Universal Pictures released the first trailer in the next installment of the popular “Bourne” franchise. In the new film, Matt Damon returns to the celebrated role in Jason Bourne.
Check out the first trailer for Jason Bourne below:
Continue reading Jason Bourne: First Action-Packed Trailer Hits
As if the recent flood of comic book movies wasn’t enough to prove the geeks will inherit the earth, ABC has just put in an order for Marvels Most Wanted, an Agents of SHIELD spin-off set to star Adrianne Palicki, whose character Bobbi Morse (Mockingbird) kicked major butt for SHIELD last season.
Continue reading Adrianne Palicki to Lead New Agents of SHIELD Spin-Off
I was looking forward to this episode mainly because in the back of my mind I’d hoped there would be a Cobie Smulders sighting with an Avengers sketch. Sadly there was no Cobie Smulders but there was an Avengers sketch. Unfortunately the episode wasn’t all that funny. There were some bright spots however, not as many as last week, but a few nonetheless.
One of those bright spots was the cold open. Everyone in the world knew that General Patraeus and his side projects would be the subject for at least one sketch, but SNL thought he was good enough for two sketches and a Weekend Update sketch. The cold open was Cecily Strong as Paula Broadwell reading from her new book All In. This was one of those sketches that I can’t believe they were able to keep a straight face. The second time I uttered “dirty girl” I would have been a goner. Strong got through it without even cracking a smile, that’s impressive. All I could think of though, was Allison Janney in 10 Things I Hate About You as the smut writing guidance counselor. She would have loved Broadstone’s book. Well the SNL version at least.
The monologue was just bad. Yes there are fangirls who are absolutely beside themselves with excitement that Jeremy Renner sang for his monologue but when you are doing a musical monologue the week after Anne Hathaway killed it with her Les Mis monologue? It isn’t going to go well. It’s not that he doesn’t have a good singing voice, it just wasn’t that funny. I will give him this though, he played off the technical difficulty quite well and even though he was visibly nervous, he did perform well, I just didn’t find it entertaining.
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1424422
Another thing I had really looked forward to in my “dream SNL episode” was another short type of piece with Adam Levine because “Iran” remains one of my favorite sketches to date. I get that song stuck in my head all the time. However, as disappointed as I was that there wasn’t an Adam Levine short, I have a feeling that the “Tourism ad: Your Hometown” piece might be a new favorite. If for no other reason than I can relate to that completely. Granted my mom doesn’t send us home with leftovers but I can not tell you the number of times I’ve had to hear about my “crap in the basement”. I’m not one that would ever return to my old high school but just the image of Taran Killam sitting in the parking lot and then changing his mind about going in makes me chuckle. That was the highlight of the night for me.
My feelings on “The Californians” were addressed the last time this awful sketch was rolled out.
“The Situation Room” returned to General Patreaus and frankly, wasn’t that funny. The highlights were playing the one bit of footage they have of Jill Kelley over and over and when they then decided to go with a “CNN Dramatization” I woke up my “sleeps like the dead” husband because I laughed so hard. How could I not laugh at Tim Robinson dressed in a pretty pink dress as he happily pranced to his car?
“The Standoff” was actually a really good short. Much like the shorts have been this year, it wasn’t in your face funny but it definitely had its moments. When it was over I was left with more of a “you know I enjoyed that” feeling rather than “Oh that was hysterical!” one and even though I watch SNL to laugh, it’s hard to not appreciate when they put something together that is well done even if it’s not slapstick.
Bobby wearing suspenders in the shower though made my night.
Maroon 5 was good, there wasn’t really any doubt they would be. Thankfully they left their screensavers at home.
When Weekend Update has two guests, I usually love one and can’t stand the other. This week however, both guests were great. If you haven’t seen any video of Katt Williams then make your way over to YouTube immediately and watch some. You will then appreciate how spot on Jay Pharoah’s impression was. If he petted his hair one more time I was going to lose it.
When Seth Myers announced Chris Christie, I fully expected to see Bobby Moynihan again. Instead, we got the real thing. Whether you are a fan of Christie’s or not, I think we can all agree that he did a good job. He was quite the good sport and I appreciate that in people. Make fun of yourself a little bit and you’ll go far. Well done Gov. Christie, well done.
Not well done? The Avengers sketch. Lazy, lazy, lazy. The joke of Hawkeye not really doing anything was funny but the execution of the sketch just sucked. I was quite disappointed because I (like I’m sure many others) was looking forward to seeing what they would do. Thankfully Thor asked for a scrunchie otherwise the entire sketch would have been a loss.
