Movie Review (and some musings): The Avengers

As of right now, The Avengers has had the largest opening weekend of any film in history. It’s received rave reviews, and generated its share of controversy. You probably have an idea of whether or not you’re going to see it, if you haven’t seen it already. But in case you need my take on it to convince you, here it is: The Avengers is really, really good. Not perfect, not the best movie I have ever seen in my life, but a genuinely enjoyable, funny, well-written and acted summer blockbuster which is definitely worth seeing.

The Avengers brings together the heroes from Marvel’s various movies over the past couple of years. Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the villainous brother of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), is back and seeking to conquer the earth with the aid of an army of aliens. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of S.H.I.E.L.D, has to gather the world’s superhumans to mount a defense. Among them are Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, the only actor who hadn’t appeared in a previous Marvel film). They fight and bicker and hang out, and manage to beat up a good number of bad guys while they’re at it.

The movie dragged a little bit in the beginning, at least for me. Starting a story, even a sequel or climactic installment, with a huge explosion set piece can sometimes have the opposite effect of what’s intended: the viewer gets so wound up that any establishing or dialogue heavy scenes just after it feel too slow (for what it’s worth, I had the same problem with the beginning of Mass Effect 3). Although the movie wisely sidesteps recapping origins and such, there’s still a lot of introduction there to get all these characters together.

But once it gets going, it really gets going. A lot of the draw of this movie, even before it was shot, was the promise of watching these diverse characters interact with one another. Director Joss Whedon’s script doesn’t disappoint. Whedon’s always had a knack for injecting humor into tense situations, and the interplay between any of the characters, particularly Iron Man, is always entertaining. Special mention goes out to Ruffalo, whose measured, dryly funny performance as Bruce Banner trumped both previous attempts at bringing the character (and his monstrous alter-ego) to the screen. Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow is also given much more to work with here than in Iron Man 2, and it’s nice seeing her as a human character dealing with the presence of these others.

(Side note: I’ve been a fan of a number of Whedon’s TV and film projects to varying degrees for a while now, but I’ve never been a zealot. A lot of reviews, mainly from bloggers and critics who are more TV oriented, focus heavily on placing Avengers in the greater context of his work. I’m not going to do that, because I feel like it does a disservice to Jon Favreau, Kenneth Brannaugh, and Joe Johnston’s work in casting and defining the characters in previous films, but rest assured those sorts of reviews are out there if you want them.)

On the other side, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is as wonderful as ever, petulant, clever and complicated. While he skews more towards straight villainy than in Thor, he’s still an extremely compelling character to watch. Unfortunately, he’s not given a whole lot to work with in his alien army, only a hooded ally who looks and acts like a Power Rangers villain. Still, the aliens serve their purpose, namely being fodder for a phenomenal action sequence at the film’s climax. It’s as big and bombastic as anything you’d see in a Michael Bay film, but a tight sense of plotting and scene, combined with some great character moments, makes it engaging and easy to follow.

(Side note WITH SPOILERS: I think my favorite fight scene in the movie though has to be between Black Widow and Hawkeye. The few shots used, combined with tight choreography and great Foley (which is really the key to a good fight scene) makes it feel very real and very painful.)

Overall, I enjoyed The Avengers. I wouldn’t say that it’s my favorite Marvel movie (I did, after all, see Captain America: The First Avenger six times in theatres), but considering what a feat it was, bringing together characters from four very different franchises and telling a story which serves all of them, I think it passed with flying colors. I’ll be interested to see what impact the clear establishment of a larger world has on future solo films (the first of which appears to be Iron Man 3), and of course, the post credits teaser has me pumped for Avengers 2.

RATING: THREE STARS (OUT OF FOUR)

One final thought: A lot has been made of the rise of “geek culture” with these blockbusters, especially The Avengers. One thing I noticed in people’s posts about seeing the movie on Facebook and Twitter was a running theme of “Seeing Avengers!! I’m a nerd, I know ” and the like. I don’t really like the idea that seeing a movie requires justification or embarrassment, especially one which is an unparalleled success. I describe Gentlemen, Behold!! as a “nerd blog” primarily because that’s the kind of thing people say when they look at it, but I don’t think there’s anything to be ashamed of (or proud of, for that matter) about liking comics or cartoons or something. Just enjoy what you want to enjoy, and don’t worry about what people think. It’s the year 2012, no one’s gonna give you a swirlie.

Animation Wednesday: The Legend of Korra

This post is part of the Animation Wednesday series, a regular column which looks at animated TV series and movies of the past, present and future.

As you may recall, I’m a pretty big fan of the original Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series. So when I heard that Nickelodeon would be airing a sequel series, set 70 years after the original, I was equal parts excited and nervous. There weren’t any glaring problems. The creators who worked on the original series were all coming back, and the integrity of the project hadn’t been affected by the abysmal movie adaptation. But one of the strongest things about the series was the fact that it had a beginning, middle and end, and that the story followed a logical progression dictated by story needs, as opposed to being used to sell things. This new series would need a strong sense of place, interesting, relatable characters, and a compelling conflict to live up to the standard set by A:TLA.

Well, four episodes into The Legend of Korra, and I can pretty confidently state that it doesn’t only live up to the standard, it may actually exceed it. The Legend of Korra is a beautiful, intriguing series which firmly stands on its own while referencing the greater framework of the Avatar universe. There’s plenty in it to reward old fans, but it’s accessible enough for new viewers to jump on.

