Friday, May 4, 2012

The Avengers


I finally fulfilled my lifelong dream to see a movie on opening night.
And what a movie it was. 



Holy cow. Essentially: it was deeply, deeply fabulous. If you don't want to know anything at all about it, don't continue (although I don't give any spoilers), but know this: GO AND SEE IT.


Not only was it opening night, it was IMax 3D--as good as you can get. Sound so loud that it messes up your heartbeat and screen so huge and life-like that you flinch from arrows flying hurtling toward you and want to reach out and touch everything.

I sat between my amazing and most superhero-loving-est friends and spazzed. All movie long. There were moments where I literally could not even process the sheer awesomeness.



And when Thor finally made his thunder-ridden, angsty entrance, I screamed like it was a Disneyland ride or something. SORRY GUYS BUT I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS.

See, I'm not a superhero geek or anything--I don't know the comics, but I love every movie (that I've seen) that's led to this movie. The Avengers includes Iron Man (hoo boy), Captain America (one of the goodest good guys ever), the Hulk (never seen the movie but wow--I liked him), Hawkeye (briefly seen before but showcased fantastically and very attractively here), and--Thor. Always and forever.


I've been anticipating this ever since it was rumored to be occurring. It was worth the wait, and exploded my expectations. I deftly adored every single one of the many abundantly awesome characters. 


Thor was more beautiful and lion-like than ever before. Even more hair, even more smoldery blue eyes. He pulled off and rocked every bit of that beautiful blond hair. And I had forgotten/not prepared myself for the power and beautiful majesty of his voice (right up there with Mufasa). He blasts all my snobbery about not caring for accents right out of the water.


I have always loved and stood by Iron Man, even though he has is issues and his haters (many of which are my friends or relations). His personality, vibe, and choice of pants are absolutely irresistible. His character development/improvement just gets better in this movie. And instead of going back to former issues, he picked up where he left off in Iron Man 2--committed to Pepper (although sheesh I wish they would get married). And he was awesomer than ever before. Gah. 


I adore Captain America coolly. He's beautiful and his hair is comforting. He has the perfect face, voice, aura, and stance for a 1940's all-American hero. He's a good guy of the highest order. He is quietly brave and tough-as-nails at soul-level, and I love him, but (therefore?) I don't relate or rabidly adore his psyche in the same way as Iron Man and Thor. He is too sturdily flawless for a soul connection. 

In this movie, he's now misplaced in the 21st century after being frozen for 70 years (that's gotta be awkward), which creates some amusing confusion and gratifying angst (destroyed punching bags for. the. win). Somehow, I liked him way more in this movie-- I loved when he locked horns with the other guys, when he took charge, when he gutsily hung by fingertips, when he smiled hopefully about monkeys.



I've never seen The Hulk and never had had much of a desire to (Edward Norton--meh). Praise be, they changed the actor to a now gracefully albeit hobo-ishly aging Mark Ruffalo. Despite his peaceful, cozy-type doctor-ness, his transformation to shirt-destroying green beast is believable and gives me joy.


I've been explaining my delight and anticipation about Jeremy Renner to most anyone who will listen lately. I recently saw him in Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol and all my premonition instincts about how I'd feel about him were so spot on. Meaning: I absolutely love him.


I've always had a thing for guys with bow and arrows. Began with Errol Flynn and his rakish Robin Hood, continued with my preteen crush on Legolas (I'm not proud). But here, here was epic agile archer-ness with a heavy dose of straight-up hardcore superhero-ness. 


And purely aesthetically, his arms were framable. 


You're welcome.


I didn't know what to expect from the mind-bomb combination of sheer awesomeness that would be The Avengers, but the main thing I was worried about was the Black Widow. I have this instinctive dislike of Scarlett Johannsen, even though/because she's beautiful and a good actress. I wouldn't have any of that creepo-flirtingness that there was in Iron Man 2. I was ready to hate her at the deepest level if she got near any of the superheroes whom I love--I mean, they all have love interests, and it would just be horrific if there was any flirting or weirdness. 



However, I ended up really liking her, rooting for her, and also LOVING HER RED HAIR. I liked how, even though she was fighting along-side all the epic men, she was totally a woman and didn't try to be/seduce any of them. Much appreciated. I think my only issue with her was some awkwardly way-tight pants.


Nick Fury, whose name I adore but who I've never liked, won me over, too. In the other movies, he  shows up on occasion, randomly and irksomely. I'm still not a fan of anything really going on with Samuel Jackson's face other than the scars and his eyepatch, but I like him now.



