The Avengers. Best. Superhero. Movie. EVER.

[Guest]

They did it. They finally did it. They finally got Hulk right. I guess technology finally caught up with the Hulk.

I can't get over how great that movie is.

The script was great - it's not an easy task to combine gods from another planet, a chemically-enhanced dude from World War II, a radiated alter-ego, a genius billionaire with a flying can armor, and 2 simply human warriors and make one movie out of it. But, they did it.

So many awesome moments, so many hilarious moments, so many Marvel moments. And it was awesome how they kept Captain America the leader even with how so out-matched his good-boy persona is with the bigger-than-life persona of Tony Starks and the actor Robert Downey that went with it.

And I'm super glad that Ed Norton did not make it into this movie. I liked Mark Ruffalo much better! He has that down-key aura about him as an actor which works perfectly as the Dr. Jekyll side of the Hulk.

And Thor did not feel un-god-ly while falling in-line with the rest of the gang.

And, interestingly, the 2 un-powered not-quite-super heroes, Black Widow and Hawkeye carried a lot of weight in the movie as well. They weren't outmatched at all.

And none of the women were eye-candy. That's one of my peeves about superhero movies. They usually have this damsel in distress or have the woman be the cause of the super hero's downfall or have a woman superhero that is really just eye candy (uhm, Fantastic 4 anyone...) or have a woman that acts like a man. None of that in this movie. Black Widow was perfectly woman but was very well-balanced with the rest of the gang and Agent Maria Hill of SHIELD was no weakling either.

And Loki... man, he is so likeable that I find myself wanting to cheer for him sometimes. Yes, he was the villain. But man, he is a cool villain.

So yeah, it was amazingly well-balanced.

[beefche]

Dravin and I loved it as well. We went to the 10 am showing and it was really crowded. The audience laughed so hard that we missed dialogue sometimes. We are gonna go back to see it again.

And I cannot stress this enough--I LOVE Robert Downey Jr. Love him! He is so perfect for Tony Stark.

[beefche]

Did you catch both extra scenes at the end of the movie? The last one was hilarious!

And Joss Whedon is a genius.

[pam]

I don't know if I would even get this movie. I don't even recognize the names of the super-heroes that anatess mentioned in her OP.

[beefche]

The Incredible Hulk? You've never heard of him?

[pam]

The Incredible Hulk? You've never heard of him?

That one I've heard of. I've never been a fan of the marvel comics or super heroes. So I think I'd just be totally lost.

[Wingnut]

And none of the women were eye-candy. That's one of my peeves about superhero movies. They usually have this damsel in distress or have the woman be the cause of the super hero's downfall or have a woman superhero that is really just eye candy (uhm, Fantastic 4 anyone...) or have a woman that acts like a man. None of that in this movie. Black Widow was perfectly woman but was very well-balanced with the rest of the gang and Agent Maria Hill of SHIELD was no weakling either.

I think you might be crossing idioms here. Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) is most definitely eye candy, in that she's nice to look at. What you're thinking of is commonly referred to as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

[Soulsearcher]

I'm excited to see this finally though i have to wait until "date night" friday to go see it

[NeuroTypical]

They finally got Hulk right. I guess technology finally caught up with the Hulk.

Wow. You're using words that I used for the first two Hulk movies. So this one must be extra mega ultra hulk.

[BenRaines]

I enjoyed the movie very much. Agree that Hulk was great in the movie.

Ben Raines

[Guest]

Did you catch both extra scenes at the end of the movie? The last one was hilarious!

And Joss Whedon is a genius.

Oh yeah... my kids are "Marvel'd". They won't leave the theater until the lights go up if it's a Marvel movie - even after the "extra scene" already happened - they get into trying to read all the names as fast as they can. There's this guy on youtube called Tobascus who does "literals" - basically making a song out of commentary on anything on the screen (e.g. the introduction to any video game)... so he has songs that goes, "Seagate, Ubisoft, sparkle... smooth transition, pan, zoom, jump, attack!"... well, my kids do that on the credits of Marvel movies. LOL!

