Special Movie Review : Joss Whedon's Avengers 2012

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Directed and written by : Joss Whedon

Story by : Joss Whedon and Zak Penn

Cast (In alphabetical order)

Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff : Scarlett Johansson
Captain America / Steve Rogers : Chris Evans

Hawkeye/Clint Barton : Jeremy Renner

Hulk/Bruce Banner : Mark Ruffalo

Iron Man/Tony Stark : Robert Downey Jr.

JARVIS : Paul Bettany

Loki : Tom Hiddleston

Maria Hill : Cobie Smulders

Nick Fury : Samuel L. Jackson

Pepper Potts : Gwyneth Paltrow

Phil Coulson (Agent) : Clark Gregg

Thor : Chris Hemsworth

[Editors Note: ALL images in this article are especially compiled HIGH RES so, click and use on your desktop!]

There are tons of reviews out there and you can pick any one of them up and read them. But it won’t change the fact that you’ll be watching this film regardless (unless you’re an idiot, in which case, get back to your made-for-TV rom-coms). So why read this? Because it’s a review by a comic-book fan for a movie for comic fans (and others, sure...) directed by THE comic fan of our era.

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And Avengers is (arguably) the greatest most perfect comic adaptation ever.

What the... (click to enlarge!)

Now, I’m not saying it’s the greatest comic-movie ever (Batman Begins/The Dark Knight still hold that position for me) but it is the best adaptation of a comic ever. The Dark Knight doesn’t feel like a comic-book, but it is a better movie. But this one, it feels so much like a comic and I think that’s because of Joss Whedon, who’s got quite a lot of experience writing comics (Astonishing X-Men, Runaways, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and he’s marvellous here.

Daaaayum!! (click to enlarge!)

HE’S THE REAL STAR.

Nobody else could have done it better. He handles the characters amazingly well, and gives each character their time to shine. A character like Hawkeye or Coulson is given as much importance as Iron Man or Thor. And Hulk… he’ll have you cheering and screaming and laughing, because this is the best film interpretation of the Hulk so far.

Um, ouch? (click to enlarge!)

A lot of twitter reactions say that Iron Man overshadows every other character in the movie. Those reactions are absolutely wrong and possibly written by RDJ-tards. Nobody overshadows anybody. They stand together in the movie. Side by side. As a team. As. They. Should. And I absolutely applaud Whedon for that.

Oh Yeah!! (click to enlarge!)

I had some fears that Iron Man would serve as the leader-type, given his current popularity, but that isn’t the case. Captain America LEADS the Avengers, and Whedon gives us good reason why he SHOULD lead them and why everyone else is listening. But since Whedon has to appease Robert Downey Jr’s ginormous ever-expanding ego, he does something really cool with Iron Man, but handles it so that it doesn’t overshadow other characters. To get these guys together and to do such justice to them… Whedon accomplishes an absolutely impossible feat and I congratulate him for that.

Avenger! ASSEM ..whoops!!! (click to enlarge!)

Hiddleston is still amazing as Loki. It also helps that he looks so much like the Loki of the comicbooks. When he gives you that maniacal grin, you know that they couldn’t have gotten anyone better for it.

Loki the Trickster! Kneel before your new God and master! (click to enlarge!)

I love the Avengers. I love how they were handled and I love how they are treated with such respect.

What I didn’t love in the movie is Nick Fury. Whedon writes him as a manipulative General who’ll do anything in his power to save the world and it isn’t his fault that Fury doesn’t shine. It’s Samuel L Jackson’s. A person’s bad-ass-ocity can only carry a character so far and I feel SLJ isn’t really fit to play Fury. Sure, Fury’s shrewd and manipulative, but he’s also noble. And that’s where SLJ fails. He just didn’t shine like the rest of the cast, and it wasn’t because he was underwritten or anything… SLJ just couldn’t pull it off. And I’m saying that as a huge Samuel L Jackson fan who keeps on using his dialogues in real life situations, mind you.

I've had enough of these godamn snakes... oh wrong, movie, sorry... (click to enlarge!)

Another thing I didn’t like was the story. It felt as if someone handed Whedon an outline of the Ultimates comic-book and told him to write a screenplay of that. I feel Marvel didn’t really trust him enough to come up with a Marvel-lous story. So the story as a whole is a bit lacklustre. But you’ve got some great dialogue and some magnificent action sequences, so all is forgiven. Avengers could have been a much better movie if, in my opinion, they had let Whedon off the chains and let him do whatever he wanted. Maybe he’ll get more freedom while doing the sequel (which seems to be fairly likely and all but finally confirmed, especially given the Nerdgasm-inducing mid-credits scene and the global box-office overload for this movie already!)

Hulk will break long jump record with help of super-chilli-bean curry booster!! (click to enlarge!)

And then there’s the alien army of Chitauri who are again incorporated from the Ultimates comic series and animated movie – they should have gone with something more original instead of an enemy that behaves more like “Random Alien Army”. But that isn’t a problem because the last hour or so of Avengers is absolute carnage. But within this carnage is drama. These aren’t just a few cool scenes that show off CGI unlike the craptastic Bay-flicks. You do get the sense of something happening. You care about the characters. You want them to win. And you’re most probably cheering for them and you don’t even know it.

AAAA!! We're being invaded by Lord of the Rings reject ghosts! This is why you hire union!! (click to enlarge!)

The dialogue is amazing and smart and all kinds of awesome and it is an absolute act of sin to not listen to it. Do yourself a favour: if anyone’s talking in the theater, tell him/her to shut the f**k up and if they don’t listen, throw a tub full of popcorn on their head (as I did). Whedon is a maestro of dialogue, and every bit of it in this movie is nothing short of brilliant. And most of it will make you laugh out loud. I guarantee.

I WANT!! (click to enlarge!)

Avengers is a movie made by people who love the characters, and it shows, because that love kind of crosses over to you from beyond the screen. And I love that. This is how movies should be made. Out of love and a little bit of respect, and not out of formulas or magic potions or whatnot that the industry believes in most of the time.

SCORE : 8 / 10

We have a Hulk!! (click to enlarge!)

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Anubhav DasGupta

A Kubrick Worshipper who learnt to talk and write from Batman comics.