Yep I'm using the original US title for the film and not the lame Euro version 'Avengers Assemble' which sounds like a cartoon. All because the powers that be seem to think we're all dumb enough to mistake this new film with another rather old TV series and its mega budget flop film counterpart. Yeah like that's gonna happen sheesh!
So lets do this thing...the first MEGA blockbuster of the year, how does it fare you ask...well its pretty good says I. Not quite as rip roaring as I have been led to believe (hyper hype!!) but its good.
We all know the score so why review it, the entry phase movies to this were all solid bordering on great films with most folk having their favourite solo stories. My personal faves are easily the Iron Man films...well the first two anyway. So with all the guys together for the first time the movie does actually start at a slow pace...for quite some time its gotta be said, I was getting a little twitchy in my seat. A lot of dialog and pacing around very metallic looking military facilities with a whole load of comicbook sci-fi jargon I really didn't follow. The team are introduced one by one and things feel familiar as they should, a quick bit of action from Black Widow doesn't help though as it looks tacky and stupid in a Milla Jovovich type of way.
Honestly the film didn't really kick into gear for me until we get our first Hulk moment on board that huge flying aircraft carrier thingy (a bit too 'G.I.Joe-ish' there methinks). This is our first foray into seeing some team action and its good...its very good, everyone looks good and the action is sharp slick and clear.
For me the whole film is all about certain characters and how they come across in battle, in general all the team battles in this film are really excellent. As said by many people all the characters get their time to shine and no one is left in the cold, but clearly some characters just work so much better than others (looking at you Hawkeye).
The finale is a firestorm of CGI action and really does blow your balls off with non-stop Avenger ass kicking. Its not even hard to follow either, you can see what's happening and there's no silly shaky camera to make you ill, its all precise. Best action from a single character goes to Hulk for me with some Earth-shattering pumped up destruction going down, they really nailed him good in this one, of course Iron Man gets the second spot. The CGI overall is excellent but its not like we haven't seen this kind of thing before though. Its hardly ground breaking admittedly but visually and for sheer spectacle it looks way better than the 'X-Men' 'Spider Man' and the 'Fantastic 4' movies. I also liked the huge flying alien metallic dragon things, some nice design work there. The alien soldiers didn't look like much, like some creatures outta Halo (never really get a good look), but those big space dragons were ultra cool.
For me its all about Iron Man, easily the best character in the team looking fudging sweet, he has great tech, the CGI looks best with him and Robert Downey Jr. is by far the best thing about this film. The guy carries the film when there is dialog with his witty quips and subtle sarcasm. Ruffalo and Hiddleston are probably the best of the rest with Hiddleston giving Loki a slightly Joker-ish vibe with his wry smiles.
As for the superheroes well they all look spotless, Iron Man as I've said is my personal favourite and looks awesome. Hulk is a close second looking the best he's ever been and actually looking like Ruffalo facially so you actually believe he's transformed into this green monster. Loki hasn't changed much from 'Thor' and looks solid whilst Thor also stays pretty much the same and looks fine. Now this is where I get picky folks, Black Widow (Johansson) looks sexy, a nice tight ass shot whilst she speaks with an incarcerated Loki I enjoyed muchly. But in this day and age her look simply doesn't cut the mustard anymore, its been done soooooo many times before you'd swear she could have been plucked from any number of movies.
Captain America...what the hell did they do to his suit?! It was fine in his first film so why make it look so childish looking for this?! The hood part looks dreadful, I thought so when I first saw images of it. Of course we all know of Fury so this leaves Hawkeye...probably the dullest looking character played by the dullest actor of the bunch, the end.
Some tiny issues do spring to mind, I wouldn't say the movie is totally perfect but that's just my humble opinion. Its clear Black Widow and Hawkeye are the weak litter in this film, neither really do a great deal and neither really look all that much to be honest, very dull outfit wise. Hawkeye just seems like a silly character to use for this day and age, I know he's part of the original team but come on the guy runs around using a bow and arrow for Christs sake! Guns guns guns knives other worldly powers and super strength and this guy fires arrows! kinda funny really.
Plus he seems to be able to hit targets from high up without any consideration for weather range trajectory altitude etc...it also takes him along time to actually run out of ammo...am I looking into this too much?
Black Widow just doesn't really fit in the team for me. Sure she's sexy and can fight but she carries two small handguns which just comes across as rather idiotic in the midst of an all out superhero war. Its like bringing a water pistol to a knife fight.
The other thing was Loki and his alien buddies. I presume Loki's exile was him falling into that abyss at the end of 'Thor'? how did he meet that alien race? how did he get to Earth through the portal or get to the portal? and why does he even want to rule Earth? what does he get out of it?
I must also ask what the Chitauri are exactly. When Iron Man downs the big mother ship they all just drop, so are they robotic or somehow connected to a central brain or something? Trivial but hey that's how I roll.
So yes this film is very good and probably the best its gonna get for superhero team flicks and even superhero flicks to a degree. When I say superhero flicks I mean superheroes which involve magic sorcery space aliens lasers other worlds etc...Batman Blade The Punisher etc...are different types of characters. I still wasn't completely blown away I must admit but for an eye popping mindless comicbook adaptation you can't really get much better. It does what its suppose to do with good CGI, good humour and great continuity from the previous films. Definitely a one off and historical moment as we get the first real superhero team movie, I can't see The Justice League topping it.
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment