My thoughts on The Avengers

One thing more fun about the Philippines -- however fleeting -- is being able to watch Marvel's much-awaited The Avengers more than a week before its big May 4 opening in the U.S. I wasn't able to watch it on opening day here because I was busy but I was happy nonetheless to be able to catch it yesterday at eleven in the morning. Yes, 11am. Come to think of it, I haven't seen a movie that early since college.

The Avengers_Poster

It was pretty obvious in Marvel's previous outings that they've been trying to tie everything together to an eventual Avengers film. In the last Iron Man flick, we were already introduced to S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury and Agent Coulson (even if that sequel was not up to par with the first one). Black Widow also already made an appearance there. Tony Stark was likewise there at the end of the last incarnation of the Hulk talking about a team being assembled. S.H.I.E.L.D. was also very prominent in Thor, and Stark Industries was just as active in Captain America. So everything was practically set for this epic coming-together.

We probably all know that Thor's half-brother Loki is the villain here. And suffice it to say that his quest involves finding the Tesseract, an alien source of pure energy, and waging war against the human race and then enslaving it. So faced with this threat, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury is forced to assemble the superhero team of The Avengers.

The movie started kind of slow for me although thankfully director Joss Whedon soon found his stride. You gotta give it to him, though. In an ensemble cast like this, affording each superhero character with enough exposure and "moments of glory" is no mean feat at all. Not that he totally succeeds in it, however. But overall, he did a good job.

Unlike the overly-serious Captain America, The Avengers was peppered with witty dialog and dozes of humor. The visual effects were nothing groundbreaking but were enough to satisfy the film's requirements. And they've probably made the best Hulk to date; still a bit cartoonish but not as bad as his last two outings. I was just wondering what was up with those fish-like spaceships that reminded me somehow of Transformers. Editing was a challenge but I think they did well. The musical scoring, on the other hand, was rather forgettable.

Tom Hiddleston as Loki is a clear personal favorite. I love his fashion sense and swag! He's a diva, as Tony Stark put it (him being a diva himself). Loki may not be the most powerful but he effectively used his brain, or whatever its alien equivalent is. Such cunning sense only made look Thor really stupid. The god of thunder to me was, in fact, the most useless piece of meat in this film. Heck, even Black Widow had much more significance here despite not having any superpower at all! I love how she manipulates people (and aliens) to get what she wants, easily becoming one of my favorites of the bunch. It's also great that we get to understand her character much better.

The Avengers_Loki

Speaking of favorites, I was surprised that I loved the Hulk a lot in this film. I mean, I've never really liked him, even in his last two films. Mark Ruffalo did a great Dr. Bruce Banner to me, and with "the other guy" repeatedly flipping and smashing Loki on the floor in what has got to be my favorite scene in the film, the Hulk won me over, hands-down!

Hulk-The-Avengers-movie-image

Although still entertaining, the third act of The Avengers was teetering towards an extended battle scene. At some points it became a tad repetitive for me -- until Iron Man saves the day (Yay!) and then the Hulk saves the man in a tin suit (Yay again!). And then everyone realizes what a mess these guys made on Manhattan. But I still don't trust Thor with Loki because he's always so hung-up on his "brother." Pfft!

Be sure to stay through the end credits, though,  because something's up.

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For its sheer entertainment value, I'd say The Avengers is worth watching. It's no Dark Knight but it's decent popcorn fare nonetheless. However, I'm not crazy over wanting to watch it again soon. I'm happy with seeing it just once on the big screen.

Comments

  1. NEED TO SEE IT!!!!!


    http://thesantosguide.blogspot.de/2012/04/sunday-look.html

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  2. Glad to read your thoughts, Im interested in going to see it with a freind here in the US. Thanks for the follow btw ♥

    NotesFromTheFairies.blogspot.com

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  3. So is the final movie title "The Avengers" or "Avengers Assemble", i hope for their sake not the second one ..

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  4. I really need to watch it. Hmm I think in fact i'm going to watch this week :))
    By the way would you like to a mutual following?
    A
    xx
    http://epiquemoi.blogspot.com

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