Sunday 22 June 2014

103 - The Avengers (Avengers Assemble)

Connection To VIEW FROM THE TOP - Mark Ruffalo and Gwyneth Paltrow.
You got to hand it to Marvel Studios - planning ahead - 5 movies it took to get to this point - Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and The Incredible Hulk (which sees a recast here) and giant failure in there and it could have put a damper on getting this far.

Avengers Assemble (as it's called here in the UK likely because of the Steed/Peel Avengers) brings together all those heroes plus Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) who haven't had their own solo movies in 2012's best comic book movie (I would have said Dark Knight Rises but that movies plot holes seem bigger every time I think about it).

Joss Whedon, is both a great and odd choice for a director depending which way you look it - great because he's done plenty of quality work - Buffy, Angel, Firefly - but odd when you consider Firefly didn't make a season, and Buffy and Angel where never rating juggernauts (He did write stuff like Toy Story that was hits though so he's proved he can be involved with a bonafide hit) but to me it's like Sam Raimi when he was given Spider-Man or Peter Jackson Lord Of The Rings - these guys proved they could do awesome on limited budgets so why not give them the keys to the candy shop...

The film's ace in the hole - which is probably true in the film Marvel Universe as an all - is Robert Downey Jr., you feel he really IS Tony Stark and is engaging every time he's on screen, Mark Ruffalo the replacement Bruce Banner is great - I'd go as far to say he's better then Eric Bana or Edward Norton in the role and would welcome seeing him in a solo movie, I think Chris Hemsworth's Thor is one of the least interesting Avengers characters (the first film was good though, haven't seen the second) and Chris Evans is an enjoyable Captain America. I liked Tom Hiddleston as - Thor's brother and film's villain - Loki, but... I suppose he's not really a big enough villain in someways for the movie.

That is a minor niggle, and another minor niggle is they spend time with some of the S.H.I.E.L.D characters etc. but they have nothing to do once the Avengers show up, obviously we want more Avengers but it seemed a set up that say Agent Hill (Cobie Smulders) might get more to do as the film goes on.

Overall, this is what comic book superhero movies should be like - exciting all the way through, and you want to stand up and cheer when the Avengers unite.

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