“Thug #2” seemed like a throwaway sketch. Not much point to it beyond, Jason Sudekis is an ass and his name is Dick Fuel. That’s about it. Boring.
I thought I’d been transported back to the 90’s with the animated “Cool Drones” piece. So much so that I actually went to the internets and looked up to see if Robert Smigel was involved. Smigel being the man behind “TV Funhouse”. He actually was not a part of “Midnight Snack” as it was done by Augenblick Studios. Whoever had the idea to turn drones into a boy band needs a big kiss on the mouth because that was awesome. Here’s hoping there are more episodes of “Midnight Snack” in the future.
If “Tourism ad: Your Hometown” was my favorite part of the night, the final sketch of the night was my second favorite part. It was a simple sketch but they did a good job with it. I am somewhat amazed that Taran Killam did not absolutely lose it as Bill Hader was beating about the head and chest. I don’t think he even cracked a smile and that is impressive.
As a whole, the episode was weak. It felt like they wrote sketches that they then put Jeremy Renner into instead of writing sketches for him. I personally am not a fan of episodes like that. Then when they did write an episode for Renner (I’m assuming “The Avengers” was written with him in mind) it was just lame. Very disappointing.
I really wish they had included this “Thanksgiving Dinner” sketch that was put up on NBC’s site from the dress rehearsal.
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1424415
Here’s hoping that the show on December 8th (there is no new episode the next two weekends) with Jamie Foxx is much better.
Until then SNL fans, have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I feel as if I should disclose something before I begin. I adore Anne Hathaway. She can do no wrong in my eyes. However, I was pretty certain that after the crushing defeat Alabama suffered yesterday, I was never going to laugh again. If there was anyone that could bring a smile back to my life, surely it was Anne Hathaway. Thankfully, she came through for me.
Thankfully the cold open didn’t dictate how the show would end up because it was just bad. Okay, maybe it wasn’t bad but it certainly wasn’t as[pullquote_right]Paul Ryan is doing feats of strength.[/pullquote_right] good as it could have been. I was really hoping they’d do a Fox and Friends with Karl Rove as their guest. Then again there’s the logistics of who Bobby Moynihan would play (he was Karl Rove in the open) but surely they could have figured something out. Oh well, I suppose it was nice to send off Jason Sudekis’ Mitt Romney impression with one last cold open.
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1423640
All was forgiven when the monologue got under way. Usually when they do a musical monologue I roll my eyes because it seems like an easy cop-out but this was Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables, the entire cast, and the Mexican flag. There was no way this wasn’t going to be awesome.
Best part was Tim Robinson and Aidy Bryant singing that they aren’t in many sketches because they are new. Of course Cecily Strong is new and we’ve seen plenty (too much at times) of her. There was one person a bit out of tune there on the last held note but sometimes even ex-choir directors are able to look past that and enjoy it anyway.
The “Girlfriends Talk Show” was a throwaway. Not much to write home about except it was nice to see Aidy as a main character of a sketch.
[pullquote_left]He’s most likely carrying diseases[/pullquote_left] The last two digital shorts might have been more of a dark humor but “Mokiki” was just straight up funny. Odd, very odd, but still funny. Perhaps it was simply due to it being Taran Killam and Anne Hathaway, two people I adore, but I loved it. The best part has to be the random people’s reactions. I suppose if you don’t watch the show and don’t have the “where is Taran Killam located right this moment” app on your phone then it’s a good chance you’d really think this dude was a bit off. Of course you’d also maybe wonder as to why there was a camera following this fool around but some people are just that oblivious.
When it comes to sketches that are parodies of shows, especially shows on premium channels, I feel badly for the viewing public that has not seen said show. Same goes for last night because if you don’t watch Homeland, then you probably have no clue as to how on spot and perfect the Homeland sketch was. Well I do watch Homeland so let me assure you, it was the best sketch of the night.
I don’t know that I’ve seen Bill Hader do Mandy Patinkin before, but it was uncanny. Taran Killam and Anne Hathaway’s Brody and Carrie, 
respectively, were hysterical. It was one of those sketches that you watch it and realize that the show you love and that is so well done, really is ridiculous when looked at in a different light. I imagine if Clare Danes and Damian Lewis were to watch the sketch, they’d agree that SNL’s interpretation was well done.
The McDonald’s sketch was both predictable but funny at the same time. My only beef (ha!) is with Cecily Strong. I get that there was a lot of dialogue to remember in that one but perhaps try to not be so obvious about reading off the cards. That and the writing could have been a little better.
