ViewtifulJC
Banned
I love that the whole scene and the chase afterwards is played like a horror movie.
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Marvel's The Avengers |OT| (Dir. Joss Whedon) [Spoilers unmarked]
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I love that the whole scene and the chase afterwards is played like a horror movie.
Wanted was a weird movie, it was far better then its comic counter part, but so much of it was changed that I don't get why they even bothered to make it.
Also I don't mean that wanted was a good movie, the comic was just hilariously bad, though it had a neat premise.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
I hated both Hulk movies and, to be honest, I never was a Hulk fan. This movie changed that. I would gladly watch a Hulk movie with Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner. It was the first time I actually felt Hulk worked as a character for me.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Cannon. If you watch the end of Iron Man 2, and even in The Avengers when Tony is given the team files, they show the school scene from the Hulk film on the monitors.
Loki was actually one of the more disappointing parts of the film for me. It wasn't bad, it's just that there wasn't much room for Tom Hiddleston to go very far with the Loki character in terms of the story or through the type of acting required.
not the best super hero movie ever made but it is very good for a super hero movie
i thought it would be too much corniness but it had a good mix of humour and action... only problem was watching it in 3d got a bit much towards the end with all that action and it did go on a touch too long
all that said it was great and i want to watch again... in 2d
ps: missed out on the credit thanos... darthvadernooo.jpg
i thought it would be too much corniness but it had a good mix of humour and action... only problem was watching it in 3d got a bit much towards the end with all that action and it did go on a touch too long
all that said it was great and i want to watch again... in 2d
ps: missed out on the credit thanos... darthvadernooo.jpg
Whedon simply went to work in this film, nothing fancy, just some old fashioned competent directing. He understood the characters, put them into a mangeable story, and focused on the elements of the Marvel films that have worked so far. I didn't have any opinion, negative or positive about him going in, at least not that I can remember.
Welp.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
I'll be honest, I didn't have much faith in Joss as a director for the film. Loved the idea of him doing the screenplay, but I've never seen him as that good of an action director.
Thrilled to be wrong.
Thrilled to be wrong.
Oxigen_Waste
Banned
I've got to be honest here... every single scene before New York was really uninteresting and run of the mill stuff. The only real way to describe the first two thirds of the movie is "watchable".
The last third, however... was incredible. This movie is just overall quite a stupid achievement. The plot is ridiculously vanilla and lazy, there's no drive behind it apart from "here are these 4 loose cannons, see how fun they can be to watch?", Loki is a lame excuse for a villain (even though he is a great character) and fails miserably to provide any feeling of threat, plus the action in the majority of the film is just unambitious and condescending towards it's audience. Add one of the worst cold opens of all time and you have a sure recipe for disaster.
And then we enter the third act. Everything remains just as dumb an unfocused as it's been from the start, but the action... is just perfect, for lack of a better word. Hulk's smashing endeavours in particular shine as bright as blockbuster action has ever shone.
So yeah, I guess the movie is redeemed. The movie is a convoluted mess saved by a single grace, which is one of the best action sequences in recent history. Does that mean it's worth watching? Absolutely. But that hardly means it deserves the insane amount of praise it's getting. It's bloated and hollow.
The last third, however... was incredible. This movie is just overall quite a stupid achievement. The plot is ridiculously vanilla and lazy, there's no drive behind it apart from "here are these 4 loose cannons, see how fun they can be to watch?", Loki is a lame excuse for a villain (even though he is a great character) and fails miserably to provide any feeling of threat, plus the action in the majority of the film is just unambitious and condescending towards it's audience. Add one of the worst cold opens of all time and you have a sure recipe for disaster.
And then we enter the third act. Everything remains just as dumb an unfocused as it's been from the start, but the action... is just perfect, for lack of a better word. Hulk's smashing endeavours in particular shine as bright as blockbuster action has ever shone.
So yeah, I guess the movie is redeemed. The movie is a convoluted mess saved by a single grace, which is one of the best action sequences in recent history. Does that mean it's worth watching? Absolutely. But that hardly means it deserves the insane amount of praise it's getting. It's bloated and hollow.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
I thought all the action scenes were well done, but by far my favorite was the Iron man and Thor one in the forest.
Was a great movie, although I don't understand how Hulk went from beating up the Avengers to immediately joining up with them, taking orders from them, without anything in between. I also wish there was way more Loki. Who was the guy after the credits?
EDIT: Sorry, should have spoilered, right?
EDIT: Sorry, should have spoilered, right?
