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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Avengers: Post-viewing thread

    I saw the screening tonight. Just got back minutes ago. So many thoughts pouring through my head...

    First of all, it totally lives up to the hype. Anyone who thought jamming this many heroes into one movie would create a mess was dead wrong. Director/screenwriter Joss Whedon hits it out of the park in terms of making everyone relevant and giving them their own meaningful stories. Heck, I think we connected more with CapAm, Thor, and Hulk in this movie than we did when they were each given 2 hours on their own! Whedon is a genius!


    The plot hums along at a nice pace -- which is really important because this is a 2 1/2 hour movie. For the most part, everything makes sense. If you stop to think about some of Loki's actions and motivations too much, they start to break down a bit, but the action and the fun never lets up so you don't really bother to notice those shortcomings.

    Speaking of the action. Whedon brilliantly sets up the story so it is not just good guy vs bad guy all the time. He gives our heroes some legitimate reasons to work against each other and even fight. The fight scene between Thor and Iron Man is fabulous, one of the best action pieces in comic book movie history. And then there is Hulk vs. Loki. It is almost certainly my favorite scene EVER in a comic book film. I could watch that one over and over and over again and never get tired of it.

    But there is no way this movie would work without the humor. There are at least a dozen laugh out loud moments. I am not talking about a chuckle, I am talking about the entire theater heaving with laughter, people almost falling out of their seats. These moments cut the tension nicely and somehow avoid being silly or slapstick. Whedon is a brilliant screenwriter and he knows exactly where to pay homage to this genre as well as where to poke fun at it. Tony Stark/Iron Man is constantly entertaining, funny, and insightful. You can tell Whedon enjoyed writing him the most.


    This is not a perfect film. Like I said, some of the plot points are a bit thin when examined too closely. The final big action sequence may have gone on a tad too long and featured some close up stuff that made it hard to follow. I didn't think the 3D did very much and would have been fine seeing it in 2D. It went for fun versus being dark and brooding (which is how it is markedly different in feel from Christopher Nolan's Batman films or the Spiderman films of the past decade). Fun is fine, but it meant that the movie lacked weight at times.

    All that said, it was a wonderful time at the movies. 2 1/2 hours of glorious escapism and excitement. A true popcorn flick where you just sit back and enjoy. It will do monstrously huge business. I'll be shocked if it makes less than $300 million and I think it is likely to earn something close to $400 million when all is said and done. Comic book fans will adore it, action movie fans will love it, and I think even folks who are not normally into this genre (like girlfriends/wives dragged to the theater by their geeky boyfriends) will find more than enough to make them happy.

    -Jason "I want to see it again... even if it was 2 1/2 hours!" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Jason, what do you think are the best superhero/comic book movies? None of them have really grabbed me, although I would appreciate your (and other poster) input.

    Feel free to toss this to another thread -- don't mean to hijack this one but have been curious on this topic for awhile.

    Thanks, OPK

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    Jason, what do you think are the best superhero/comic book movies? None of them have really grabbed me, although I would appreciate your (and other poster) input.

    Feel free to toss this to another thread -- don't mean to hijack this one but have been curious on this topic for awhile.

    Thanks, OPK
    That's a tough one for me. I really liked the original Michael Keaton Batman. Dark Knight was good, but Ledger really didn't do it for me as the Joker. Don't get me wrong, he played an amazing villian, but he was more of a generic psychotic killer dressed in clown getup than the clown prince of crime. A lot of that had to do with the writing, of course. I guess Jack Nicholson just did it too well, and even Mark Hamill in the cartoon and video games was awesome.

    I liked the first Iron Man a lot.

    I loved the original Superman with Reeve.

    I liked Kick A- and Watchmen was okay. I liked the first Spider-Man. At this point, I'm having trouble thinking of them all. I'll come back to this.

  4. #4
    Glad to hear your thoughts; looking forward to it!

    And while I am no Jason, my favorite comic book movie is the original Iron Man. It had a great blend of action and humor, even if the final fight was maybe a touch of a let down.

    I really enjoyed a couple of the original X-Men movies too (I think I liked #2 quite a bit) and thought the original Toby McGuire Spiderman REALLY captured the essence of the comic book.

    I thought Dark Knight was okay, but not as amazing as it was hyped up as... sure, Ledger was fun, but it didn't blow me away. Maybe I just couldn't get away from my wanting to see Batman mix it up with Superman?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Denver, Colorado
    I really enjoyed movie and recommended it to my roommates. The only thing that kind of irked me was the absence of two founding members from the comics Ant-Man and Wasp. This was more than likely done to attract casual viewers who have not read the comic and would recognize more "well known" superheros. Which means I should probably expect similar things done to other recruits like Black Panther, Vision , and Black Knight in future installments. I know I've missed some other add-ons, but they'll probably keep the Fantastic 4 members along with Spider-Man. I'm going to have to break out my Dad's comic books to figure out some of these other recruits I can't remember right now.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Dukefan 1.0, how did you get to see it? Was there a screening that you won tickets to or something like that? Any comments beyond that you liked it?

