The Avengers The Official Rate/Review Thread for Marvel's The Avengers! (TAG SPOILERS!!!) - Part 1

[Thread Manager]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]381677[/split]

 

[Spider-Fan]

Since we have early screenings, let's make an OFFICIAL review thread, with a rating poll!

Also added a reminder in the thread title, POST SPOILERS IN TAGS!!!

 

[Punisher_MAX]

isnt the whole point of The Avengers to have them team up to fight a threat greater than themselves? i mean if thats the plot i dont understand how it be a problem with most people if we know this is the culmination of a buildup that spans over 5 movies.

i rather have their individual movies delve deep into their characters and show more development and progression. if the movie is anything like Firefly then i know i will love it more with each repeated viewing.

 

[pyromaniac]

OK, so I got from seeing The Avengers a second time and after absolutely loving it the first time I will say this - this movie might not hold up as well during repeat viewing. Once the wow-factor of seeing so many comic book icons was out of the way, I realised that the jokes and humor played a huge role in how much you enjoyed the film the first time around. Today though, I already knew the jokes so I was ready to dig in deep to find some more meat and depth that I might have missed earlier but what I found was that without the deflecting power of humor, the film's flaws become that much more apparent. There is a lot of cheese in The Avengers, especially during the third act. Loki gets some moments to shine but by the end, he stops being a viable threat and devolves into a joke...

Spoiler

...especially that little whine he lets out and his silly facial expression after the Hulk smashes him around like a ragdoll. Making a mockery out of the main villain of the movie is generally not a good idea. When it comes to writing, Stark easily got the best lines followed by Banner (not the Hulk) and Thor (I absolutely love the way he mocks "you humans are so petty!". Comparatively, Captain America and Hawkeye got the shaft in the writing department and Black Widow often came off as too smug, pretentious and annoying.

I was also really cringing during some of the ending stuff such as news footage of that lone girl going "Captain America saved my life, so wherever he is, thank you". I mean, really? Tony's "one-way trip" sequence was just a complete miss, because a) Hulk catching his fall was spoiled in oh-so-many trailers and TV spots and b)nothing in the film gives any indication whatsoever that it was something that you might genuinely expect to happen. The tone of the entire movie is very playful and half-serious, and the fact that Iron Man 3 has already been announced, the scenes of Thor, Hulk and Cap looking at a presumed-to-be-dead Tony come off as emotionally artificial, forced and unnecessary. The first time, it was funny to see Hulk's scream waking Tony up and then the big green guy thumping his chest, but not so much the second time around.

The writing in general is not bad, it's just that its quality jumps up and down too much and too often like a rollercoaster ride, and the lack of consistency almost makes it feel like about one-third of the film was written by completely different writers.

I don't know, maybe I've lost my sense of humor. Maybe I am not using the proper criteria but I will be the first to say this - in the long term, The Avengers will be viewed far more favourably by the general audience than it would be in the fanboy community. That is because if there is one thing I know about hardcore devotees in general, is that we are very detail-oriented (obsessively so) and can be very unforgiving of minor flaws because they just tend to stick out more and more as time passes by. When you think of Marvel's best efforts to date - X2, Spiderman 2, First Class, Iron Man - they are considered fan favourites not because of the immense first impression they made, but because they withstood the test of time, because those films had a lot going on underneath surface and rewarded repeat viewings. If your second and third experiences with The Avengers turns out anything like mine, then I am willing to bet that us fanboy lot are going to throw The Avengers off its pedestal almost as quickly as we put it up there.

I'm not sure about that. The quality of repeated experiences vary from viewer to viewer, so you can't speak for everyone else. Even some of the aforementioned best Marvel movies have also fallen a little under scrutiny or people readjusted their opinions after the second, third etc time. FYI, my cousin, who has never seen a movie more than once in the cinemas (not since Titanic, but that was a long time ago) wanted to see this movie again. Which goes to show how good The Avengers is in terms of instant rewatchability and universal appeal.

As for The Avengers, it seems to be the consensus that repeated viewings warrant the same if not increased level of enjoyment. if you are invested in characterisation as opposed to just humour and action, that is.

And Punisher, The Avengers gives you a good sense of 'family' particularly towards the end AND in that second post credits scene.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Seen it 4 times. Still a great movie.

 

[Liam_H]

Can anyone explain to me why I can't vote in the poll? It says its closed every time I try to do so.

 

[Chewy]

Can anyone explain to me why I can't vote in the poll? It says its closed every time I try to do so.

This is what always happens when Thread Manager screws around with a thread that has a poll

 

[T"Challa]

Seen it 3 times....yep, still awesome

 

[thalidomide]

I'm going to see it tomorrow for the 3rd time, and I still have an urge to watch it again after that then I'm going to wait for the DVD.

