The Avengers

[Bells]

was going to post in the previous thread about this, but it's beyond page one so i thought would be proper to make a new one.

So, the movie is upon us... some reviews are in, all hugely positive. Seems like is nothing short of a homerun for the entire endevour!

I already got my Ticket (Debuts April 27 here!) and now i'm just waiting to see this beautiful thing!

Also, i checked online as i always do to see if there was going to be any Post-Credit stuff on this one... and it turns out it DOES have. It wasn't even shown to the Critics... so i'm going to post it here, in spoilers, and if you don't want to see it, please, keep away from it.

So, in the Post-Credits, Thanos is revealed. Quick, short and sweet scene showing him basking on Loki's defeat and turning an eye towards earth and the Avengers with his trademark grim... and that's pretty much it

[Professor Smarmiarty]

On the one hand its getting lots of good reviews and shit.
On the other hand, it was written by Joss Whedon.

[Bells]

who also worked on Cabin in the Woods, which is the first time i EVER wanted to watch a Horror movie... at all. ever.

[Magus]

On the one hand its getting lots of good reviews and shit.
On the other hand, it was written by Joss Whedon.

Eh, it's got a 50/50 chance of being good based on the Whedon part. That said, it actually looked more vapid plotwise than Iron Man 2. That's pretty vapid.

[mauve]

I'm skeptical because it's got four big-name heroes and two "hey we're here too" heroes who all have their own personalities and stories crammed into a 1-2 hour long film. Not much time to delve into any meaningful character development or plotline other than something along the lines of: "HEY GUYS GO BE ON A TEAM." "NO WE DO NOT WANT TO BE ON A TEAM BECAUSE THE HULK IS A TERRIBLE TEAMMATE AND ALSO IRON MAN IS KIND OF A DICK." "LOOK, I DON'T CARE, GO BE ON A TEAM." "OKAY FINE. OH LOOK VILLAINS! LET'S FIGHT STUFF." "HULK SMASH!" "OKAY COOL NOW WE ARE A REAL TEAM CUZ WE FOUGHT STUFF AND LEARNED VALUABLE LESSONS ABOUT TEAMWORK. OH, AND ALSO THIS NOT-COOL-ENOUGH-FOR-HIS-OWN-FILM ARCHER DUDE AND THE OBLIGATORY HOT CHICK ARE HERE." THE END


On the other hand, I'm excited because Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is the greatest thing (even though the sequel's plot was pretty terrible, I still liked the character) and I look forward to Iron Man being a jerk to everyone else.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I don't really get the "how will they give personality and character to all the leads" arguement that people keep making, since A) we've already had several movies establishing most of them anyway, and B) there aren't that many characters to worry about really. There's essentially 6 (7 if you include Nick Fury, which I do) and Loki as the villain, all of which have already had screen time in previous movies (except Hawkeye really) and which is still about the average number of protagonists for your average action movie, and they'll all get a lot more screen time than a lot of other major characters from most other action movies.

So that arguement just doesn't work.

And besides which, individual character developments are for individual story arcs in each of their respective movies, Avengers is about them all getting together, shit blowing up and the heroes kicking the crap out of aliens (and probably each other).

[RickZarber]

Also, it's like two and a half hours long! (With a reported 30mins of deleted scenes that'll eventually see home video release...) So I wouldn't worry about lack of character development moments.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Isn't being 2 and 1/2 hours long a bad thing? Like this is supposed to be an action movie- pack it out in 90 minutes- like I don't want to sit through that long of a superhero film.

[Ecks]

Pipe down smarty we all know you have the attention span of a sugarbuzzed child.

I'm excited to see this! I've been waiting very patiently, hopefully I will be able to see it tomorrow.

[Magus]

I don't really care about the character development, none of them are Batman, I'd rather they just went ahead and did a straight-up action movie. The battle in the commercials looks like it's going to be at least a half-hour, centerpiece, middle-of-the film battle, so I'm sure in the remaining two hours they can have a certain amount of character development, but my main concern was whether the plot was going to make any sense as far as having an actual impact on the players. Iron Man 2 wasn't just vapid because it was action action action, it's because the villain was not compelling, it was meandering in its plot. It wasn't "Iron Man has to stop Whiplash", it was "Iron Man has to stop Whiplash, then he has to deal with a bunch of side issues involving blood poisoning, drunkenness, romance, friendship/rivalry, the military-industrial complex,blah blah blah, then Iron Man has to stop Whiplash's droids. Let's take for example The Dark Knight, the villain is what moves the action along. The Joker was at the center of everything, and was a compelling villain who you wanted to be stopped, and he was literally involved in every damn thing. Loki on the other hand...am I really supposed to care if Thor beats him down? Hell, Thor should have just let him rule Asgard since he's way better suited for it, then he wouldn't be trying to invade Earth. All the heroes are kind of boring, is what I'm saying. They might as well just focus on making the plot a series of action events which makes sense and builds up properly. Otherwise you're just going to have a meandering film that does everything poorly instead of one thing in an amazing way.

[Bells]

I don't really care about the character development, none of them are Batman

...Movie Batman?

Really? Like... seriously?

[Magus]

...Movie Batman?

Really? Like... seriously?

Are you insinuating Movie Batman has no character development?

Really what I am saying is that Movie Batman would be worth giving character development, because the character in the comics is worth developing. No one has ever been able to make me care about the emotional travails of pretty much any of these Marvel characters except maybe Bruce Banner, who is tragic by default.

[Fifthfiend]

On the one hand its getting lots of good reviews and shit.
On the other hand, it was written by Joss Whedon.

Whose loving relationship ended in senseless death?

[Bells]

Are you insinuating Movie Batman has no character development?

Really what I am saying is that Movie Batman would be worth giving character development, because the character in the comics is worth developing. No one has ever been able to make me care about the emotional travails of pretty much any of these Marvel characters except maybe Bruce Banner, who is tragic by default.

I wouldn't be able to tell you why, but i can tell you that there is a striking constant to the fact that in every batman movie made to this date... Batman is the least interesting thing in it.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Just got back from seeing it. Yeah, it was pretty much excellent, everything I'd hoped it would be. The Hulk remains totally awesome and has some of the best scenes in the film, especially picking up Loki and slamming him around like a ragdoll.

And I'm very glad that Thanos has finally been revealed. I've been waiting on that for ages. Unfortunately I'm now going to have to wait even longer to actually see him in action in the next movie.

[Azisien]

Pre-ordered my tickets for our upcoming Friday release. Watched Iron Man 1, 2, and Thor yesterday. Fuck the rest.

[Odjn]

Are you insinuating Movie Batman has no character development?

Really what I am saying is that Movie Batman would be worth giving character development, because the character in the comics is worth developing. No one has ever been able to make me care about the emotional travails of pretty much any of these Marvel characters except maybe Bruce Banner, who is tragic by default and Spider-Man, who needs no explanation.

fixed

[Magus]

Oh, well, yeah, Spider-Man, but that is a horse of a different color from the Avengers. It's too bad Sony owns the rights to the movies though or else he could have been in the Avengers.

EDIT: I would just like to point out that none of these minor misgivings will prevent me from watching this, as I do enjoy the spectacle of comic book movies in and of themselves.

[Arhra]

Film is pretty great!

Nice action.

Death by one liners.

Captain America was a bit corny, but in a good way.

Thor and Bruce Banner were pretty good.

Have my jerk babies, Tony Stark!

Aliens and Loki could have done with a little more exploration of their motives.

[Fifthfiend]

as A Person Who Doesn't Like Spider-Man Being In The Avengers I actually am glad that copyright licensing contractual hooplehookie has prevented Spider-Man from being in this movie

also, too, Wolverine

[Dracorion]

I think we're all forgetting who the real hero of the movie was. RIP Phil Coulson, AKA the guy from The New Adventures of Old Christine. Even death can't wipe off your everpresent smile.

If I had to point out one bad thing about the film, it's that the whole time I was watching it I was thinking "I wish Nathan Fillion were Hawkeye". Not than Jeremy Renner wasn't great.

[Bells]

I think we're all forgetting who the real hero of the movie was. RIP Phil Coulson, AKA the guy from The New Adventures of Old Christine. Even death can't wipe off your everpresent smile.


I cannot possibly agree enough with this. Also In my mind his character from the Adventures of Old Cristine is just his Alias and that guy and Coulson are the Same... RIP Coulson, you rock!

Also i gotta love how EVERYBODY gets a chance to make Loki their Bitch during this movie.

Awesome. Love it!

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I think we're all forgetting who the real hero of the movie was. RIP Phil Coulson, AKA the guy from The New Adventures of Old Christine. Even death can't wipe off your everpresent smile.

I cannot possibly agree enough with this. Also In my mind his character from the Adventures of Old Cristine is just his Alias and that guy and Coulson are the Same... RIP Coulson, you rock!

YMMV on whether this is a good thing or not then, as according to word of god Coulson is still alive. Fury faked his death in order to push the team into working together to avenge him. It's partly pointed out in the film when it's mentioned that his trading cards weren't really found on his body like Fury said.

[Dracorion]

That just means we'll have more opportunities to see him shoot gods in the sequel.

Okay, I thought of another thing wrong with the movie. When Hulk beats the shit out of Loki, they should've made it sound like he said "pwned".

But we should probably cut down on the spoiler text now, guys.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

That just means we'll have more opportunities to see him shoot gods in the sequel.

Unfortunately, looking at the timetable of potential upcoming movies, the sequel is going to be some time away. They're already working on Ironman 3 and Captain America and Thor 2, they're also talking about doing either solo Black Widow and/or full blown S.H.I.E.L.D. movie, a possible War Machine spin off, and trying to introduce some lesser knowns such as Ant Man, Doctor Strange, Luke Cage, Black Panther and the Inhumans. And STILL no confirmation of a Hulk sequel!!

How many of those are actually going to happen though is hard to say.

[Bells]

War machine spinoff is quite unlikely, but a Solo Shield movie is quite possible...

Also, got me wondering why didn't they even mentioned War Machine in this movie...

[Magus]

War machine spinoff is quite unlikely, but a Solo Shield movie is quite possible...

Also, got me wondering why didn't they even mentioned War Machine in this movie...

Well if you mention him then the audience asks why he isn't helping out and then you have to explain that Don Cheadle just wanted too much money and you're already hiring several AAA actors and thus the 4th wall is broken.

[Bells]

Yeah, i guess it's the sort of thign that show jagged edges only if you go looking for them up close... i mean, they explained why Thor's love interest wasn't in the picutre... just a very quick side-scene explained that nicely, and yet... Military Wonderboy Stark's sidekick isn't around.

EDIT:

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m37lahRaHT1r4mhqmo1_500.gif

[Doc ock rokc]

What did you guys go to Press screenings?!

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Bells, that spoiler is fantastic. Yeah I need to see this as soon as I can.

[Magus]

Yeah, i guess it's the sort of thign that show jagged edges only if you go looking for them up close... i mean, they explained why Thor's love interest wasn't in the picutre... just a very quick side-scene explained that nicely, and yet... Military Wonderboy Stark's sidekick isn't around.