Dog Problems
Banned
Oxigen_Waste
Banned
I stand corrected, I forgot 'bout that one. And Thor vs Hulk is good too.
But those are like 15 mins out of the first 90 mins.
Yeah this bugged me immensely. Probably the best example of why I think the plot was lazy.
Banner was always in control, but he was made evil by Loki (just like Hawkeye) inside the base. But once he went back to normal, he was back with the team like before (just like Hawkeye).
QuiteWhittle
Member
On the ship, Hulk was influenced by Loki through his scepter. Otherwise, Banner can control his Hulk side.
Angry Fork
Member
As a big Hulk fan I'm in the minority when I proclaim my love for Ang Lee's Hulk. I wrote a lot about why I like it but am too lazy to look for it to quote. Incredible Hulk was very meh all around except Tim Roth who's cool. 2003 Hulk had lots of cool unique shit despite having it's problems (big dogs, which wasn't a bad fight necessarily it was just dumb).
I said yesterday I think that I found it funny how Avengers had more Hulk action and did better justice to him than in Incredible Hulk which was supposed to be dedicated just to him.
I said yesterday I think that I found it funny how Avengers had more Hulk action and did better justice to him than in Incredible Hulk which was supposed to be dedicated just to him.
Dreams-Visions
Member
*to a degree.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I saw 2003 Hulk a few months ago and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I mean, it wasn't great or anything, but I wouldn't call it shitty. I had a good time
Dog Problems
Banned
Yeah, when I like a character so much I'm able to look past the flaws and enjoy the movie.
Good Job Bob
Member
Yeah, I watched 03 Hulk a few days ago and I actually liked it a lot.
It has problems, and I understand why it didn't work but I enjoyed it.
See, now I wish this was better explained, but
if he can control it, then what's the big deal about him becoming Hulk, and him trying to avoid it happening, getting all depressed, etc. Just seems like a cheap plot device so that they wouldn't have to explain anything.
Zoramon089
Banned
I hate when people use this phrase...because usually it's not the case at all. How anyone could describe this movie as convoluted when it made perfect sense is beyond me
Also something that needs to be mentioned way more, this movie handled the Hulk PERFECTLY. Only in this movie did I really get the idea that people were afraid of his transformation and that he literally was a loose canon. In the Hulk movies they seemed to take it for granted but in this one, you really understood the extreme fear people had just being around Banner. Anytime anything got slightly riled up it was a tense moment. There was no "Let's see him transform! YEAH!" it was "Oh shit oh shit oh shit. Okay, calm down Banner" Whedon got the Hulk way better than both his movies did
Better explained? They told you outright in the dialog.
Angry Fork
Member
Agree 100% with this. You explained my feelings perfectly glad I'm not the only one.
Cosmic Bus
pristine morning snow
Not having watched any of the directly related Marvel movies other than the first Iron Man, would I be missing anything terribly important by going to see this? I mean, it's a comic book movie: good guys, bad guys, universe in the balance oh noes... How complicated can it be?
I like Whedon's stuff and Ang Lee's Hulk (along with a few other older, much less popular comic book flicks), but that's nearly as far as my geek card gets me in this area. Avengers just seems like a fun thing to see on a big screen since I only hit the movies once or twice a year.
I like Whedon's stuff and Ang Lee's Hulk (along with a few other older, much less popular comic book flicks), but that's nearly as far as my geek card gets me in this area. Avengers just seems like a fun thing to see on a big screen since I only hit the movies once or twice a year.
Raitosaito
Member
Whoa, GAF at it's finest.
I've honestly never understood the surprise ... well, beyond the fact of him getting such a high budget seemingly out of nowhere.
His most popular works essentially are ensemble superhero pieces. When you couple that with his experience of actually penning comic books ... why the shock?
I like this universe
Funnily enough, I actually felt the complete opposite. The first 2/3rds had some emotion, action, excitement, intrigue and above all, decent narrative. The last 1/3rd was verging on being Transformers esque. Just dumb mindless, excessive, albeit fun, action. The humour gelled it together, otherwise at times it was just a inch away from being so over the top it risked boredom.
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
Well now you liked three out of the five distinct action sequences in the movie, with one of them being among the best action sequences of all time in your estimate. The opening bit was very wobbly, no doubt. But are you just dismissing the helicarrier sequence, too?
Boombloxer
Member
Fixed for me. Probably leaving out a few.
Saw this last night, was glorious. Fantastic in every way, will go and see it again tomorrow.
