The Avengers The Avengers Critics Reviews Thread - Part 2

[hitmanyr2k]

Yeah, I said it was fresh in the comment you quoted. But it's definitely very borderline. He says it's well-made but doesn't quite achieve greatness.

Ah, I read the first sentence wrong and missed it.

 

[Figs]

Gee, I wonder who you could be talking about. And I agree.

t:

 

[bonzob2000]

I was there. I remember the bad ones. I was for Jaws too. Bit of an old fella... Its true it got MOSTLY good reviews, but the bad ones werent few... And they were vicious. Mixed were also common.

And Jaws is a magnificent character piece, really. How you can watch these three charachters on taht boat and say they habve no personality goes beyond me...

Yeah, the characters are my favorite thing about Jaws! All three of the main ones are so well-drawn.

I'm sure you're right on Star Wars, I myself was not there. I was just reacting to the myth that ALL critics hated it when it came out and only came around to it years later, which is something I've heard thrown around online more than once. But yeah, it certainly wasn't all glowing praise either.

 

[Vulklin]

Why laugh?

The reason I disliked Avengers action finale is exactly same reason I disliked Transformers 3 action finale

But both movies have their moments though, the bumblebee scene is one of them and there are only a few

Avengers has MORE moments, but they are still only moments

As a whole the action finale is disappointing in both films, I have seen better in the cartoons even

 

[Pond]

Agreed... he has great ambition as a director, but he's not subtle at all. In his earlier films he was working with great material so it worked, but when he was applying his over the top, hyperbolic style to crap like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Sleuth, it became embarrassing.

Still, while I was mixed on Thor, I think he was a solid choice overall and put most of that film's faults on its script. Those ultra slo-motion shots of Thor in the rain are pure Branagh and perfect for the material.

But yeah, Whedon is better .

Personally, what i liked of Brannag in the 90 was his heart on the sleeves and no barrels held passion that almost bleed off the screen... Even Frankenstein, wich was a failure, had a love behind it that not many movies had. Nowadays, i dont feel that passion, wich kinda lets us out with over the topness withou much conviction.

But i still admire how he made a Hamlet of 4 hours so incredibly cinematic and moving, how beautiful about friendship a film Peters FRiends was, how "make you happy in arainy day" movies like In THe Bleak Midwinter are, or how much love for life MUch ADo About NOthing has in it... Or how FUN Dead Again really is...

 

[bonzob2000]

Why laugh?

The reason I disliked Avengers action finale is exactly same reason I disliked Transformers 3 action finale

But both movies have their moments though, the bumblebee scene is one of them and there are only a few

Avengers has MORE moments, but they are still only moments

As a whole the action finale is disappointing in both films, I have seen better in the cartoons even

Because I think you are very, very wrong. Because I think any given scene in Avengers is better than the entire Transformers trilogy, minus the first half hour of the first one, and that's being generous.

Because to me It's like comparing a community theater production of Hamlet with Laurence Olivier's. It's like comparing a kid tossing around a baseball with his dad to Nolan Ryan. It's just... not comparable at all.

I never did and never will give a frig about bumblebee, because he's a stupid character, like all the characters in those movies, who barely deserve to be called characters, who are never given anything interesting to do or say, who never grow, who never change, who never say anything witty or smart or even remotely interesting, who exist either to scream or fight (incomprensibly), or make awful hacky jokes, or say something racist or sexist, ad nauseum.

Oh, and those must be some good cartoons you've been watching.

 

[bonzob2000]

Personally, what i liked of Brannag in the 90 was his heart on the sleeves and no barrels held passion that almost bleed off the screen... Even Frankenstein, wich was a failure, had a love behind it that not many movies had. Nowadays, i dont feel that passion, wich kinda lets us out with over the topness withou much conviction.

But i still admire how he made a Hamlet of 4 hours so incredibly cinematic and moving, how beautiful about friendship a film Peters FRiends was, how "make you happy in arainy day" movies like In THe Bleak Midwinter are, or how much love for life MUch ADo About NOthing has in it... Or how FUN Dead Again really is...