I remember in the Incredible Hulk review Roger Ebert wondering why Spider-Man didn't help out at the end, since the creators set the scene in New York (for no particular reason, just because they wanted to), so it's not as if this isn't a legitimate question, but it just runs up against budget and rights constraints like a brick wall.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I remember in the Incredible Hulk review Roger Ebert wondering why Spider-Man didn't help out at the end, since the creators set the scene in New York

Well that's a stupid complaint, since it's pretty obvious they're not in the same universe anyway. You might as well ask why didn't the Fantastic Four show up in any Spidey films, or where were the X-men, or why aren't there vampires running around (Blade). Not to mention the simple fact that the final fight in Incredible Hulk took place in like what, 20 minutes? Spiderman is hardly omnipresent, so why would you even assume he could just randomly turn up to a fight he had no idea was happening? I guess film critics just like to find stupid things to complain about though.

As for War Machine not turning up in Avengers, there could be any number of reasons. I'd assume the War Machine suit is still somewhere with the military, probably on a base somewhere on the west coast. Since SHIELD were pretty much taking charge and keeping everything under wraps right until the invasion started, it's quite possible that nobody outside of SHIELD had any idea what was coming. By the time Rhody gets to the base, suits up and flies across country the battle could simply have been over.

Or maybe the suits was undergoing a retrofit and couldn't be deployed in time, or was already deployed in the middle east somewhere and couldn't get there in time, who knows? I'm sure there's a suitably good reason they can bullshit up if it ever comes up in a future film.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Did Ebert even say that at all. There is no mention of it in his written review and on his site there is a question of someone asking the "why they set it in new york" question to which his reply is just that's a bit silly.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080619/ANSWERMAN/828903228

[Melfice]

Well that's a stupid complaint, since it's pretty obvious they're not in the same universe anyway.

By virtue of rights, yeah.
As far as the comics go... Spidey's part of the Avengers right now, alongside Red Hulk.

Just sayin'.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Yes... and your point being?

[Melfice]

Yes... and your point being?

I can see where this is going past each other.
Movie canon does not equal comic canon.
That said, movie canon takes cues from comic canon. There's no reason not to believe Spider-Man co-exists with the Hulk in the movie canon. As you said yourself, Spidey could've been busy, or just not there in time.

As for why any of those other characters weren't there... well, that's a bit of an issue that exists in comics as well.
Why isn't Doc Ock trying shit when Mysterio's duking it out with Spidey?
Or Thanos cooking up a scheme when the Fantastic Four is dealing with the Skrulls?
It's because of focus, really.

But maybe I'm just really confused by the post I quoted. But I don't think so.

But what I'm really saying is... unless Marvel says Spidey and the Hulk don't co-exist in the movie-verse, they do because they do in the comics, rights be damned.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

By this logic 90% of the characters in the Avengers are actually skrulls.

[Melfice]

By this logic 90% of the characters in the Avengers are actually skrulls.

SPOILERS, dammit!
You're ruining the second film!

or

I never said Marvel made sense in any fucking way. That's why we're having this argument in the first place.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

But what I'm really saying is... unless Marvel says Spidey and the Hulk don't co-exist in the movie-verse, they do because they do in the comics, rights be damned.

But... they just don't though. By this logic all the X-men films are taking place in the same universe too, but we know they're not because we've not seen any mutants running around, or heard anything about San Fran being attacked, nor has Fury turned up to try and recruit anyone from the academy for Avengers.

Same for the Fantastic Four and everyone else. Fortunately Marvel has its own system for dealing with this already in place, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, consisting currently of Ironman, Hulk, Captain America and Thor is classified as Earth-199999.

The X-men movies are a seperate universe, Earth-10005. Earth-96283 is the setting for the 3 Spiderman films (the new movie being a reboot in a currently unclassified universe), and the Fantastic Four fims take place on Earth-121698.

Not sure what numbers universes Blade and Ghostrider have, but again, they have their own seperate realities for those too. So no, rights be damned or not, those other characters don't exist in the current Avengers movie series, at all.

[Melfice]

Then I default to: Marvel is fucking stupid and needs to make up it's mind.
All those Earths are confusing.

I get why Marvel Zombies can't be on the main Earth, but when you set up a different Earth for the films... some consistency? Like, please? Bah!

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

That's exactly what Marvel is trying to do though with the Cinematic Universe, to keep them all in 1 universe for the future and disregarding any previous films that don't fit the canon of this new universe. The alternative is to assume that all of the films involving all Marvel characters take place in 1 universe, which isn't an alternative because it's a fucking mess because there's too many contradictions.

Keeping all these others seperate and numbering them is the only way to make sense of it all and start some semblence of order. This was the entire point of numbering different spins off, alternate continuities and parallel universes in the comics in the first place, and is why the main comic series is Earth-616, Ultimates is 1610, Zombies is 2149, etc etc. Even the 90s cartoon series has a number within the multiverse, Earth-921031. This is how all of Marvels various lines can exist independantly of each other and not screw each other over.

Oh and if you're wondering, yes, there is a designation for "The Real World" too, Earth-1218. That's where we live.

[Bells]

i THINK since the military doesn't show up at ALL during the avengers, that everything just went down too fast for them to mobilize.

Which actually got me thinking that this si probably the first thing Michael Bay thought during that scene "Where are the tanks and jets helping these super beings? BULLSHIT!"

[Magus]

The conventional military always conveniently sits everything out in the comics, too, while SHIELD attacks with skyfortresses and mechs and spacejets and so forth, so it's not really unexpected.

[Premmy]

Nerdery

You know what I miss? when comics
1 Didn't have shared continuity
2: hadn't had shared continuity to such an extent and for so long that nerds automagically have these weird arguments about why characters from one movie that just so happens to have the same company making it didn't show up in another movie made by the same company, instead of the normal reasonining that two movies are not connected because no duh
3: didn't piss me off at every turn

tldr: Shared continuity is stupid. has always been stupid, and the less you see of it, the better a thing is.

[Lumenskir]

Went to the midnight showing last night, very disappointed it wasn't filled with nerds all dressed up (although I heard a guy behind me say that most of them went to the "Sit your butt off watching all the Marvel movies that led up to this" marathon, and that was primarily the reason he had to escape to another theater's showing).

I thought it was pretty great. I previously thought that the Marvel studio method had been refined enough so that we wouldn't get anything outside the B- to B+ range*, but the fact that they let Whedon have a little freer range with the quips and character interactions and the general requirement for keeping the plot moving with constant action meant this was much more solid.

*Which isn't a bad thing, seeing as they could still be going the DC route where every property is either shit or gold.

My one main complaint is something I had been wondering before, and they confirmed that on a team with superheroes or the super equipped, regular humans just end up feeling out of place. I mean, Captain America was literally reduced to taking on a whopping THREE MOOKS at the SAME TIME as his big ol' hero moment, while Hulk got to punch a battleship in the face. I don't really know how to correct for this though, so kudos for making it fun nonetheless.

Also, did Hulk seem a lot more gorilla like to anyone else? The Loki-ragdoll bit seemed to be a shoutout to that one suitcase commercial, and he always seemed to be walking hunched over dragging his knuckles. I couldn't remember how he had been portrayed before, or if I was just imagining things.

Also, also, if you go to the theater and stick through the end credits, and you know who the guy is at the very end, consider explaining his significance to the other half of the audience who, in my case, seemed to think he was Hellboy.

[phil_]

You know what I miss? when comics
1 Didn't have shared continuityPremonitions you are not ninety years old you weren't around to miss that

[PCD]

Also, also, if you go to the theater and stick through the end credits, and you know who the guy is at the very end, consider explaining his significance to the other half of the audience who, in my case, seemed to think he was Hellboy.

My reaction, as well, but luckily I had gone to attend with a bunch of hugeass nerds who started screaming "THANOS, FUUUUUUU--"

Thanos is basically the scary immortal guy who has a crush on Lady Death and wants to kill everyone in order to flirt with her, is what was explained to me.

[Moogle0119]

I attended the "Marvel Marathon" yesterday, all 5 Marvel movies prior to the midnight showing of Avengers. Some guy behind me thought the guy at the end was some "big monkey/gorilla guy". I thought it was humorous considering he looks just like Thanos so he must not have been that keen on his comic book lore. Also, I must say everyone waiting for the FINAL end credits scene and then watching the team eat in awkward silence at the wrecked restaurant was a hilarious moment that made us all laugh at the fact that they knew audiences would be waiting for more hints at sequels and instead get this.

I totally understand the complaint about the power disparity between various members of the Avengers, but you can't have Captain America/Black Widow face the same opponent (i.e.: snake/dragon like battleship) that Hulk/Thor/Iron Man can contend with and expect the same results. Overall I thought it was well executed and still gave enough time for everyone to have their own heroic moment and their own tough battle to contend with. Can't wait to see what they'll do next.

[Lumenskir]

I totally understand the complaint about the power disparity between various members of the Avengers, but you can't have Captain America/Black Widow face the same opponent (i.e.: snake/dragon like battleship) that Hulk/Thor/Iron Man can contend with and expect the same results.
But isn't that when you pull out the "Invulnerable Mega Tank With An Opening Just Big Enough For A Supersoldier With A Shield, An Archer, And A Hot Chick In A Catsuit To Sneak In And Take Over"? That's a common thing, right?

[Melfice]

tldr: Shared continuity is stupid. has always been stupid, and the less you see of it, the better a thing is.

Not really. It's just stupid that the shared continuity isn't consistent. :P

[Lumenskir]

Reading through the rest of thread's spoilers and I saw this bullshit
YMMV on whether this is a good thing or not then, as according to word of god Coulson is still alive. Fury faked his death in order to push the team into working together to avenge him. It's partly pointed out in the film when it's mentioned that his trading cards weren't really found on his body like Fury said.
The cards are one thing because he gets called out on them in the movie, but has this actually been confirmed in an interview? Just seems like something that would be hard to walk back from come the next movie.

[synkr0nized]

Noo, the best agent!

[Dracorion]

Such a great agent that his first name was Agent.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

My one main complaint is something I had been wondering before, and they confirmed that on a team with superheroes or the super equipped, regular humans just end up feeling out of place. I mean, Captain America was literally reduced to taking on a whopping THREE MOOKS at the SAME TIME as his big ol' hero moment, while Hulk got to punch a battleship in the face. I don't really know how to correct for this though, so kudos for making it fun nonetheless.

I'm sorry, but did you miss the part where Black Widow completely out played and fooled a trickster god? And the part where Hawkeye got to blow Loki up and sent him crashing into a building like a fool? Sure they may not be taking down building sized bioships but that's what Hulk and Thor are for, whereas everyone else has varied skills for different purposes. The fact that they can even be part of the same team as literal gods and still hold their own when they could have all just been given some ironman armour to fight with is testament to the fact they're already badass enough.

Reading through the rest of thread's spoilers and I saw this bullshit

The cards are one thing because he gets called out on them in the movie, but has this actually been confirmed in an interview? Just seems like something that would be hard to walk back from come the next movie.

I'm not sure where I saw it now, probably best to google it and find out if it's actually official. It's a comic book franchise character though, do they ever stay dead?