So, yeah, it was quite a surprise to get another extra scene after the customary intro to the teaser for the next movie.

[Guest]

Oh... and speaking of next movie... I am super excited to see Thanos!!! w00t!!!!

[Maureen]

I liked The Avengers but there's so much going on that it definitely needs a second viewing. Although for me, I really like Edward Norton's Dr. Banner/HULK portrayal. I thought his HULK was already right. :) I was disappointed to hear that he was not going to be in this movie. Mark Ruffalo was good, but I like Ed Norton's better. I only saw the first extra scene during the credits and didn't know about the 2nd scene until after I got home - another good excuse for a 2nd viewing.

M.

[Guest]

That one I've heard of. I've never been a fan of the marvel comics or super heroes. So I think I'd just be totally lost.

There's Hulk, Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow.

I'm thinking you would recognize everybody except Hawkeye and Black Widow, which is understandable because those 2 are add ons to the Ironman series - they were actually bad guys in Ironman. Hawkeye and Black Widow is cool because they have this love-thing going. Which is interesting that they didn't play it out too much in the movie. Ahhh, yeah, they don't want sappy here. They want ultimate geekdom. LOL!

Besides, Hulk, Captain America, Ironman, and Thor all have their own movies if you don't know them from the comics. So you can always catch the DVDs.

Thor movie, at the very least, is recommended before watching the Avengers. It gives a lot more depth to Loki. I mean, Thor was such a self-absorbed spoiled brat in that movie that I kinda want to knock his teeth out and made me feel really bad for Loki.

[Guest]

I liked The Avengers but there's so much going on that it definitely needs a second viewing. Although for me, I really like Edward Norton's Dr. Banner/HULK portrayal. I thought his HULK was already right. :) I was disappointed to hear that he was not going to be in this movie. Mark Ruffalo was good, but I like Ed Norton's better. I only saw the first extra scene during the credits and didn't know about the 2nd scene until after I got home - another good excuse for a 2nd viewing.

M.

I saw it twice already - once in 3D and the next day in non-3D. 3D is definitely better. So, if you haven't seen it in 3D yet, go 3D the next time.

We're probably going to watch it a couple more times if not more - because, like beefche mentioned, people laugh so hard that even when we knew what to watch for the 2nd time, it was still hard to catch the rest of the dialogue from how loud the people were laughing.

[Guest]

Okay, here's an interesting thing... the Thing from Fantastic 4 is an Avenger... but Chris Evans, the Human Torch of Fantastic 4, is Captain America in the Avengers.... so... are they going to bring the Fantastic 4 to the Avengers?

Another interesting thing... they're redoing Spiderman - but, he's back to being a teen-ager... so, I guess they're not going to bring him into the Avengers?

And what about Beast? The X-men seem to be caught in their own Marvel movie universe... it would be super amazingly awesome if they can bring Magneto (the Michael Fassbender version!) as an Avenger villain...

Man-o-man. I really really hope they get to keep the integrity of the movie scripts and not screw it up like they did X-men!

They have Samuel L. Jackson and that How I Met Your Mother actress who portrayed Agent Maria Hill signed up for 9 movies. NINE.

[beefche]

You gotta look at which studio is doing what movie. It isn't likely that another studio will "loan" their character to do a movie.

[Dravin]

You gotta look at which studio is doing what movie. It isn't likely that another studio will "loan" their character to do a movie.

Yep, intellectual property rights is quite a morass when it comes to doing 'cross-overs'*.

*I recognize that they may exist in the same comic universe, but as far as intellectual property goes, it's a cross-over of two properties.

[Guest]

I think you might be crossing idioms here. Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) is most definitely eye candy, in that she's nice to look at. What you're thinking of is commonly referred to as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

Oh yeah! That!

[Guest]

Yep, intellectual property rights is quite a morass when it comes to doing 'cross-overs'*.

*I recognize that they may exist in the same comic universe, but as far as intellectual property goes, it's a cross-over of two properties.

All Marvel superhero characters have all rights retained under Marvel (Studios or Entertainment). This includes Spiderman, Xmen, and Fantastic 4 and even Ghost Rider (an Avenger villain) and the Punisher.

