The Avengers [renamed]

[Mini]

It is everything you'd want in a film that brings those characters together. Stark has some brilliant lines, and the Hulk steals the show. Mark Ruffalo is just brilliant.

[phantom_power]

Amazing effects as well, all brought together to produce a stunning spectacle. The 3D is a bit superfluous until the final battle where it really puts you in the action.

I thought this was a brilliant film, everything I want from comic book film. The characters were brought together in a believable way and each one got their chance to interact with the others and play a part in the final battle(s). I think the last point was really tough to get right as Black Widow and Hulk are so mismatched that it must have been hard to give them something to do within their abilities

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I thought this was just chuffing well brilliant. Easily the most fun I've had at the pictures since Scott Pilgrim (which, for me at least, was a hell of a lot of fun indeed). It shits on the vast majority of summer blockbusters, and even ones I found enjoyable enough at the time pale in comparison. In this age where tripe like Sucker Punch comes custom designed to elicit cries of "aw, dude, awesome!" from the crowds at Comic Con, Avengers actually earns it. Whatever problems I've had with his work in the past, after this and Serenity I really hope Whedon can go on to be one of the top level directors in Hollywood.

Oh sure, I could make the odd criticism - the bad army were rather nondescript, in terms of both character and design.

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and it was a bit lame that they all just died once their mothership was destroyed

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; While the cast was really well balanced for the most part, I thought Thor got a bit lost in the mix at points, which seemed odd, since he's arguably got the greatest emotional stakes in the story. I think it would have been nice if there had been a scene in Asgard with Odin near the beginning, since it's meant to be such a big deal for Thor to have returned to Earth; While it was the best 3D conversion job I've yet seen, the picture was still murky from time to time; Captain America's new costume looked kinda goofy. - none of that really matters too much though. No doubt there are also many folk with long, verbose arguments to make about why it represents the end of western cinema/civilisation etc. But to hell with them.

Other thoughts:

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Coulson. Nooooooooo!!! It's to Clark Gregg's credit that the death of a fairly minor character, overall, could pack such a wallop.

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Thanos. Waaaaaagh!!!

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. How's about Tom Hiddleston for the next James Bond? Just how old is Harry Dean Stanton? Also, was it a deliberate bit of joke subversion that Cobie Smulders was nowhere to be seen whenever someone said "Suit up"?

[SavageHedgehog]

Well I hate to be the party-pooper but while I enjoyed it I still felt it ultimately ended up as a neverending orgy of CGI blobs hitting other CGI blobs. Much better than the Transformers films, yes, or Iron Man 2 for that matter, but still cut from the same cloth. Most of the performances were pretty good, there are some fun setpieces and a few nice touches, but little for me to truly treasure after leaving the cinema.

However, if you are going to see it (and statistically that's quite likely) I would say it is worth seeing in IMAX, with a big crowd.

What I did like in the film, which surprised me, was the Loki/Thor stuff. I dismissed the Thor film at the time, as the trailers made it look like something that fell straight off the assembly line after Iron Man 2. But I watched it last night, and I found it to be a thoroughly entertaining film, with an engaging plot, and a level of artistry and craft in a totally different league to Avengers. It also felt to me like a fairly distinct, unique modern blockbuster, which is somewhat rare. But maybe I'm just out of step with these modern comic book films, as I also thought Captain America was a lot of fun, and was never that enamoured with the first Iron Man.

[Nobody Soup]

I still think thor is poor and chris hemsworth is the worst of the assemble but tom hiddleston certainly upped his game, he was excellent as the bad guy. could have been a gamble as the other avenger films have bigger actors in the bad guy roles, and you might have been thinking "why couldn't this be hugo weaving." but nah, he was great.

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QUIM! HE FUCKING SAID QUIM!

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[Tiny Poster]

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QUIM! HE FUCKING SAID QUIM!

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Hiddleston really was fantastic, both at the EVIL stuff and the funny business -

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his confused second tap on Tony Stark's chest reactor might have been the biggest laugh for me, after Hulk blindsiding Thor

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.

[phantom_power]

I think it would be difficult to avoid a CGI blobfest as you have the Hulk, Iron Man and the rest fighting it out. It isn't going to be a wordy drama. I think the point is that it was easy to follow what was happening, everything happened for a good reason and all the battles were pretty character/plot-driven.

The special effects were pretty amazing as well. I don't remember at any point thinking "this is good CGI", which is a good sign.

[Tiny Poster]

I think it would be difficult to avoid a CGI blobfest as you have the Hulk, Iron Man and the rest fighting it out. It isn't going to be a wordy drama.

Having said that, some of the best scenes were of them all in the same room, bickering. The one where Captain America

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gets the "flying monkeys" reference

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was where the whole film clicked for me.

[phantom_power]

Having said that, some of the best scenes were of them all in the same room, bickering. The one where Captain America

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gets the "flying monkeys" reference

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was where the whole film clicked for me.

I completely agree but it would be pretty difficult to make a superhero film that didn't have a CGI-heavy climax, especially one involving Hulk, Iron Man and Thor. Is it just after your spoilered bit when we see what a SHIELD computer operator does when the boss leaves the room? That was the bit that started me getting all giddy

[Tiny Poster]

I completely agree but it would be pretty difficult to make a superhero film that didn't have a CGI-heavy climax, especially one involving Hulk, Iron Man and Thor. Is it just after your spoilered bit when we see what a SHIELD computer operator does when the boss leaves the room? That was the bit that started me getting all giddy

Ah, the

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Galaga

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bit? That bit was so perfectly timed, after a scene with a comic rhythm that puts 99% of UK sitcoms to shame. I can't believe I'd forgotten about it until you brought it up.

[madhair60]

I've never seen a more enthusiastic response to anything in the cinema than the whole

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"Puny god."