[Lumenskir]

I'm sorry, but did you miss the part where Black Widow completely out played and fooled a trickster god? And the part where Hawkeye got to blow Loki up and sent him crashing into a building like a fool? Sure they may not be taking down building sized bioships but that's what Hulk and Thor are for, whereas everyone else has varied skills for different purposes. The fact that they can even be part of the same team as literal gods and still hold their own when they could have all just been given some ironman armour to fight with is testament to the fact they're already badass enough.
I see your point, I guess my concern was that during the big battle at the end they didn't give them a chance to actually use their skills (aside from Hawkeye). They took the agile femme fatale trickster assassin and made her fight in the open, and they took the great military guy and similarly left him alone most of the time fighting single file mooks while the city around them got demolished. There was no real drama to their parts of the fight because we know they aren't going to get got by an alien and they weren't affecting the outcome of the overall warzone beyond their one corner. My super tank thing was admittedly glib, but if it had been Thor, Iron Man, and Hulk wrecking the giant bio-ships outside and Cap, Hawkeye, and Black Widow fighting their way up Stark Tower to shut down the portal it would've given everyone an opportunity to shine in their natural environments.

And again, what we got was all still super exciting! Cap was just my favorite single-hero Marvel movie, so I probably just got my hopes up a little bit for his parts.
I'm not sure where I saw it now, probably best to google it and find out if it's actually official. It's a comic book franchise character though, do they ever stay dead?
I did a cursory search, but all I found was an interview from a year ago with the guy who played Coulson saying that Whedon had promised he wouldn't die, which could have either been spoiler protecting or Whedon hadn't actually finalized the death yet. Beyond that I found nothing pro-life, but my Google-fu might just be weak.

If I had to guess, I could see Lt. Robin (/whatever Cobie Smulders character name was) taking over the Coulson position, only to die in 2018 during Avengers 2 and continue the cycle.

[Moogle0119]

But isn't that when you pull out the "Invulnerable Mega Tank With An Opening Just Big Enough For A Supersoldier With A Shield, An Archer, And A Hot Chick In A Catsuit To Sneak In And Take Over"? That's a common thing, right?

*Shrug* People would probably just complain instead about why couldn't Iron Man/Thor just fly through there to destroy it faster? At the end it seemed like everyone did what they were good at though. Thor did lightning, Iron Man flew around and shot lasers at everything, Hulk....smashed, Hawkeye was sniping enemies from up high with his arrows, Black Widow did acrobatics to catch a ride on one of the Chitauri's vehicles, while Steve was the strategist of the group, helped assist police officers with evacuating the civilians to safety, and fought off the ground mooks.

As for Agent Coulson's death, well they could always rule it as a Life Model Decoy that Loki killed instead as a possible out(hell, they even had Stark mention "Life Model Decoy" when Coulson called him in the beginning of the movie).

[Azisien]

So.



Just got back.













It was the best movie I have ever seen in my life.

[Cloud Strife]

This movie was fantastic from beginning to end, to after the end, and frankly I think Whedon did a kick-ass job.

Hulk had the funniest moments, in my opinion.

[DarkDrgon]

I enjoyed the movie a lot, and none of my comic nerd-rage alarms went off. The only bad thing I have to say about it is... did we really need so many comic relief moments once the team was together? I liked all the little banter before shit got real, but other than Hulk punching Thor after taking down one of the titan-ship things, I could have gone without it.

[Cloud Strife]

You could have gone without Hulk interrupting Loki's speech and tossing him around like a rag doll? 'Cause that shit was absolutely hilarious.

[mauve]

This movie was AMAZING. The characters were great, the dialogue was great, the fights were awesome, and it's the first time I've ever actually cared that the Hulk exists. In fact, this movie made me LIKE the Hulk, which is a miracle in itself. I will probably end up seeing this a billion more times and I will enjoy every viewing.


Also, Iron Man is still fantastic and the fact that Tony and Bruce are bros in this movie is also fantastic.

Also also, Loki calmly escaping SHIELD HQ in the back of a jeep is somehow hilarious.

[Marelo]

you didn't like the hulk until now

i don't

what manner of being are you

[POS Industries]

Thanos is basically the scary immortal guy who has a crush on Lady Death and wants to kill everyone in order to flirt with her, is what was explained to me.
And it was at this point that the "To challenge them is to court Death" line made its peak amount of sense to me.

[mauve]

what manner of being are you

The kind that's never really been interested in watching or learning anything about the Hulk up until this point when I realize that the Hulk is actually pretty cool because they portray the character as something more than just HULK SMASH. I actually sympathized with Bruce in this one.

Granted, HULK SMASH is pretty damn awesome in The Avengers, especially when it comes to sucker-punching Thor and beating the crap out of Loki.

[Lumenskir]

I realize that the Hulk is actually pretty cool because they portray the character as something more than just HULK SMASH. I actually sympathized with Bruce in this one.
If you ignore the really overt references to "the other guy", Bruce is basically the Mark Ruffalo character from The Kids Are All Right, who was basically a cool guy.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

I really like how they did Bruce Banner differently from the Incredible Hulk. It made it almost impossible to compare the two actors since they're were both doing different things.

And the line of the movie has to be "I'm always angry."

[rpgdemon]

I enjoyed the movie a lot, and none of my comic nerd-rage alarms went off. The only bad thing I have to say about it is... did we really need so many comic relief moments once the team was together? I liked all the little banter before shit got real, but other than Hulk punching Thor after taking down one of the titan-ship things, I could have gone without it.

I agree, there were just a few moments that were dramatic, then the tension was ruined because the theatre burst out laughing, and you sort of feel bad that it was taken away from you. It pulled you out of the movie, and it wasn't a good feeling, even though laughter happened.

The biggest flaw, to me, was Thor should have revived Iron Man with lightning, they shouldn't have played the moment off as a big haha joke look at Hulk yell it's funny. I was waiting for the payoff of the 400% power set up all movie, and the time for it to finally shine, nothing happened.

The other thing I would have liked explained better was "I'm always angry." Like, that doesn't explain his party trick or how he controls the Hulk at all. It felt really weak to me, and the fact that he was worried about Hulking out, and had no idea what he was doing when he was Hulked out and attacking the plane/falling made it feel like he had no control, then suddenly, "JK guys, I had control the entire time."

All in all though, I loved the movie, and it was absolutely awesome.

[Magus]

I was skeptical of how this was going to work out. I liked most of the movie because they seemed willing to "depower" everyone in various situations to actually create some tension (it's not totally obvious, but when Captain America had trouble fighting a mere two guys at one point, on the skyfortress, I kind of caught on to what they were doing. They hid it pretty well for the most part, though), although the giant 30 minute battle at the end started to wear thin about the 20 minute mark (especially since it is painfully obvious that the aliens are incapable of actually killing any civilians, no matter how many hundreds of trucks they blow up and buildings they topple, not a single human New Yorker life can even be inferred to have been lost). All in all though the extra 40 minutes added to the movie (it's seriously like two and a half hours long or something) allowed for enough plot buildup between all the various characters that it didn't feel like any of them got shafted.

The actual plot in and of itself is convoluted and ridiculous enough that it actually seemed like it was out of a comic book (not necessarily in a good way), but since I found I was willing to forgive the absurdity of Loki, mystical wizard trickster god, escaping in a truck at one point, I'll just go ahead and forgive the rest of the movie. I was rolling my eyes at some of the dialogue, though, since it's the kind of dialogue that sounds like it means something but ultimately doesn't (or if anyone wants to take a stab at explaining what the line "You lack conviction" means, please, reveal the mysteries to me), BUT the lines that were designed to be humorous were and I found myself laughing quite a bit, so for a two and a half hour movie I'd say the writing was mostly spot on.

I'd say as far as an Avengers movie goes, this is pretty much the best it could have been, and I can't say I didn't enjoy myself immensely, so, mission accomplished.

And yeah, I love the scene after the credits. So good.

BTW, I though the scene right after the movie ended was Kang the Conqueror, but Bells post says it's Thanos. Are these two dudes pretty much the same thing as far as the plot goes or is there a big difference between the two (ignoring that Kang is from the future, I mean).

EDIT: Yeah, rpgdemon, I expected Thor to use his lightning there as well. I was under the impression that Tony had drained all the power from the arc reactor in his chest in that final scene, so it was going to make sense that Thor would repower him and it by hitting him with lightning, and it would have been a good callback to that instance, as well, a Chekhov's gun, if you will. When that earlier scene happened I was like "this will be important later", BUT it turns out to be superfluous, which is a definite fault or plot hole in the movie.

[rpgdemon]

I'm actually glad that no civilians died. I'm painfully aware of each person being a legitimate person, even the background civilian #5, so if like a thousand people all got killed by the aliens, it really would have deflated the hero-ness of the heroes.

[Magus]

I'm actually glad that no civilians died. I'm painfully aware of each person being a legitimate person, even the background civilian #5, so if like a thousand people all got killed by the aliens, it really would have deflated the hero-ness of the heroes.

Yeah, but like, when it came to the random SHIELD soldiers they killed them right and left, both in earlier scenes and when Hawkeye invaded the skyfortress. So I took it as more of a self-censorship on their part, where it's bad enough they are blowing up New York buildings in their movie, they can't also actually show New Yorkers dying or, I dunno, PTSD will set in due to memories of 9/11 or something or some other PC reason for it. You have to admit it is beyond ridiculous that entire skyscrapers are collapsed and a zillion lasers are fired and a thousand cars blown up and not a single person gets toasted. I didn't really expect a thousand people to get killed in the battle, BUT that would probably be the actual death toll if it happened. I just really disliked the totally bloodless carnage of that scene, it removes all the weight behind it. They could have at least had more scenes where the heroes narrowly save civilians--there were only two or so (I think they both involved Captain America, too, one was an alien handgrenade and another was some cops). If no lives were lost they should have had some scenes put in showing the heroes saving a lot of people, which would have helped explain it and amped up the heroics. Instead it just seemed pure dumb luck that in this gigantic battle involving hundreds of exploding spaceships, lasers, and cars, not a single person dies.

[POS Industries]

they can't also actually show New Yorkers dying or, I dunno, PTSD will set in due to memories of 9/11 or something or some other PC reason for it.
That or maybe, just maybe, people don't want to bring their kids to see a movie where a point is made to drive home the horrible deaths of countless innocent civilians.

I don't recall the movie making it clear just how many people did or did not die at any point, so I didn't really see it as a happy fun time cuddles nobody getting killed by the big bad aliens moment, either. It was pretty much just your run of the mill family friendly superhero movie action sequence.

[Doc ock rokc]

That or maybe, just maybe, people don't want to bring their kids to see a movie where a point is made to drive home the horrible deaths of countless innocent civilians.

I don't recall the movie making it clear just how many people did or did not die at any point, so I didn't really see it as a happy fun time cuddles nobody getting killed by the big bad aliens moment, either. It was pretty much just your run of the mill family friendly superhero movie action sequence.

They did add a nice touch in the news segment where there was a wall dedicated to all those that died. Judging by the size Its at least a few hundred.

