So, yesterday I got to see Avengers Assemble at lunchtime in Moray Playhouse. It was the third day of the run and a sunny Saturday so the cinema was 2/3 empty.
Now, if it had been up to me, I would have made this the first part of a trilogy about the rise and fall of Henry Pym, beginning with Goliath and ending with the Vision, with Ultron in the middle. But, as you know, it wasn't up to me.
I guessed the identity of the schemer behind the scenes in the first five minutes, however. And no, it wasn't Dormammu, although that would have been immense.The master villain does throw down the gauntlet for a final threat in the inevitable (and welcome) sequel. However, the main plot concerns the malevolent Loki's attempts to steal the C*sm*c C*be to open the gateway for a Skr*ll invasion. It's dressed up in non-comic-booky terms for the civilians ("Tesseract"; "Chitauri") but that's what happens.
I found it a bit slow and talky in the middle and there was the obligatory squabbling that the Avengers haven't really done since, oh, 1967. But there was also comedy, drama and spectacle.
RDJ's egotistical and flippant Stark is at the heart of the film, redeeming his smugness with acts of heroism but it's the seductive and lethal Black Widow who makes an early, favourable impression. The Hulk steals the movie, of course. Ruffalo's performance is a wry, low- key and charismatic extension of Eric Bana's portrayal ( boyish Bana was rather sweet in his skid-lid) but his green alter ego generated the biggest and most genuine laughs from the audience.
I don't remember Captain America's uniform looking quite so ...blue in his movie but I believed this was Kirby's indomitable soldier and Chris Evans captures his simple nobility well. While a little young, Chris Hemsworth's Thor strikes an effective balance between barbarian and Shakespearean.
Poor Hawkeye is overshadowed by his team-mates largely because this is the modern, Ultimate iteration. Not the swashbuckling braggart in purple, the smartass who eventually became a leader in his own right. However the film does highlight Barton's uncanny accuracy, even if that's not just what the character's about. Finally, this is the first film since Revenge of the Sith where trhe usually-OTT Samuel L. Jackson did not annoy the Hell out of me.
I definitely liked the movie very much, although I can't say I loved it. The Avengers is, in essence, a workplace drama about "lifers" and "temps". The character arcs for Mantis, Patsy Walker, Wonder Man, the Pyms, et al are what it does best. In the end, while Whedon gave them someone to avenge, it wasn't really the Avengers anyway: rather, a slightly more family-friendly version of Mark Millar's Ultimates. There are some characters who for me will always be the Avengers that Thomas, Englehart, Shooter ( to a lesser extent) and the Buscemas brought to us- Goliath, the Beast, the Black Knight. Let's look at my suggestions for potential assemblers in Avengers 2!
Of all the New Avengers introduced in the Bendis Era, Cage is the one who is most emblematic. Apart from Squirrel Girl. Really. However, Ultimate Nick Fury might make Cage redundant.
The first black Avenger is one of the coolest characters with the most untapped movie potential: the king of a super-advanced African nation with ritualistic feline powers? Does that not say "million$" to you?
Number 3) Ultimate Wasp.
I can't picture an Avengers line-up without The Wonderful Wasp and the Ultimate version would add to the ethnic mix of what is, at present, a very white group.
It took me a very long time to accept Spidey as an Avenger and I'm still not entirely convinced. But an Avengers movie without even a cameo by Spider-Man? Folly, by Asgard!
I hope the JLA movie- there must surely be one- is at least as good as this.
Coming soon: Agent of S.W.O.R.D.
All images are presumed copyright of their respective owners
No comments:
Post a Comment