me.
Speaking of Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), people just don’t get it with him. He was an original Avenger and has no powers other than shooting 20 arrows in your sphincter in a minute’s time all with different cool side effects. He kicks ass in his own way and I have followed his comics, which include some of the most compelling storylines written, for three decades. Who wants ten of the same guy on the team, that’s just boring and stagnant. I think Renner killed it as Hawkeye and hope he reprises the role. But not before Black Widow gets her own full length film, it’s due and Scarlett Johansson is perfect in her portrayal. The scenes between her, the Russians and Loki showed she has the mannerisms to pull off the Widow’s expertise in interrogation and killing.
The movie is really packing it in with minimal fighting until the three-quarter mark, and then all hell breaks loose. This is when things went from the check list of what to do to ok, everybody wants to see them whup ass so let’s get to it. The film hits its stride here and never looks back. Lots of high power characters and a lot to coordinate in a group fight sequence, yet it was well balanced and expertly edited as each had their moment of glory during the battle, other than the Hulk that is. He owned fools like a fat chick at an all you can eat Shoney’s buffet. No one, and I mean no one, will forget the total annihilation of Loki. Ever. Period.
My last Wonka golden ticket goes to Tom Hiddleston as Loki, who absolutely commandeers the movie when he is on screen. No one could possibly have created a more perfect version of Loki for our viewing pleasure. I implore everyone to stay seated as the credits roll – many goodies are to be had for the patient film goer. The last, after all the credits roll, is worth the wait and is so simple and eloquent you will smile and applaud. This film made money because it was good and if others follow along, I for one am excited to see childhood heroes come to life. Deadpool anyone?
avengers movie review
Everybody please welcome John “elbuchosan” Drow aboard – this man’s brain is more full of comic book lore than any brain has a right to be. He’ll be sharing his wisdom on comics, movies, games, and all the usual stuff we talk about around here. Make yourself at home, elbuchosan!
— S
Great article elbuchosan! I’m glad Tap is expanding its base into the comic book arena. I have always had a love for Superheros, but never was much of a comic book reader, so I am looking forward to gaining insight into the Marvel universe.
BTW, if the government was in charge of producing this, it’d cost a trillion dollars to make…
Great stuff!
I saw “The Avengers” last weekend and loved it. Pretty much as good as one could hope for out of an Avengers movie. I loved how each character had a chance to shine – both personally and action-wise – and how well the action sequences were filmed. Despite a ton of stuff going on, it was always very easy to tell what was happening and who was where. Contrast that against, say, the Transformers movies where I never had any clue what was going on.
As long as I have been into comics – and it’s been a long, long time – I never really read much in the way of “Avengers”. Sure, I read some spot issues here, there and bumped up against these characters in various cross-overs or other “events” and spent many hours reading over all sorts of Marvel Universe guides and what not, so I am pretty familiar with all of the characters, but I am not too steeped in their lore. I was always an “X-Men” and Wolverine guy when it came to the Marvel stuff. I also really loved the “Black Panther”.
DC-wise, I read all the big events, but I pretty much just followed Deadshot around. So, it was “Suicide Squad” and “Secret Six” for the most part.
I actually stopped collection comics back in 1991/92 when I was a freshman in college and realized I had no real income anymore and the price of things was getting out of control. So, I stopped collecting individual issues right around then and have since been strickly a trade paperback or hardcover collector. It works out pretty well. Also, other than a few books here and there, I pretty much stopped reading traditional Marvel and DC fair and switched to some different stuff.
Like pretty much any media – books, TV, movies, music – the vast majority of stuff out there ranges from mediocre to poor, but there are some really great comics out there.
Welcome!
I loved this movie. I think Marvel is really doing a kick-ass job with tying this franchise together.
I think this movie did a good job with the Hulk. He is a really difficult character to head up a movie, and they even tried it twice! But what the audience really wants to see is “Hulk Smash,” and the Avengers delivered on that front.
Now if only…
Deadpool anyone?
Yes, please. Seriously you have no idea how badly I want that.
Great start to your Tap career, John! I couldn’t agree more with your editorial. Whedon took a hard, hard job – ensemble superhero movies are no picnic – and did just about the best that could have been done with it. 2:23 of Lots Of Fun, which in my book is a good movie.
I didn’t read many comics as a lad, so a lot of this is new to me. I depend on Ajax19 for all my comics nowadays. He’s my canary in the coal mine.
So here’s a question: should I see The Avengers? With the exception of some of Thor, I haven’t liked/haven’t seen any of the movies that led to this one: I found nothing at all to like about Iron Man and so didn’t bother with Iron Man 2, didn’t like Incredible Hulk, and didn’t see Captain America because it looked kind of like crap.
Am I beyond saving, or is there something worthwhile in Avengers for someone who didn’t like any of the lead-ins?
Enjoyed your first article here, John. Looking forward to more!
I enjoyed it immensely, xtal, but then I did like both Iron Man films and I am a Joss Whedon fan. I haven’t seen Thor or Captain America.
I will say this about The Avengers, and take it as you will – Scarlett Johanssen. And Cobie Smulders. Just saying.
