The Avengers Movie Review
May. 25th, 2015 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFinally saw The Avengers with MD. It was either that or Mad Max: Fury Road, we opted for the Avengers, which had been out longer...and was more likely to disappear. Also, we were both tired of avoiding spoilers. And not in the mood for Mad Max. We did dinner first, and those sweet potato fries did not agree with me.
Anyhow..The Avengers...
MD: So what did you think?
Me: I liked the first movie better.
MD: Other than that?
Me: Busy movie. Way too busy. What did you think?
MD: Yep, busy movie. Too many characters. Too much action. Granted there's supposed to be too much action that's what these movies are about. You expect it. But it was trying too hard to be clever and coy, and had too many supporting characters that I didn't know or care about.
ME: Exactly.
Unlike MD, I was actually familiar with the Avengers and have read at various points the comics. I don't like the Avengers that much -- the comics to be fair are as busy as the movie. And the movie is fairly close to what I remember in the comics. So, we both went in with pretty low expectations.
Note on the Maximov Twins: Pedro (Quicksilver) and Wanda (Scarlett Witch) were originally Magneto's kids, then later retconned as children experimented on by the High Evolutionary. X-Men Days of Future Past - has Quicksilver as Eric (Magneto) kid (which he didn't know about), which actually follows the X-men comics history, and The Avengers has him and his twin sister being experimented on by Hydra. (The two films don't need to be consistent, because they don't exist in the same canonical film universe - different studios/different rights holders on the movie properties. Not that the comics were all that consistent any how. The Avengers and The X-men often contradicted each other. If you were a fan of one team, it was unlikely you followed the other. Unless there was a cross-over storyline, and you had no choice - which they liked to do occasionally, hence the reason I'm familiar with the Avengers.
From Wiki:
Scarlet Witch is a mutant, born with the ability to alter reality in unspecific ways. Historically, she is the twin sister of Quicksilver as well as the daughter of Magneto and the paternal half-sister of Polaris. However, she and her twin brother were later retconned, in Uncanny Avengers #4, to be the children of Django and Marya Maximoff who were kidnapped and experimented on by the High Evolutionary. After a failed experimentation that gave Wanda her power, the High Evolutionary returned them to their parents and grew up believing that they are common mutants.
Now, I went into this film and the last one with low expectations. Mainly because, I wasn't a fan of the Avengers comics back in the 1980s? Why? Because it was a sexist, boy action action comic with a lot of patriotic references, and not a whole lot of complexity. The X-men, in contrast, had a heck of lot to say about racism, feminism and being an outsider...while the Avengers...didn't seem to have all that much to say, and was trying to be the Marvel version of the Justice League (I liked the Justice League better.)
Also, I'd recently seen X-Men: Days of Future Past just the week before on HBO, and...it's a much better movie. I was surprised at how good it was. Had gone in with low expectations regarding it as well. Had a better villain, more complex characters, and more interesting action scenes. Also, wasn't trying too hard to be clever or coy. That film surprised me - and held my interest. This film felt a bit like watching a video game with cheesy dialogue. Also, sorry James Spader/Ultron but Peter Dinklage's Trask was a much more interesting villain, so too were his Centennials. I also found Loki to be more interesting. Ultron was sort of boring, and way too preachy. Which is sad, because I adore James Spader.
As for the romance? Eh..I didn't care one way or the other. They didn't build it well. It sort of came out of nowhere. It has admittedly been a while since I saw the first film, but in that film there appeared to be more chemistry between Tony and Banner.
I think the film would have worked better without it? Every time it came up, it felt awkward and forced. Also those scenes drug. I noticed people in the theater pulling out their cell phones and text messaging during it (wish people wouldn't do that, it's distracting). Would have preferred more focus on the other relationships.
The Maximov Twins weren't built up all that well either. More could have been done there.
And seriously, why couldn't Pepper Potts make an appearance? They couldn't afford Gwenyth Paltrow?
Busy, busy movie. Too many characters. Too many sub-plots. Too many action scenes - which felt like you were watching a video game. It was fast. Hard to follow and head-ache inducing at times. (Also, people got bored and were pulling out their cell phones...during the action scenes.) Not enough humor or cohesion. The jokes felt forced and often fell flat. And, methinks, Whedon clearly needs to take a vacation from filmmaking and do a non-super hero flick. I could feel his exhaustion/burn-out watching this film -- it made me tired.
Overall rating? C-
Go rent X-men:Days of Future Past instead.
[As an aside, I know a lot of people were upset with Black Widow's arc, but I went into it not expecting all that much. There wasn't all that much in the first film. The comics weren't exactly known for their feminist content. The X-men, yes, the Avengers..not so much. So it was actually better than I thought it would be, but I went in with very low expectations. Weirdly, the most feminist of the Avenger's movies is possibly Captain America and Captain America: Winter Solider.]
[After the movie - took forever for the train to arrive. And there was an incident. Somebody got into a fight, and banged a guys head against the platform. People were screaming for help. And then someone got the cops, who took off running after the assailant, screaming 168, 168. There were 8 cops running after the guy. I didn't see the guy, I saw the cops. The only thing I did - was help one of the cops wave the C train to a stop, because the guy who got attacked was lying uncomfortably close to the edge of the platform, and there were people helping him that were halfway off the edge. I was worried they'd get hit by the train. The guy seemed to be okay, had a concussion.
Then about 20 minutes later, the F train...finally arrived. Texted MD about it - who said, she has a feeling this is going to a crazy summer in NYC. Lovely. I so need a vacation from this city. Hmmm...maybe a retreat to Vermont is called for?]
