They Say What They Say

I went to see The Avengers list night and all I can say is WOW!

Joss Whedon is a genius. Seriously, he is. I mean, I always knew he was, but this just confirmed every conviction I had about him. The man is truly outstanding.

There is not one dud moment in this movie, not one at all. It rivets you to the screen from go to whoa and even after it [mostly] ends it brings you back for more. No one who is a fan of anything or anyone involved with this film or the comics will walk away disappointed.

Every character gets a go and all the main stars have more or less equal screen time. Sure there are things about it that niggle at me - for instance I would have liked to have seen more of Steve adapting to the modern world, and I did feel that the neglected Bruce Banner just a wee bit because a brilliant but shy scientist who happens to turn into a big green smashing thing when he's miffed isn't half as interesting as a guy flying around in a metal suit. Plus there's the whole Coulson thing, but I get where Joss was coming from when he made that decision (see Summers, Joyce for more information). But everything else was so well done, from the quick and effective intros to the team, through the first epic battle, the regrouping after an initial defeat and onto the final confrontation wherein half of Midtown Manhatten is destroyed.

As expected the Steve and Tony snark was magnificently epic, Natasha and Hawkeye were a surprisingly tender twosome, even when they were beating the hell out of each other, Nick Fury was all you'd want him to be (commanding, forthright, loyal, etc) and Bruce Banner was brilliant with the right amount of crazy. Thor was A God (nuff said) and Loki a wonderfully smarmy villain. I didn't think they gave Maria Hill enough screen time, but with a cast that large someone had to end up on the cutting room floor and Cobie Smulders really does know how to kick ass!

Of course you could see the set-ups for future Marvel movies coming from a mile away, but I'm not fussed about that if they're all as wonderful as this one is. And if they work toward filling in some gaps and giving characters like Hawkeye and Natasha more of an arc that would also be very wonderful. Plus, with my current love of all things Bucky and Steve, I would just keel over and die if they brought the Winter Soldier storyline into the next Captain America movie (although I suspect if they do, they will recast Bucky because, while Sebastian Stan is beautiful to look at and was wonderful in the first installment, unless he bulks up a lot he's probably a little too pretty to portray the brainwashed Russian killing machine who used to be Steve's best friend.)

I am definitely going to see this one on the big screen again, and I would not be at all surprised if I bought the extended DVD version when it comes out for Christmas (as you know it will.) And in the meantime there's all this unread fic to wade through. Having pretty much exhausted the Bucky/Steve stories I've moved onto Clint/Coulson and even Tony/Steve is catching my eye on the odd occasion.

Good grief, I seem to have acquired a new fandom. Eeep!