Which is RIDICULOUSLY good considering it was a Full Scale Alien invasion with a ton of buildings being knocked down. Cap's plan and the Cops must have really done a good job.

[Magus]

That or maybe, just maybe, people don't want to bring their kids to see a movie where a point is made to drive home the horrible deaths of countless innocent civilians.

I don't recall the movie making it clear just how many people did or did not die at any point, so I didn't really see it as a happy fun time cuddles nobody getting killed by the big bad aliens moment, either. It was pretty much just your run of the mill family friendly superhero movie action sequence.

Oh, okay, well I'll just shut up about the obvious bowdlerization of death and how it might be more harmful to kids to assume the deaths of countless military people is totally okay, and also okay to not develop enough mental faculties to find it contradictory with the fact that New York was literally blown the hell up and people just somehow managed to get out of the way in time except for twice when Captain America had to actually help them.

That's another thing about the audience for this movie though: is there really any point to bringing your annoying three-year-old kid to the movie? I had to put up with a kid reciting back every single damn thing that happened in the movie in an annoying high-pitched voice "Iron Man got hurt! He hit Thor! Thor mad, haha! Thor mad!" They aren't going to remember what the hell happened in the movie later in life, I can assure you. At least with ten year olds I could conceive of them actually enjoying it instead of getting irritable halfway through and playing with their parents cellphone during the final scenes, shining the damn light in my eyes as I tried to appreciate Tony's sacrifice.

EDIT:

They did add a nice touch in the news segment where there was a wall dedicated to all those that died. Judging by the size Its at least a few hundred.

See, the damn kids made me miss this which helps explain this plot hole away!

ANOTHER EDIT:

Just as a further aside about these movies and your kids, parents of America: you all brought your kids to a movie where a dude literally gets stabbed through the chest and blood goes everywhere. This is fairly forgivable, as it is a fairly light-hearted, action-centered affair (except for whoever had that kid playing with the phone because dammit just take the phone off of them. I hate you). But you also all brought your kids to The Dark Knight (still understandable, it's Batman, you didn't know about the magic pencil trick), and, utterly inexplicably, Watchmen. We get it, parents of America: you don't actually give a fuck. But the last thing I needed to disrupt my enjoyment of Dr. Manhattan's flaccid penis flip-flopping everywhere was your steely, awkward silence in the face of your three year old blathering "Haha, he just blew that guy up and his guts went all over the ceiling! Haha, Rorschach mad! Cleaver go SMACK, right in head! Haha, his penis is blue! BLUE!"

[The Sevenshot Kid]

The other thing I would have liked explained better was "I'm always angry." Like, that doesn't explain his party trick or how he controls the Hulk at all. It felt really weak to me, and the fact that he was worried about Hulking out, and had no idea what he was doing when he was Hulked out and attacking the plane/falling made it feel like he had no control, then suddenly, "JK guys, I had control the entire time."

People with anger problems are angry all the time. Everything seems to find a way to get on your nerves. like a Charmander with The real problem is not being able to control the anger and having an outburst. That's what Bruce was talking about. giant fucking warts He's got that anger boiling underneath him all the time and he's not allowed to let it out or people might die. At the end he just lets it out and Hulk goes apeshit. He doesn't necessarily control the Hulk but he does point him in the right direction. pineapple upside down cake.

[Jagos]

In regards to Spider-Man not being in the movie?

Out of movie - Sony owns SM for a while

In movie - He was off protecting New Yorkers from the aliens along with Daredevil and Elektra.

Also, Cap is a guy from the 40s. He was familiar with a Tommy Gun which is shot at the hip. Also, he's firing full auto while the guy that's giving him hell is firing in short controlled bursts. Just goes to show how much detail they put into this movie to make him seem like a guy out of his time period.

[Magus]

Banner's Hulk power has always been a little confusing. For instance, in the movie he talks about how he tried to shoot himself and spat the bullet out as the Hulk. In the comics, he got shot one time and turned into the Hulk, and couldn't turn back or else he would die. This happened concurrently with his being made self-aware/intelligent in Hulk form by the Leader. One comic later and they had retconned him to being stupid in Hulk form again, but he still had the bullet in him and was presumably "trapped" in Hulk form. I don't know if they ever settled this storyline arc or just forgot about it eventually, but it's certainly different with Movie Hulk that even after getting a bullet lodged in him as Banner it can be easily removed when in Hulk form.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Well in the last Hulk film he also fell out of a plane and was still Banner when he hit the ground, so it seems movie Hulk essentially kicks in the instant any life threatening injury occurs to Banner, which then heals his human form whilst he's hulking out. Pretty much makes Bruce unkillable as he just self ressurects all the time.

[Lumenskir]

with Movie Hulk that even after getting a bullet lodged in him as Banner it can be easily removed when in Hulk form.
I thought the implication was that he had put the barrel in his mouth, pulled the trigger, and before the bullet ever reached his brain he Hulked out?

Also, aren't we just supposed to assume he has complete control of Hulk now, and only started to rampage because Loki's staff corrupted him from proximity? I mean, that still leaves the plot hole of why Loki thought his plan was foolproof when there seemed to be a few countermeasures designed to just eject the Hulk, but in future movies it should makes things simpler.

[DarkDrgon]

I agree, there were just a few moments that were dramatic, then the tension was ruined because the theatre burst out laughing, and you sort of feel bad that it was taken away from you. It pulled you out of the movie, and it wasn't a good feeling, even though laughter happened.

The biggest flaw, to me, was Thor should have revived Iron Man with lightning, they shouldn't have played the moment off as a big haha joke look at Hulk yell it's funny. I was waiting for the payoff of the 400% power set up all movie, and the time for it to finally shine, nothing happened.


I was expecting that, and was shocked that it became a comic relief moment. thats the kinda thing I was talking about. Stark making a witty comeback afterwords, sure, but not cutting the tension in the middle of the scene

[Doc ock rokc]

Banner's Hulk power has always been a little confusing. For instance, in the movie he talks about how he tried to shoot himself and spat the bullet out as the Hulk. In the comics, he got shot one time and turned into the Hulk, and couldn't turn back or else he would die. This happened concurrently with his being made self-aware/intelligent in Hulk form by the Leader. One comic later and they had retconned him to being stupid in Hulk form again, but he still had the bullet in him and was presumably "trapped" in Hulk form. I don't know if they ever settled this storyline arc or just forgot about it eventually, but it's certainly different with Movie Hulk that even after getting a bullet lodged in him as Banner it can be easily removed when in Hulk form.

actually this is reference to another comic where banner actually did try to commit suicide. The last page of the first comic in the arc was him pulling the trigger with a gun in his mouth. The first page of the second comic is hulk with a mangled gun in one hand spitting out a bullet and promptly Flipping the fuck out in his rage against banner. It was probobly the fact that Banner himself was pulling the trigger that got Hulk to come out so quickly. But Also That comic was 80's hulk who still had the "Can only transform at night or when shit is REALLY going down" weakness. Over time of the comics Banner and Hulk start blending making their transformations faster.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

On the whole "Stark revival" thing, I actually kinda prefered it this way, simply breaking the tension instead of playing it for drama. How many times have we seen a character unconscious/near dead being revived under intense dramatic circumstances and at the last second they're miraculously revived? Fucking shitloads, that's how many, and it's so cliched, boring and undramatic every time that I just don't care because you know that they're not dead so why bother with such a scene anyway.

Plus we can add yet another thing to the ever growing list of things Hulk can do that defies logic/physics just by being angry; he can now scare the life back into you by being angry at the universe.

And that's why Hulk is awesome.

[Marc v4.0]

Plus we can add yet another thing to the ever growing list of things Hulk can do that defies logic/physics just by being angry; he can now scare the life back into you by being angry at the universe.

And that's why Hulk is awesome.

You act like the Hulk couldn't do that already.

If it defies logic and physics, assume the Hulk can do it if angry enough.

[akaSM]

I watched it subbed and in 2D last friday and it was pretty nice but, today I watched it in 3D and, well, 3D SUCKS for 2 main reasons:


The image got darker, like bad horror film on your old grandma's TV dark.
A lot of detail was lost, it was blurry, horribly blurry, specially noticeable after watching it in 2D, several small things were really hard to notice, including a recurring cameo, I saw it because I KNEW it was there.

[rpgdemon]

Oh, thing that was made me sad: No Captain Hammer cameo. :P

[batgirl]

I have decided that the sequel to this movie should just be a room full of random superheroes standing around for a while. Tony Stark then walks in and proceeds to make fun of/banter with all of them for 2 hours. Gods the wit!

I really enjoyed the movie overall. I came into it with the expectation of "action movie with a sort of plot maybe but look at all the explosions and super powers!!" What I got was actually a pretty cleverly written movie with some explosions and was I swooning while Captain America was working out? Because I might have been swooning a little.

As for Coulson's death, I'm pretty sure he's dead. I think Fury just took the cards out of his locker and put some of his blood on them. All he wanted to do was inspire the team and give them something to "avenge," I doubt it's anything more than that really.

I thought that Whedon did a good job with the characters. Everyone had a part to play and there was at least a smidge of character development for everyone. I mean, when Black Widow tricked up the Trickster God and got the info she needed, I was pretty much like "that's a cold bitch right there, I'm impressed." Both Widow and Hawkeye had some great fight scenes and I really didn't get the impression that they were underused or being thrown on the second string just because they don't have powers.

Anyone for shwarma? My bf and the group I went with searched for a shwarma place to eat at afterwards, but there was none in the area, so we settled for Mexican food. In silence!

[Azisien]

I'd just like to say that shawarma is EVERYWHERE here. That joke has special significance to me. Seriously, our city is less than a million people and there's like 200 shawarma restaurants. Blows big chain stores out of the water in terms of quantity.

Shawarma is delicious.

[Regulus Tera]

The thing that this movie does really well is that it realises it is a comic book movie so it basks in the comic bookiness of it.

It was pretty fucking awesome.

[Magus]

Yeah, it seems to have the perfect formula of being a "fun" movie as opposed to dark and grim (like the Nolan Batman movies, whereas this one reminded me more of the Burton Batman movies and the Reeve Superman movies).

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Oh, I thought it was a really sweet parallel to Cap's solo film when Tony is running out of power while driving the nuke into space while staring at Pepper's picture. That's the moment that really sells him as a bonafide hero.

[Masked Jedi]

Oh, I thought it was a really sweet parallel to Cap's solo film when Tony is running out of power while driving the nuke into space while staring at Pepper's picture. That's the moment that really sells him as a bonafide hero.

This right here.

Maybe it's the massive Captain America fanboy in me, but I really loved the approach this movie took to the Captain America/Iron Man relationship. It would have been really easy (given both Whedon's proclivities towards wit and the public's adoration of Downey Jr's portrayal) to have had Stark be a smartass iconoclast running circles around the more traditional heroes in the team (the trailers especially made the movie look like this) but what we get is the per raw goodness of Steve Rogers inspiring Stark to be the hero he needs to be, which ties in nicely with Coulson's line about old fashioned heroism being what people need.