Bobby 
Moynihan is stellar with sketches like this one and last night was no different. If Taran Killam were no longer on the show, Bobby Moynihan would easily be my favorite cast member. Second best sketch of the night.
Usually the musical guests are an amusing, sometimes entertaining, break from the show. When Rihanna’s first number started, I thought I had accidentally ingested some mushrooms. What the hell was that? Seriously. I know I’m dating myself but it looked like she had gone to Bush Gardens and made a music video at the green screen booth. I fully expected her and her band to come out in the Old West costumes under a sepia light for the second number. The band was just a bunch of floating heads as what looked awfully like a Windows 98 screen saver. Not sure whose idea that was, but they need to perhaps find a new line of work because that was just horrendous. It did however, show exactly what I love about the internet today. Even 10 years ago you’d have to wait until Monday to have that “did you see Rihanna’s first performance on SNL?” conversation. In today’s world you can jump on tumblr, go to the SNL tag and immediately there are a ton of people asking the same thing. We live in great times friends, great times indeed.
Drunk Uncle is quickly becoming one of my favorite Weekend Update guests. I’m sure there are people who will hunt me down like a dog when I saw this but I actually hated Kristin Wiig’s “Aunt Linda” character. Sure she had her moments but overall, not fun. Drunk Uncle? Love him. I nearly choked on my coffee (had to watch SNL this morning due to the aforementioned depression over a football game) when he did the Windows 8 bit. Here’s hoping there more of Drunk Uncle in the future.
Another thing I hope sticks around for awhile- Kate McKinnon’s Ellen. Everything about it is so well done that I couldn’t believe this sketch was actually in the last part of the hour. It could have easily switched spots with the “Girlfriends Talk Show” and I’m wondering if time was the only reason it wasn’t. The way she jumps up and down in the chair and their shout out to the YouTube kids, great sketch all the way around.
The rest of the episode was a sketch about “American Gothic” that was mildly entertaining, Rihanna minus the hallucinogenics, and a fauxmercial. They were all right. Most notable thing was people’s reaction to the fauxmercial. Apparently you can’t poke fun at people with fake allergies. I was unaware of this and will readjust my life accordingly. Thank you internet for showing me the error of my ways.
Overall? A solid episode. When I watched it the first time, there wasn’t anything that stood out as “best sketch ever!” nor any that just sucked ass. Second time watching it, I realized that was because the episode was good in its entirety. Sadly, that is not the norm so it was a pleasant realization.
Next week will bring out the fanboy in all of us as Jeremy Renner will be hosting. You best believe there will be at least one Avengers reference, if not many. I can’t wait!
Until then!
When I first heard that Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters was actually, like, a thing, I wasn’t as angered as I could have been because I heard that Adam McKay and Will Ferrell were producing. Awesome, a satire using classic fairytale characters as the protagonists, I’m in. Now, after seeing the trailer…I’m not sure.
The first thing that struck me as odd was the fact that the name Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, or Gary Sanchez Productions was nowhere near this thing, leading me to believe it’s a bit of a marketing ploy to get the asses in the seats. Something similar to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Second, despite Jeremy Renner’s participation in this film, this really does look like the worst thing ever put to film, and I’m not even joking. Every moment this went on was a moment I wanted to die. Seeing Famke Janssen shooting a giant machine gun as a vampire; cool in theory, not so much in practice.
According to the Wikipedia synopsis:
Catching up with Hansel (Renner) and Gretel (Arterton) 15 years after the traumatic incident involving a gingerbread house, the siblings have evolved into vengeful bounty hunters dedicated to exterminating witches. Over the years, the siblings became expert hunters, famous for their proficiency at tracking and taking down their prey. Although still recovering from their ordeal, their work is relatively easy as for an unknown reason harmful spells and curses do not work well against them.
The Mayor of Augsburg recruits them to rid the town and nearby forests of an evil sorceress (Janssen) who is planning to sacrifice many local children at the witches’ gathering during the upcoming ‘Blood Moon’ night in two days time. To make things worse, the duo also has to deal with the brutal Sheriff Berringer (Stormare) who has taken power in Augsburg and conducts a very indiscriminate witch-hunt of his own.
Well..that just sounds awful, now doesn’t it?
Seriously, though, my advice? Watch a good movie. Any other good movie will do.
