The Avengers The Avengers Critics Reviews Thread - Part 1

[Shadowlord X]

Amen Mr. McWeeny. I love the current Bat films and i think TDk is an all timer but i love that Marvel is embracing the fantastical elements that make the superhero genre what it is. Uplift the entire genre instead of attempting to transcend it.

Beautiful, beautiful words.

Let's hope THE AVENGERS can rescue the genre from stale realism and get people to love real superheroes again.

 

[J.Howlett]

Beautiful, beautiful words.

Let's hope THE AVENGERS can rescue the genre from stale realism and get people to love real superheroes again.

Can't they co-exist? Just sayin'.

 

[Adamantium Man]

Can't they co-exist? Just sayin'.

I'd say of course they can. The sandbox is big enough for all of 'em.

 

[Shadowlord X]

Can't they co-exist? Just sayin'.

They can. But one will always be more dominant over the other. You will disagree but I believe that stale realism being dominant will make it more difficult for real comicbook fantasy to reach the true heights of success.

 

[Shadowlord X]

THE AVENGERS at rottentomatoes.

97%
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 34
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 1

 

[T"Challa]

Can't they co-exist? Just sayin'.

Of course they can..superheroes like Batman and Punisher will always be better off in dark realistic settings. What i meant by that quote was that, having a highly successful movie like TDK doesnt necessitate a dark, crime drama-ish tone for other CBM's. Certain fans like to say that TDK is the greatest CBM because it transcended the genre. And i say why does this have to be the case? Transcending insinuates passing by, or existing above something. Instead of trying to move past or look down on the term 'superhero movie', why not embrace the good elements of the genre, augment it and legitimize the genre as a force to be dealt with within the movie industry?

 

[Mjölnir]

Of course they can..superheroes like Batman and Punisher will always be better off in dark realistic settings. What i meant by that quote was that, having a highly successful movie like TDK doesnt necessitate a dark, crime drama-ish tone for other CBM's. Certain fans like to say that TDK is the greatest CBM because it transcended the genre. And i say why does this have to be the case? Transcending insinuates passing by, or existing above something. Instead of trying to move past or look down on the term 'superhero movie', why not embrace the good elements of the genre, augment it and legitimize the genre as a force to be dealt with within the movie industry?

I couldn't agree more. Dark, realistic settings will be the best for some heroes but the genre as a whole needs the fantastical elements to work in order to thrive.

 

[J.Howlett]

Of course they can..superheroes like Batman and Punisher will always be better off in dark realistic settings. What i meant by that quote was that, having a highly successful movie like TDK doesnt necessitate a dark, crime drama-ish tone for other CBM's. Certain fans like to say that TDK is the greatest CBM because it transcended the genre. And i say why does this have to be the case? Transcending insinuates passing by, or existing above something. Instead of trying to move past or look down on the term 'superhero movie', why not embrace the good elements of the genre, augment it and legitimize the genre as a force to be dealt with within the movie industry?

I get what you're saying but that's to imply that Nolan hasn't put any fantastical elements in his two films...which isn't true. The visuals of Scarcrow's gas...the sonar concept used in the climax of Knight, as a few examples. It's just played more "plausible", that's all.

Hell, just look at the visual image of Bane in Rises.

Yes, there's room for both but I think it's been exaggerated how dark comic book movies have gotten in the last 10 years.

For certain adaptations (Batman, X-Men, Blade) the more plausible take on the characters fits. With other ones, it doesn't. I'm not expecting plausible with Thor. I'm expecting fantasy with him.

At the end of the day, it all depends on the character and the world they inhabit.

You could, in theory, do a more plausible, grounded version of Iron Man. The two films have elements of that. But, they also have elements of the fantastical. It sounds to me that Shane Black's take on Iron Man 3 is going to be more grounded, which is going to be interesting when you think about how RDJ has played Stark...

 

[Shadowlord X]

I actually get offended when people say a movie is great because it 'transcended' the genre. This implies that other genres are inherently superior to the comicbook superhero genre, which is pure bollocks.

 

[J.Howlett]

I actually get offended when people say a movie is great because it 'transcended' the genre. This implies that other genres are inherently superior to the comicbook superhero genre, which is pure bollocks.

I just don't get why that would offend anybody...I mean, the Godfather transcends the gangster picture by miles. That doesn't mean that other gangster pictures aren't great. It's just, underneath, the Godfather is something more than the genre that it's in.