[Marelo]

I'm just gonna drop this link right here (http://areasofmyexpertise.com/post/22590229591/i-mentioned-this-tumbl-essay-on-twitter-last?9a8d3bc0). Spoilers, of course.

[Japan]

I always got the impression that "The Hulk", in his many iterations over the years, was never truly a personification of mad science run amok, but more something that was all ready extent within the psyche of Bruce Banner that found a means of expression through said mad science. In that regard I think the fact that he can shoot himself in the head and fall out of an airplane don't really flaunt physical law anymore than his hulking out does. He possesses the power of the Hulk innately. The rage was there before that. That has always been one of the major reasons I've always liked the character.

Also because the amount of fucks given by the hulk are less than or equal to zero in most any situation.

[Lumenskir]

So this (http://www.hitfix.com/articles/is-edgar-wrights-ant-man-movie-finally-making-progress) might be interesting to some of you more comic-literate nerds (since I have no idea what Ant-Man entails, hero wise), but I'm more excited by the fact that Edgar Wright is getting his shot at a big-budget comic book movie they're also letting him write.

[Jagos]

Hank is going to be a very... interesting character. He's a douchebag Butt Monkey that people keep on the Avengers to keep him out of trouble. He has the Hulk's instability issues and he suffers greatly from depression on a massive scale. I'm going to be very interested to see how this goes. If it's anything like the first Hulk movie, be very afraid.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

So this (http://www.hitfix.com/articles/is-edgar-wrights-ant-man-movie-finally-making-progress) might be interesting to some of you more comic-literate nerds (since I have no idea what Ant-Man entails, hero wise), but I'm more excited by the fact that Edgar Wright is getting his shot at a big-budget comic book movie they're also letting him write.

I'm afraid I can't open and read the link there because when I do it tells me my computer has viruses and needs to be cleaned, so I'm assuming it's trying to download spyware or some shit.

[Lumenskir]

Hmm, I'd heard they were having that problem with some browsers a while ago, I thought they cleared all of that up. It's been confirmed to be safe, but here's the story just in case.
In case you hadn't heard, a little movie called "The Avengers" made history this weekend by grossing $207.4 million in domestic sales in its first three days - an all-time record. Needless to say, that kind of dough bodes well for other Marvel superheroes who haven't yet made it to the big-screen. Superheroes like, say...Avengers founding member Ant-Man, perhaps?

Judging by "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" writer/director Edgar Wright's Twitter account, it seems a stand-alone movie featuring the shape-shifting crime-fighter (a.k.a. Henry Pym, Yellowjacket, Giant-Man, et al.) may be moving closer to fruition, with the filmmaker tweeting the following photo over the weekend, along with the words: "Received this in the mail. What can it mean?"
http://s3.amazonaws.com/images.hitfix.com/assets/1359/AntManWrightTwitter.jpg
While the image featured in the photo clearly has something to do with Ant-Man, with only Wright's cryptic message to go by it could mean any number of things - which of course won't keep Marvel fans from endlessly speculating as to its implications. Does this mean Marvel is finally moving forward with Wright's long-discussed "Ant-Man" movie (a decision no doubt resulting from "The Avengers"' blockbuster numbers over the weekend)? Only time will tell...but hopes are certainly higher than they've ever been.
If it's anything like the first Hulk movie, be very afraid.
If Wright has any level of control over it, I don't think that'd be a real concern.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

The first hulk movie is a million times better than other marvel superhero movie. You dudes are mental

[Betty Elms]

If it's anything like the first Hulk movie, be very afraid.
I don't see why you'd specify the "first" movie. That comic book fans seem to be in agreement that the 2008 film was somehow an improvement over Lee's admittedly messy and not-particularly-good character study simply by virtue of not having any ambition speaks volumes about what I can't stand about comic book fans.

Anyway speaking of the Hulk, Mark Ruffalo is the best Banner yet and gave the best performance in the movie. Unless you count that one computer aided long take during the finale that swooshes all about manhattan and shows off all the characters doing something rad as a performance. That bit made me really happy.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

I don't actually even understand the complaints about the Ang Lee one. Like why is it so shunned.

[Lumenskir]

I don't actually even understand the complaints about the Ang Lee one. Like why is it so shunned.
For the record, I was trying to say that we didn't have any worries about an Edgar Wright movie being anything like an Ang Lee movie, nothing about the respective qualities.

Also, there's an argument about the quality of the first Hulk movie every few years around here. Smarty and some other people are on one side saying it was overlooked and attempting new things even if it didn't succeed at everything it reached for, and the other group basically says "But Hulk didn't SMASH enough."

Seil, look up the (at least) other three times we've had the exact same argument so we can just link to those instead of rehashing.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

I don't remember yesterday.

[Jagos]

I don't actually even understand the complaints about the Ang Lee one. Like why is it so shunned.

It's way too cerebral for the Hulk character. It seemed more at home as an artsy movie than my expectation of what I knew the Hulk character to be. Sure, it was an origin story, but Lee seemed more interested in making the Hulk identifiable. I came into the movie for action. Hulk rage was what I expected. I did not need to see the Hulk become some great big crybaby.

Seriously, this move was all about daddy issues. Fine, make a character that has similar powers, but damn did I become disappointed with the series after that.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Hank is going to be a very... interesting character. He's a douchebag Butt Monkey that people keep on the Avengers to keep him out of trouble.

Man, that description of Hank just does not jive with me. I mean, he can be those things but that's not his character. He's a brilliant scientist whose major flaw seems to be that he does not know when to back off for his own good. He's insufferable but not irredeemable.

Also, mean right hook if you ask the Mrs.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

I don't actually even understand the complaints about the Ang Lee one. Like why is it so shunned.

Movie is way too silly for trying to be so serious. A poodle monster and the stupid fucking panels are examples of things that hurt the serious tone of the movie. I admire what the film tried to do but it was a fucking mess because Ang Lee just doesn't understand comics and what we want out of an adaptation. Consistency.

[Token]

Man, that description of Hank just does not jive with me. I mean, he can be those things but that's not his character. He's a brilliant scientist whose major flaw seems to be that he does not know when to back off for his own good. He's insufferable but not irredeemable.

Also, mean right hook if you ask the Mrs.

One of the most interesting interpretations I've seen, and the one I personally subscribe to, is that he's essentially a mad scientist who's trying as hard as he can to be heroic.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

One of the most interesting interpretations I've seen, and the one I personally subscribe to, is that he's essentially a mad scientist who's trying as hard as he can to be heroic.

Yes!

[Jagos]

One of the most interesting interpretations I've seen, and the one I personally subscribe to, is that he's essentially a mad scientist who's trying as hard as he can to be heroic.

Yeah, you know what? Let's go with that. It's just hard to think of him any other way when essentially you have smarter scientists that make him out to be a butt monkey (Reed, Bruce, Tony, Doom...) and he always seems to get the worst end of everything.

[Doc ock rokc]

Yeah, you know what? Let's go with that. It's just hard to think of him any other way when essentially you have smarter scientists that make him out to be a butt monkey (Reed, Bruce, Tony, Doom...) and he always seems to get the worst end of everything.

Man even Parker has blatantly outdone him on more then one occasion. His Spider locators which tune into his natural spider sense is 8 steps above Ant man's helmet (as revealed in a comic where he and Parker had to team up)

[Magus]

Ant-Man seems important to me mostly for his invention of that microscopic prison where supervillains are shrunk to an incredibly small size and imprisoned within. So like he might be interesting as a side character to stick in The Avengers 2 or one of the other sequel movies but not to have his own movie.

[Azisien]

I'm kind of a casual I guess but this Ant-Man stuff sounds pretty hokey. Like it was a 1940s character that they found hard to justify in modern times. I mean just the name is stupid!

Not like SPIDER-MAN or BATMAN.

[Premmy]

Sometimes he was Giant-man or Yellow Jacket.

[Bells]

So, this thing went around and has now gathered usd$ 744 Million worldwide in under 7 days and it's on it's way to beat The Dark Knight's Billion.

I guess we can fairly say it's an age of Super Hero Movies and more are coming...

[Sithdarth]

Man people trying to make sense of the Hulk, absolutely hilarious. You guys do realize that Banner weighs like 1/10 of what the Hulk ways right. So every transformation is creating shit tons of matter. The whole gamma ray thing doesn't work either since E=mc^2 so enough energy to create that much mass would weigh exactly has much as the mass. As a scientist and a Hulk fan I've learned to just enjoy the Hulk being the Hulk because he is one of the most physics destroying superheroes ever invented.

On a side note Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Hulk is definitely the best Hulk because we get to see calm Hulk. Which means we get Hulk's personality with some degree of Banner's intelligence. Which lead to a wonderful scene where Tony is wandering around looking at some energy readings and can't figure them out. So he starts talking to Hulk about them and catches himself part way through because Hulk is dumb. Hulk then proceeds to casually inform Tony that the energy is a form of cosmic radiation. The look on Tony's face was just really hilarious. Just saying you can do smart Hulk you just have to do smart Hulk a certain way and he still has to smash stuff for no reason.

[Lumenskir]

I'm kind of a casual I guess but this Ant-Man stuff sounds pretty hokey. Like it was a 1940s character that they found hard to justify in modern times. I mean just the name is stupid!

Not like SPIDER-MAN or BATMAN.
From what I remember hearing (it was on a podcast about a year ago) Wright's whole plan was to make the movie an homage to 1940's sci-fi serials (with a heavy emphasis on SCIENCE! as an explanation for everything), so he was planning on it being set outside of the current Avenger's present (like the first Captain America movie was). I don't know if he'll be allowed to do that now, seeing as Avengers is making serious money and Disney might chafe at bankrolling an idiosyncratic romp through the ridiculousness of comics' past, but I'm hopeful.
Man people trying to make sense of the Hulk, absolutely hilarious. You guys do realize that Banner weighs like 1/10 of what the Hulk ways right. So every transformation is creating shit tons of matter. The whole gamma ray thing doesn't work either since E=mc^2 so enough energy to create that much mass would weigh exactly has much as the mass. As a scientist and a Hulk fan I've learned to just enjoy the Hulk being the Hulk because he is one of the most physics destroying superheroes ever invented.
Who is complaining about physics? I just think people were confused about the varying levels of control Hulk had throughout the movie, since the initial Helicarrier transformation being influenced by Loki wasn't as clear as it could have been.

[Magus]

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Just wanted to say that this show was/is surprisingly good. Easily on par with the Justice League cartoon of a few years ago (and way better than the old Avengers cartoon...)

[Marc v4.0]

Who is complaining about physics? I just think people were confused about the varying levels of control Hulk had throughout the movie, since the initial Helicarrier transformation being influenced by Loki wasn't as clear as it could have been.

While it was certainly triggered by Loki, it is important to note that Hulk is like that when Banner loses control no matter the trigger. A blind rage that just attacks anything it sees because it can as opposed to a focused and channeled rage aimed carefully at something. I am very glad they showcased the difference in the movie, as it is an important aspect of The Hulk himself that he isn't just an uncontrollable force of nature, he can manage his own anger.

I was surprised my wife, who isn't a big comic buff and doesn't know much of the Hulk and Banner specifically, picked up on the difference in the situations. Equating it, on her own, to people with anger issues losing their cool vs focusing their ever-present anger at something of their own will.