I raged about Loki in Thor (just that some people LIKE HIM MORE THAN THOR AHEM), but I appreciated him much more in this movie. I love him as a bad guy--his twisted, diseased psyche, with calculated and deceitful snatches at power flowing out of being-the-inferior-brother issues, daddy issues, adopted issues, being-a-frost-giant issues. 


I personally get annoyed/fed up with bad guys whose main motivation is just sheer lust for power or money. I mean, that works, but it's not terribly original or pick-apart-able. I like when there are psychological scars and deeper, intrinsic warped-soul motivations.


The really incredible thing, is the smooth and perfect meld of all of these epic characters into just one movie. It had great potential for just being ridiculous/cheesy/over-the-top, but instead, everyone keeps their complete character, and are combined in a way that just makes each of them even awesomer. And, being on a COMMUNITY IS AWESOME kick, the whole let's-get-a-bunch-of-flawed-and-unstable-people-all-together-to-save-the-world thing was just. so. good. All kindsa Bible verses about this stuff, guys. For reals.



It's undeniable--the movie is chockfull-and-spilling-over with wildly muscular, very attractive men with great teeth, but I liked how they weren't gratuitous about it. It was understated in a way that made it that much more amazing. No skip scenes, no stupid girl stuff. They were smoking hot and courageous while saving the world, not being creeps with girls. 

It's definitely violent, but there's very little blood or really icky moments, and the language is fairly mild and limited. If you're not into action movies, it's probably not for you, since it's loud and proud and smashy.



It's sky-rocketed to my top-five-favorite movies, and I love it and recommend it more than I have any movie in very long time.

I loved it. I loved the story, I loved the special effects, I loved the amazing pants, I loved the character development, I loved the beautiful, colorful shots, I loved the hair, I loved the superheroes,

I LOVED EVERYTHING. AMEN. 

44 comments:

  1. Ha! I think it's awesome that we both saw the same movie for the first time on opening night. I went with some friends of mine, despite the fact that I had to work all day today on 2 hours of sleep. Yes. It was totally worth it. Yes, Iron Man was amazing. There were certain parts that I was pretty positive my heart had stopped beating. Bruce Banner was just... just... yeah, I can't even talk about how much I loved him. HAWKEYE! Oh... wow. Hawkeye. Yeah, I could go on, but you pretty much said anything I had to say about this movie in your post. It was amazing. The end.

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  2. Yes. Yes yes yes. I agree with this post. Especially Black Widow's pants. Too tight. And Tony Stark is just...he's...yeah. Love the guy, love them all. <3

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  3. This looks really good...hopefully I will go see it this week. I can't wait!!

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  4. Sound's really good! AnnaKate recommended it to me earlier today!!
    I love Thor too! WAAY better than Loki. Really. I mean, Chris Hemsworth Better.

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  5. Thanks for the review, Polka-Dot!!! I'm really wanting to see this movie now, even though I haven't watched either Thor or Iron Man. :)
    -Sarah

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  6. Wow I didn't wanna see this movie at all until now! You really sold me on it! Now I've only seen iron man, will I still understand everything?

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    1. they do a good job making it make sense even if you haven't seen the others--but it that much awesomer if you HAVE seen them. :)

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  7. haha " his taste in pants." nice :) Thanks for the review, I'm definitely now interested. I wasn't too sure about it.

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  8. Can't wait to see it!!!! I'm waiting until my best friend gets here next weekend to go see it :D. And thank you so much for taking the time to tell us about it! I really appreciate it :D

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  9. A bunch of hot hunky superhero dudes all in one movie.

    Oh yes. This movie will be epic. Can't wait to see it on Tuesday! ;)

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  10. I LOVE this movie. My goodness. I agree with every word you said, especially about Captain America being too perfect to love with your soul as well as your heart... I admire him, but I'll never really be able to love him. haha

    And YES, all the guys were undeniably good looking... seriously so. But they weren't all flaunting it and I actually enjoyed the lack of romance, although I would have enjoyed seeing Jane and Thor reunite. =)

    Overall, SUCH a fun movie. My dad said it's one of the best action/adventure flicks he's ever seen!

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  11. Loud, proud and smashy <3 Flawed epic unstable unruly rabble saving the world. Um, HECK YES.

