annwfyn | Thoughts on the Avengers (Reply)

I liked it. I didn't come out of it floating on air, as I think some people did, and my heart rate stayed mostly the same throughout, but I was never bored, I laughed at a lot of the lines, I enjoyed the climax and I was reminded again how very very good Joss Whedon is with ensemble pieces. It would be really easy to either have that film bogged down in one character, or to let it just get confusing and unwieldy, and it did neither. Instead, every character had their moment, they were all well defined, important to the story, and felt like real people. In an all powerful superhero way, of course.

I didn't find Black Widow annoying! It is a character I normally dislike, played by an actress I always dislike, and I actually quite liked her. I think a lot of that comes from her 'it's complicated' status with Hawkeye, which was beautifully done and reminded me how good Joss Whedon is at making couples seem interesting. We didn't see much of that relationship, but there was enough of it around the edges to really drive the plot forward and overwhelmingly leave me wanting more. It also totally stopped me from developing a crush on Hawkeye because, well, he was taken, wasn't he?

I also found myself, bizarrely, liking Tony Stark, despite loathing him in Iron Man 2. In this case, I maintain it's that Pepper has clearly been really good for him, and, once again, I loved what Joss Whedon did with their relationship. It was understated, comfortable, but had an awesome chemistry and a really good sense of balance between them. Plus he somehow got the Tony Stark wisecracking down to reasonable levels, made him smart enough that I'd put up with a lot from him, and also gave him a sense of morality which he'd been shown developing at the end of the first film but seemed to have lost for Iron Man 2. Generally, an awesome character. And I did actually get a little tense when I thought he was sacrificing himself.

I am in love with Captain America and always will be. I'm sorry. It turns out I just can't resist a big damn hero and goddamnit, Chris Evans plays him well. Not many people can be that straight down the line white hat and still be that loveable. Captain America has been my favourite film so far and I really liked seeing Cap continuing to glow in this film.

Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk was incredible. I've always liked the Hulk. I think I may identify with him on some level. I am also the only person I know who genuinely liked both Eric Bana and Edward Norton as the Hulk, but now I see that I was a fool. What I liked was the faint ghostly foreshadowing of the real perfection that was Mark Ruffalo. He was...amazing. He mixed sweetness, intelligence and then that terrifying and out of control rage. I kinda wish Hulk wasn't _quite_ so controlled in the final fight - I think there should be more of a risk to letting Hulk off the leash - but I was willing to forgive that as generally he was so good.

Thor was...Thor like? I am apparently alone in not really caring hugely about Thor. He's a god. He was godlike. I kinda liked the relationship between him and Loki, but really, even there, he didn't hold my attention for that long. I mean, he was OK. I didn't dislike him, But I found I cared about him less than the rest. Maybe this will change in Thor 2.

Nick Fury was awesome. Samuel L Jackson played him note perfect again, and I suspect might actually be Nick Fury in disguise. Also, I did kinda want to cry when Agent Coulson died.

I am not in love with Loki, but only because Captain America was on screen and it just felt wrong to cheat on Cap, even in my heart. But overall, Loki was awesome. Also, I am very excited at the prospect of the Red Skull coming back for the next film.

Joss Whedon should really be given more Marvel films to direct. I think he's a really really good match for Marvel. I hear that the next Avengers film may well be him too. I really really hope it is.