Check out the trailer below, I guess…
There is an irony to The Bourne Legacy. The soldiers in the movie blindly do what they are told and never question the mission or authority. If an important task needs to be accomplished, they go head first, with an eye on the prize and don’t blink. They are only controlled by what seems to be a reliance on the same two sets of pills. The redundancy of these tasks echoes the movie. The film charges forward without questioning its path despite the ripe material it glances upon but we continue to eat it up because we don’t question the monotony of what we view on the screen, which results in a generic action thriller that only scratches the surface of a greater story.
In the fourth installment of this series, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is a genetically enhanced field agent similar to Jason Bourne (Matt Damon, who shows up in spirit only). He is part of the Outcome program, a more sophisticated, controlled program than Treadstone from the first three films. These soldiers are genetically enhanced for higher motor and physical skills, as well as better mental dexterity and ability. They have a reliance on a set of two pills, as previously mentioned, which breaks down into the blue and green. It does remind of The Matrix in which the control and enhancement of their abilities is based on whether they take the pills or not. The major difference is if they take the pills, they play into the control aspect of being reliant on their prescriptions from their providers (granted, if they don’t take the pills, they probably get shot).
Unfortunately for these Outcome members, Jason Bourne is happening. More specifically, the third movie’s events, The Bourne Ultimatum, is running concurrently during this movie. He raises the profile of the possibility of other programs in the CIA so in turn, all evidence must go. That includes Outcome and its members. So Aaron Cross must survive and find answers, and of course, he is almost out of the pills so he must find a doctor connected to Outcome (Rachel Weisz, who follows the Hollywood tradition of aging backwards) in order to get his dosage and survive.
The best part about the Bourne movies were its ability to take a small detail and make it rich in detail, or provide an essential purpose. Whether looking at the limits of patriotism or the idea of fighting for freedom with people who had theirs taken from them, I loved the Bourne Trilogy because there was that underlying message of the cost of ‘whatever it takes’. Of course, being able to use a magazine to disarm someone or a towel to take out a knife wielding villain helps too. I feel this movies brushes against these issues yet won’t attach themselves to them.
Edward Norton plays Eric Byer, the guy tasked with cleaning up the Treadstone mess and anything related to it but him and his character were surprisingly one note. There was no tension on what he provides on-screen, no sense of urgency that he felt like a character born out of the necessity of moving the plot along. He was there to explain to the audience why Aaron Cross is the person we were following in this movie. Byer and his team were into the players from The Bourne Ultimatum like Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn), Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney), Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) and the most frustrating thing was to not watch their stories unfold. I wanted to know how or if there were going to be punished for their roles in the clandestine world of black ops, whether Landy uncovering Treadstone made her a patriot or a traitor to the country; if CIA Director Kramer covered up what was the best means possible to get the job done and if the ends justified the means; if Dr. Hirsch opened up the gates to super soldiers; or if Vosen was correct in his definition of patriotism and loyalty to his nation. I got none of this. Writer and director Tony Gilroy went the wrong way for this movie because it merely scratches the surface and nothing more.
It doesn’t help that the movie was boooorrrriiinnngggg. This is of no fault to Renner or Weisz, who were both good in their roles. The flick just comes up short and as it just wants to be a carbon copy of actions movies. For the first third of the movie, I felt I was watching The Grey. The chase was straight out of The Bourne Ultimatum. Heck, I felt like I was watching Spy Game during certain pockets of the movie. I wasn’t sure if I was watching a survivalist movie, a straight action flick, or a detailed espionage flick. Regardless, we’ve seen the movie before. It brings nothing new to the table and sadly, felt like it had no purpose. This movie did not follow its namesake and expand upon the legacy of Bourne. The action was decent but never anything ground breaking or having cause to talk about it right after the movie about “hey, did you see that one part?!”
There were good parts in the movie, such as the Manila rooftop and car chase (although I’m biased coming from the motherland myself) and less reliance of shaky-cam but this movie could have been so good. Maybe my expectations were too high dealing with the Greengrass/Damon combination. There is no creativity in the movie and that takes away from the mythology of Bourne. Even more frustrating is how the movie just ends with no real resolution to the plot or characters in this story. This movie is nothing more than diversionary ploy to look aesthetically pleasing yet provide no answers while asking the wrong questions. Skip the Bourne ‘Letdown’.
On a side note, another program that is chasing Cross all around Manila, is a beta subject that exhibits even less empathy. He basically came off as the Asian T-1000. Sunglasses, police motorcycle, him running and giving the quick turn and stare before launching him arms in perfect 90 degree swinging motion…seriously entertained Dr. Kronner and myself. Some of my exes might even think that’d be me considering how “emotionally unavailable” I am…So apparently based off of that, I am the next Jason Bourne – with NO EMPATHY.
