Avengers (Spoilers)

[Gandalf]

The Plot: Loki, in league with the Chitauri will try to conquer Earth. He has a magic stick that makes people evil, and pinches the tessarect. His plan is to allow himself to be captured in order to fuck with the heroes, while his new minions make a portal to bring the Chitauri to Earth. Halfway through he breaks the team, kills Coulson, and this allows them to make it personal. You get it from here.

Thankfully, it's more fun than any of the previous films in this group. It's out and out funny. Even though the story is pretty predictable, it's a fun ride. The script is good, because a lot of it is either explaining things or people bickering. There were a few groan worthy moments, like Loki explaining that he was there to destroy freedom, and Captain America being told that people nowadays need the Stars and Stripes.

There's a fight every ten minutes, with most permutations of the heroes that can be imagined. Iron Man gets the shit kicked out of him so often that I figure his suit must be made of pillows or something on the inside.

Every character gets their moments to outshine the others, even the pointless ones like Hawkeye. Who is he? Why does he use a bow and arrow? I don't care.

9/10

More thoughts as they come.

[atg]

Saw it at a midnight screening last night. I think it's definitely more then the sum of its parts. Hulk was hilarious, especially when he slams Loki at the end Loved this movie.

and Captain America being told that people nowadays need the Stars and Stripes.

Iirc I thought Fury (or was it colson?) was just trying to reassure him that he's still needed or that if things went really south people might need a symbol to rally behind.

[Gandalf]

and Captain America being told that people nowadays need the Stars and Stripes.

Iirc I thought Fury (or was it colson?) was just trying to reassure him that he's still needed or that if things went really south people might need a symbol to rally behind.

That makes sense. It was a line so close to the other one I mentioned that it made me wonder how many flags I was about to see.

[Gandalf]

Why didn't Loki's evil spear work on Stark? Was his wristband protecting him, did the arc reactor interfere, or did Loki just get really unlucky in where he hit him?

[mr friendly guy]

Avengers Assemble.

That was great.

Loki catching Hawkeye's arrow, only for it to blow up anyway.

Colson threatening to shoot Hawkeye with a new gun, but Loki ends up spearing him. Yet Colson still manages to shoot Loki by getting him to drop his guard with his taunt about Loki lacking conviction.

The obligatory Thor vs Iron Man fight, and Thor vs Hulk fight.

Banner's secret - that he is always angry and hence can turn into the Hulk any time.

Nick Furey got some good scenes in. Trying to stop the Directors launching a nuke against Manhattan.

Stark sacrificing himself in seemingly one way trip, which is a copy of Captain America doing it in Cap's movie. Very fitting since it was Cap who questioned whether Iron Man was hero material.

Loki was badass and a worthy villain here. His opening scene where he assrapes SHIELD agents and mind fucks Hawkeye were brilliant. His taunt of Black Widow, with the latter thinking she had outsmarted him. Only for Loki's plan to come to fruition and getting the better of SHIELD again.

When Stark was falling, it looked like Thor was going to fly up and save him, but it turned out the Hulk could be a team player (despite giving Thor a love tap after they both beat up the bad guys).

Also I didn't mind Loki saying he was going to take away our freedom, because I can imagine he actually believes that philosophy. Granted I can see why it can be groan inducing with the propaganda being spewed out that <insert group here> hates us for our freedom, as opposed to some other more plausible reason, but Loki most probably does believe we are better off with him in charge.

What I didn't like, was how the aliens starting going down after Stark destroys the mothership. It would have made more sense for them to close the portal, have the Avengers take out the remainder.

And we get to see the next villain. Its none other than Thanos. So they are bringing out the big cosmic guns for the next set of movies. Interesting.

Why didn't Loki's evil spear work on Stark? Was his wristband protecting him, did the arc reactor interfere, or did Loki just get really unlucky in where he hit him?

I thought it was the Arc light reactor. Tony doesn't have much of a heart. Which is silly if you think about it, because brainwashing should work on the brain, but I can buy this.

[atg]

Yeah whenever Loki used the spear on someone it was always on the centre of the chest, which with stark of course has the arc reactor.

[Alkaloid]

I was apprehensive about Whedon being the director/writer going in, because while I am a fan of his stuff I think his plots and fight scenes often leave a lot to be desired. I was wrong to worry. What he does well normally Was done brilliantly, the plot was simple and made sense, and the fight scenes were amazing. And hilarious. I do wonder how long Coulsons death was planned, because it fits well with Whedons writing style bu he has been around since Iron Man.
I love that they finally have a modern hulk that worked for a movie, largely by dropping the angst and upping the funny, but I think what I liked best was the way it subverted action movie formulas. Mostly, the hero is at a disadvantage and can't beat the bad guy in a straight fight, here our heroes were orders of magnitude stronger and smarter than the bad guys and the movie just waited to prove it.