    Also, someone PM'd me asking about 3D versus 2D for this movie. There were a few cool 3D moments, but on the whole I would say the 3D was not all that special. It is not bad, not at all, but if you want to save a few bucks, I don't think you will miss much not being in 3D.

    -Jason "it is already breaking records overseas... flick is gonna be HUGE" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Dukefan 1.0, how did you get to see it? Was there a screening that you won tickets to or something like that? Any comments beyond that you liked it?

    Also, someone PM'd me asking about 3D versus 2D for this movie. There were a few cool 3D moments, but on the whole I would say the 3D was not all that special. It is not bad, not at all, but if you want to save a few bucks, I don't think you will miss much not being in 3D.

    -Jason "it is already breaking records overseas... flick is gonna be HUGE" Evans
    My mistake Jason it seems I had a brain fart when I typed this. I had thought I wrote more than I did, but I am indeed seeing an advanced screening with my father tomorrow in OKC. Lucky guy won a radio contest. I meant to describe my reaction to trailers and other articles I had read and did not intend to make the appearance that I've seen the movie. I apologize for the misleading nature of my previous post, but I try to make time to post my thoughts on the movie. Again I am sorry for my previous post and in the future I will try to proofread my posts more thoroughly before posting.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Atlanta, GA/Durham, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    I saw the screening tonight. Just got back minutes ago. So many thoughts pouring through my head...

    First of all, it totally lives up to the hype. Anyone who thought jamming this many heroes into one movie would create a mess was dead wrong. Director/screenwriter Joss Whedon hits it out of the park in terms of making everyone relevant and giving them their own meaningful stories. Heck, I think we connected more with CapAm, Thor, and Hulk in this movie than we did when they were each given 2 hours on their own! Whedon is a genius!


    The plot hums along at a nice pace -- which is really important because this is a 2 1/2 hour movie. For the most part, everything makes sense. If you stop to think about some of Loki's actions and motivations too much, they start to break down a bit, but the action and the fun never lets up so you don't really bother to notice those shortcomings.

    Speaking of the action. Whedon brilliantly sets up the story so it is not just good guy vs bad guy all the time. He gives our heroes some legitimate reasons to work against each other and even fight. The fight scene between Thor and Iron Man is fabulous, one of the best action pieces in comic book movie history. And then there is Hulk vs. Loki. It is almost certainly my favorite scene EVER in a comic book film. I could watch that one over and over and over again and never get tired of it.

    But there is no way this movie would work without the humor. There are at least a dozen laugh out loud moments. I am not talking about a chuckle, I am talking about the entire theater heaving with laughter, people almost falling out of their seats. These moments cut the tension nicely and somehow avoid being silly or slapstick. Whedon is a brilliant screenwriter and he knows exactly where to pay homage to this genre as well as where to poke fun at it. Tony Stark/Iron Man is constantly entertaining, funny, and insightful. You can tell Whedon enjoyed writing him the most.


    This is not a perfect film. Like I said, some of the plot points are a bit thin when examined too closely. The final big action sequence may have gone on a tad too long and featured some close up stuff that made it hard to follow. I didn't think the 3D did very much and would have been fine seeing it in 2D. It went for fun versus being dark and brooding (which is how it is markedly different in feel from Christopher Nolan's Batman films or the Spiderman films of the past decade). Fun is fine, but it meant that the movie lacked weight at times.

    All that said, it was a wonderful time at the movies. 2 1/2 hours of glorious escapism and excitement. A true popcorn flick where you just sit back and enjoy. It will do monstrously huge business. I'll be shocked if it makes less than $300 million and I think it is likely to earn something close to $400 million when all is said and done. Comic book fans will adore it, action movie fans will love it, and I think even folks who are not normally into this genre (like girlfriends/wives dragged to the theater by their geeky boyfriends) will find more than enough to make them happy.

    -Jason "I want to see it again... even if it was 2 1/2 hours!" Evans
    You have officially gotten me super geeked!!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by SupaDave View Post
    You have officially gotten me super geeked!!
    Hulk vs. Loki... I am telling you, it is the best scene in comic book movie history!!

    -Jason "need to think about the above question about best comic book movies... Dark Knight is almost certainly #1. I'll have more tomorrow" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Nashville, TN
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Hulk vs. Loki... I am telling you, it is the best scene in comic book movie history!!