Joss Whedon, come on down! You’ve just been chosen to continue on the path of greatness and while adding to your god-like status amongst the human population! According to several news sources, ranging from the Hollywood Reporter, EW.com, Newsrama etc., Joss Whedon is back in the saddle as your writer and director for Marvel’s The Avengers 2.
In the deal, Mr. Joss “I Own The World, Bow Before My Awesomeness” Whedon, signs a deal with Marvel Studios that keeps in the fold through the end of June 2015. In that, he will cover his duties as director and writer for The Avengers 2, as well as helping develop a live action series for ABC and, according to the Marvel Studios’ press release, “will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe.” Basically, as I have read it, he will take the Jon Favreau role in making sure that the universe that Marvel Studios has cultivated will be ushered into the next set of movies, culminating in The Avengers 2 movie. You can bet that the TV show will deal in the Avengers universe and it is safe to say that it is NOT the Guillermo del Toro Hulk series being developed for ABC apparently. Excited much? Yessir. Let us face it, Joss Whedon knows his characters and his television. While not successful all the time in terms of nielsen ratings, his television shows always are great and at least will cater to the cult crowds and die hard geeks his drops his wisdom on. Plus if it’s set in the Marvel Universe, umm, insta-hit?
A live feed from the Whedon household after the deal
From a Hollywood perspective, this should be zero surprise of course. The Avengers has made 1.5 BILLION worldwide. A large part is because not only the commercial acclaim of putting together the most brilliant way to market your movie (uhh, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger? Yeah, those were basically marketing teasers for that movie, profitable ones too at the very least), but the critical acclaim that got people coming back for more. The onus on Whedon and Marvel was making sure the characters were enjoyable to watch and developed to where they both electrified the screen individually AND as a team. Whedon solidified the Marvel Studio’s universe in this movie because he made sure this ambitious project did not implode like a dying star. With egos and sheer enormous size of this project, this could have been an unmitigated disaster with everything that was going on but instead, Mr. Firefly himself controlled the movie and its stars (and the future of this universe) and made sure the next several movies are events flicks that people of all walks and sizes will need to see. 
So let’s recap, this will be Joss Whedon’s universe for the next three years and with Iron Man 3 for May 3rd, 2013; Thor: The Dark World in November 8th, 2013; Captain America: The Winter Soldier for April 4th, 2013; Guardians of the Galaxy launching on August 1st, 2014; with possibly Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man figuring into the equation too, this will probably confirm Avengers 2 hitting theaters in 2015, right when the contract ends. Not too mention the TV show that, crossing my fingers and just a hypothetical guess, will probably be S.H.I.E.L.D. related? Excited? You know it baby. So much that this ScarJo pic will be used to match the badassness of this news.
The Bourne Legacy. Where should I start? Should I start with how this is a movie that doesn’t feature much of Jason Bourne? Or should I start with Matt Damon’s lack of involvement? Or maybe how the main protagonist isn’t even named Jason Bourne? I don’t know. You might as well as name the NBA in Utah ‘the Jazz’. Oh wait, they do. Universal Pictures probably kept “Bourne” in the title so mindless viewers like me can immediately tell the movie is set in the same universe.
After the events in The Bourne Ultimatum, CIA has decided to shut down “Operation Outcome”, the successor to the program that created Jason Bourne. The story of The Bourne Legacy revolves around Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), a product of “Operation Outcome”, and Stephanie Snyder (Rachel Weisz), one of the scientists involved in the operation. There is also this CIA agent named Byer (Edward Norton) who wants to kill the two protagonists. If you manage to notice how my version of the synopsis bears a striking resemblance to that of Wikipedia, please keep it to yourself.
Unlike, the first trailer, which is much more plot-oriented, the second trailer places its focus on the action sequences. We also get to see Joan Allen and David Strathairn reprising their roles as Pamela Landy and Noah Vosen, as well as Albert Finney returning as Dr. Albert Hirsch. Interestingly, Jason Bourne’s still can be seen on the news in the trailer.
A part of the movie will be set in the Philippines.
The Bourne Legacy without Jason Bourne is directed by Tony Gilroy, the screenwriter of The Bourne movie series. It is projected for a release date of August 3rd this year.
The Avengers is a box office smash, having shattered records with a $200 million opening weekend. So when it came time for us to review The Avengers, we realized that pretty much every staff member and their dog (and Michelle’s cat Pepper Potts) had something to say about the film. So it only made sense that we provide a forum for us all to share our thoughts. Of course not all our thoughts were entirely positive. But most of them were. I also enlisted a few friends of the site to get their opinion on this monumental movie. Let’s get to it.