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sequence.  The more I think about this film the more I like it.

[Mini]

They've never really known what to do with the Hulk, he is a tricky character. But The Avengers nailed it - use him for comedy.

[Tiny Poster]

I've never seen a more enthusiastic response to anything in the cinema than the whole

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"Puny god."

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sequence.  The more I think about this film the more I like it.

People were applauding the

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Loki beatdown

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so much that most of them missed that line.

[madhair60]

I'm seeing it again tomorrow night.  Can't wait.  What a film.

[MojoJojo]

I haven't been to the cinema for awhile. Is it worth spending extra for 3D?

[madhair60]

No, never.

[Tiny Poster]

Yes, sometimes.

[phantom_power]

I haven't been to the cinema for awhile. Is it worth spending extra for 3D?

I am a bit torn really. I am not a fan of 3D and for 3/4 of the film it is pretty pointless, but in the final third the 3D really does immerse you in the action. Strangely, for a post-production conversion, the last battle is filmed in a very immersive, 3D-friendly way, from a bit where the camera swoops through the sky passing each hero in turn doing battle with various foes to a brilliant little touch in the middle when

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you get a POV from inside a car being tossed around by an explosion

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, which is so good I am surprised I haven't seen it before

[phantom_power]

I've never seen a more enthusiastic response to anything in the cinema than the whole

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"Puny god."

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sequence.  The more I think about this film the more I like it.

This got a huge response where I was watching it too. Just one of many moments that marks the film above the usual superhero fair.

[Mini]

Joss Whedon can actually do funny, unlike in the rest of the Marvel films (bar the odd line in Iron Man) when any attempt at humour felt like a room full of people sitting around trying to work out what humans found amusing.

[Nobody Soup]

joss whedon really is something special, with him you're never going to get comic book fans coming out grumbling about how "in the comics that just wouldn't happen..." he gets that he's trying to bring the comics to a wider audience not blatantly steal their ideas to make a typical movie. And he's such a witty writer he can dish out the lines so that in a 5 minute scene he builds the characters and their relationships leaving plenty of time for the plot and ridiculous over-the-top action. he's also able to genuinely scare people with words, the speech loki gave at one point wasn't you're typical bad guy boast, it was a pretty harrowing threat, buffy had moments like that, and one or two of the hulks lines were able to perfectly summarise the tragedy of the character (and mark ruffalo, someone I'm not normally a fan of, did a great job).

[phantom_power]

Not forgetting of course

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whedon's trick of killing of a beloved character in a swift and brutal way. In this case give the Avengers something to ...

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[Tiny Poster]

I can't comment on his TV or film stuff (outside of Toy Story and Alien Resurrection) but his run on Astonishing X-Men might be the best thing I've seen done with the characters.

[SavageHedgehog]

I think it would be difficult to avoid a CGI blobfest as you have the Hulk, Iron Man and the rest fighting it out. It isn't going to be a wordy drama.

No, but I don't think it's entirely unreasonable for me to say I would have preferred more measured, more suspenseful and less chaotic action scenes. I was by no means surprised that the last however much of the film was one big battle, it's just those have never been my cup of tea. Maybe my problem is that I've always preferred yer lone hero types.

[OG Mudbone]

So that was Harry Dean Stanton? Huh.

And a resounding "yeah, I suppose" to all the superlatives dished out on this thread. Most fun I've had in the cinema in ages.

[SteveDave]

I got to use my "Kneel! Kneel! Which one of you is Neal?" joke that I'd not brought out since Masters Of The Universe.

[MojoJojo]

I am a bit torn really. I am not a fan of 3D and for 3/4 of the film it is pretty pointless, but in the final third the 3D really does immerse you in the action.

Due to realising I needed to watch it today and the schedule that imposed, I saw it in 2D.

Good, as everybody has said. Minor quibbles, of the looking too closely at it variety. Loki's plan

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where he gets captured so he can split the Avenger's up and get hulk out

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seemed a bit stupid. And unnecessary.

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And did he actually do anything? I guess his spear was supposed to be making everyone irritable, although that wasn't clear and it was lucky for him they all stood around it

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.
Found the bickering a bit unconvincing - wasn't really clear why anyone was bothered. Felt like they were auditioning for the Apprentice.

Oh, and

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Stark making a heroic sacrifice wasn't really - sure there were lots of ways he could have disabled the nuke (e.g. shooting it). He was actually just doing it to kill some baddies who were going to be shut off anyway

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.

Minor quibbles really, and I think the only one which really took me out of it was the unconvincing bickering.

[lipsink]

Ruffalo was perfect, wasn't he? The way he always sounds like he's whispering anyway just suits Banner so well as a repressed character trying to keep it all in. My favourite line of his was:

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"I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spat it out."

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Please make a HULK film with him in it!!!

Another of my favourite scenes was when

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Captain America appears and saves that German guy who refuses to kneel to Loki.

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The only criticisms I have were we really didn't get to meet many non-Shield humans that everyone kept going on about saving (though that would've been difficult what with so many characters already), Thor seemed a bit naff (even though his own film was one of the best), and the end fight went on a bit.

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Oh, and why did they give away how Hulk saves Iron Man at the end in all the trailers?

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[Mini]

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Oh, and why did they give away how Hulk saves Iron Man at the end in all the trailers?

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That was so annoying, it meant there was no tension at all in that scene which was obviously meant to be nail-biting. I hate trailers.

My other problem was, how come Loki can sometimes use amazing powers like teleportation and duplicating himself, but sometimes can't?

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Could he not have used it to escape when captured at the end?

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[Custard]

Saw this tonight, and loved it. Found the first half hour or so a bit slow going, but from there it really takes off. A lorra fun

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Who was the fella in the post-credits bit, then?

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