[Azisien]

I didn't find the difference in the transformations very confusing, even on my first viewing. One is clearly Loki meddling, pain, etc. The other is him choosing to unleash the beast. Also he says "want to see my party trick" right before everything goes to shit on the helicarrier.

And physics destroying, pfft. He just hides the extra energy somewhere. I mean they keep saying the Hulk came from within Banner, right? Maybe it's literal. Banner has a pocket dimension in his heart! Full of Hulktron particles.

[Bells]

You guys complaining about Physics and Radiation and nobody mentions Hawkeye's "Fuck you" arrows.

[Sithdarth]

Hawkeye's arrows aren't that terrible. What's really up with Hawkeye is how he never misses anything ever and that can just be like a form of psychic powers. Thus completely made up and perfectly acceptable.

[Bells]

Thus "fuck you" arrows, i recall at least a half dozen trick shots where he wasn't even looking at the damn moving targets!

[Sithdarth]

Psychic or just so highly spatially aware that a quick look and a few reference glances from reflective surfaces is enough.

[Magus]

I especially enjoyed the part where he shot an arrow at Loki, Loki caught it, sneered, and then the arrow exploded in his face.

[Aldurin]

I especially enjoyed the part where he shot an arrow at Loki, Loki caught it, sneered, and then the arrow exploded in his face.

That was in the top ten things that made that movie perfect.

[synkr0nized]

Also Loki remains a pretty shitty villain. So that's consistent.

[Azisien]

Really, you still found Loki shitty? He was pretty hum-drum in Thor, but I liked how he was written into Avengers. The difference was astounding. Not best villain evar or anything, but pretty good.

[BitVyper]

It's way too cerebral for the Hulk character.

Too cerebral for a character based almost entirely around repressed anger?

[mauve]

I liked Loki in part because he was such a lame villain. He was like a three-year-old with a machine gun: no one's able to really be afraid of him, but you know he's gonna hurt someone if you don't stop him. I liked how he thinks he's so great and powerful, yet everyone knows he's just a puppet for a more dangerous force. He gets terrified of a lightning storm, he has to make his grand escape in the back of a jeep (he doesn't even get to ride shotgun), he gets talked down to by EVERYONE, from Tony to Phil, and he gets the crap beaten out of him by Hulk. And yet he still acts like he's the one in charge. I found that amusing.

[Japan]

Also Loki remains a pretty shitty villain. So that's consistent.

You take that back! Mark Hiddleston is a GOD!

I really enjoy his whole childish pettiness and the fact that most of the time he's just like "na na I'm a god."

It makes him unlikeable enough that the inevitable beatdown feels rewarding.

[Jagos]

Too cerebral for a character based almost entirely around repressed anger?

Yeah, Mr Hyde is always more fun than Dr. Jekyll.

[Lumenskir]

You take that back! Mark Hiddleston is a GOD!

I really enjoy his whole childish pettiness and the fact that most of the time he's just like "na na I'm a god."
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3sciqUnKG1r8qln1.gif

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Loki himself is not very threatening (he's essentially a bratty teenager with abandonment issues trying to steal his older brothers toys), but the things he plans are threatening. Mainly because his plans all involve manipluating people who actually are dangerous into causing random chaos so he can take advantage of it. He is a trickster god after all.

Of course, if his threat level seems lower in this movie, it's only because he wasn't really the one in charge of the invasion plan, it was Thanos who wanted to unleash the Chitauri on earth, and he didn't seem all that put out when they failed, probably because to Thanos, both Loki and the Chitauri are simply expendable mooks and this invasion is merely a test of earths defenses.

[Lumenskir]

Of course, if his threat level seems lower in this movie, it's only because he wasn't really the one in charge of the invasion plan, it was Thanos who wanted to unleash the Chitauri on earth, and he didn't seem all that put out when they failed, probably because to Thanos, both Loki and the Chitauri are simply expendable mooks and this invasion is merely a test of earths defenses.
I thought Hellboy Thanos and his crony didn't even care/think much of Earth/humans until they beat Loki. Wasn't his whole plan to give Loki an army to rule over Earth in exchange for the Tesseract, with which he could rule over the universe?

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Ultimately yes, he wants the Cosmic Cube Tesseract, but only so he can kill everything (Thanos isn't much interested in ruling). He's just not in any particular rush and doesn't care about how many underlings die in the process either, so he sends Loki and his army in first, if they win, great, he gets the cube, if they fail, no problem, at least now he knows what he's up against.

Thanos literally loses nothing with this plan, except an army, but his army is meaningless, since he's way more dangerous than every single thing the Avengers faced in that whole film. The Avengers think they've won a great victory, but they know nothing, they don't even suspect that there IS a big bad coming to kill them all.

[Magus]

Loki's machiavellian scheming would probably have made him a better leader than Thor but Thor is all like, honorable, or whatever, so he wins because good is dumb but also has a super hammer. This inadequacy of Loki's makes him seek power in whatever place he can find it, and also become an egotistical douchebag who wants people to worship him.

[Japan]

No like Mjolnir is a totally legit reason to win pretty much anything. Its a wincon with a nifty leather thong.

Also that random girl in the Hiddleston dance gif needs to mover her ass so we can all get a better look at Mark-motherfucking-Hiddleston getting down.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

No like Mjolnir is a totally legit reason to win pretty much anything. Its a wincon with a nifty leather thong.

Also that random girl in the Hiddleston dance gif needs to mover her ass so we can all get a better look at Mark-motherfucking-Hiddleston getting down.

Tom. Tom Hiddleston.

[Japan]

Mark sounds better.

(Also no idea why I thought it was Mark.)

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Mark sounds better.

(Also no idea why I thought it was Mark.)

It's probably because Mark is the most attractive male name.

[RickZarber]

Was dicking around on IMDb, and did you guys realize that Evans and Hiddleston were born in '81, Hemsworth in '83, and Johansson in '84? That blows my goddamn mind. When did our generation become age-appropriate for superheroes? When did I get old? >.<

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Was dicking around on IMDb, and did you guys realize that Evans and Hiddleston were born in '81, Hemsworth in '83, and Johansson in '84? That blows my goddamn mind. When did our generation become age-appropriate for superheroes? When did I get old? >.<

What do you mean "our" generation, old man?

[Bells]

it only makes me sad cause i'm from 85 and now i know that whatever i've done with my life, there is a dude out there almost my age that has become Thor, Hawkeye or Captain America...

Hell, i would take Black Widow!

[RickZarber]

What do you mean "our" generation, old man?
Yeah, but I think you might be in the minority here, kiddo.

Also: :argh:

[Token]

What do you mean "our" generation, old man?

Haha, we're less wrinkly.

[Nique]

I want to say something about this movie but what can you say about this movie that hasn't already been said? I even saw it twice. I never do that. God I like, need to go lay down and think about my life or something now.

[mauve]

I want to say something about this movie but what can you say about this movie that hasn't already been said? I even saw it twice. I never do that. God I like, need to go lay down and think about my life or something now.

I know. There must be, like, weird subliminal messaging going on in this movie to make everyone who sees it instantly want to go see it again. My sister and I have been completely obsessed with this for the past week and can't wait to go see it a second time. We would have gone to see it again on Saturday, but we took our mom to see The Pirates! Band of Misfits! for Mother's Day instead. (She loves Aardman Animation studios stuff and to be fair it IS a totally fantastic movie that you should all go see. It was our second time watching it and my mom's first and it was still great the second time around). So my sister and I will likely go see The Avengers again on Friday before I have to go to work. Maybe in 3d or on IMAX this time.

This is pretty much the truth:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/leafeon_ex/tumblr_m3m6paUy7K1r2j7leo1_500.gif

[Nique]

I know. There must be, like, weird subliminal messaging going on in this movie to make everyone who sees it instantly want to go see it again. My sister and I have been completely obsessed with this for the past week and can't wait to go see it a second time. We would have gone to see it again on Saturday, but we took our mom to see The Pirates! Band of Misfits! for Mother's Day instead. (She loves Aardman Animation studios stuff and to be fair it IS a totally fantastic movie that you should all go see. It was our second time watching it and my mom's first and it was still great the second time around). So my sister and I will likely go see The Avengers again on Friday before I have to go to work. Maybe in 3d or on IMAX this time.

This is pretty much the truth:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/leafeon_ex/tumblr_m3m6paUy7K1r2j7leo1_500.gif

Oh! That reminds me. The 3D is totally worth it. And I hate 3D. This movie has basically converted me. I'm a born-again-summer-blockbuster-fan.

[Bells]

Really? 3D did nothing for me...

[Nique]

I happened to see it in both 3D and regular theaters and the 3D was done pretty well. It';s hard to describe ... like when everyone was all ohhh Avatar was made for 3D and stuff it was really just over the top and like, who cares about flecks of dirt being thrown into my face and stuff? Where as in Avengers it seemed to be mainly used to add literal depth to the scenes and made everything feel a little more intense.

Either that or I'm just used to the idea of 3D now and it doesn't seem as useless to me, though I have seen a couple other flicks in 3D where the 3D was just terrible and made my eyes hurt.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Yeah I've now been back to see this again too, I don't do that often. It's encouraged me to go on a massive Marvel Universe cramming session since then too. I've rewatched a bunch of X-men movies, the entirety of Xmen Evolution and Wolverine and the X-men, every episode of Earths Mightiest Heroes (the first season of which is crazy awesome with how villain crammed it is) and I've discovered a bunch of Marvel animated movies (8 of them in fact), which I've now started watching through (Planet Hulk is the best so far).

Once I get through all the more recent stuff I think I might go back in time and rewatch all the 90s series too, since I seem to recall they had some crossover stuff at times too (X-men Animated, Hulk, Spiderman, Ironman and I think there was a Fantastic Four series too).

Yeah, I've become a bit obsessed and I don't even care. I'm also only now starting to realise just how much of a crapsack world the Marvel universe really is. It's a good job I've never been able to get access to the comics, I dunno how the hell anyone is supposed to keep track of all of this stuff.

[Bells]

Worldwide: $1,002,082,000 So far and counting. Give it another week of going around ...

I think it's at least a safe bet to presume that we will be seeing Super Heroe movies aplenty in the immediate future.

[akaSM]

I happened to see it in both 3D and regular theaters and the 3D was done pretty well. It';s hard to describe ... like when everyone was all ohhh Avatar was made for 3D and stuff it was really just over the top and like, who cares about flecks of dirt being thrown into my face and stuff? Where as in Avengers it seemed to be mainly used to add literal depth to the scenes and made everything feel a little more intense.

Either that or I'm just used to the idea of 3D now and it doesn't seem as useless to me, though I have seen a couple other flicks in 3D where the 3D was just terrible and made my eyes hurt.

Huh? 3D turned the movie into a dark blurry mess for me :raise:. Did the movie look as nice as the 2D counterpart did?

[Lumenskir]

I think it's at least a safe bet to presume that we will be seeing Super Heroe movies aplenty in the immediate future.
This would be a lot more prophetic if you went back 13 years, before X-Men showed that you could make money hand over fist by taking the blockbuster formula and coating it with some comic book paint.