Yes, I mean even his good movies are show-offy, but they just work so well. I do love Dead Again and Much Ado and Hamlet. But the ensuing decades seem to have laid his weaknesses bare.

 

[Vulklin]

Because I think you are very, very wrong. Because I think any given scene in Avengers is better than the entire Transformers trilogy, minus the first half hour of the first one, and that's being generous.

Because to me It's like comparing a community theater production of Hamlet with Laurence Olivier's. It's like comparing a kid tossing around a baseball with his dad to Nolan Ryan. It's just... not comparable at all.

I never did and never will give a frig about bumblebee, because he's a stupid character, like all the characters in those movies, who barely deserve to be called characters, who are never given anything interesting to do or say, who never grow, who never change, who never say anything witty or smart or even remotely interesting, who exist either to scream or fight (incomprensibly), or make awful hacky jokes, or say something racist or sexist, ad nauseum.

Oh, and those must be some good cartoons you've been watching.

When I judge a film I first think to myself, like/dislike/mixed

Avengers and Transformers are definitely LIKE
the transformers sequels are definitely MIXED

so then i go through the film and pick out all the flaws or things I disliked and this gives me a final score kind of thing

example

raiders of the lost ark = LIKE and when analyze for flaws and things i disliked, there are virtually none

avengers and transformers = LIKE and when analyze for flaws and things i disliked, there are SEVERAL

so to me they are in the same ballpark, whereas films like raiders and terminator 2 are leagues above both of them

with transformers sequels, there are SO MANY flaws and things i disliked that they turn into MIXED, but not quite dislike, because there are parts i do like

for a film to be DISLIKE it needs to be mortal kombat 2 bad or some other woeful attempt at film making

 

[bonzob2000]

When I judge a film I first think to myself, like/dislike/mixed

Avengers and Transformers are definitely LIKE
the transformers sequels are definitely MIXED

so then i go through the film and pick out all the flaws or things I disliked and this gives me a final score kind of thing

example

raiders of the lost ark = LIKE and when analyze for flaws and things i disliked, there are virtually none

avengers and transformers = LIKE and when analyze for flaws and things i disliked, there are SEVERAL

so to me they are in the same ballpark, whereas films like raiders and terminator 2 are leagues above both of them

with transformers sequels, there are SO MANY flaws and things i disliked that they turn into MIXED, but not quite dislike, because there are parts i do like

for a film to be DISLIKE it needs to be mortal kombat 2 bad or some other woeful attempt at film making

Totally fair system, I just disagree on relative quality. I don't see any in Transformers, especially its sequels, which are practically nothing but flaws, to me. Avengers' flawed moments are better than Transformers relative triumphs.

 

[Vulklin]

Totally fair system, I just disagree on relative quality. I don't see any in Transformers, especially its sequels, which are practically nothing but flaws, to me. Avengers' flawed moments are better than Transformers relative triumphs.

Okay compare one of Avengers weaker scenes - the black widow intro fight scene in warehouse

with one of transformers best scenes - the arrival to earth scene

you really think that black widow scene is better?

 

[Oruku Saki]

This crap still going on I see; bouncing around to different threads now; again

 

[OtherwiseKnownAs]

So, has Armond White given his review yet?

 

[ElMariachi]

So, has Armond White given his review yet?

Let me check the toilets......

 

[bonzob2000]

Okay compare one of Avengers weaker scenes - the black widow intro fight scene in warehouse

with one of transformers best scenes - the arrival to earth scene

you really think that black widow scene is better?

Yep, I do.

We should probably get back on topic, though. I've sort of taken over this thread and I feel bad.

 

[Xeno]

I don't know. His review is all over the place lol. It sounds like he's just tired of comic book movies and the hype that surrounds them. For all of his criticisms this paragraph below struck me that his review can go either way...especially the sentence in bold. I think he just wants it all to be over. From the sound of it maybe he foolishly thought The Avengers was the big finale that would end these Marvel comic book movies for awhile and then the sight of Thanos in the credits set him off

It is O'Hehir's last sentence that tells you why his reaction to the film is so negative:

It’s a neat little postmodern trick, actually, to simultaneously position this movie as the most central pop-culture event of 2012 and insist on some kind of edgy, outsider status that renders any and all detractors as pipe-smoking William F. Buckley squares, defending a nonexistent Establishment.