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  12. Ohh yes yes and yes. Geez, how did you formulate the exactly perfect words for this in just one day? Gah it was so, so epic. I saw the midnight showing too, with a group of friends. I was laughing and squealing pathetically the whole time. It was awesome.
    Iron Man--admittedly, never liked him. This movie? He was great. So, so great. I just think he needed to resolve his girl problems and he was good to go. He's just hilarious.
    Hawkeye--after having several of my friends just DIE over Jeremy Renner, this is the first thing I've seen him in. How did he never run out of arrows....? ;) He was so. cool.
    Captain America--I always liked him, but never loved him. He kinda stole my heart a bit more in this movie, though. (: I just felt for him so much when he was confused, and when he got the monkey reference it was just the sweetest thing. Plus he was often the stabilizing center of the group. He's just great. I wanted him to find his girl. (But YES--I'm so glad this movie didn't get distracted with girl issues. Black Widow was fine and enough. Scarlett Johannsen is...bothersome to me, so I'm glad she was actually cool and legit.)
    The Hulk--ahhh! I've never seen/had the desire to see the movies either, but oh I just loved him to death. The way he'd talk about "the other guy"...hahah. And one of my favorite parts is when Loki is all like "I'm a god, I won't be bullied by the likes of you..." and the Hulk just picks him up and smashes him against the ground a handful of times. Classic.
    Thor--THANK YOU ANOTHER THOR FAN. Few people appreciate my love of him because they think his movie was so cheesy, but oh my word is he a beast. And yes, his voice is beautiful, as are his eyes, and the adorable way he says of Loki, "...He was adopted." hehe!
    Loki--so sadistic. I loved him as a villain in Thor, and I loved him again...though I wish they had brought more closure to his story. Ah well, leaves room for another movie! (: And Nick Fury--hah, I've never understood that guy always being around. :p But he kinda stood up for his own this movie. I liked it.
    Geez I just wrote you a blog post in return to yours. :p Basically--I LOVE THIS MOVIE TOO. And seeing all these photos made my heart happy. Ahh, it was so epic, so incredible, so intense, so awesome, so legit, so legendary.

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    1. yay! I'm so glad you saw it and liked it. :) exaactly about Captain America.

      FAVORITE MOMENT EVER with the Hulk.

      THOR <3

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  13. I'm dying to watch this, now more than ever! I love Iron Man and Captain America (I just finished watching that for the first time - LOVE).

    Eeeeep!

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  14. My husband is just dying to go see this! He loves his superhero movies. :-) Loved this post and you even got me interested in going to see it! lol!

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  15. you are so adorable. eeek! I really want to see this now!

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  16. You know, the peep who played Gale in The Hunger Games is Chris Hemsworth's (guy who plays Thor)younger brother. I'm ashamed for Chris.

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  17. Oh my word. I can't wait to see the movie! I'm so glad I found someone who loves Thor so much! Most of my friends liked Loki! Great review!

    I've heard lots and lots of rumors that there is going to be a sequel to Thor! (crosses fingers) They left me hanging at the end of Thor!
    Avengers sounds awesome though!

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  18. Ooh! I loved this movie!!! :D Saw it yesterday evening! :D I hope you stayed until the VERY, VERY end of the credits... because there was an extra scene at the very end! :D (There were two in all, if you count the one just as the credits started). It's a funny scene. *grins*

    I too, loved all the characters and was worried about Natasha (Black Widow)... but I ended up liking her..... that's unusual for me because I usually don't like girl characters who fight along-side the men...(Keira Knightly.... Pirates of the Caribbean is a good example)...I'm just old-fashioned like that and think the saving-the-world should be the men's job.... But like I said: I really did love her! :D And Hawkeye..... Oh yeah! (love the Legolas joke thrown in there, btw).

    After I saw the movie I told my sister that I hope (you) do a review on it. I just love reading them. They're so funny! :D

    I'll stop this rediculously-getting-too-long comment!

    ~Anna

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    1. I went and saw it again a couple days later, and stayed 'til the VERY end this time--thanks! That was so awkward and hilarious.

      My thoughts *exactly* about Natasha. I usually get so annoyed with the girls who try to be all macho--I liked how she was totally a girl, and only got into the "soldiering" because of the crisis.

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  19. Ahhh I loved this! I too have been very excited to see this movie since hearing that it was comming out. Unfortunately no open day viewing for me though, so I truly enjoyed this. Also Thor is like 95% of the reason I want to see it, 4% for the other guys and 1% goes to actually wanting to see the movie : )

    Sydney

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  20. I loved this: "wildly muscular, very attractive men with great teeth." Oh my, that made me laugh. :) Especially the great teeth part.

    I've never been into superhero movies...I don't think I've seen a single one! (The only reason these superhero names are familiar to me is because my little cousin makes me read him books about them all the time. :)

    ~Kristin

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  21. Thank you, I'm lovin' hearing everyone's thoughts on this film; I can't wait to see it myself. I'll have my sister read this sometime, she's a huge Thor fan. I'm head over heels for Steve Rogers; he's my favorite by far. I also stand by Iron Man; I recently did a guest post for someone on why I thought he was hero, because I know a lot of people don't like him at all.