I'm more interested to see what the success of The Avengers + Nolan's Batman coming to an end mean for the future. Outside of letting Nolan run wild, DC has been just shitty at cultivating its film opportunities (and looks to be continuing the hot streak with Zak Snyder's Slow-Mo Then Speed Up Blurs Superman), and Marvel now has to deal with an audience who probably want to see team-ups more than solo adventures, plus the prospect of over extending the rosters with C-list non-entities, since they can't throw Wolverine or Spider-Man or anyone people actually recognize into their current franchises.

[Bells]

Nah, being a Blockbuster or even a commercial hit is one thing... Hell, Transformers 3 was a commercial hit. Says nothing about quality or even Fan appreciation, really. Just brand Awareness;

But, at the same time, the same Brand Awareness has become more and more connected to Loyal fandom. And now we actually have a consistent stream of quality products that are also huge piles of money covering the last 10 years. Young Adult Fantasy Novels come into play on this, of course, but Comic Books are underlined in that setence.

I mean, Dark Knight and Avengers, Both Broke Billion Barrier (i wanna add another B word here, but i can't think of one).

First we had successful hits, consistent quality... now we pretty much have a formula, a system, that hollywood can and will exploit.

And yet again, i'm just hoping DC can up their game... I mean, this is the last Batman by Nolan, so, maybe, if they want to add Batman to a future Justice League project, it's probably going to take a Reboot. One that just might start depending on how the new Superman Movie goes along... afterall, Green Lantern didn't click very well... and to have a big DC long project you kinda need to have a Solid Batman and Superman entrance.

...or we could just wait for a The Darkness movie or a Spawn Reboot... that could happen too.

hell, i'm still waiting for my Robocop reboot.

[Magus]

It's still possible to screw up a comic book movie. See: Daredevil (WITH SOUNDTRACK BY EVANESCENCE, A BAND THAT WILL BE POPULAR FOREVER).

I won't even mention...Elektra...urrggggggghh.

Hey no but seriously I rewatched Daredevil recently and came to the conclusion that if it hadn't had the Evanescence songs it might have been just forgettable as opposed to actively horrid, so maybe it is possible to just go ahead and make pretty much any superhero movie a success if you follow a certain formula like Bells has mentioned.

Except for Elektra. GLARRGGGHHH

EDIT: Broke the Billion Bucks Barrier?

ANOTHER EDIT: The Robocop reboot sounds pretty good, except when the actor says something about it (like he made some weird comment about how the movie will show us the science behind Robocops reanimation, and then made a dumb comment implying that plants have nerves, too, or something. He should just stick to saying things like "Dead or alive, you're coming with me!" and giving high-fives instead of talking about the movie itself).

[The Sevenshot Kid]

It's still possible to screw up a comic book movie. See: Daredevil (WITH SOUNDTRACK BY EVANESCENCE, A BAND THAT WILL BE POPULAR FOREVER).

I won't even mention...Elektra...urrggggggghh.

Hey no but seriously I rewatched Daredevil recently and came to the conclusion that if it hadn't had the Evanescence songs it might have been just forgettable as opposed to actively horrid, so maybe it is possible to just go ahead and make pretty much any superhero movie a success if you follow a certain formula like Bells has mentioned.

Except for Elektra. GLARRGGGHHH

EDIT: Broke the Billion Bucks Barrier?

I have some fondness for the director's cut of Daredevil. It tried. Sadly, I don't think Daredevil could ever work as a movie property. As a series on HBO? Sure.

On a related note, how long do you guys think it will be until we get a live-action TV series that ties into the Marvel Cinematic Universe? I could see Heroes for Hire with Luke Cage and Danny Rand being a hit.

[Magus]

They'll probably try exploiting the X-Men franchise again. They're mostly recognizable heroes now and you don't have to use the major ones like Wolverine, you can just like, have Iceman and Colossus beating up some dudes every week.

[Lumenskir]

On a related note, how long do you guys think it will be until we get a live-action TV series that ties into the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Oh god, I can't believe I forgot to include how DC's (non-animated*) forays into TV make their movie decisions seem like brilliance. I mean, I guess nerds and shippers were enough to keep the Smallville train going for a decade, but that just means they've pretty much resigned themselves to sticking within the CW teen-bait wheelhouse (hi, "Arrow").

*DC, here's a billion dollar idea you can thank me for later: Buy back the rights to as many heroes as you can, and just let Timm and Dini and whoever is making Young Justice now have free reign of live action. Brad Bird's MI:4 showed the skills transfer, and it has to produce something better than Green Lantern.

[Bells]

And again i pitch my idea... Batman Beyond, writen by the people who worked on the Justice League and Young Justice AND the fellows that worked on the Arkham games. with kevin Conroy as old batman and Mark Hamill as old Joker... use it as a test to push DC franchises into a bit more Fantastical realm, less gritty and real without jeopardizing a main franchise, while keeping a big brand awareness (batman). From then on, just Watch the Justice League cartoon and go "Now, let's make some of this into Live Action."

I have some fondness for the director's cut of Daredevil. It tried. Sadly, I don't think Daredevil could ever work as a movie property. As a series on HBO? Sure.

To be fair, it contained high levels of Ben Afflec.

Except for Elektra. GLARRGGGHHH

High levels of Jennifer Garner.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Oh god, I can't believe I forgot to include how DC's (non-animated*) forays into TV make their movie decisions seem like brilliance. I mean, I guess nerds and shippers were enough to keep the Smallville train going for a decade

*ahem*

I am one of those nerds.

EDIT:
Warner Bros. needs to humble themselves and make an Aquaman movie already. It could be so cool! Like Thor but under water.

[Magus]

Jennifer Garner was part of the problem I'm sure, but the total lack of any kind of respect for the character/comic itself was the main problem with Elektra.

They were just like "screw years of plot that many, many writers have spent countless hours thinking up, tweaking, and honing. SMOKE NINJAS."

Arrow is pretty hilarious to me. Especially with their desire to not include Green in the title lest it be associated with Green Lantern. Plus the failure of most of the other DC TV shows as you have mentioned (Birds of Prey, anyone?)



EDIT:
Warner Bros. needs to humble themselves and make an Aquaman movie already. It could be so cool! Like Thor but under water.

This is how much respect the WB has for Aquaman.

GvmB8uCSRMQ

FORESHADOWING FOR HOW BAD EVERYBODY TREATS AQUAMAN IN THE NEW 52?

EDIT: Ving Rhames is...Black Manta?!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/09/Blackmantaunmasked.PNG

[POS Industries]

Warner Bros. needs to humble themselves and make an Aquaman movie already. It could be so cool! Like Thor but under water.
The same could be said for Wonder Woman and yet no one in Hollywood has even the slightest clue of how to do that right.

I definitely second the call to have Timm, Dini and co. take over DC's live action projects. They got lucky when they put Nolan in charge of Batman because all he really did was make some gritty crime dramas and throw Batman into them, which is all you need to do to make some decent Batman, and even then it's still kinda shitty when compared to actually good Batman stories.

But WB doesn't get that, so they're trying to do the same thing by making a gritty crime drama and throwing Superman into it, which is a fucking terrible idea.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

The same could be said for Wonder Woman and yet no one in Hollywood has even the slightest clue of how to do that right.

That's because Wonder Woman hasn't had a definitive run until the reboot.

I definitely second the call to have Timm, Dini and co. take over DC's live action projects. They got lucky when they put Nolan in charge of Batman because all he really did was make some gritty crime dramas and throw Batman into them, which is all you need to do to make some decent Batman, and even then it's still kinda shitty when compared to actually good Batman stories.

But WB doesn't get that, so they're trying to do the same thing by making a gritty crime drama and throwing Superman into it, which is a fucking terrible idea.

I'm going to ignore your interpretation of the Nolan films and move on to agreeing with that last bit.

Warner Bros. doesn't really get what Superman is. He's just a property to them. A Superman movie should not be gritty in the slightest. It can be dark at times but it should always be optimistic. If they really wanted to make a good reboot of Superman then they would have set about adapting Birthright with a good director attached to it, not someone who can crank out a piece of shit in time for them to maintain certain rights and avoid paying more to the estate of the people that fucking created the whole thing.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I think what we all want really though, deep down inside, is a proper live action Squirrel Girl movie.

You know this to be true.

[Lumenskir]

Plus the failure of most of the other DC TV shows as you have mentioned (Birds of Prey, anyone?)
Heh, my post originally went through all of the live action shows, but I figured the Flash was like 20-30 years ago, Lois & Clark jokes are hacky, and only me and my dog watched Birds of Prey all the way through (at the time it was because I was in middle school and it was populated by hot girls, but I'm trying to retcon that by saying it had Sloan playing Harely Quinn). The less said about how close we all were to that horrendous Wonder Woman show, the better.

[rpgdemon]

Huh? 3D turned the movie into a dark blurry mess for me :raise:. Did the movie look as nice as the 2D counterpart did?

There are some theaters who cannot show 3D properly (They mess up, poor projector quality, et cetera) and in those theaters, it'll look like crap. I know a lot of places around me have the same problems. I can't speak for The Avengers in 3D, because I saw it in 2D, but that might have been your problem.

In general though, I hate 3D, because of how it makes all the colors washed out, when you look through the glasses at them.

[Azisien]

The 3D in Avengers is cheap post-production shit. Maybe half of the scenes are actually 3D and even then, weakly so. There's a few decent shots of it but overall, as per usual, 3D is a shitty gimmicky experience. Money that had been pumped into just making the screen higher resolution, more vibrant, better surround sound, comfier seats, would have been infinitely better.

[akaSM]

Ironman's HUD looked pretty neat but... that's about the only thing I liked about 3D in that movie.

[Bells]

the iron Mand HUD was in 3D? I Honestly didn't noticed! They only scenes i actually recall the 3D kicking in are Panoramic shots, Loki's appearance with captain america, and certain parts of the final battle.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I've given 3d a chance several times, and I can honestly say it has never done anything for me on any level. In fact I barely even notice it most of the time, which is why I've made a pledge never to both seeing anyhting in 3d ever again.

It doesn't work, adds nothing to the experiance (and is sometimes even jarring and detrimental), it's often only tacked on later as a gimick anyway and it costs more to see everything in 3d to boot. Fuck 3d.

[Bells]

to be honest, the 3D on Thor was cool looking. It was only used a very few times, but when it was done, it was done well. It seems 3D works better on Native CGI effects then when applied to real footage.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I saw Thor in 3d actually. I can't recall a single scene that stood out because of it, so it mustn't have been that good.

[Marc v4.0]

Clash of the Titans was pretty good in 3D, lots of big moving action scenes to show it off with.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Clash of the Titans
Good

...Really?
I heard it was an irreparable pile of... stuff.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Cave of Forgotten Dreams is the only time I've seen 3D used appropriately

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

...Really?
I heard it was an irreparable pile of... stuff.

It was, I duno what marc was smoking when he saw it but it must've been highly hallucinagenic because that was by the worst of the lot.

[Marc v4.0]

it certainly was not the worst movie I have ever seen, by far.