    -Jason "need to think about the above question about best comic book movies... Dark Knight is almost certainly #1. I'll have more tomorrow" Evans
    That is quite a statement. For me it is the chase scene in Dark Knight.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    About 150 feet in front of the Duke Chapel doors.
    I love the Spidey-Doc Oc fight on the train.
    JBDuke

    Andre Dawkins: “People ask me if I can still shoot, and I ask them if they can still breathe. That’s kind of the same thing.”

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    New Jersey
    Jason, I have not seen any of the movies focusing on the heroes that make up The Avengers - nada uno. But your review (as well as the review in my local paper) has me intrigued and interested. Would it be a mistake to see this movie without seeing at least some of the other movies? This movie sounds like fun, but there's nothing more frustrating than going into a movie without knowing the backstory and, as a result, not understanding some of the storyline.
    Rich
    "Failure is Not a Destination"
    Coach K on the Dan Patrick Show, December 22, 2016

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, North Carolina
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich View Post
    Jason, I have not seen any of the movies focusing on the heroes that make up The Avengers - nada uno. But your review (as well as the review in my local paper) has me intrigued and interested. Would it be a mistake to see this movie without seeing at least some of the other movies? This movie sounds like fun, but there's nothing more frustrating than going into a movie without knowing the backstory and, as a result, not understanding some of the storyline.
    The question was addressed to Jason, but I'd recommend, if you want to just see some of the earlier character movies to be up on the plot, to see Iron Man and Thor, plus/minus Iron Man 2.

    Iron Man is by far the best of those 3 and introduces you to Iron Man and the glory that is Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark. Iron Man 2 has a couple worthwhile tie-ins to The Avengers (namely Tony Stark's initial connection with them and the introduction of Scarlett Johansson as The Black Widow.) However, it's not absolutely necessary in either case since Johansson's character isn't developed in any meaningful way (she's hot and she can kick butt and she's with SHIELD) and Tony Stark's interaction with SHIELD isn't much more than Sam Jackson telling him to get it together. Iron Man 2 is an okay movie, but less fun and quality than Iron Man with a great deal more sound and fury.

    I really liked Thor, although it's not nearly as good as Iron Man. It's worth watching in its own right, and is probably reasonably important for developing Loki. Loki is really well done and well developed in the movie. I have a feeling that The Avengers will have trouble developing his complicated relationship with Thor and his motivation if you know nothing about the events in the movie Thor.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rich View Post
    Jason, I have not seen any of the movies focusing on the heroes that make up The Avengers - nada uno. But your review (as well as the review in my local paper) has me intrigued and interested. Would it be a mistake to see this movie without seeing at least some of the other movies? This movie sounds like fun, but there's nothing more frustrating than going into a movie without knowing the backstory and, as a result, not understanding some of the storyline.
    Here is something I wrote in another thread which may help you --

    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Things you (probably need to know) about the various characters in Avengers if you have not seen the other movies...

    1) Thor & Loki - Thor is a God from the realm known as Asgard. He is one of two sons of Oden, the ruler of Asgard. Oden's other son is the god/magician Loki, who Oden actually stole from his enemies, the Frost Giants, when Loki was just a baby. Loki tried to overthrow his father but was defeated at the end of the Thor movie. In defeating him, Thor destroyed the Bifrost, a magical bridge that allowed the gods of Asgard to travel among the various dimensions. As a result, it is sorta unclear how Thor will travel back to Earth. As the Bifrost was destroyed, Loki fell into it, making his fate unclear. At the very end of the Thor movie, there is a scientist on Earth who is asked to examine a mystical looking box. As the scientist looks into the mirror, we see Loki's reflection, implying that Loki has taken control of the scientist in some way.

    2) Captain America - This movie takes place during WWII. Captain America, Steve Rogers, was a weakling who could not even volunteer for the army, but he is really tough and has a strong will. He agrees to take part in an experiment using a special serum to make you stronger and he turns into a super solider. The serum is destroyed in a sabotage incident moments after it is given to Steve Rogers. At the end of the movie, Steve saves New York from being bombed by piloting a bomb-filled plane into a frigid arctic snowbank. He freezes there and is thawed out 70 years later by Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. to become part of The Avengers team.

    3) Iron Man - you probably saw this movie but Iron Man is the reckless Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy who is a genius at weapons design. He is badly hurt during a kidnapping incident and can only survive by "powering" his heart through a special nuclear reactor that he builds into his chest. It is this reactor that powers his Iron Man suit. He is not a guy who likes people in "authority" and has been fairly resistant to joining the Avengers or giving the government any of his Iron Man technology.

