7794 replies to this topic

[Joey]

The Avengers (2012)

The bar has been raised on superhero films, and I haven't been this impressed with a Marvel film since Spider-Man 2. I'm definitely going to watch this film again... and soon. Looks great in 3D too, especially the last 30-40 minutes.

9/10

no wonder you liked it so much, if you were impressed with Spider Man 2.

[Chaac]

The Avengers (2012)

The bar has been raised on superhero films, and I haven't been this impressed with a Marvel film since Spider-Man 2. I'm definitely going to watch this film again... and soon. Looks great in 3D too, especially the last 30-40 minutes.

9/10

no wonder you liked it so much, if you were impressed with Spider Man 2.

I'm not impressed by Spider Man 2 but I love it.

[Stefancos]

It's ok. the best of those 3 films, but terribly uneven.

[Quint]

I only liked the first, up to a point.

The best thing about Rami's Spiderman are the opening credits.

[Stefancos]

The first one may be the worst of the bunch.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith on TV now.

Ridiculous and unbelievable concept. But Pitt and Jolie are smoking hot together on screen. No way he was thinking of Jennifer Aniston....

[Taikomochi]

I watched Precious over the weekend with my family. A very dark, vulgar, and depressing look into the life of a troubled girl with a real mess of a life.

I think, ultimately, the film is quite redemptive. The ending I find to be very positive and optimistic, and, for the most part, so is the rest of the film, able to find humor and joy in the life of a girl who was never afforded any. It's a beautiful film.

The Avengers (2012)

The bar has been raised on superhero films, and I haven't been this impressed with a Marvel film since Spider-Man 2. I'm definitely going to watch this film again... and soon. Looks great in 3D too, especially the last 30-40 minutes.

9/10

Thank god somebody is defending this. Yes, it was pretty kick ass.

[Quint]

You're looking in the wrong place - as stated in numerous posts here: the world and his dog are apparently raving over it.

[Stefancos]

Haven't seen it yet, But I've seen the other Marvel ones. I'm sure The Avengers will be a blast. But to raise the bar? Higher then Superman The Movie, The Dark Knight and Watchmen did?

[Taikomochi]

Haven't seen it yet, But I've seen the other Marvel ones. I'm sure The Avengers will be a blast. But to raise the bar? Higher then Superman The Movie, The Dark Knight and Watchmen did?

I think generally when people say that, they are referring to Marvel films, which are of a decidedly lower quality than those you mentioned.

[Chaac]

I like this film more than Watchmen and TDK. I don't remember Superman much, I saw it too long ago, but I still remember the world turning scene and I don't like it. Other than that there was good stuff in that one.

Oh God I really want to see the new Superman film.

[Quint]

New blood, untrained taste!

[Chaac]

No, but I like to train my taste in unexpected ways that don't necesarily conform to what everyone says. That and that I'm a bit of a troll. Top lists with the most obvious or famous films are boring.

[Quint]

Unexpected ways? What - like claiming The Avengers is some sort of special brilliance? Back to school for you!

[Chaac]

Nah, school was horrible. I felt trapped.


Edit: And if the Avengers is good and fun, so what? What do I do about it? I'm not going to start feeling like a have to knock it down for no reasons such as "it's an action film", "it's an adventure film" or "it requires lots of special effects" or "oh noes! we can't allow a spectacle to compete with a film that aims to be profound!" like some do. Never ever!

[Quint]

I hated it as well.

[Stefancos]

I like this film more than Watchmen and TDK.

Idiot!

[Chaac]

I like this film more than Watchmen and TDK.

Idiot!

So I was more emotionally involved in this film. It's not a conscious decision, Steef! The nucleus of The Dark Knight revolves about some abstract ideals and doesn't grab me as much.

I'm hoping that TDKR is just so awesome that I like it more than The Avengers.

[crocodile]

It's just rollercoaster of a movie, which looks exactly what Marvel comics was always all about. From that perspective I can't say how anyone could be disappointed. Tremendous fun and people like it because of that. No need to go further, people.

Karol

[Quint]

Well, I can't help but compare it with Superman... which had the lore and a mighty soul.