 

[Mjölnir]

I just don't get why that would offend anybody...I mean, the Godfather transcends the gangster picture by miles. That doesn't mean that other gangster pictures aren't great. It's just, underneath, the Godfather is something more than the genre that it's in.

What does transcending the genre even mean in that case? A genre is a rough description of what's in the film and the Godfather is a gangster drama. How well it's done doesn't change what it is and the genre label isn't supposed to say that much about it.

 

[wobbly]

I think its the implication the genre in the case (CBM's) needs transcending to be considered great. It feels like a touch of snobbery against what is considered to be an inherently 'silly' subject matter.

Avengers is proving that implication wrong.

 

[Shadowlord X]

The Godfather is never anything but a crime/gangster movie, even with all it's depth. Noone tries to claim it's better than a crime/gangster movie by transcending the genre and becoming soemthing other than that.

 

[Smashlilman]

I actually get offended when people say a movie is great because it 'transcended' the genre. This implies that other genres are inherently superior to the comicbook superhero genre, which is pure bollocks.

The problem with the Superhero genre is that it's been flooded with low quality movies that all seem to follow the same basic formula. When the formula get repeated over and over again with no one trying to improve upon it the genre gets stale.

Even the MCU movies were all decent. None of them try to excel in anyway. If the squeals to IM2, Thor, and Captain America don't improve upon the previous films in the genre let alone there own movies then the GA will eventually just lose interest.

The majority Superhero based comic book movies are on dimensional. So that the video point that most people have of the entire genre. Comic book movies like "A History of Violence" will still be going strong because they fit neatly into other mainstream genres.

The Godfather is never anything but a crime/gangster movie, even with all it's depth. Noone tries to claim it's better than a crime/gangster movie by transcending the genre and becoming soemthing other than that.

That's because the Godfather was the pinnacle of the crime/gangster movie. So far Spider-man 2 is the pinnacle of the Superhero genre. Here's hoping that Avengers will be the Godfather of Superhero films.

 

[thalidomide]

Aside from popcorn, fun, thill ride. has anyone said the word epic from the reviews?

 

[Pond]

You people should also remember one thing: in the USA, comic-book as an art form is still scoffed by many when in other countries comic artists are revered as giants of the arts.

Hell, even you call "comic-book movie" to a tipe of story, a way of telling it when comic books are a medium, and not a genre, but i supose that expression has some ambiguities to it; im foreigner, so im not that sure.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

So how many reviewers consider Avengers to be the best superhero movie ever made?

 

[Smashlilman]

You people should also remember one thing: in the USA, comic-book as an art form is still scoffed by many when in other countries comic artists are revered as giants of the arts.

Hell, even you call "comic-book movie" to a tipe of story, a way of telling it when comic books are a medium, and not a genre, but i supose that expression has some ambiguities to it; im foreigner, so im not that sure.

When the overall quality of comic book movies improve then it will be viewed diffidently. In japan mangas are king. t:

 

[Joeyjojo72]

So how many reviewers consider Avengers to be the best superhero movie ever made?

Many of them. But the more professional critics will probably avoid declarative statements like that.

 

[Joeyjojo72]

My guess is, if youre a fan of Marvel Comics, its probably the best superhero movie ever made. Havent seen it yet myself, but thats the vibe I'm getting after having read a ridiculous number of reviews so far.

 

[Joeyjojo72]

Does anyone know if the TDKR trailer is screening in front of the Avengers already? Ive heard conflicting reports.

 

[Joeyjojo72]

So there are several video reviews of the Avengers (mainly Australian) on youtube if anyone is intereted what the average paying customer thought of it. A good mix of male and female, young and not so young. Mostly raves from what Ive seen. My guess is there are even more in other languages, but I only speak English and Spanish, so I cant confirm that.

 

[Figs]

Does anyone know if the TDKR trailer is screening in front of the Avengers already? Ive heard conflicting reports.

From everything I've read and heard, it's not going to be shown until May 4th.

 

[Dr. Sid Jawtug]

New fresh review.
http://www.au.timeout.com/sydney/film/25140/the-avengers

I love how they label it a black comedy at the top of the page. Chris Rock is Iron Man. Nick Cannon is Nick Fury. Kevin Hart is the Hulk. That would be worth assembling.

 

[Dr. Sid Jawtug]

Correction:
Kevin Hart is Bruce Banner.
Tyler Perry is Madea as the Hulk.