Well, after years in the making, my childhood imagination was finally given life this weekend with Marvel’s release of The Avengers. Writer/Director Joss Whedon took what was given to him from the previous 5 movies (Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger) and showed us that in this case, the sum is greater than the parts. With huge potential to epically fail from a creative standpoint (ala X3, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Iron Man 2) as many people were concerned that it was just too many characters to gel together, The Avengers proved the to be Marvel Studios best film yet. And after the early vocal concerns about Mr. Buffy – Joss Whedon directing, it would seem he was actually the perfect man for the job. There was enough of a comic book feel to appease the readers, while remaining accessible enough not to lose the average movie goer.
The movie itself provided perhaps the best ever use of the Hulk on-screen, as it’s obvious that he works better in a supporting role than carrying a movie himself. And his interactions with Thor were immensely enjoyable. Mark Ruffalo I thought was also the most enjoyable Bruce Banner we’ve seen, at least since Bill Bixby on the 70’s TV show anyway. The scenes with Stark and Banner nerding it up while Thor and Cap struggled to follow along just felt right.
Overall, Loki made a solid villain, even if we are never really clear what his powers are, and the last 30 minutes of the movie were non-stop awesome. The humor was well-timed, and while things started a little slow, the payoff was well worth the wait. I’ve gone twice already and I loved it both times.
MY FAVORITE PARTS (Possible Spoilers)
– Thor Headbutting Iron Man
– Hulk vs. Loki
– Stark and Banner in the Lab
– Hawkeye shooting Loki out of the air
– Cap stopping the Thor/Iron Man fight.
I’ve never been happier to be a nerd. I’ve been a fan of The Avengers since I was old enough to read, and like many fans never imagined I would ever get a chance to see the team on the big screen. Then the Iron Man post-credit scene opened the door and the little fanboy inside of me rejoiced. The Road to the Avengers was a long one, and we witnessed some great entries and some not-so-great entries, but they were all leading to what I now consider my Holy Grail. All they needed was the right director to put it all together. And they found him.
Whedon delivered a breathtakingly awesome portrayal of some of my favorite characters. I was practically near tears at a few moments throughout the movie, and my emotional roller-coaster didn’t stop until well after the final scene of the film. While it started off a little slow, I never felt that the exploration of the characters bogged the movie down at all, and it all led nicely to the ridiculously action packed third act of the film. As a comic fan, I was overjoyed to see a little more development of Black Widow’s character, as well as probably the best Bruce Banner I’ve ever seen. Kudos goes out to Mark Ruffalo for absolutely nailing it. The Big 3 (Thor, Cap, Iron Man) were very consistent with their characterizations and were enjoyable, but what really stood out for me were some of the supporting cast. Obviously Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye (Agent Barton as he is most commonly referred to) was a high point of the movie for me, but I really enjoyed Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson and Cobie Smulder’s Agent Hill. I left the theater feeling more satisfied then I have at any summer blockbuster I can remember, and that feeling continued even after I saw it a second time.
I don’t even know If I can look forward to future movies. The Avengers might have just spoiled me as a movie lover. The Dark What? Who’s Batman?
Although I knew that The Avengers would be a star-studded, explosion-fest, I had very low expectations. After some pretty bad Marvel blunders (Spider-man 3, where Peter Parker looks like he is a member of Fall Out Boy, and “Ghost Rider” which had an equally terrible sequel) I was terrified for what they might do with this film. After seeing The Avengers, I would say this movie not only exceeded my expectations greatly, but it is the most fun I have had at the movies in… well… since I can remember. Aside from the teenagers clapping every time Tony Stark said something, The Avengers was an amazing movie experience.
One of my favorite parts is when Thor shows up. The three-way battle between Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor was absolutely amazing. Also, there’s Loki catching Hawkeye’s exploding arrow. However, of my favorite parts, I would have to say that the most hilarious was when Hulk treated Loki like a rag-doll. “Puny God!” There has got to be a way to get a GIF of that (Check the link above in Dr. Kronner’s piece). When I left the movie theater, my face literally hurt from smiling. I am very pleased with this film. Joss Whedon- I love you.
The Avengers is a project that isn’t meant to work in Hollywood: Four different movie franchises culminating into one team-up action blockbuster. It’s a concept that would essentially read as fan fiction were it not already an established concept in source material. The amount of scheduling, policing, planning and communication that has to go down just to make it happen is astounding. Having it succeed would be nothing short of superhuman.
