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We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

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    We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

    We're just taking it as a given?

    Terrible clunky UK name aside obviously.

    Went about 10 days ago, wanted to turn around on my heel as I left and go watch a late screening straight away and have been desperate for a second viewing since.

    An "event movie" that surpasses the anticipation.

    I loved it, basically.

    #2
    We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

    I wouldn't taken it as a given. I haven't seen it but I generally find films about super heroes immensely tedious. What is particularly special about this one, especially as Hollywood is barely capable of making films about anything else these days?

    Comment


      #3
      We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

      I agree with Harry: It was just a glorious hi-five of a movie. I mean, the pantomime of it alone is superb. Whedon – the poor fuqer- had to marry legacy/accuracy/fan-rabidity and still make a picture that everyone could enjoy. And he does that with such a happy-stray-dog-reunited-with-its-owner-bounding-through-a-meadow joy. Vibe-wise, it reminded me of Robin and the Seven Hoods. Super-hero-wise? Best one I’ve seen since Superman “kneel before Zod” II. Mr Hulk is superb, too. Also, I saw it in 2D: it's like 3D but like you aren't wearing an '80s bank-robber-tights-and-skii-googles combo. Cheaper too. Thor didn't seem to mind.

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        #4
        We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

        I liked it. Could have done with a bit more dialogue and a bit less fighting.

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          #5
          We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

          I haven't seen it and probably won't at a cinema. However, with all such movies, I'll be happy if it's just an enjoyable romp - which it sounds like it is.

          Should I have seen the Captain America and Thor movies before I see it, though? (I still haven't seen the Hulk one! ...Not that I'm particularly bothered about that - he was always my least favourite superhero, growing up.)

          Anyway, in the little I've read about 'Avengers Assemble', I gather that the baddie is Loki. This surprised me. I thought they'd go for a bigger, more widely-known foe for the first film - possibly Galactus (who I thought was given short shrift in the second FF film).

          Comment


            #6
            We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

            evilski wrote:
            I haven't seen it and probably won't at a cinema. However, with all such movies, I'll be happy if it's just an enjoyable romp - which it sounds like it is.

            Should I have seen the Captain America and Thor movies before I see it, though? (I still haven't seen the Hulk one! ...Not that I'm particularly bothered about that - he was always my least favourite superhero, growing up.)

            Anyway, in the little I've read about 'Avengers Assemble', I gather that the baddie is Loki. This surprised me. I thought they'd go for a bigger, more widely-known foe for the first film - possibly Galactus (who I thought was given short shrift in the second FF film).
            I’d recommend seeing it at the cinema: nothing frames a movie like the sound of 400 strangers grazing on ten-quid popcorn. I’d rather watch it in the wanky-wanky-skinny-flick-joint from Taxi Driver than the Omni Centre. That said, BIG is great, so I’d venture in on a Tuesday night and 30-by-70ft-it.

            Anyway, I digress. No need to have seen either Captain America or Thor as, from your post, I’m guessing you know your stuff (plus, the latter film is poo-eeee). In addition, Whedon does a good job of hand-holding for the first 30 minutes, so you’ll be up to speed in a Flash (I know he's DC but "in an Antman" didn't scan as well.)

            Comment


              #7
              We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

              Disco Sea Shanties wrote:
              I wouldn't taken it as a given. I haven't seen it but I generally find films about super heroes immensely tedious. What is particularly special about this one, especially as Hollywood is barely capable of making films about anything else these days?
              If I had to put my finger on the one thing that sets it apart from other movies in the genre it's the wit and verve it's all done with. I wasn't that au fait with Whedon's work before but he has done a fantastic job with this. It is funnier and cleverer than anything that precedes it (with the possible exception on the latter of the recent Batman films).

              The dialogue is as smart as you'd expect but the characterization and ensemble acting are probably a surprise for a superhero movie. You only have to look at what Mark Gruffalo manages to do with the Hulk where good actors like Norton and Bana have failed before to see the higher bar that's been set. Hiddlestone is fantastic too.

              I'm not Citizen Kane but it is a wonderful bit of modern blockbuster cinema.

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                #8
                We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                Harry Truscott wrote:
                ...I'm not Citizen Kane...
                Phew!

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                  #9
                  We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                  evilski wrote:
                  Harry Truscott wrote:
                  ...I'm not Citizen Kane...
                  Phew!
                  Ah, you have Charles F. Kane-based resurrection night-terrors too? “I..I...I’ll never sleigh again.”

                  Comment


                    #10
                    We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                    Haven't seen the movie, though I daresay I will when it shows up on PPV.