    4) Hulk - Though there have been 2 Hulk films in recent years, it is not clear if the story from either one of them will have anything to do with the current character. About all you need to know about The Hulk is that David Banner is a mild-mannered scientist who you do not want to make angry.

    5) Nick Fury - Played by Samuel L Jackson, Fury is the leader of the secret government agency S.H.I.E.L.D. His back story has not been explored much in the movies.

    6) Black Widow - Played by Scarlett Johansson, she is a leather-clad assassin/spy. A martial arts expert, she had a decent-sized role in Iron Man 2, mostly just to kick bad guy butt. Her back story has not been explored much either.

    7) Hawkeye - Played by Jeremy Renner, Hawkeye is a master marksman with a boy and arrow. He carries all kinds of special arrows in his quiver. He made a brief appearance in the Thor movie, but has not been discussed much in previous movies.

    As an aside, Thor's love interest from his film, played by Natalie Portman, is not believed to be in the Avengers movie. However, Iron Man's beautiful assistant Pepper Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, is in the new movie.

    -Jason "I am seeing Avengers next Thursday and will post a review several days before it hits theaters" Evans
    -Jason "after seeing the movie, I think the above info comes darn close to telling you all you need to know" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Wired's "Geekdad" has a spoiler-free "10 Things Parents Should Know About The Avengers", and has similar, perhaps even more effusive, praises as our own Jason Evans.
    JBDuke

    Andre Dawkins: “People ask me if I can still shoot, and I ask them if they can still breathe. That’s kind of the same thing.”

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Just saw it.

    Oh my God! It was great. Truly great. A few things:

    1) This movie is going to CRUSH at the box office. Crush. It could make $600M. I'm not joking. It's that good. It's 2 1/2 hours long and I want to see it again. Soon! The crowd I saw it with loved it. Loved it. They clapped several times. They cheered several times. Go see this in a big theater with a big crowd.

    2) The humor. Dear God the humor. So well done. So well written. As JE said, every character (at one point or another) steals a scene and says something wonderful.

    3) The characters. Ties with #2, and again with what JE said, but somehow you care about all of them. Every one. They all matter, they all get screen time, they are all compelling.

    4) The action. Just great. So much fun to sit through. The fight between Thor and Iron Man; wonderful. The Hulk v. Loki....just brilliant (and hysterically funny, though way, way too short).

    5) The dialogue. Whedon is simply a master at writing screenplays. A master. That he took all the other movies and meshed the characters together in the compelling manner that he did, is truly incredible. This movie could (and by all counts, probably should) have been a disaster, or a let down...instead, it was wonderful. They fight each other, they fight to try and figure out why their fighting, then then band together, and it all works.

    I rank it as the greatest comic book movie I've seen (ahead of Dark Knight, barely). I will definitely see it again in the theaters, probably more than once. I will buy it on DVD. I loved it.

    (and oh, by the way, at the huge theater where I saw it, when I walked out at 4:00 it was already sold out for the rest of the night - on 9 screens. This movie is going to be HUGE).

  17. #17
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    Feb 2007
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    Boston, MA
    Just read the "10 Things to Know" link, and I'll agree with what that guy (and JE said)...the Hulk is the best adaptation of him, period. Now, that's not saying much because the other two movies were pretty much let downs...but in this one Ruffalo knocks it out of the park. It also gave great insight to Captain America, Thor and Iron Man (again JE put it nicely, stating that in some ways they got more from this movie than from their own movies).

    I enjoyed it so much...that I actually want to see Thor now (which is the only one I haven't seen).

    Crazy good. Crazy.

    I might have to take my kids on Sunday, assuming I can find a place where it isn't sold out.

  18. #18
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    Feb 2007
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    Udaman... tell us how you really feel

    I will be interested in hearing from others, though I am heartened that most seem to be sharing my views on the film.

    By the way, though it will be huge, I think $600 mil is a stretch. I still think it is about a $370-$400 mil flick. The midnights and early Friday numbers are far from record breakers. The numbers are huge, but it now looks like the opening weekend will be closer to $140 mil than $170 mil (as some had predicted).

    -Jason "mortal lock to make the Top 5 of summer... it'll be above $200 mil by middle of next week" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  19. #19
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    Feb 2007
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    Boston, MA
    Maybe...but maybe not. Word of mouth is going to be huge on this. So too will be repeat viewers. Dark Knight made $600M - this movie is better.

    But yeah, it's a lock for top 5 (and I think a lock for #1, actually).

  20. #20
    That. Was. Awesome!!! (and awesomely funny)
    My Quick Smells Like French Toast.

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