A Discussion of The Cabin in The Woods (with plenty of spoilers)

I’ve seen The Cabin in the Woods twice now, and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit.  As most of you are probably aware, it relies heavily on the audience being unaware of a lot of the elements going in (I’d say “twists,” but that’s not exactly what’s going on here, at least not in the usual M. Night Shyamalan sense).  Most reviews have focused on broad strokes, giving a rough appraisal without spoiling anything.  I think that’s good, but I’m also interested to hear what people thought of specific elements and choice the film made.

SPOILER: At no point does the cabin literally change shape like a giant Rubik's Cube.

Thus, I’m posting a recap/discussion of some of the elements of the film.  Obviously, it’s going to involve spoilers.  If you haven’t seen The Cabin in the Woods yet, stop reading this and go out and see it.  Don’t read any other reviews, don’t even watch the trailer, just see it.  It’s not really very scary, and it’s definitely worth seeing.  You won’t really have much of an opinion or anything to discuss regarding what I’m about to say if you haven’t seen it.

So seriously, spoilers ahead.  Don’t read unless you’ve seen it.

Ok?

Animation Wednesday: Runaway Brain

Mickey Mouse is the most well-known cartoon character in the world.  I don’t have a statistic for that, but I feel pretty confident in that claim.  He’s the face (often the silhouette) of one of the biggest entertainment corporations on the planet, and is sold aggressively to kids around the world.  However, a funny thing happened to Mickey Mouse along the way: he stopped growing.  The character was developed from his roots as a prankster to a bland corporate symbol.  He’s struggled to maintain relevance because Disney’s effort to make sure he’s inoffensive and relatable have left him devoid of conflict.  It’s hard to make an audience care about him.  That’s why Donald Duck, Goofy, and Scrooge McDuck have all seen success in television series, but Mickey has struggled to reach audiences.  It’s the same problem Warner Brothers has had with Bugs Bunny for a while too, although the new series seems to be helping.

Boring, probably.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been bright spots.  The recent Epic Mickey video game captured a lot of the simple aesthetics that made early Mickey cartoons engaging.  And of course, there’s the topic of this post, 1995′s Runaway Brain.  Through the magic of YouTube, I’ve embedded it here in its entirety, so you can watch it after the jump.

Why I Stopped Recapping Grimm

Readers, you may have noticed that I haven’t recapped an episode of Grimm in a long time.  I could give a number of reasons for that.  I could tell you that I’m writing for the Kalamazoo Gazette, and that they keep me pretty busy over there.  I could tell you that a feature film my friends produced, The Day Job, premiered and that setting all that up took a significant amount of my energies.  I could tell you that I competed in, and won, a stand up comedy competition.  These are all elements.  But the truth is that I stopped recapping Grimm because it’s just not a very good show.  It’s not a very good show, no one’s paying me to recap it, and the time I spend taking notes on episodes and writing about them is better spent doing a number of other things.

TV Review: Awake

NBC’s in pretty rough shape.  The former top network’s fallen to last place on network TV, and they can’t seem to stem the tide.  Recent premiere Smash hasn’t turned out to be “The Show That Saves NBC” the way they’d hoped (One sentence review of Smash: Better than Glee because it’s less cloying, but musical shows just aren’t my thing).  The next attempt at The Show That Saves NBC is Awake, a crime procedural with a twist.  While I think that heavily pushing one show and being ax-happy with others speaks more to NBC’s continued lack of business savvy, that’s not the point.

The point is that Awake is fantastic.

Animation Wednesday: Avatar: The Last Airbender

This post is part of the Animation Wednesday series, a weekly column which looks at animated TV series and movies of the past, present and future.

Nickelodeon had a pretty prolific output in animation during the early 90′s, with a number of series running for many seasons and movies, including Rugrats and Hey, Arnold!  Their shows were critically acclaimed, but all of them were pretty firmly rooted in broad comedy.  So when Avatar: The Last Airbender premiered in 2005, some people were understandably skeptical of an anime-influenced fantasy series from a company well-known for bathroom humor.

But here’s the thing: Avatar: The Last Airbender is, in my opinion, the greatest animated series of all time.

Life in the Twilight Zone

Every year Syfy (formerly Sci-fi Channel) airs a Twilight Zone marathon for New Year’s.  For those who don’t know, The Twilight Zone is a 1960s anthology series which focused on science fiction, fantasy and horror elements in its stories.  It’s often brought up when strange or unfortunate coincidences occur, generally by those who grew up with the show.  But speaking as someone who’s memorized almost every episode of The Twilight Zone, I have to say, it doesn’t seem like such a bad place to live (spoilers for a couple of episodes follow).

Season’s Beatings: The Story of Krampus

Merry Christmas!!  The Yuletide is one of my favorite seasons.  The caroling, the presents, the repetitive television specials, I love all of it.  But the joy of Christmas hides a darker, more dangerous element, an element which threatens the lives of people around the world.  Most people are sadly unaware these dangers, so I’ve taken it upon myself to educate the general public.  I’m referring, of course, to the Krampus, the monster of Christmas.

Deconstructing the Marvel vs. DC “Dilemma”

It’s a common practice.  You meet someone and discover he or she reads comic books.  You ask about which of the big two publishers, Marvel Comics or DC Comics, he or she prefers.  If you agree, you have a lot to talk about.  If you don’t, you have even more.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  But the idea of one company being inherently “better” than the other, and the idea that you have to pick a side, is flawed, and when people take it too seriously, they cheat themselves out of a lot of good stuff.