Even the Batman movies (both Burton's and Nolan's) went some way towards achieving success with what are for me vital elements of the genre.

[crocodile]

Superman had Christopher Reeve, Geoffrey Unsworth and Williams' march. Few movies can compete with that.

But I wouldn't say The Avengers completely lacks soul. There are characters in it. I'm surprised how well they managed to juggle all this material. It's a tremendous feat, for a movie like this.

Karol

[Quint]

It is, I said that myself after seeing it.

[crocodile]

Let's face it: Marvel Comics was always more about merchendise and marketing than the actual storytelling. DC had always a bit (just a tiny bit) more class to it. So to see at least this much is a lot. The looks and feels exactly like those comic books where you could see all the heroes engaging in ridiculous battles in big splash pages. I used to read all this stuff when I was younger and this film looks almost exactly like those. That's why people like it, I think. And there's nothing deep about it, there never was.

One thing that I kept wondering about while watching it. How many thousands of innocent people perished during the final sequence? There are scenes of entire buildings collapsing...

Karol

[Taikomochi]

I like this film more than Watchmen and TDK.

Idiot!

So I was more emotionally involved in this film. It's not a conscious decision, Steef! The nucleus of The Dark Knight revolves about some abstract ideals and doesn't grab me as much.

I'm hoping that TDKR is just so awesome that I like it more than The Avengers.

The Avengers is definitely a far superior film to Watchmen, which is comprised of too many half baked visual ideas and Snyderisms to really accomplish what it set out to do. Watchmen is still a good film, but I just feel like too much of it was Snyder just throwing everything at the wall to see what would stick, while Avengers felt like a more solid, consistent product.

While I prefer TDK, I can see why someone would prefer Avengers. TDK is ultimately a better film, but it's also much more flawed.

[Alexcremers]

too many half baked visual ideas and Snyderisms

Whatever, at least it has ideas, which is more than what I can say for The Avengers. It's truly a case of apples and oranges, I'm afraid. I know that Watchmen speaks to me much more on a deeper, personal level. I felt like I was watching the Blade Runner or 2001: A Space Odyssey of comic book movies. Perhaps that's the difference: I like the Snyderisms in Watchmen. I like the Kubrikisms in 2001. I like the Scottisms in Blade Runner and Alien.

Tremendous fun and people like it because of that. No need to go further, people.

I agree and that's how I look at it. I had a fun 90 minutes (I didn't like the last part) with the film but nothing more than that. I've no problem understanding that it's a big popcorn pleaser, something most people go to the movies for.


Alex

[publicist]

It's just rollercoaster of a movie, which looks exactly what Marvel comics was always all about. From that perspective I can't say how anyone could be disappointed. Tremendous fun and people like it because of that. No need to go further, people.

Karol

As i have to watch movies for professionel reasons (not all, though), i can safely say that a film like AVENGERS isn't offensive, it's good for what it is and still, i'm at an age (mid-30s) where my eyes just start to roll (and water) for the fact that all tentpole movies are related to stupid american comic heroes.

And 'stupid' may sound full of vitriol, but honestly, the foil in AVENGERS consisted of aliens of an advanced race (supposedly!) coming through a portal to extinguish mankind and...now brace yourself...to accomplish this, chase men through Manhattan ...WITH MOTORCYCLES! It's harebrained and stupid and i can lean back and enjoy the spectacle, but without some kind of intellect-sucking brain slug attached, it just feels like what it is: a waste of time.

[Koray Savas]

Escapism. It's what keeps the film industry profitable during a rough economy.

[crocodile]

Film IS escapism.

Karol

[Alexcremers]

Yep! This weak it's The Avengers, next week it will be something else. I call it 'fluff'.

[Stefancos]

99% of film is escapism. I would like to believe that there are some films that do a little bit more though.

[publicist]

Escapism. It's what keeps the film industry profitable during a rough economy.

For sure, i do not forget that GORILLA AT LARGE was one of the lone 3-D movies when this 'breakthrough' technology first arrived.

Still, sitting through event movie after event movie with superheroes and their foes going through essentially low-brained routines and filling increasingly long hours with it makes one weary after a while.