Translation: Whedon has made a smart, funny film that celebrates its comic book origins while at the same time thumbing its nose at the weedy critics (like O'Hehir himself) who would turn up their noses at it. The Avengers is aimed over the heads of the critics and right at its target audience -- everyone who enjoys a great action film -- and that audience won't be swayed by reviews. There is nothing critics hate more than critic-proof movies.

 

[bonzob2000]

Translation: Whedon has made a smart, funny film that celebrates its comic book origins while at the same time thumbing its nose at the weedy critics (like O'Hehir himself) who would turn up their noses at it. The Avengers is aimed over the heads of the critics and right at its target audience -- everyone who enjoys a great action film -- and that audience won't be swayed by reviews. There is nothing critics hate more than critic-proof movies.

Really well put.

 

[Liam_H]

I don't think RT has featured a review from Armond White in awhile. Either he doesn't submit anymore or has stopped reviewing.

 

[Xeno]

I don't think RT has featured a review from Armond White in awhile. Either he doesn't submit anymore or has stopped reviewing.

White left the paper he was writing for and hasn't re-submitted his credentials to get re-certified by RT, according to one account I read. He claims they dropped him for being unpopular, however.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Translation: Whedon has made a smart, funny film that celebrates its comic book origins while at the same time thumbing its nose at the weedy critics (like O'Hehir himself) who would turn up their noses at it. The Avengers is aimed over the heads of the critics and right at its target audience -- everyone who enjoys a great action film -- and that audience won't be swayed by reviews. There is nothing critics hate more than critic-proof movies.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

Who doesn't like Cloverfield? It's great.

I was pretty "meh" over it. Not a fan of found footage stuff (though I just liked Chronicle).

I was shocked that Matt Reeves followed that up with one of my all time favorite movies. (Let Me In)

 

[Tony Stark]

Again, I don't want to begrudge anyone's opinions about this movie, but the title alone frustrated me. I can't remember if I ever read or followed any of O'Hehir's other reviews. Seemed unnecessarily bitter.

call me a cynic but I think that the issue is that when some of these reviewers who hate this style of movie see that the movie has already received glowing reviews, they say WTF, and just take the gloves off.

The Salon review is actually pretty funny because they admit that it's a well put together film, the guy just doesn't give two s**** about comic book movies.

 

[TheVileOne]

I agree with this big time! I'll choose an actual professional critic any day of the week if I'm interested in reading reviews. Not some fanboy who happened to get fanboy celebrity status because he may have started a website in the early 2000s and it got big. I won't name names, but one such person who did this and actually gets to do interviews at Comic-con writes some of the most childish and exaggerated reviews I've ever read, to the point where I can't take him seriously.

Chris Hardwicke?

 

[bonzob2000]

I was pretty "meh" over it. Not a fan of found footage stuff (though I just liked Chronicle).

I was shocked that Matt Reeves followed that up with one of my all time favorite movies. (Let Me In)

Oh yeah, it's not a masterpiece or anything. Characters are a tad thin/annoying, but I thought it pulled off found footage well, and I found it to be both genuinely scary and genuinely witty.

But yep, both Reeves (you're right about Let Me In) and Goddard (with Cabin in the Woods) went on to better things.

 

[Suzanne78]

I agree with this big time! I'll choose an actual professional critic any day of the week if I'm interested in reading reviews. Not some fanboy who happened to get fanboy celebrity status because he may have started a website in the early 2000s and it got big. I won't name names, but one such person who did this and actually gets to do interviews at Comic-con writes some of the most childish and exaggerated reviews I've ever read, to the point where I can't take him seriously.

"Who is Harry Knowles" for $200, Alex?"

 

[flickchick85]

Hehe, speaking of Knowles, his expected gushing review is now up at AICN.