 

[Hawkingbird]

My thoughts exactly!

 

[raimar]

I'm not sure about that. The quality of repeated experiences vary from viewer to viewer, so you can't speak for everyone else. Even some of the aforementioned best Marvel movies have also fallen a little under scrutiny or people readjusted their opinions after the second, third etc time. FYI, my cousin, who has never seen a movie more than once in the cinemas (not since Titanic, but that was a long time ago) wanted to see this movie again. Which goes to show how good The Avengers is in terms of instant rewatchability and universal appeal.

As for The Avengers, it seems to be the consensus that repeated viewings warrant the same if not increased level of enjoyment. if you are invested in characterisation as opposed to just humour and action, that is.

And Punisher, The Avengers gives you a good sense of 'family' particularly towards the end AND in that second post credits scene.

Hello: saw the movie here in PR yesterday @ 3:05pm : Very good, i will go to see it again. And that was 5 of us, wife and 3 kids. Everybody seemed to enjoy the movie thoroughly. I do have to say there was no cheering or any other kind of celebrating at all.
So i had my reservations with the quality and feel of the film and have to say that there are in fact some parts were you could "see" it was a set. This is an area that, to me, has a direct relationship with staging and cinematography. The ARRI cameras used most definitely have an incredible range and image quality, but, in a sci-fi flick like this you it could do more harm than good. But honestly, it is minimal. I saw the 3d version, which around here, is not on film, but on a server so it preserves a lot and looses virtually zero from the original. 2D version is a digital to film transfer.
The character development and integration is very good, much better than i expected and the heroes interactions are the best of the movie. I felt underwhelmed by the final battle and agree with some people who have mentioned the generic quality and nature of the invading army. If you look closely, Romanoff and Hawkeye are easily killing and holding off the Chitaury, which essentially means the national guard, police and army could've handle them just as well.( I have a post back in sept. or oct. were i remember mentioning something like this and actually wanting to see the military succeed to a degree). This should have given space for the heroes to combat bigger, stronger more credible threats, like each one taking down more of those flying worms or whatever they were.
Thor, my favorite, is kind of powered down in this movie. The hulk Fight wen't well, i really wanted more, but i was in heaven, Niravana, Eden, and several other celestial places all at the same time. I don't know why they elected to have Thor duck for cover at the end of that scene, it would have only tickled him. Little mistakes that the maniac will notice far to much, the fanboy wanting more and more! And he should have been able to hold the invading horde back at the portal in a more decisive way.
THe hulk is fantastic, Ruffalo has redifined it forever.
Iron Man is simply awesome, Downey is second to none.
Hawkeye was far more involved and much better than i anticipated. I really liked this characterization, he was pretty badass.
An outstanding movie with lots of characters that could have been a disaster but turns out, IMHO, to be the best superhero movie i have seen. Can't wait to see it again. No end credits second scene, i'm pissed! Anyone care to PM me what it was, please!
(I thought i would see it first here only to find out the 2D version started an hour earlier,@#$%^&*&^%&). My ticket is 000001 ! LOL!

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

@raimar

There is a thread here somewhere about the end credits.

there are apparenltly two end credits.One for the rest of the world, and one for US audience

 

[Vartha]

okay all I have to say about lastnight's screening HERE (there were 100 screenings all over the states yesterday) is....



HOLYCHITTHATWASAWESOME!!!!




......ahhhh I do think it dragged a bit at the beginning which is why I'd rate it a 9, but to me personally I liked the 3D, it wasn't that bad, and I do have to say this is by far my fave Superhero film.

 

[Rock Sexton]

okay all I have to say about lastnight's screening HERE (there were 100 screenings all over the states yesterday) is....

HOLYCHITTHATWASAWESOME!!!!

......ahhhh I do think it dragged a bit at the beginning which is why I'd rate it a 9, but to me personally I liked the 3D, it wasn't that bad, and I do have to say this is by far my fave Superhero film.

Pretty much had the same experience at my screening a couple weeks ago. I gave it a 9.5 ..... The weakness is in the first act.

 

[Vartha]

Wonder if the cut scenes were all at the beginning too? Imagine how much more it COULD drag?

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

Heh..the Avengers is the first movie i saw in 3D

I gotta say...i'm still not sure if i liked it more than 2D

 

[Vartha]

Can't tell ya if I like the 3D more than the 2d or not yet as I've yet to see the 2d. lol

 

[El Payaso]

I'm not that surprised about your comment, because you've made it clear that while the movie surpasses your expectation, you've never fully appreciate the movie.

On the contrary, I think it's the best Marvel Studios movie, second only to Iron Man 1. Even more, I rate it the same I rated Batman Begins.