Anyhow..The Avengers...
MD: So what did you think?
Me: I liked the first movie better.
MD: Other than that?
Me: Busy movie. Way too busy. What did you think?
MD: Yep, busy movie. Too many characters. Too much action. Granted there's supposed to be too much action that's what these movies are about. You expect it. But it was trying too hard to be clever and coy, and had too many supporting characters that I didn't know or care about.
ME: Exactly.
Unlike MD, I was actually familiar with the Avengers and have read at various points the comics. I don't like the Avengers that much -- the comics to be fair are as busy as the movie. And the movie is fairly close to what I remember in the comics. So, we both went in with pretty low expectations.
Note on the Maximov Twins: Pedro (Quicksilver) and Wanda (Scarlett Witch) were originally Magneto's kids, then later retconned as children experimented on by the High Evolutionary. X-Men Days of Future Past - has Quicksilver as Eric (Magneto) kid (which he didn't know about), which actually follows the X-men comics history, and The Avengers has him and his twin sister being experimented on by Hydra. (The two films don't need to be consistent, because they don't exist in the same canonical film universe - different studios/different rights holders on the movie properties. Not that the comics were all that consistent any how. The Avengers and The X-men often contradicted each other. If you were a fan of one team, it was unlikely you followed the other. Unless there was a cross-over storyline, and you had no choice - which they liked to do occasionally, hence the reason I'm familiar with the Avengers.
From Wiki:
Scarlet Witch is a mutant, born with the ability to alter reality in unspecific ways. Historically, she is the twin sister of Quicksilver as well as the daughter of Magneto and the paternal half-sister of Polaris. However, she and her twin brother were later retconned, in Uncanny Avengers #4, to be the children of Django and Marya Maximoff who were kidnapped and experimented on by the High Evolutionary. After a failed experimentation that gave Wanda her power, the High Evolutionary returned them to their parents and grew up believing that they are common mutants.
Now, I went into this film and the last one with low expectations. Mainly because, I wasn't a fan of the Avengers comics back in the 1980s? Why? Because it was a sexist, boy action action comic with a lot of patriotic references, and not a whole lot of complexity. The X-men, in contrast, had a heck of lot to say about racism, feminism and being an outsider...while the Avengers...didn't seem to have all that much to say, and was trying to be the Marvel version of the Justice League (I liked the Justice League better.)
Also, I'd recently seen X-Men: Days of Future Past just the week before on HBO, and...it's a much better movie. I was surprised at how good it was. Had gone in with low expectations regarding it as well. Had a better villain, more complex characters, and more interesting action scenes. Also, wasn't trying too hard to be clever or coy. That film surprised me - and held my interest. This film felt a bit like watching a video game with cheesy dialogue. Also, sorry James Spader/Ultron but Peter Dinklage's Trask was a much more interesting villain, so too were his Centennials. I also found Loki to be more interesting. Ultron was sort of boring, and way too preachy. Which is sad, because I adore James Spader.
As for the romance? Eh..I didn't care one way or the other. They didn't build it well. It sort of came out of nowhere. It has admittedly been a while since I saw the first film, but in that film there appeared to be more chemistry between Tony and Banner.
I think the film would have worked better without it? Every time it came up, it felt awkward and forced. Also those scenes drug. I noticed people in the theater pulling out their cell phones and text messaging during it (wish people wouldn't do that, it's distracting). Would have preferred more focus on the other relationships.
The Maximov Twins weren't built up all that well either. More could have been done there.
And seriously, why couldn't Pepper Potts make an appearance? They couldn't afford Gwenyth Paltrow?
Busy, busy movie. Too many characters. Too many sub-plots. Too many action scenes - which felt like you were watching a video game. It was fast. Hard to follow and head-ache inducing at times. (Also, people got bored and were pulling out their cell phones...during the action scenes.) Not enough humor or cohesion. The jokes felt forced and often fell flat. And, methinks, Whedon clearly needs to take a vacation from filmmaking and do a non-super hero flick. I could feel his exhaustion/burn-out watching this film -- it made me tired.
Overall rating? C-
Go rent X-men:Days of Future Past instead.
[As an aside, I know a lot of people were upset with Black Widow's arc, but I went into it not expecting all that much. There wasn't all that much in the first film. The comics weren't exactly known for their feminist content. The X-men, yes, the Avengers..not so much. So it was actually better than I thought it would be, but I went in with very low expectations. Weirdly, the most feminist of the Avenger's movies is possibly Captain America and Captain America: Winter Solider.]
[After the movie - took forever for the train to arrive. And there was an incident. Somebody got into a fight, and banged a guys head against the platform. People were screaming for help. And then someone got the cops, who took off running after the assailant, screaming 168, 168. There were 8 cops running after the guy. I didn't see the guy, I saw the cops. The only thing I did - was help one of the cops wave the C train to a stop, because the guy who got attacked was lying uncomfortably close to the edge of the platform, and there were people helping him that were halfway off the edge. I was worried they'd get hit by the train. The guy seemed to be okay, had a concussion.
Then about 20 minutes later, the F train...finally arrived. Texted MD about it - who said, she has a feeling this is going to a crazy summer in NYC. Lovely. I so need a vacation from this city. Hmmm...maybe a retreat to Vermont is called for?]
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no subject
Date: 2015-05-26 09:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-27 12:01 am (UTC)As a result? I stand back from the platform and am wary.
Dang things are dangerous.
Although there have been people who survived getting hit in the head by a train.