[Enigma]

How does Ruffalo's Hulk compare to Norton's and Bana's Hulks?

[Ahriman238]

Why is the US release so far behind the international one?

[Alkaloid]

Much better than both. Follows Nortons storyline more or less, even down to 'days without incident' tag, but both Banner and the Hulk are darkly funny and this hulk flat out makes the others look like pansies. I still don't think he could carry a whole movie on his own but I will be unsurprised to see him turn up in Iron Man 3.

Loki was badass and a worthy villain here. His opening scene where he assrapes SHIELD agents and mind fucks Hawkeye were brilliant. His taunt of Black Widow, with the latter thinking she had outsmarted him. Only for Loki's plan to come to fruition and getting the better of SHIELD again.

Seriously? I got completely the opposite vibe from that whole scene. The only one of Lokis plans to come off properly was stealing the terrasect, at every other turn he underestimated everyone and never realised right until the end. Sure, he upset Romanov, but that doesn't really matter, she knows she has blood on her hands and has accepted it already and is dedicated to paying back a debt she really can't. Yeah, she was hurting, but she still played him like a fiddle. All he did was make her absolutely sure that one of the biggest things she could ever possibly do to clear her ledger was put him down, as well as reveal his plan was to make Banner angry and trash the helicarrier and everyone on it, which failed. Sure, Banner hulked out, but not because Loki predicted it or because of the staff like Loki meant to happen. He hulked out because Romanov promised to die to save him, and Banner is so ashamed of what he is, hates himself so much that the idea of someone else dying for him is about the worst thing he can imagine, and it sent him over the edge. Loki was tough and smart, sure, but the heroes were all tougher and smarter.

I have a though on advertising of this too, because I spotted something new here. Normally the best parts of a film are spoiled by trailers, we all know this. Sure, they might be better with context, but the most exciting explosions and funniest lines are in the trailers. Except here, where it was emphatically not. The 'take away the the suit what are you?'part of the trailer was in the movie, but from a different angle and a different take, and the 'billionaire genius playboy philanthropist' response wasn't a funny line in the film, it was almost a threat. Likewise, the lets do a headcount scene, where the best and funniest parts were actually cut out in the trailer. I really hope this is a sign of a new trend in advertising for films, because those scenes would have been worse had I known what was coming.

[Lonestar]

Wait, seriously? Thanos?

[Alkaloid]

Why is the US release so far behind the international one?

According to Mr John Birmingham, it is due to a collapse in the US National Awesomeness Index. As good a reason as any.

[Kojiro]

At work so not really time to go into it but man this movie was awesome. Loved every second.

I have only one question- and maybe I just missed it as I did step out for a moment- but how did Loki get his staff back once it was in Banner's lab?

[Dargos]

Avengers Assemble.

Colson threatening to shoot Hawkeye with a new gun, but Loki ends up spearing him. Yet Colson still manages to shoot Loki by getting him to drop his guard with his taunt about Loki lacking conviction.

Wait...agent Colson dies!?!?! NOOOOOOO!!!! I love that guy

[atg]

At work so not really time to go into it but man this movie was awesome. Loved every second.

I have only one question- and maybe I just missed it as I did step out for a moment- but how did Loki get his staff back once it was in Banner's lab?

Hmmmm I don't remember. I'm guessing maybe one of his goons/Hawkeye grabs it when they invade the helicarrier?

[Kojiro]

It just seems like the kind of thing you'd have relatively well guarded, in not locked up, but maybe that's just me.

Love the humour in this thing too- you can feel Joss in there. Loki vs Hulk was awesome.

[mr friendly guy]

Seriously? I got completely the opposite vibe from that whole scene. The only one of Lokis plans to come off properly was stealing the terrasect, at every other turn he underestimated everyone and never realised right until the end. Sure, he upset Romanov, but that doesn't really matter, she knows she has blood on her hands and has accepted it already and is dedicated to paying back a debt she really can't. Yeah, she was hurting, but she still played him like a fiddle. All he did was make her absolutely sure that one of the biggest things she could ever possibly do to clear her ledger was put him down, as well as reveal his plan was to make Banner angry and trash the helicarrier and everyone on it, which failed. Sure, Banner hulked out, but not because Loki predicted it or because of the staff like Loki meant to happen. He hulked out because Romanov promised to die to save him, and Banner is so ashamed of what he is, hates himself so much that the idea of someone else dying for him is about the worst thing he can imagine, and it sent him over the edge.

Er, not quite.