                    TBH, going back to their origins, I've always had problems with Thor as part of the Avengers. First off he's a God which puts him in a different category of myth to the rest of the gang, who are all — more or less — human. Second, in comparison to them he's actually kinda of feeble, as Gods go like, surely he should be able to deal with terrestial problems with the flick of a whisker. Finally, I'm sorry but his hammer is really sad, it looks like something I could pick-up in aisle two at Home Hardware, it's totally lacking in the requisite legendary gravitas.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                      Amor de Cosmos wrote:
                      Haven't seen the movie, though I daresay I will when it shows up on PPV.

                      TBH, going back to their origins, I've always had problems with Thor as part of the Avengers. First off he's a God which puts him in a different category of myth to the rest of the gang, who are all — more or less — human. Second, in comparison to them he's actually kinda of feeble, as Gods go like, surely he should be able to deal with terrestial problems with the flick of a whisker. Finally, I'm sorry but his hammer is really sad, it looks like something I could pick-up in aisle two at Home Hardware, it's totally lacking in the requisite legendary gravitas.
                      I concur with pretty much all of this. When I very first found out about him getting together with humans in a 'gang' I found the whole concept prepsterous. The bloke they've got to portray looks totally wussy too - surely just selected 'for the ladies'. Thor deserves someone with the physique of Schwarzenegger at his bodybuilding peak at the very least, I reckon.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                        I went to see this today, tremendous fun that flew in, I would quite happily watch it again.

                        My first experience of 3D and just didn't see the point, does it exist for any purpose other than to milk as much cash from us mug punters as possible?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                          I'm not one for comics myself. But having really enjoyed Robert Downey's turn in the Iron Man films I watched Thor and Captain America (both on Sky right now fortunately) to catch up with the intention of watching AA.
                          Thor was good fun - I thought the actor playing him did ok. And Hiddleston as Loki was excellent. Captain America was... American. But diverting enough.

                          AA though... What a joyous bundle of fun it is. Even the stupid bow and arrow bloke wasn't too bad. It's not often that Mrs TheTiger is effusive about a movie, but she told me on the way out to but it on BluRay as soon as its available.
                          And by golly it's got one of the best timed jokes in it, ever. If you've seen it, you'll know the one.

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                            #14
                            We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                            Eh, it was fun, and better than it had any right to be as a blockbuster superhero movie, but I wasn't blown away. I'd still rather watch Cabin in the Woods.

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                              #15
                              We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                              Having said that, I'm super chuffed that it looks like Joss Whedon, of all people, is going to knock Jim Cameron off his box office perch.

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                                #16
                                We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                In answer to the original question - yes.

                                Mrs b and myself saw it yesterday and it's tremendous fun. I found it helped to have seen the Iron Man movies first, but not having seen Thor or Cap America didn't hinder my enjoyment of AA.

                                As for "stupid bow and arrow bloke" (superb summation, hobbes), I really don't see the point in the character (Hawk), and I'm mystified at the sudden ubiquity in Hollywood of the actor who plays him (Jeremy Renner).

                                However, AA is so terrific that even one duff character can't derail it. The CGI is pretty much spot on (and nothing ruins a film for me quicker than bad CGI), and as mentioned above Whedon's sense of humour helps a great deal too. And RDJ continues to excel in the role he was born to play.

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                                  #17
                                  We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                  I was never an Avengers comic reader. In fact, other than some Daredevil, Wolverine, and Spider-Man, I was never really a Marvel guy at all. I'm much more of a DC guy and tend to focus on the more "human" superheros like Batman or The Question.

                                  But I still liked it a lot.

                                  I give credit to Marvel for how they put together all the films leading up to this one. The casting is excellent, the CGI is great, the pacing is great, etc. No complaints. It does exactly what it says on the tin. It also shows how living in one of the major comic universes would be a living hell for civilians. Every other day, something half destroys New York.

                                  This is the best version of the Hulk of the three CGI-era movies with The Hulk, now with the third different actor. It's remarkable how much better the CGI has become since the Ang Lee film with Eric Bana.

                                  As with all of these super-hero team ups, there's always a problem fitting in different heroes who work on a "different scale." Like, although I enjoy the odd bit of Justice League, I never thought it made sense to have Batman fighting against the kind of interdimensional monstrosities that Green Lantern and Superman take on.

                                  Likewise, Black Widow and Hawkeye don't really fit in taking on Loki and the Army of the Damned or whatever it was. They should be doing more cloak and dagger down and dirty stuff. They'd be good as a pair in their own film.