Enter the seventh Avenger, Joss Whedon, whose penchant for writing characters has earned him an almost mythical reputation in the Nerdscape. Whedon has an uncanny ability to isolate the most interesting elements of his characters and bounce them off one other, and that’s just what he does here. The fact that superheroes by nature have such bold, highly concentrated personalities makes every line of dialogue crackle with electricity, and every character arc feel attended to. This is the foundation of The Avengers success. We’ve seen countless action movies crumble under the weight of too many characters, or a convoluted script. The Avengers manages to tie everything down and keep the story grounded.
I could go on and try to summarize The Avengers experience for you, but I could never say it better than Patton Oswalt did on Twitter:
Despite keeping my expectations low for this film, The Avengers is, from its first scene, underwhelming in every way. With a script littered with excuses for a plot, and an exposition that lasts far too long, The Avengers doesn’t only take a few pages from the Transformers: Dark of the Moon Handbook; it steals the handbook and uses every page. Mark Ruffalo is fantastic and the Hulk keeps the film grounded in some realm of human emotion, but The Avengers is too busy setting up for yet another Marvel movie to take a minute and reflect on how far it’s already come. Furthermore, The Avengers is just proof that Loki needs a hug.
Nerds everywhere owe Joss Whedon an enormous ‘thank you’. Not only has he satisfied critics and hardcore comic fans with his adaptation, but he’s given the film a soul as well. Every scene smacks of his signature witty and snarky dialogue; a welcome element to a team of super serious heroes. If the film felt effortless and organic to you, we can once again thank Joss for turning his love of The Avengers comic into a passionately well-crafted film. The Avengers is everything we’ve ever wanted in a comic book movie. Packed with action, great banter, citywide property destruction, mesmerizing special effects and a rampaging Hulk on the loose – The Avengers cements Whedon into geek infamy forever. This film is a true rarity of success and substance.
Two words: HOLY. SH*T.
Avengers could possibly be the best comic book movie of all time. Not only did they achieve exactly what the fans wanted, but they did it with style, humor, and a boatload of action. For a two and a half hour movie, it flew by, never dragging or lagging, always entertaining and always faithful to the characters’ characterizations. Everything about this movie was great, in my opinion, and each character had his or her charm and appeal (though Hawkeye and Black Widow seemed a bit flatter than the rest of the characters). Without spoiling anything, I think that The Hulk flat out stole the show with some of the most amusingly badass – and flat out hilarious – scenes. I’ve got a definite new found respect for The Hulk as he was done RIGHT in this movie.
This one’s definitely being added to the collection, and I can’t wait to compare The Dark Knight Rises to it. It’s going to be extremely difficult for anyone – including Marvel – to top this…and yet, the extra scene after the credits makes a BOLD promise that they intend to try. And for that, Marvel, I salute you with a good old fashioned Stan Lee “Excelsior!”
Joss Whedon you beautiful man you. Well he has done what many thought would be impossible creating a film with six superheroes without it being a total mess. The film is not only not bad but in my opinion pretty damn perfect. By perfect I mean I honestly don’t have any complaints, no stupid stuff, no boring scenes, it’s just a great action film.The characters are surprisingly well performed by the cast and were written as being more human than any of their own films have portrayed before (especially Bruce Banner).
The avenger’s first contact with each other certainly was kept true to the characters created in the films and comics meaning there was plenty of clashes involving all the heroes.There are a few things Joss Whedon does very well and you see two of them a lot in this film, the first would be brilliant character development meaning in this film that each of the characters in this massive film had their own screen time without one being more important than any other(even lesser characters got their time on the screen). The second is making smaller film sets get packed with massive stories and characters which looks and works great (action scenes within flying fortress, fight between Iron man and Thor within the woods), he obviously feels more comfortable on smaller sets because of his work on TV and lower budget films but he knows how to make these look just as good as in the open landscape scenes. This film is great for anyone to watch and I hope it does as well as it deserves.
So a pretty resounding success for Marvel Studios and the cast of the film. I guarantee you that as the numbers were rolling in for the opening weekend Keven Feige and Co. were spinning out new movie ideas left and right. Which is a good thing in my eyes.
So what does everybody else think? Let us know your thoughts on the movie in the comments section below!