    So glad you liked the movie!

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  22. I'm glad you like it... now I'm looking forward to seeing it!

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  23. I get so ridiculously excited for your movie posts - almost as much as I do for the movie itself. I have been wanting to see this so badly and I had to spend Friday at a "third-party billing/coding optometry/opthalmology insurance seminar" and I was just too tired to see it the day it came out and I was SO SAD. Also insurance seminar? I kept wishing these heros would bust down the walls and rescue me.
    You didn't miss much skipping The Hulk - the initial movie made me want to poke my eyes out it was so, so, so incredibly bad. And the Edward Norton one? I feel the same way about him - meh. He bugs me for no reason. It wasn't a horrible movie but it was skippable.
    Now I must plot when I can see this one. I'll go by myself if I have to!

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  24. Polka Dot, girl, you are seriously killing me with this review. I am DYING to watch The Avengers! Like I know I really, really need to see it. And I am exceedingly excited for that day. (Please be soon, please be very, very soon!) Actually, I am going to try to convince my parents if we can watch it this coming Tuesday. 'Cause I don't think I can wait any longer.

    PS. Your review was smashing!

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  25. I really, really want to see this movie. Really bad. Thanks for the great review! Can not wait! Eek!

    Katie

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  26. Thank you for reviewing this! It's nice to see a couple reviews before I watch a movie. I'm glad it's clean - scene wise (I HATE it when they have skip scenes in there!).

    No thank you for amping my anticipation up by quite a few notches. ;) Really, you are killing me. And I don't have the moolah to pay to go to the theater. :(

    BTW... the Edward Norton "The Hulk" did NOT impress me. The ones with Eric Bana were better (although be forewarned there is a a scene that you might want to be careful of).

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  27. Amen! I've just seen the movie and this review is all so true! I loved every bit of the movie and I can't say any more.

    The hulk just cracked me up! Especially when he punched Thor in the middle of fighting the aliens and when he bullied and smashed Loki when he said "I am a God! I will not be bullied by any-" HAHAH! I had soo many favourite scenes, not gonna lie xx

    Jianine
    http://definitelyscreaming.blogspot.com/

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  28. If you were close enough I would hug you. The mere fact you like Hawkeye made my day. I liked him in Thor, and when I read more about him I liked him even more. And I kept going through the whole movie, "SOMEONE TURN HIM BACK GOOD!"

    Anyhow, I liked this movie a lot to. It was, amazing! I loved all the humor things in it too. And I LOVED the part where Steve looks so proud of himself that he finally got one of their sayings. (The one about the monkeys) Then disappointed that everyone seemed to think he was a nut. And I was so eager to see how he and Tony would get along (since he and Howard had been best friends) I was not disappointed.

    Cool review! I want to see it in the IMax SOOO badly!

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  29. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS MOVIE! And girl you are SO right about Hawkeye. I wish he and Black Widow had been given their own origin movie...I loved the glimpses into their friendship/partnership.

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  30. AHHHHHHH!!! I saw this last night and I LOVED LOVED LOVED it! I noticed a lot of what you said, especially about none of the heroes being creeps with girls/guys. Personally, I loved Black Widow. She was incredibly intelligent and looked after herself. I also loved the witty banter that went on in a lot of scenes. Cracked. Me. Up.

    And after I saw Avengers, I went home and watched Thor and Captain America for the first time and kinda fell pretty hard for Thor. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The end. Amen.

    xoxo,
    --Abi

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  31. Amazing review!!!! This soooo makes me want to go see it again!!!! I was going to wait till tomorrow, but I think I am just gonna have to go tonight!!!!! :D

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  32. We just went and saw this last night! It was SO fun!!! I loved the tension between all the characters, and how they managed to work together despite their flawed and unstable personalities. We saw it in 3D at Cinetopia...it felt like you were inside the movie! I think all the rumbling and noise scared our poor little baby though...he wouldn't stop wiggling and squirming in me through the whole last half of the movie!

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  33. This looks awesome!! I just ordered Thor and Captain America from the library...I'll be the first to get The Avengers when it's out on DVD. ;D

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  34. Oh my, you are amazingly detailed! Interesting looking. =)
    ~Aidyl
    www.aidylewoh.blogspot.com

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  35. Great review. Espicially the line about Stark's choice of pants. I have to say I love me some Loki. My only issue with this post is your shame about your Legolas crush!!! No!! Do not be ashamed. I will proudly carry my Legolas crush until the end of time.

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