That’s funny steerpike, because I would say that, outside of at least Iron Man 1, Thor and Captain America would be the most important to see before this seeing the Avengers with the Hydra/Tesseract/Loki connection. And yes xtal, you are beyond saving if you didn’t find Iron Man at least amusing in the guilty pleasure department.
It is funny, because as I watched the movie, I sat there thinking, “A bunch of this stuff was probably mentioned in Captain America and Thor.” Luckily my geek genes took over and I was able to inherently understand, or at least sort of go with the flow. But in a way this really underlines John’s point – even fans, like me, didn’t see all the movies they were supposed to have… but Joss Whedon’s film wrapped it all up in an understandable way. I think a person could have walked in pretty blind, having seen none of the build-up films, and still not been lost watching The Avengers. That’s a hell of an accomplishment.
I do want to see Thor. Anything directed by Kenneth Branagh is worth viewing in my book. Captain America I’m a bit less interested in, but hey, if it finds its way to Netflix I’m there.
xtal, I’ll withold siding with Heddhunter on the whole “you’re beyond saving” for now, but the jury’s out. Behave yourself.
xtal, just wait and see “The Avengers” when it’s on cable, DVD or whatever. While I think “The Avengers” is better than all of the movies that came before it, if you didn’t like any of them at all, then you’d probably not like “The Avengers” all that much.
As for me, I really enjoyed Iron Man. I didn’t even mind “Iron Man 2”, though I thought Sam Rockwell – who I normally like – was a horrible villain. He was just too goofy and stupid to be a credible threat to Iron Man. Other than that, I liked it well enough.
Thor was entertaining, though a bit disjointed. I found “Captain America” quite boring and poorly paced. That said, one think I liked about both “Thor” and “Captain America” were the leads. Chris Hemsworth is the perfect Thor. He looks like him and just nails the character. I’ve always liked Chris Evans and think he’s great as Captain America. So, if you put those two characters in better films with better writing (e.g., The Avengers) they will shine and they did.
The only pre-Avengers movie I didn’t see was “The Hulk”. Given that I know that story pretty well and they switched actors, I didn’t feel much of a need to see it.
The Avengers is solid on its own, but for a individual with average enjoyment of Marvel films, I would definitely recommend Thor before The Avengers. The clarification of Loki’s motivation from the Thor film would buffer any, “I don’t get it,” moments in The Avengers. Thor is certainly the segue into the Avengers storyline. Out of all the Marvel films, The Avengers is put together the best and would define any enjoyment of future Marvel films.
I 100% agree with everything you said Ajax, except I really didn’t like Iron Man 2 at all. Everyone knows the Hulk backstory, at least the parts needed for this movie. I would still recommend renting Thor and Captain America first, then watching The Avengers.
Most people didn’t like “Iron Man 2”. I didn’t see it in the theater. I ended up catching it on Netflix Instant one night. I knew the general consensus was that it sucked, so I came in with incredibly low expectations. I think that’s probably why I didn’t mind it so much. Unsettled expectations are often a big reason behind not liking something.
Great piece, elbushosan.
People I would have bet money would never see the Avengers are telling me they loved it. I liked the Iron Man 1 and Thor movies a lot. Didn’t see any of the others but I was a moderately enthusiastic Marvel/DC fan way back when so I must have some lore stored somewhere back in the old brain cells. Mostly I remember Thor and The Hulk though I’m sure I’ve read a few Captain Americas somewhere along the line. I do not ever remember reading an Iron Man comic though.
Terrific rundown of the movie John.
I saw this the other week with my girlfriend and my mum. My girlfriend, like myself, isn’t too fond of superhero flicks and my mum is a special effects junkie so it was going to be quite interesting to see what they made of it.
We all had a blast.
I’d seen quite a few of the Marvel films beforehand, the exception being Thor (the most important film by the sounds of it) so as a result it was a little tricky getting a grasp on the story to begin with but eventually it all come good.
I’ve also got to say that I haven’t read a single Marvel or DC comic in my life (as I’m sure my girlfriend and mum haven’t either) so it’s a credit to Joss Whedon (whom I am officially a fan of now after this and The Cabin In the Woods) that he managed to appease not only plebs like me but also all the comic geeks out there. And like you say, when you’ve 3 hours to spread across so many characters that’s no mean feat.
I felt quite lukewarm about the Iron Man films, sure they were funny, and the sequel featured Gwynnie and Scarlett, but I wanted more action and heavy metal fighting. I’m not usually the sort of person to say something like that but with superhero movies, that’s exactly what I want to see (eventually). Captain America I thought was particularly dull mainly because of this and his decidedly meh abilities. Of all the Marvel characters though Hulk has always been my favourite (in terms of his raw power and it being an afflication) so it was a real buzz for me to see him smashing up so much and kind of stealing the show. Ruffalo was superb.
Anyway, now I need to see Thor.
Love the article John:) Totally agree with everything you said, which I will always do when it comes to comics since I know having grown up with you how much you truly do know about all things in the comic world. The red trunk still holds treasures:) Avengers was awesome, just curious though what you think about all the ‘missing’ Avengers? Obviously those included all had lead-in movies or parts in lead-in movies but I know there are a lot left out like Wasp etc…would be too crowded to include all of them but what will the sequel bring?