2012
05MAY
The Avengers
This may be the best superhero movie I've seen since Iron Man, and for many of the same reasons, no less.
Don't be frightened off by the ensemble cast; the heroes themselves are front and center - often at the expense of the actual plot - and get plenty of interplay and times to show their stuff without resorting to a plot where each scene or situation is specifically tailored to each character's skills. Everything fells natural; even homogeneous, though part of that may be due to the brain-scrambling amount of destruction and carnage that's packed into a scant couple of hours.
I still don't care for the Thor-derived stuff, personally, and Loki is a useless villain whose motive (revenge apparently) has to be spelled out and even then isn't actively acknowledged. He splurged in a little skulduggery right at the beginning, then sits on the sidelines playing as if he's smugly in control of all the background machinations the whole time, but I never got the feeling that that was the case. He's not a total loss, though - his climactic defeat is one of the best things I have ever seen in my life.
Really, the story and the main conflict is obviously more about the titular heroes themselves, but despite inklings of inner turmoil popping up now and then, it's pretty much completely brushed aside in favor of actual shit going down. It's a weird in-between that sort of drags down an otherwise tight script and energetic sense of pacing. Fortunately, said heroes are engaging and entertaining, and not in the circus-sideshow-reject "oooh and aaaah" that most superhero movies skate by on. I felt like these were people who were flawed but in control, while still having room to grow, and they actually felt heroic as a result.
Rating: Though the actual plot is uneven and mostly hidden from the audience, the performances (except Samuel L. Jackson, who felt almost phoned in the whole time) and the general bedazzlement do not disappoint. Whedon's snappy scripting does not overshadow the action, thankfully, and strikes a perfect positive-mood balance for the whole deal. And if you're afraid like I was that a huge collection of stars in one room would lead to watering down, prepare to be pleasantly surprised.
Don't be frightened off by the ensemble cast; the heroes themselves are front and center - often at the expense of the actual plot - and get plenty of interplay and times to show their stuff without resorting to a plot where each scene or situation is specifically tailored to each character's skills. Everything fells natural; even homogeneous, though part of that may be due to the brain-scrambling amount of destruction and carnage that's packed into a scant couple of hours.
I still don't care for the Thor-derived stuff, personally, and Loki is a useless villain whose motive (revenge apparently) has to be spelled out and even then isn't actively acknowledged. He splurged in a little skulduggery right at the beginning, then sits on the sidelines playing as if he's smugly in control of all the background machinations the whole time, but I never got the feeling that that was the case. He's not a total loss, though - his climactic defeat is one of the best things I have ever seen in my life.
Really, the story and the main conflict is obviously more about the titular heroes themselves, but despite inklings of inner turmoil popping up now and then, it's pretty much completely brushed aside in favor of actual shit going down. It's a weird in-between that sort of drags down an otherwise tight script and energetic sense of pacing. Fortunately, said heroes are engaging and entertaining, and not in the circus-sideshow-reject "oooh and aaaah" that most superhero movies skate by on. I felt like these were people who were flawed but in control, while still having room to grow, and they actually felt heroic as a result.
Rating: Though the actual plot is uneven and mostly hidden from the audience, the performances (except Samuel L. Jackson, who felt almost phoned in the whole time) and the general bedazzlement do not disappoint. Whedon's snappy scripting does not overshadow the action, thankfully, and strikes a perfect positive-mood balance for the whole deal. And if you're afraid like I was that a huge collection of stars in one room would lead to watering down, prepare to be pleasantly surprised.