[Magus]

If they can do Thor well, they can do Wonder Woman well (hell they could just steal the same plot structure, just reverse sexes for the characters of Thor, Odin, and Thor's gf, and have Paradise Island instead of Asgard). Actually I think I just wrote that movie in one sentence "Thor, but with Wonder Woman".

[Bells]

yeah but you can't have a scene with Wonder woman being hit by a car driven by a man... cause that's sexist.

[rpgdemon]

I saw Thor in 3d actually. I can't recall a single scene that stood out because of it, so it mustn't have been that good.

I did not like Thor in 3D. It's only good 3D was the credits, and maybe the lightning, but that looked really flat, but just pulled away from everything by a few feet.

[RickZarber]

The problem with all of these movies, as Azisien noted, is that they are all post-converted 3D. There is a difference between natively shot 3D footage, where two actual perspectives are recorded, giving objects a natural dimension, and post converted 3D, which basically boils down to mapping the image into layers which you then separate on a z-axis. Post-conversion can be inoffensive, but only when it's done very well. So far, I have not seen a post-converted 3D movie that has met that criteria. (Although I heard Deathly Hallows part 2 was alright--it's telling with regards to the backlash WB experienced after their rush-job of Clash of the Titans that they cancelled the post-conversion on part 1 because it wouldn't be up to snuff in time.)

But yeah, it's basically the fault of the large swath of inferior post-converted films that 3D is so often the middling affair that it is.

[Nique]

yeah but you can't have a scene with Wonder woman being hit by a car driven by a man... cause that's sexist.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here exactly but the reason those scenes in Thor were funny was because Thor had a huge ego and got knocked out like 5 times in a row by someone half his size, albeit with cars and tazers and stuff.

In short it was less about gender and more about slapstick.

EDIT:

Actually, I would be really interested in having a discussion about why a Wonder Woman movie would almost certainly be problematic and how that could be avoided.

[tacticslion]

Once I get through all the more recent stuff I think I might go back in time and rewatch all the 90s ... Ironman ...

Hahah, I just watched that recently, and oh was it horrible.

Especially the first season. The second was pretty okay.

Planning on watching all the Marvel-verse movies (Hulk, Ironman, Thor, IM2, Capt A) and then seeing it. Soonish. (not much time)

[Bells]

nah i was just goofing off

Specially because regardless of how they do the movie, there WILL be some sort of buzz about the movie being sexist or appealing to a male driven audience...

Which always strikes me as a surprise, because, Twilight got past with two truckloads of bullshit in the Female character department, but a Wonder Woman movie would probably have non-existent problems discussed to hell and back.

Probably the best way to make a movie about her, is to look at Black Widow in the Avengers and go "That with Flight".

Which actually makes me recall this once scene in the Avengers, right after the Hulk-Out incident on the Helicarrier where he chases Black Widow and slams her into a wall with a sweep brush of his hands, later on when Fury does a quick head count, we see Black Widow pretty much shaking off a OMGHOLYCRAPAAAAH" look on her face, she was visibly scared to hell in that scene (which is completely understandable, you were chased by the Hulk) but also, that it was the first time i saw ANYBODY reacting this way to a Close encounter of the Hulk type.

Not for nothing, it would be a lot worse if she just acted Cold and "no problem" about it... it just caught my attention.

[POS Industries]

Probably the best way to make a movie about her, is to look at Black Widow in the Avengers and go "That with Flight".
The only thing Wonder Woman and Black Widow have in common is reproductive organs.

And even that might be pushing it, what with WW having been made out of clay and all.

EDIT: Actually is that still part of her backstory? I mean, it's not like she was created through the usual biological means of reproduction, regardless.

EDIT EDIT: I'm getting sidetracked here.

[Token]

EDIT: I mean, it's not like she was created through the usual biological means of reproduction, regardless.

In the current run, which is probably the best thing they've ever done with the character, she isn't made out of clay.

[POS Industries]

In the current run, which is probably the best thing they've ever done with the character, she isn't made out of clay.
Okay, so they probably have that one thing in common.

Otherwise, no, you don't do Black Widow with flight, you do girl!Thor.

[stefan]

Okay, so they probably have that one thing in common.

Otherwise, no, you don't do Black Widow with flight, you do girl!Thor.

no, you do Odysseus With Girl Bits And Superpowers.

[Nique]

No, you do lots and lots of both implied and explicit lesbianism and bondage.

EDIT: Pretty sure lesbianism is not an offensive term in this context but feel free to correct me.*
*Have I mentioned that I have so many gay friends?

[POS Industries]

no, you do Odysseus With Girl Bits And Superpowers.
I would totally pay money to watch this.

No, you do lots and lots of both implied and explicit lesbianism and bondage.
I would watch this for free on the internet.

[Bells]

Is it Okay to call this guy the 7th Avenger? I think it is

J1uD5_ovwqg

[Magus]

It seems like most of the sexist complaints revolving around Wonder Woman invariably focus on her costume, which is such a minor aspect of the character that it seems like it could easily be fixed with like, I dunno, some blue leggings and a higher neck-line? Just not like they were going to do in the comics (a move everyone complained about for some reason), just like some straight up blue, or black, leggins while keeping the original bikini-thing on there too.

I guess there is also the Amazonian man-hating background but since she ends up teaming up with a male soldier in her origin story to stop the evil menace (whatever that might end up being, they should just go ahead and make it Ares or whatever but something along those liens) the movie's plot itself would be about her development into an open-minded person along with her exposure to the outside world.

And yeah they changed it from being made of clay to being the love-child of Zeus and Diana's mother, basically making her a demi-god like Hercules. Which makes the most sense, in the end.

[Japan]

I don't care about Wonder Woman, they need to do a Swamp Thing reboot and throw in John Motherfucking Constantine.

This time with less neo and more British.

[Gregness]

... is to look at Black Widow...

I too appreciated the many lingering shots of Scarlett Johannson's backside.

[Bells]

Backside?! T'hell is wrong with you man?!

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Backside?! T'hell is wrong with you man?!

C'mon, ScarJo has the ass of a champion and the camera frames it so lovingly.

[Bells]

That's just so yo won't get an overload of JoJo's lovely frontend figure man! It's all about the the lady figure of a Dame and the rack of Gawd DAUHM!

...this is the most Brotastic conversation i've had in year.

[Xellos]

Something was telling me it was all about da' frontside for you.

[Bells]

Maybe it was the 3D...

[Nique]

I'm all for sexiness but at this point you guys are just making cat calls.

[Bells]

Scarlett Johansson is 1 year older than me, has more money than i'll ever have, has done more charity than i'm likely to ever be able to, is hot as hell, talented and a person i can safely place on the "i'm not going to boing ever" list... what is left for a nerd to do if not Cat Calls?

[Nique]

what is left for a nerd to do if not Cat Calls?

Talk about all that other great stuff you just mentioned?

I'm not the moral arbiter of the forums or anything, and like, I'm pretty much fine with sex appeal in media and stuff and even talking about how it was totally hot. I just think it's worth mentioning that I feel like the last few posts were kind of weirdly objectifying and probably pretty sexist.

EDIT: More topical; Scarlett Johansson was probably not the greatest casting decision and did seemed to be used mainly for T&A, but for not being really quite the right fit for the comic-book-super-spy character and being in a role she probably wasn't used to, I thought she did a pretty good job. Way better than in Iron Man 2, in any case. And yes, she was totally hot.

[Xellos]

EDIT: More topical; Scarlett Johansson was probably not the greatest casting decision and did seemed to be used mainly for T&A, but for not being really quite the right fit for the comic-book-super-spy character and being in a role she probably wasn't used to, I thought she did a pretty good job. Way better than in Iron Man 2, in any case. And yes, she was totally hot.

For what it's worth, it was probably the best acting I've personally seen from her in a movie. We see a lot of these super cool and sexualized heroines in movies like this, but I didn't find her boring this time which was a relief. The "wiping out the red" thing was a little weird, but only because it wasn't explored. Gotta leave a hook for her to come back I suppose.

I suppose she's also pretty attractive. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of that figure. But when the screen is also full of Hiddleston, Hemsworth, Evans, and RDJ, she get's a little lost in it all for me. :dance:

[Magus]

I don't care about Wonder Woman, they need to do a Swamp Thing reboot and throw in John Motherfucking Constantine.

This time with less neo and more British.

Throw in an Animal Man movie and you have another crossover special in the works.

[Gregness]

Talk about all that other great stuff you just mentioned?

I'm not the moral arbiter of the forums or anything, and like, I'm pretty much fine with sex appeal in media and stuff and even talking about how it was totally hot. I just think it's worth mentioning that I feel like the last few posts were kind of weirdly objectifying and probably pretty sexist.

EDIT: More topical; Scarlett Johansson was probably not the greatest casting decision and did seemed to be used mainly for T&A, but for not being really quite the right fit for the comic-book-super-spy character and being in a role she probably wasn't used to, I thought she did a pretty good job. Way better than in Iron Man 2, in any case. And yes, she was totally hot.

Yeah, part of why I said something is that while I do legitimately appreciate her figure, there were actually a couple times the camera work took me out of the story a bit by trying too hard.

Like, the interrogation scene with Loki has a block of 30 seconds or so where she's doing all this kickass acting but the camera just has a pan on her (damn near perfectly formed) ass.

[Jagos]

Like, the interrogation scene with Loki has a block of 30 seconds or so where she's doing all this kickass acting but the camera just has a pan on her (damn near perfectly formed) ass.

And you wished it was longer.

-E- Gwyneth Paltrow as the main SHIELD agent though and the final walk back to her station though... Seriously, Joss Whedon did that on purpose.

[POS Industries]

-E- Gwyneth Paltrow as the main SHIELD agent though and the final walk back to her station though... Seriously, Joss Whedon did that on purpose.
Do you mean Cobie Smulders?

Paltrow was Pepper Potts.

[Japan]

Ah Cobie Smulders. Somehow I was just thinking of Robin Sparkles everytime she was onscreen.

Heh, beavers eat wood.

[Fifthfiend]

That movie was like watching Star Wars in 1977 except with metanarrative instead of special effects.

[Nique]

Are you referring to Loki's speech about people kneeling n' stuff? Or just Tony Stark's Joss Whedon's thinly veiled commentary on, well, everything?

EDIT: Or just like, how unique Avengers is in terms of being the culmination of a grand multi-film continuity? I'm not really understanding the term 'metanarritve' I guess.

EDIT II: Apparently Wikipedia is unclear on the term as well.

[Locke cole]

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here exactly but the reason those scenes in Thor were funny was because Thor had a huge ego and got knocked out like 5 times in a row by someone half his size, albeit with cars and tazers and stuff.

The best bit was the fact that Thor gets knocked out by a tazer. The God of Thunder gets put under by a jolt of electricity.

Twice.

[Jagos]

Do you mean Cobie Smulders?

Paltrow was Pepper Potts.

See? I don't have time for names when there's legs, and backsides to watch!

[Magus]

I'm assuming in saying watching The Avengers is like watching Star Wars in 1977 Fifth means it is a life-changing experience.