Loki's overall plan failed, but the steps that succeeded were
1. Stealing the tessaract

2. Stealing the tritium or whatever that thing which stabilised the gate was. He got the eye scan of that scientist while Hawkeye did the stealing. Even getting captured was clearly part of his plan, or else he would not have surrendered so easily and he would have ran away while Thor, IM and Cap were too busy fighting among themselves. A point noted when Fury asked why is it that only he (Loki) seems to want to be here (on the Hellicarrier).

3. Damaging the SHIELD Hellicarrier and in the process killing goodness knows how many agents.

It looked like Black Widow got the better of him in their verbal stoush, until you realise it wasn't just loosing the Hulk that was in his plan. It was Hawkeye and some brainwashed humans rescuing him and damaging the Hellicarrier. That, she didn't infer from Loki's taunts.

I also remember Banner starting to turn into the Hulk during the attack before Black Widow gave her speech to him. So I am giving the credit to Loki for this one, since I doubt Banner would have changed into the Hulk if the Helicarrier wasn't attacked.

4. He killed Colson.
Ok wasn't part of his original plan, but he improvised quite quick. Killing a character we had grown to love over the Iron Man and Thor movies just increased Loki's villain status. It just makes you want to hate him more.

5. He managed to scatter the Avengers - ie temporarily trapped Thor in the Hulk jail before the Thunder god broke out, Hulk was lost due to his own rage causing him to attack that pilot etc.

Essentially all of Loki's plans up to opening a portal and letting the alien invaders in succeeded. The ideal situation for the Avengers would have been to prevent the portal opening, the damage to New York by the invaders, the council launching a nuke at Manhattan etc happening in the first place. Sure its not as glorious as what we saw, but its not about glory.

However it turned out that Loki's allies weren't powerful enough to defeat the Avengers. And even then the Avengers utilised the nuke launched by the Council to win. If there wasn't a nuke, arguably it would have been harder going, ie IM's power levels were low, Hawkeye had ran out of arrows etc.

Wait, seriously? Thanos?

Relax. As long as Jim Starlin isn't writing the next movie.

If you stay in the cinema after the credits, there is a scene were the alien which had been communicating with Loki wanks off on how awesome we humans are to an unknown figure. The figure turns around and it looked like Thanos to me, and I am not the only one who thinks its him.

But seriously, what is your beef with Thanos? I didn't expect it, but I am willing to give it a shot after how well they did the other movies.

[Dartzap]

Really enjoyed that.

Everything seems to have panned out very well. Banner/Hulk really shine in this film. Hulk vs Loki is a definite contender for one of the best comeuppance scenes in a long time

[Steel]

I thought it was excellent. The humour worked really well and the gift scenes were great.

I was surprised when they killed Coulson, but then I wasn't sure if he was actually dead. Later on when Fury gives them the bloody cards officer girl says (with a smile?) that coulson didn't have them on him and Fury replies that he needed to make it personal. So that either means that coulson isn't actually dead and fury was just using that to get them angry, or it was just referring to bloodying up the cards and he really is dead. Probably leaning towards he latter, but officer girls delivery of that line was what confused it for me as surely she wouldn't be so jolly about the card thing if the guy was actually dead.

[atg]

I didn't notice her having a smile. I got the impression that Fury had just bloodied them up to 'give the push'.

[Zinegata]

Watched it. Loved it.

The whole theater nearly gave the movie a standing ovation after two words: "Puny God"

Also, there's apparently some kind of Word of God that says Coulson is in fact alive and he'll be back in Iron Man 3.

[Lonestar]

But seriously, what is your beef with Thanos? I didn't expect it, but I am willing to give it a shot after how well they did the other movies.

Huh? I don't have a beef with Thanos, I was just baffled that they went with him.

[Lord Woodlouse]

Loved it. My favourite bit is probably where Loki is having a bratty outburst about how he's a god and the Hulk is just a stupid beast, answered by the Hulk just thwacking him repeatedly into the floor.

[mr friendly guy]

But seriously, what is your beef with Thanos? I didn't expect it, but I am willing to give it a shot after how well they did the other movies.

Huh? I don't have a beef with Thanos, I was just baffled that they went with him.

Fair enough and I retract the statement. Although why would you be baffled by Thanos? They need a "big bad" to borrow the term from Joss Whedon for the next movie, and Thanos in the Marvel universe is pretty bad ass. I would have gone with Kang or Ultron before bringing on Thanos, but lets see what they can do with the mad Titan.

[Tsyroc]

Also, there's apparently some kind of Word of God that says Coulson is in fact alive and he'll be back in Iron Man 3.

He is the "principal" at the school Peter Parker attends in Ultimate Spider-man so he's still around there.

Plus, if they went so far to have the SHEILD helicarrier why not some LMDs? The Coulson who died could easily have been an LMD, or maybe they'll have LMD models of Coulson taking his place?