But as I said, the fact that this movie actually make you like it in spite of yourself and your Batman fandom is quite an accomplishment by itself.

That's an easy thing when my Batman fandom has nothing to do with it. And myself either. I never thought they could make the whole superhero group work, but Whedon did. And I think I praised the acting in general (emphasizing Ruffalo and RDJ and even defending the sometimes attacked Johansen) and the action.

As you see I have no problems with telling people what I liked. Just don't make me say I like things I didn't.

 

[darthmagic]

Saw it twice back to back yesterday. 9.5 and the greatest superheromovie ever. As a spectacle it has no equal. Just pure awesomeness. As a Hulk fan i could not be more proud to say he's my favourite hero and absolutely stole the final hour of this film. It's amazing. There were times during the movie that a tear would roll down my cheek. The tracking shot was breathtaking. I'll see it quite a few more times if can get tickets cause it is a mega hit here. Everyone needs to see this movie.It is the cinimatic event of a life time.

 

[Shedhut]

I don't know why they elected to have Thor duck for cover at the end of that scene, it would have only tickled him.

Spoiler

He ducked for cover? We must've seen different versions of the film.

 

[bapi]

Cool movie but nothing special. However Hulk is great. 7.5/10

 

[TomPiltoff]

We must've seen different versions of the film.

Well guess what? Most of us in the US haven't seen it at all so stop talking specifics.

 

[Vartha]

Well guess what? Most of us in the US haven't seen it at all so stop talking specifics.

Yeah peeps TAG your spoilers in this thread. nobody reading THESE messages wants to be spoiled.

 

[DyeLorean]

What I liked about the beginning is that the movie slowly builds up into something SO big. It makes the anticipation for what's to come a lot better, in my opinion.

 

[SimiOfDoom]

So, after seeing it twice I feel prepared enough to make a little review here. First of all, I really enjoyed it, the second viewing more than the first, I dunno why, but I felt a little bothered by the amount of action the first time, it worked better for me the second time.

The Good:
What really was impressive to me is that there´s not a wrong line in it. The dialogue is incredible, everything necessary for the portrayal of the characters and/or important for the plot. Recent action movies have the really sad trend, that you could sleep through half of the movie and still don´t miss a thing, because some filmmakers seem to think their audience is full of morons that have to be reminded every few minutes of what was going on.
Also a modern problem of blockbusters is, that they are largely predictable and while Avengers hasn´t the most innovative of plots, it definately has its moments and some really nice subversions of common tropes. For every action there´s a reaction, a (well done) payoff. The characters are genre savy and avoid common dumbness, every action has a psychological reason behind it.

Whedon´s knowledge of and love for the characters is sensible throughout, the character arcs well thought out. The magnificent thing about this is, that each character only recieves their development through the others. Stark grows significiantly in dealing with the group, Banner gets some clues from Stark that help him greatly, Cap learns to go out into the unknown world and deal with modern people, etc. The characters´ dynamics are incredible.

I also think you can tell that Whedon had one hell of a time scripting this, personal favourites are the arguing scene which was like a really mini version of God of Carnage, Loki comes down to earth with some truly machiavellian antics, the big shout out to Superman...

The complaints about the stakes not being high enough - why? Yes, you know none of the major heroes are going to die beforehand, but what about the people they want to protect? The personal loss, the threat of failure? The stakes are personal and totally legit imo. Imminent death is not the only ingredient for drama.

Not cinematic enough? - BS.

Generic Alien Army? Of course you are not going to develop a whole army full of completely indivídual badasses when you already have 6 main characters to deal with.



The Bad:
Not much bad here, but some minor things include that I had the feeling while it could be viewed as a stand alone movie, not knowing the characters or their respective movies beforehand might really take away from the enjoyment (Saw it with a friend who is not into comics but saw the other movies, still she had some problems understanding the dynamics).

The other major thing was the score that was, while not at all bad, pretty forgettable aside from the main theme.

Spoiler

The opera scene musically blew away the rest of the movie for me, not because of the type of music, but because of its´ use.

Alan Silvesrti has made scores that were the best part of the movies they were in, so this was kind of a letdown.

A good chunk of the action in this movie is relatively generic, but in general well used and not too forced. Would have been interesting to see what they would have done with a higher rating.



All in all it is a truly great movie that puts its´ comic roots bravely into the light instead of hiding it in the shadows. All I could still wish for is that there would be more dialog, more non-fighting interaction of the characters, because what we get of THAT is magnificent.

For me a solid 9 out of 10
Rank between other CBMs:
1.) Watchmen 1.) Avengers
2.) The Dark Knight
3.) Sin City
4.) Thor
5.) Iron man