BUT, several characters and their companions are "contracted out" to non-Marvel studios - like Spiderman has a contract with Sony which includes all the Spidey characters like Venom. Ghost Rider is also with Sony. But, this does not mean that Sony owns everything Spiderman. It just means that if Marvel ever wants to use Spiderman and Ghost Rider to run a stint with the Avengers, they have to take Sony with them (such as distribution rights, financing and sales cut, etc.). I am not particularly interested in Ghost Rider's Avenger Villain role. And that includes Punisher's role as an Avenger taking down Ghost Rider. Oh, Lionsgate had dibs on Punisher but that ended when Lionsgate couldn't seem to make Punisher work and gave it up. And that's Hulk too. Hulk was contracted out to Universal and they did such a bad job of it Marvel took it back and redid it!

Fox got the X-men and they're milking it for what it's worth which, I wish, Marvel would just do something to cut that off. First Class was awesome (ahh, Fassy!) but it didn't make sense as a universe... you got Cyclop's younger brother playing with the young Prof X, yikes!

Okay, I understand Marvel may still be financially shaky after that backruptcy a long time ago, but... c'mon, after this Avenger movie, I would think they would have all the backing to do anything they want with their characters.

Okay, while I'm talking production companies... let me make a quick hit on Avatar - no, not the blue people - the TV cartoon series. Somebody needs to take that boy out of Shamalayan and just have a hulk-like do-over. That character - no, that series - has such great potential that it is so sad to see it go to the wasteland for a very poorly written movie!!!

[pam]

There's Hulk, Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow.

I'm thinking you would recognize everybody except Hawkeye and Black Widow, which is understandable because those 2 are add ons to the Ironman series - they were actually bad guys in Ironman. Hawkeye and Black Widow is cool because they have this love-thing going. Which is interesting that they didn't play it out too much in the movie. Ahhh, yeah, they don't want sappy here. They want ultimate geekdom. LOL!

Besides, Hulk, Captain America, Ironman, and Thor all have their own movies if you don't know them from the comics. So you can always catch the DVDs.

Thor movie, at the very least, is recommended before watching the Avengers. It gives a lot more depth to Loki. I mean, Thor was such a self-absorbed spoiled brat in that movie that I kinda want to knock his teeth out and made me feel really bad for Loki.

Actually the only one I know is Hulk. And that's only because of the old tv series.

[beefche]

Complex legal issues prevented a number of "Avengers" characters from their inclusion in this film. Most notably, these include Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch, the twin children of X-Men) villain Magneto, and frequent adversaries Doctor Doom (nemesis of the Fantastic Four) and Norman Osbourne/Green Goblin (the primary antagonist of Spider-Man). Though all characters are owned by Marvel/Disney, the "X-Men" and "Fantastic Four" characters had all been licensed to Fox Studios, and those of "Spider-Man" to Sony before work began on an "Avengers" film. Marvel has said that in the future they hope to regain the rights to all licensed properties, that the aforementioned characters might have a role in subsequent "Avengers" films.

That's according to IMDB.

[Dravin]

But, this does not mean that Sony owns everything Spiderman.

I never said it did. The subject is movies, yes?

It just means that if Marvel ever wants to use Spiderman and Ghost Rider to run a stint with the Avengers, they have to take Sony with them (such as distribution rights, financing and sales cut, etc.).

Thus the morass. Marvel licensed off rights to their characters piece meal which creates problems for doing 'cross-overs'. Problems equals money. As long as Fox holds the license Marvel can't make any movies (within the confines of their deal with Fox) concerning the X-Men, they'd be in breach of contract. They did not reserve that right, they licensed it.

Edited May 8, 2012 by Dravin

[EarlJibbs]

Loved it. They mixed good humor into it as well. Ever notice how most of the best money making films seem to keep the smut out of their movies? Lord of the Rings, Star Wars... or maybe these are just my favorite movies.

I didnt particularly like Iron Man as much as the others. But this one tops them all.

[BenRaines]

I loved Hulk's reaction when Loki said "But I am a God".

Ben Raines