I consider the BTTF trilogy as a scifi-comedy, and its one of my all time favorite movies. I thought the comedy really added to The Avengers, and I'm glad it worked out so well. You don't have to be super serious to make a good action comic book movie.
You don't have to be super serious to make a good movie, period.
Personally, I think even the most serious of stories need some comedy moments, because the goal of art is to tell some kind of truth, and truth is sometimes life can be pretty funny.
The Dark Knight had some really good jokes in it, I thought.
I've seen some people bash the movie, calling it a "comedy" and using that term in a derogatory way, but I think the jokes were used perfectly. First of all, a good comedy can be a fantastic film so **** that noise right there. Second, a movie does't have to be completely super serious all the time to be a great, even moving film. Third, comedy can be used to heighten drama.
A-freakin-men..this is what i really love about what Whedon did with this movie. As well made as it was, a movie like this can't afford to take itself too seriously. I mean this thing is about a 100 yr old soldier on superhero steroids, a billionaire who wears a weaponized iron suit, norse gods, a pair of Assasins instructed by a man with an eyepatch on a flying aircraft carrier, and last but not least, an 8 ft green gamma behemoth with unlimited strength. And all these guys occupy the same world.I mean do you realize how downright silly that concept is on a base level?
There's nothing wrong with comedy if its done right. You may prefer your superhero movies to be deathly serious and thats fine. its your opinion/preference and you're entitled to it but to identify a films humor as a weakness even though its clearly a success is flat out myopic and ignorant.
I was really skeptical about Whedon's comedy before I saw the film... I was a fan of 'Serenity' and 'Dr. Horrible' but I felt like a lot of his characters come across as being to 'cutesy' with their dialogue. And I do get annoyed when a character is basically just defined as 'Hey everybody! I'm Mr./Ms. Comic Relief! Here's another one-liner!' (I'm looking at you, Kat Dennings---*)
But Whedon pulled it off. Stark's reaction to being woken up by the Hulk, Hulk's scream as he jumps off the jet, Loki vs. Hulk, everything Hulk, Steve's pride at finally catching a cultural reference-- was just charming as all heck.
It worked because Whedon kept it in character. The humor might just be the most important aspect of this film, because it highlighted the characters' qualities and shortcomings, and really made you fall in love with them. The highest compliment I can pay to a movie is to say it reminded me of 'Ghostbusters'. You spent two hours with Peter, Egon, Ray and Winston and felt like you could drink a beer with them afterwards. After 2+ hours of hanging with Steve, Tony, Bruce, Thor, and Natasha, watching them eat shawarma felt good. It felt earned.
Contrast that with how you feel watching Shia LaBeouf ride off into the sunset.
A.O. Scott should hang his head in shame. He really reviewed 'Transformers', not Avengers. One is a cynical product marketed to our basest material desires. The other is just as much of a mass-marketed product, but it was made with genuine affection and charm by a group of people who are real fans and stewards of the material, and who were obviously determined to craft something that rewarded the audience with good-natured escapism and guaranteed that they left the theater feeling like they got their money's worth.
*Well, there are many reasons to look at Kat Dennings. But in this instance, I am disapprovingly glaring at her awkward comedy stylings!
There was definitely a lot of good humor in this film. But I think a lot of people of losing sight of just how much drama there was in this film. Every main character gets pushed to their absolute limits, a main character is killed in a powerful way, Fury is machinating the events of this film as much as Loki, Loki is brutal throughout (eyeball scene anyone), and the heroes spend almost as much time arguing as they do working together. Oh and to top it off who was truly orchestrating this whole thing? Thanos! You know the guy who wants to kill all life in the universe so he can prove himself to Death!
While I laughed, a lot, and it was welcomed comedy...let's not forget that this film was actually rather dark throughout as well IMHO. Maybe not TDK dark, but that's not the only way either.
There was definitely a lot of good humor in this film. But I think a lot of people of losing sight of just how much drama there was in this film. Every main character gets pushed to their absolute limits, a main character is killed in a powerful way, Fury is machinating the events of this film as much as Loki, Loki is brutal throughout (eyeball scene anyone), and the heroes spend almost as much time arguing as they do working together. Oh and to top it off who was truly orchestrating this whole thing? Thanos! You know the guy who wants to kill all life in the universe so he can prove himself to Death!
To me the entire helicarrier situation was drama. I loved it .... especially as tensions arose while the group bickered amongst themselves before the big blast. That whole scene is genius imo.
To me the entire helicarrier situation was drama. I loved it .... especially as tensions arose while the group bickered amongst themselves before the big blast. That whole scene is genius imo.
Agreed. It really set the tone for the rest of the film. This was a typical three act film in reality. Act One: Assembling the Team, Act Two: Feeling Each Other Out, and Act Three: Saving the Day.
You don't have to be super serious to make a good movie, period.
Personally, I think even the most serious of stories need some comedy moments, because the goal of art is to tell some kind of truth, and truth is sometimes life can be pretty funny.
I was reading a book once, and it was at this critical moment and I was totally engrossed. The main characters where all lined up ready to be shot, and all of a sudden one of them farts. And they can't help but laugh. And then one of the soldiers about to shoot them starts to laugh too... and it's this completely ridiculous moment, but it's so bloody true that life is funny even at the darkest of times.
And Joss Whedon is simply a master at getting that balance spot on. Heck, there's even a comple of lines in the Buffy episode 'The Body' that make me laugh, and i'm pretty much crying from start to finish with that episode.
I really liked the humor in it. Off the top of my head, I would say the $10 bet and the Tony Stark rant(ending with the guy playing Galaga) were some of my favorites. And of course, all the Hulk bits were funny too.
It's funny because I have an app on my phone that tells you the best times to go pee during a movie and the second "pee break" is described as when you see the person playing Galaga. I think one of my favorite jokes in the movie was how proud Cap was to finally get a cultural reference. That or Iron Man calling Hawkeye Legolas.
I loved all the humor in this movie, but my favorites have got to be the "He's adopted" line, and the two funny parts with Hulk and the asgardians (Hulk punch Thor and throwing around Loki).
I've seen some people bash the movie, calling it a "comedy" and using that term in a derogatory way, but I think the jokes were used perfectly. First of all, a good comedy can be a fantastic film so **** that noise right there. Second, a movie does't have to be completely super serious all the time to be a great, even moving film. Third, comedy can be used to heighten drama.
I think Coulson's death was shocking and hit the right emotional cords because the lead in was some really good jokes on his part.
I'm not going to say that the film was high art, or even the best thing Whedon has ever written/directed (both of those distinction go to the Buffy episode "The Body,") but the humor was blended with the drama perfectly and they held each other up.
If he goes into the next film the the aim to achieve a higher level of artistic worth (he said he'd make it quieter and more dramatic/character based and not attempt to top the action of the first film, so that might be the case), I'd still want the same amount of humor and the same humor/drama balance, because I think that would help that effort and not hinder it.
I saw it twice, once near my place which is a suburb here in Indiana, and again downtown Chicago with a more hipster/older crowd. The former viewing the audience laughed at every piece of humorous dialogue and sight gag, whereas the latter maybe laughed or reacted three times at the most throughout the flick. Depends on the audience.
I was reading a book once, and it was at this critical moment and I was totally engrossed. The main characters where all lined up ready to be shot, and all of a sudden one of them farts. And they can't help but laugh. And then one of the soldiers about to shoot them starts to laugh too... and it's this completely ridiculous moment, but it's so bloody true that life is funny even at the darkest of times.
And Joss Whedon is simply a master at getting that balance spot on. Heck, there's even a comple of lines in the Buffy episode 'The Body' that make me laugh, and i'm pretty much crying from start to finish with that episode.
On a side note, i'm probably one of the few Wheddon fans who...doesn't really like Buffy. The few episodes i saw here and there were good, but i just can't stand That Gellar gal..
I'm a HUGE fan of his X-Men work, though. That's also how i knew that he'd be the right man for the job!
I was aware of all the controversy it raised. Apart of that I think Thor was often described as a very proud and defending god. He also told Loki that he was his brother no matter what, that Odin loved him no matter his roots.
All of a sudden, when the Avengers stressed Loki's evil actions, Thor hid with certain embarrassment under the fact of Loki's adoption, erasing all of his proud love for his brother by saying to unknown people he was adopted. Funny? Probably. Successful joke? Sure. Does it fit the character? No. It goes against everything Loki and family-related Thor had been portrayed as. That's why I didn't like it.