                                  But they shoehorn it all in well enough and Scarlett Johanssen looks hot with the red hair this, so there's that. Also, Hawkeye is kind of a rip-off of Green Arrow, but we'll let that slide. All of his gizmo arrows were pretty cool and congrats to Jeremy Renner on earning the big pay day. He's a good actor who's done hard work in a lot of supporting roles over the years.

                                  BTW, the way Thor and Loki fit in as "gods" is explained in the Thor film. They're not really gods in the sense of controlling the universe-type-gods. They're just very powerful beings from another world where "science and magic are one and the same" but because they were so powerful and came from the sky, ancient Northern Europeans thought they were gods. So they're "finite gods" so to speak. The DC Universe, especially the Wonder Woman stories, use the Greco-Roman gods in a similar way. She fights Aries/Mars a lot.

                                  If you stay until after the initial credits, it teases the sequel. I'm not sure who that is, though. Galactacus? Again, I'm not very familiar with the Marvel canon.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                    I'm mystified at the sudden ubiquity in Hollywood of the actor who plays him (Jeremy Renner)
                                    Well he's 'our hero' in The fucking odious Hurt Locker, isn't he, so cos it won Oscars he gets thrown into anything and everything else for a couple of years.

                                    I was a Marvel buff as a kid, but never that keen on team-up comics, too much 'interpersonal skills' bollocks (which is there in this script, but quite amusingly handled).

                                    Liked Ruffalo's Banner/Hulk; this did have a bit of verve and pizzazz, and having seen Spiderman in a work screening recently- it really has dated awfully (I liked it when it came out) so my expectations here were fairly low, and well exceeded.

                                    But it's not 'awesome', no..

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                                      #19
                                      We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                      :Reply to Reed>

                                      It's another cosmic bad-ass, Thanos.

                                      Galactus featured in FF2: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Disappointingly he was portrayed a massive dust of space cloud rather than a giant bloke in purple armour with a massive forehead.

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                                        #20
                                        We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                        Well he's 'our hero' in The fucking odious Hurt Locker, isn't he, so cos it won Oscars he gets thrown into anything and everything else for a couple of years.

                                        Ah. I've actively avoided Hurt Locker, so I'd no idea he was in it. I saw him in an episode of House and also in SWAT, and he was pretty awful in both of them, hence my astonishment that he'd suddenly become famous.

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                                          #21
                                          We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                          Hurt Locker was good. I don't see why it was odious.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                            It was La Signora's bookclub at our place the other night, so I sloped off to see this. I knew I would eventually, just like I've seen all the other Marvel movies I think (except Daredevil.) I have to say I was mildly disappointed, partly because several people had enthused so much about it on here. Yes, the third iteration of The Hulk was a cut above the other two, and RDjr is given some natty quips — but no more so than in the Iron Man movies. It wasn't a bad film, just very predictable.

                                            Maybe I'm jaded but whether it's Harry Potter, or the LOTR franchise, or comic-book movies, every blockbuster these days has a story arc that's as rote as an episode of Law & Order. They're all FX portfolios driven by the latest innovations in CGI. Interesting characters and story-telling, and therefore genuine drama are overwhelmed by noise, speed, and the certainty that everything is going to end with armies of orcs, aliens or wizards causing mayhem and destruction until the good guys save the world and live happily ever after.

                                            So far as comic book movies go there are only two I've seen that transcend the established genre: Dramatically The Dark Knight, is head and shoulders above the rest, largely — but not entirely — because of Heath Ledger's performance. And Sin City because it explicitly plays with the shared conventions of comic books and film and does so in a predominantly visual, rather than narrative, way. Ultimately it fails, but in an interesting and laudable fashion.

                                            Still there's (yet another) Spiderman flick to look forward too... oh goodie.

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                                              #23
                                              We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                              I'm completely out of touch with the world of comics, graphic novels and superheroes, these days. Are there any adaptations (or even completely original films) in the pipeline that might be a bit of a break from the formula that Amor describes, above?

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                                Reed John wrote:
                                                Hurt Locker was good. I don't see why it was odious.
                                                For a "serious" film which won Oscars it was less realistic than Avatar, basically it was "Lethal Weapon 5 - This time it's Baghdad!", one of the few films neither my wife nor I managed to watch till the end.

                                                Sorry, had to get that off my chest. I don't think a film has ever quite made me as angry as "The Hurt Locker".

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  We all think 'Avengers Assemble' is awesome, yes?

                                                  Hurt Locker was good. I don't see why it was odious.
                                                  It was a very powerful film, brilliant tension in the editing of the bomb sequences etc but it had the same attitude to the 'other' as The Green Berets .

                                                  And the same token 'nice' native child.

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