The “Dream Team” was thrown around a lot after the 1992 Olympic US Men’s Basketball team gathered Jordan, Magic, Bird and a gaggle of other superior stars to take on the world. These vastly superior athletes were able to put their egos aside for one goal: to conquer the world. It has come and gone throughout the last few decades ranging from the US Women’s World Cup team in 1999 to even the underwhelming 2011 Philadelphia Eagles when Vince Young destroyed his team’s hopes by raising the expectations. It can apply to movies too, like Christopher Nolan and his Batman team. Scorcese and DeNiro. Heck, Scorcese and Leo. It only seems fitting to talk about Marvel’s The Avengers in the dream team concept. However, in this awesomely epic buddy action film, I think the real Dream Team lies behind the scenes: Joss Whedon and Marvel.
This all started with the first Iron Man where RDJ took to the screen and carried the movie with his charisma and stage presence overcoming flaws, but it was an entertaining movie that set the stage for the Incredible Hulk, then the fart noise inducing Iron Man 2. What followed were vastly underrated Thor and a solid Captain America: The First Avenger last year, which set the stage for The Avengers movie. An artifact originating in Thor, called the Tesseract, has been taken by Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and he is harnessing its enormous power to set the stage for the conquest of Earth. Giant wormhole portals ensue and that means the big guns must be called in. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) heads up S.H.I.E.L.D., a covert agency charged with taking back what may or may not be rightfully theirs and since puny humans failed to protect the artifact the first time around, it is time to call in the big guns. So Iron Man (RDJ), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) must form the dream team and solve some issues. Did I forget to mention they really have a lot issues to be worked out internally too?
Turns out Iron Man is a narcissist non-follower, Cap has no team to follow his gung ho lead, Thor is just amused at these white boy problems, the Dr. Banner just wants some peace and quiet. But we all knew these things because of the previous movies. Director/Co-Writer Whedon does an amazing job in creating winks and nudges for the geeks that did watch the previous movies, yet remains accessible enough to where new people can follow the adventure. The danger here was incorporating several ideals from five different movies with seven different heroes to make them mesh as well as show off their individual spark that got them their own movies to begin with. Everyone gets their time in the spotlight, especially the Big Four (Cap, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor) to establish their own paths and how they, for just this one movie and eventual sequels, have their paths intertwine into a solid team. The audience is treated to the banter and the battles with each other before they all come together with their common goal.
The beginning of the movie does feel like exposition and even felt dangerously close to voiceover narrative territory in trying to set up the plot before the fun begins. The dialogue shines from the Zak Penn and Whedon script which feels like a love letter to Marvel fans as well as accessible to the every man with the humor and levity that spills out of the actors’ mouths. None of it feels forced or unoriginal and really shows off the chemistry between these superheroes that could just turned into a giant awful bomb of apathy. RDJ owns as Iron Man and really should because this is not at all possible without what he has brought to the table with the earlier movies and the personality that exudes confidence and sarcasm. Chris Evans conveys his sense of duty in what would be the corniest role this side of Cyclops but develops his want to belong yet remain strong and self-assured as the leader. Hemsworth continues to impress with his observations and sly humor as the demigod and as the third Hulk actor, Ruffalo just enjoys the moment to stay out of fire long enough to steal scenes as his CGI counterpart. Hiddleston continues his great work from Thor and makes his villain memorable. Plus he just loves to chew scenery and you can tell he is just having a blast going against his heroic counterparts. Nick Fury finally gets his time to shine a bit as the hardass leader that brings them all together. Johansson and Renner do not have the same screen time as their super counterparts and feel a bit shoved in there but that might have more to do with the byproduct of dealing with the Big Four as opposed to whether they belong or not because let us face it, they are equal part of this movie.
The last thirty minutes is a spectacular assault on the senses in visual effects. Nothing seems too terribly out of place and that is a testament to not only Whedon, but Marvel Studios themselves. They have carefully ushered these characters into this movie and making sure that every part meshes together to create a fantastic experience for the audience. Whedon had many critics going into this movie on whether he could handle the scope and vast enormity of the movie but he has proved he can handle this mega franchise. This is the perfect movie to start off the summer movie season with because it’s simply pure fun. No one expects a Dark Knight Rises social commentary, this is strictly a boys being boys type of movie where you want to bash Hulk Hands against the toy Captain America shield you bought at the toy store after leaving the movie theater.
It does not take itself too seriously and nor should it. You will walk out amazed and wonder how the almost two and a half hours went by so fast. Again, credit should go to the dream team of actors that had the right chemistry and ego to make this an enjoyable experience but it was Whedon and Marvel Studios that came in with the cape to save us from boredom.
Grizzly Bomb 