Thor should be either defending Loki's honour but stopping him from destroying innocent creatures and worlds. But not trying to detach himself from him as he still considers him his brother.
I don't really think Thor detached himself from Loki in the "He's adopted" line. To me it came off as that many adopted people often have struggles with their condition. As Loki took it, he was living a lie, and he couldn't take it. So I thought Thor was trying to justify him a little.
I was really skeptical about Whedon's comedy before I saw the film... I was a fan of 'Serenity' and 'Dr. Horrible' but I felt like a lot of his characters come across as being to 'cutesy' with their dialogue. And I do get annoyed when a character is basically just defined as 'Hey everybody! I'm Mr./Ms. Comic Relief! Here's another one-liner!' (I'm looking at you, Kat Dennings---*)
But Whedon pulled it off. Stark's reaction to being woken up by the Hulk, Hulk's scream as he jumps off the jet, Loki vs. Hulk, everything Hulk, Steve's pride at finally catching a cultural reference-- was just charming as all heck.
It worked because Whedon kept it in character. The humor might just be the most important aspect of this film, because it highlighted the characters' qualities and shortcomings, and really made you fall in love with them. The highest compliment I can pay to a movie is to say it reminded me of 'Ghostbusters'. You spent two hours with Peter, Egon, Ray and Winston and felt like you could drink a beer with them afterwards. After 2+ hours of hanging with Steve, Tony, Bruce, Thor, and Natasha, watching them eat shawarma felt good. It felt earned.
Contrast that with how you feel watching Shia LaBeouf ride off into the sunset.
A.O. Scott should hang his head in shame. He really reviewed 'Transformers', not Avengers. One is a cynical product marketed to our basest material desires. The other is just as much of a mass-marketed product, but it was made with genuine affection and charm by a group of people who are real fans and stewards of the material, and who were obviously determined to craft something that rewarded the audience with good-natured escapism and guaranteed that they left the theater feeling like they got their money's worth.
*Well, there are many reasons to look at Kat Dennings. But in this instance, I am disapprovingly glaring at her awkward comedy stylings!
RDJ's Stark, especially in this, reminds me of characters like Peter Venkman and Han Solo. A wise ass who increases your enjoyment of the picture by not taking the situation they're in entirely seriously and yet never allowing that character trait to take away the audience's suspension of disbelief.
Yeah, Stark was definitely the Venkman of this picture. Him and Banner both had shades of Egon, but Banner kind of reminded me of Winston in a sense, more or less one of the more normal guys, when he wasn't being Hulk.
I just took it that Thor was making a joke....that's it. I hear people make crude jokes all day, and they don't actually act out or believe in those crude behaviors, because its just a joke. He obviously still loves his brother, but he just made a funny little zinger.
I don't really think Thor detached himself from Loki in the "He's adopted" line. To me it came off as that many adopted people often have struggles with their condition. As Loki took it, he was living a lie, and he couldn't take it. So I thought Thor was trying to justify him a little.
Really? So Thor was justifying a person killing 80 people by saying he's adopted? If that's true then I can now see why some adopted people felt offended. Being adopted and being a killer shouldn't be linked.
I just think he was trying to say 'well, he's not really part of the family.'
In any of those cases, the joke came up as the opposite of what Thor should have said.
The scene goes like this:
Bruce Banner: I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him.
Thor: Have a care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother.
Natasha Romanoff: He killed eighty people in two days.
Thor: He's adopted.
One second he defends Loki's name because he's part of Asgard. The second he's the exact opposite.
I just took it that Thor was making a joke....that's it. I hear people make crude jokes all day, and they don't actually act out or believe in those crude behaviors, because its just a joke. He obviously still loves his brother, but he just made a funny little zinger.
He made that 'joke' two seconds after he defended him fiercefuly.
I don't say people don't make crude jokes about their brothers but Thor made it only when Loki was depicted as a killer. That suggested that Thor was suddenly embarrassed of being his brother.
Now, making crude jokes about your family is one thing, making those in front of unknown people who you don't exactly trust in, and being the extremely proud and arrogant Thor is just something that contradicts the very core of how Thor has been portrayed.
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