Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Avengers: A Movie Review


There is not enough good things I can say about this film. Anyone that knows me know that I am a DC fan boy. However, my opinion is this... The Avengers will go down in history as the GREATEST comic book film ever made. Here are a few reasons why...


 

THE HULK... THE HULK... THE HULK!!! Aside from the Ed Norton film which was AMAZING in it's own right, and set the precedence for realism for how the Hulk should look, the Hulk in this movie was simply amazing! I remember how when Mark Ruffalo was revealed to be the new Banner, people (including myself) were miffed that this role wasn't reprised by Ed Norton. But recognizing the trend that most of the CG Hulks are modeled after the real actors themselves, I was thoroughly pleased with not only the performance of Ruffalo as Banner, but also the LOOK of the Hulk. With a tiny bit of exaggeration, he ended up being an amazing likeness to the classic Hulk we see in the comics. Seeing him reminded me of Dale Keown's Hulk w/ the exaggerated features and such. 

We also got to see a lot of the Hulks personality as well. He was a pissed off destructive force, but smart enough to understand at the right time, he needed to work together with a team. This was done wonderfully and the Hulk was a major asset to the team, showing you how muscle should be used in a team. There is so much more to the Hulk, but if I say more, then I will be spoiling ish. One thing I will say though, is that from the second we see the green behemoth to the end of the film, he is tearing through EVERYTHING, as the Hulk should be! No sentimental BE-TTY moments with her single tear on his finger. He simply HULK SMASHED!


The chemistry between everyone in this film was wonderful as well. The mix of humor brought to us graciously by Robert Downey Jr aka Tony 'Iron Man' Stark was wonderful. The relationship between Hawkeye and Black Widow that we all know of in the comics was played on brightly as well. Hawkeye honestly is not a character that is given the opportunity to shine very much. Not too many people I know care a lot about Hawkeye, and I think that Whedon and the writers knew that. So even though they didn't capitalize on his background too much, I think they played a very smart move here by making sure that whenever Hawkeye was on the screen, he was doing something really cool. In effect, this would make folks who never cared about the character go... Hmmm. Who is this dude? After this movie, if I didn't know who Hawkeye was, I would be checking him out afterward for sure. I think they were really smart with this. Captain America was shown as the worlds greatest leader in this film, and the character I feel was given another side of which was seen in this film. You need to see it to understand what I'm saying. 


Thor throughout the film was just annoyed with his brother, and it kept a realism and a much different element to the movie in regard to the relationship to Thor and Loki. He still really loves his brother, and will do anything for him, but he never ever once condoned the actions he was taken. Thors growth as a character was plain as day in the movie. It even seems as if the writers wanted us to see that he had grown and learned a lot more since the Thor movie that had come out, and I thought that was nice to see.


I like to call Nick Fury as wonderfully played by Samuel L Jackson, the Great Manipulator. The thing I love about Nick Fury and his role in the film is that he is a friggin GENIUS! The man knew how to fight, he knew how to think, and motivate the Avengers to get their butts in gear, and do what he knew in his heart what they could do. Sam Jackson is not an action star by any means, but give this dude some lines, and that ish does not even matter. I know very few actors that can do this, and Sam is one of them. He made Nick Fury a very cool character. And it does help a lot that the Ultimate Nick Fury was modeled after him, so to see this come alive in film was amazing.


Finally, Joss Whedon... I have been a fan of this guy since Firefly. I didn't really expect him to do much for the film honestly because this wasn't a property that HE created, so I didn't expect him to pull off his usual amazing skills. But BOY was I wrong. After seeing this film, Whedon, and his writing team say a few things to us as comic book fans. 

1. We are sorry for all the crap hollywood had you sit through and waste money on. Here is our gift to you.
2. You are a fan, and so are we...
3. The comic book movie CAN be done like the comics. 
4. There are no more excuses for not putting together quality films just like the comics, since comic books are essentially movies, and TV in printed form.
5. Comic companies (Mainstream or indy) MUST invest in putting together their own studios to create films that stay true to the characters they create. And these must also be willing to cater to indy creators that want to see their properties on film as well. This eliminates the risk of any tampering with those who just want money or who only want to please Hollywood, and not the fans.

This man can do and touch anything he wants from this point forward. He like Christopher Nolan of the wonderful Batman films and his other great films have the ability to touch anything and turn it into GOLD!!! Whedon from this point on has proven to me, and even more so to his hardcore fans that he is an undeniable talent. And I'm going to call this right now... After the Avengers film, the next great TV project he creates will survive for more than 2 seasons. Hollywood now has NO CHOICE but to recognize the talent for what he is. The Rise of Joss Whedon has begun!

Thanks for taking the time to read today! If you want to leave comments, leave them here!


Talk to you guys soon!
Ian W.




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