My Low Expections for The Avengers Were Crushed

This past Sunday, my wife, son, and I saw The Avengers even though I was initially against the idea. The reasons for my not wanting to see it were many. I'm not a fan of Marvel. To be fair, I'm not a huge DC fan either, unless we're talking Batman, who, in a fight with any other comic book hero from either universe would triumph. The Avengers solo films were blah at best (Iron Man), out right stupid at worst (Iron Man 2). And Joss Whedon, who co-wrote and directed The Avengers, is responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The only way I could want to see this movie less is if Whedon had also been partly responsible for any Michael Bay film.

I misjudged this film. Whedon still sucks, but this film is amazing.

The Avengers easily makes up for one of the seven seasons of Buffy (six more to go, Whedon) and Marvel's other less than stellar attempts at bringing their roster of heroes to the silver screen, especially in regards to the Hulk, who, in the past, hasn't been treated with the respect he deserves, but we'll talk more about that later.

The Avengers was the right mix of most of it's parts. Captain America was the right amount of patriotic. Banner was the right amount of awkward/nervous. Thor was the right amount old English speaking Norse god with bulging muscles and awesome hair (is there ever enough of that, really?). Loki was the right amount maniacal psycho. Stark was mostly the right amount douchey. Fury was the right amount of PG-13 Samuel L. Jackson. Black Widow and Hawkeye were rather boring, but they're pretty boring characters, so they get a pass. Hulk was every bit the right amount of smashy. Even more importantly, the two and half hour film is thirty minutes of setup, fifteen minutes of wrap up, and an hour and forty-five minutes of stuff being blown to pieces, exactly what a good summer blockbuster should be, Michael Bay!

Let's be honest, this movie was all about getting Hulk right. And get Hulk right is exactly what happened. He looked amazing. Ruffalo's motion capture was spot on. I believed in Hulk throughout the entire film. He never looked like a CG thingy out of place amongst a cast of real people in real environments. He obviously fit in amongst the CG cast and environments. He was loud. He was big. And he laid to wast everything that got in his path. It made me wish I hadn't traded in Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction a few years back.

There are the usual holes and things that don't make sense. For example, the first time Banner turns into Hulk he's unable to control the beast at all, resulting in Hulk attacking anyone and everyone, regardless of their friend/enemy status. The second time, Banner is inexplicably able to control Hulks rage and focus it only on bad guys, with the exception of a humorous moment where Hulk punches Thor into oblivion. Others exist, but I'm not interested in spoiling the movie for anyone.

The Avengers is a fantastic film. I still think my boy, Bruce Wayne, will dominate this summer with The Dark Knight Rises, but this is great attempt to unseat The Batman (it already has in opening weekend ticket sales). My recommendation is to go see The Avengers. Unless you want to keep hating Whedon, then you should probably sit this one out.

But don't worry, this movie being awesome doesn't make Buffy suck any less.