[Chaac]

And 'stupid' may sound full of vitriol, but honestly, the foil in AVENGERS consisted of aliens of an advanced race (supposedly!) coming through a portal to extinguish mankind and...now brace yourself...to accomplish this, chase men through Manhattan ...WITH MOTORCYCLES! It's harebrained and stupid and i can lean back and enjoy the spectacle, but without some kind of intellect-sucking brain slug attached, it just feels like what it is: a waste of time.

To be honest I never saw an alien invasion in a film that made sense, like I said in that James Cameron thread. They never seem to know about relativistic bombs, deviating asteroids, and many other things. I even got a new one they discovered: accumulating unlimited energy at the front of a warp field and releasing it towards Earth. That can be devastating though. The key t what happens in The Avengers is that they're trying to conquer, not to destroy. Which is tricky. I think they idea was to keep coming out more and more and more until flooding the initial site. They could (maybe again, should) have gone into space in the Solar System safe from Earth and threaten it from there and ask for surrender. Maybe destroy half a continent and ask again. What? The Avengers? Who are they? I atribute this to many writers unaware of the possibilities. Like the 2-D space ships in Star Trek.

They have changed Saturn being home to some species and have relocated them far away. Otherwise the guy smiling in the credits, who would do the above easily, would be contemplating Earth from there, and it wouldn't make any sense at all.

Ironically it's The Avengers the one that comes up with physics talk that it's not made up.

[BloodBoal]

Yep! This weak it's The Avengers, next week it will be something else.

Haha! Nice wordplay, Cremers!

[publicist]

To be honest I never saw an alien invasion in a film that made sense, like I said in that James Cameron thread. They never seem to know about relativistic bombs, deviating asteroids, and many other things. I even got a new one they discovered: accumulating unlimited energy at the front of a warp field and releasing it towards Earth. That can be devastating though. The key t what happens in The Avengers is that they're trying to conquer, not to destroy. Which is tricky. I think they idea was to keep coming out more and more and more until flooding the initial site. They could (maybe again, should) have gone into space in the Solar System safe from Earth and threaten it from there and ask for surrender. Maybe destroy half a continent and ask again. What? The Avengers? Who are they? I atribute this to many writers unaware of the possibilities. Like the 2-D space ships in Star Trek.

I think they have changed Saturn being home to some species and have relocated them far away. Otherwise the guy smiling in the credits, who would do the above easily, would be contemplating Earth from there, and it wouldn't make any sense at all.

Ironically it's The Avengers the one that comes up with physics talk that it's not made up.

You do a lot of thinking about this stuff, do you?

[Quint]

To be honest I never saw an alien invasion in a film that made sense,

For all it's silliness (and airy brilliance), ID4's invasion is mounted and executed with a surprising scary and efficient methodology which actually feels more authentic than people were probably expecting when they went in.

[Stefancos]

Like Jeremy Clarkson asked Jeff Goldblum.

"When you went up to the mothership and upload the virus, how did you know to bring the right cable?"

[Quint]

It's true, bluetooth wasn't really very prominent when the movie came out, if at all

[Koray Savas]

Film IS escapism.

Karol

Far from it. If that's what you guys believe, then I could go on a very lengthy discussion with you all about it. I've done so with my friends recently, so let's spare the arguments, eh?

To be honest I never saw an alien invasion in a film that made sense, like I said in that James Cameron thread.

I think District 9 is the most realistic alien "invasion" film. From what I remember, we never learn how or why they ended up in our atmosphere. If filmic aliens ever invaded Earth, I'm sure we'd never know why either.

[crocodile]

I think you misunderstood.

Karol

[Koray Savas]

Care to elaborate then? Art as a medium, whether it's literature, film, games, etc. is an expression and reflection of the artist, meant to be consumed by a population. Of course each medium can be broken down into many categories with different purposes, but I view art as a tool to expand one's thinking. There are more films that strive to achieve this goal, than those that simply want to make you forget about life for a couple hours.

[Stefancos]

Koray, you think Crash is a masterpiece, you know nothing!