The amount of fan-service for the comic fans was incredible.
Best line was when Thor asked Loki who actually showed him what the Cube was capable of...and then
Thanos is at the end
I think the last 1/3rd really pointed out how good the Transformers movies could have been. Everything about the final battle was expertly choreographed, backed emotionally with the story and character development, and had a metric ton of genuinely funny and exciting scenes.
It's worlds apart from Transformers, only thing worth comparing is the special effects and the use of location.
Xplatformer
Member
I know you said imo, but no way is the original Spiderman movie better than the Avengers. The first Nolan Batman isn't either, and I think very few people would agree that X2 is better.
Still, it's an opinion. No right or wrong.
The Avengers movie is good for the same reason the Avengers comic is good. Big heroes doing big things.
The Xmen comics were always more character development and character driven stories, while the avengers were about heroes with their own stories (generally in other comics) electing to come together to beat villains that they couldn't defeat individually.
The Xmen were a family. The Avengers a team. There was no way this film would have the emotional punch of a solo hero flick or a family type team movie.
BamYouHaveAids
Member
Blade 2 gets a bum rap I think it's right up there with Xmen 2/BB/Ironman right under TDK and Spiderman 2.
Oxigen_Waste
Banned
The fact that it makes sense doesn't make it any less convoluted. Would you have preffered if I refered to it as an intricate mess? Or perhaps you'd rather I'd go the snobish route of using byzantine? You got my point exactly. The movie's strenghts are inherently simplistic in nature, and yet they insist on unnecessarily complicating the formula to the point where it barely works, sometimes. The good things about it are the ordered and yet chaotic nature of the action that results from having an extremely poweful but hard to coordinate team, but 75% of the movie is spent developing shallow character arcs that ultimately serve little to no purpose. Therefore rendering it... convoluted (in a bad way... since the word has no pejorative sense on it's own).
I do agree with you about on the Hulk subject though. First time he actually felt like the Hulk on screen, no doubt.
I think they ar both superhero comic book movies with very different tones I support this opinion with the fact that they are both based on famous superheroes from comic books.
Just because Batman takes the material to more "real world" places . Even then... people overstate this. All the batman movies are still way way way beyond real life and are definitely comic book inspired. (See: His car. His costume. His villains. The way people react to him. His ability to see things through radio signals or whatever the fuck that was. Tripping out to china for some high flying espionage. Clown men. How far a dollar goes.)
To me, to say that Avengers is a comic book movie, an batman is a "crime movie" (not a genre, but rather a plot point btw) is insulting to the readers and lovers of comics. Is watchmen not a comic movie? If they make Sandman will that not be a comic book movie? What about Fables?
As long as comic book = capes fighting aliens, count me out. Avengers was a damn good superhero movie. A great action movie. It's tonally different from Batman with different goals. I don't hate art, so I don't feel the nee to put them up against each other.
Angry Fork
Member
I hope in the sequel they show Cap America able to lift Thor's hammer. It was cool seeing Hulk unable to lift it and let the audience know it isn't just about strength.
I think the only character you'd be seriously lost on is Thor, as a lot of the stuff that surrounds his reappearance isn't going to make a lot of sense unless you saw his film. There's an aspect to Hulk in this film that is more fleshed out if you saw his film, but nothing that you wouldn't be able to gleam from the dialogue in this one.
Oxigen_Waste
Banned
That dumb excessive action turned out to be the only redeeming factor in here, for me. The narrative you seem to love is the embodiment of every Hollywood blockbuster cliche that drives me crazy. The emotion and intrigue was as shallow as it comes, the plot was way too thin to support the weight of it's characters. You loved the movie for the parts where it was exactly like every other superhero movie. I loved it for the part where it indulged it's exhuberant nature. You're looking for depth in the wrong place, if this is what you consider decent narrative.
I hated the helicarrier sequence.
Best of all time? Don't know where you got that... I said best of recent times. Which just goes to show the drought we're in since the early 2000s.
But yes, your point stands. However... action alone does not a good movie make. I liked The Avengers in the same way I liked Ong Bak... ie everything except the action might as well not even be there, for all I cared. Except here... I didn't even like all of the action. Most of it was just there.
They also established the kind of fear he should be instilling, rather than just talking him up, they had that really excellent
chase scene in the dark with Black Widow.
Boombloxer
Member
Seeing
Black Widow still cowering in shock/fear after he was long gone said it all
And there was nothing she could do to stop him, he'd just get angrier.
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