Monday, May 7, 2012

THE AVENGERS assemble for one terrific movie!

 Oh they are about to mess some shit up..believe that!

Just saw The Avengers for the second time in three days and all I can say is wow! As a diehard comic book fan for over 25 years, this is a moment in time I will always treasure. Seeing some of Earth's mightiest heroes team up in the same movie and do their thing. This is how you make an awesome movie! The midnight crowd was in a frenzy from the time the lights went dark and for the next 2 and a half hours, I was in sheer bliss. 
Captain America

Picking up from the endings of last year's two films Captain America and Thor, The Avengers begin with Thor's mad brother Loki (once again played by Tom Hiddleston and even better this time around) arriving on Earth at SHIELD's facility, and wreaking havoc. Shield director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson in a much more substantial role this time) is in possession of a cube of unimaginable power called the Tesseract. Loki wants it as he plans to use it to open a portal for his allies, an alien race called the Chitarui, to cross over and invade Earth. 

Iron Man
Fury quickly assembles a team to take on this threat. He recruits Captain America (played once again by Chris Evans, solidly might I add), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr..never better) and Bruce Banner aka The Hulk (this time played by Mark Ruffalo...who gives the best impression of Banner/Hulk by far). Also already in place is Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and ace archer Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Thor (Chris Hemsworth) will join the party a few scenes later. 


Thor
After a quick skirmish that has Loki captured by Cap and Iron Man, Thor arrives to personally settle things between him and his brother. Of course Iron Man takes offense and we have one hell of a fight that Cap has to break up. That's the thing about this film as there are so many cool fights between different characters. Thor and Hulk mix it up for another great fight. Hulk has a little beaut with Loki. Black Widow and Hawkeye go at it with lethal intensity as he is under the control of Loki. Just so many terrific matches that make a fan scream "Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"


Hulk

But amid all the action and spectacle there is the wonderful dialogue and direction by Joss Whedon, who has crafted some of the best series on TV ever in Buffy, Angel and Firefly. He guides this film with a deft hand and his imprint of engaging and witty cantor is on full display. Downey gets to rip off countless one liners as he butt heads repeatedly with Cap, Thor, Fury..hell everyone in the movie. Ruffalo gets to shine as we finally get the perfect guy to bring the perfect Hulk to the screen as he gets to have some fun in his role and the Hulk gets to let loose and smash. Johansson also gets a more fully developed role as Black Widow, a much improved character from Iron Man 2. In fact she has one of the better scenes in the film as she gets to have a little chat with Loki that gets very deep and personal.


Black Widow
The film is well paced as the beginning takes time to get going but once the ball gets rolling...oh boy, look out. The final 30 minutes as the team fights Loki and the alien race in downtown New York is one breathless, rollercoaster ride. So much action going on, it's just cool as hell to sit back and watch. When Banner finally gets to 'Hulk' out and smashes a giant alien in the face, the whole crowd just erupted. In fact the Hulk gets most of the best scenes as he gets two really funny scenes involving him and Thor, then him and Loki. Funny as can be. I also liked Renner as Hawkeye the archer. He was slinging arrows all over the place, from the side, from behind, no look, etc. Really wicked! And nice seeing Clark Gregg back as Agent Coulson. Gwyneth Paltrow pops up in a cameo as Pepper Potts, trying to carry on her romance with Tony Stark. And newcomer to the series, Agent Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders). Terrific cast!


Hawkeye
Man, this movie is awesome. Been waiting my whole life for this to happen and it finally has. I can't wait to see it a third time, which will be sometime this week. The Avengers is the best comic book movie I have ever seen. Better than my beloved X2. I'm still seriously stoked for Spider-Man and Batman later on this summer, but for me, The Avengers is it. Avengers Assemble!
A

 Nick Fury

Loki

 Agent Maria Hill

Hill and Agent Coulson

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