The Road to the Avengers: The Avengers (2012)

Agent Coulson is dead! Long live Agent Coulson!
The first time I watched this movie I took it all in and mostly thought about everything that had been left out and hoped might make it's way into some future Avengers movie. You know, like Dr. Henry Pym and Janet Van Dyne (leaving out Vision, Scarlet Witch, Tigra and the Flacon for the time being). Now, I know that the sequel deals with Ultron which must include Pym and possibly the Vision, depending on how they spin the tale. I wonder if the will go the X-Men route and introduce new team members each time because then I guess I'm okay with the ones that have been left out because you can add in Pym and Van Dyne in number two. Now that I think about it, the Hulk is good and all, but what about She-Hulk? She is way cooler, plus instant cross-over with the rumored reboot of hte Faantastic Four, which I guess we need...because heaven's forbid we should accept mediocre sales and mediocre special effects. If they had given the Fantastic 4 movies the same level of attention (to be read as "budget") that they did the Avengers and it's prequels, we would already have 3 of them and a She-Hulk spin-off movie.
THe other thing the movie missed, and in it's defense very few movies tie-in other movies, was a super-powered Manhattan. Fury and the Counsel make references to other super heroes I don't know if you have read many Marvel comics, but when big things go down in New York City, Spiderman tends to turn up. And when really big things go down in the Big Apple, one or more X-Men tend to pop-up - not to mention that Beast left teh X-Men to join the Avengers and could be a nice tie-in. These could have been cameos...who wouldn't love to see the latest actor playing Spiderman or hunky Hugh Jackman in a minute or two of this movie? I don't need to explain this to Whedon who did right for the X-Men for a bit and knows how the Marvel Universe works.
I have a confession to make. Let me just take a deep breath first. Okay. I liked Mark Rufallo as Dr. Banner. I tried not to, while trying to not hate the character just because it's Raffalo. Dammit. This happned to me a few years ago with Tom Cruise.
Whedon left something out of this movie that was in every single one of it's prequels - a hint at what is to come and what super heroes it might entail. Thanatos coming to earth for the sport of it is strongly implied, but I didn't see any references to specific heroes, and I was looking for them. Certainly the scene after the credits was entertaining and I thik appropriate, but not helpful towards giving a hint.
The first time through, I thought they didn't give enough time to Captain America, and too much time to the Black Widow. This time through, I still think that they didn't give enough time to Captain America, but I liked that Black Widow was a key member of the team and proof that S/H/I.E.L.D. super spies are pretty much street level super heroes. So, who do you take away time from to give to Cap? No one. You add in 3 minutes to the movie. Are you listening Joss? You give him a minute and a half more on the helecarrier to counteract Tony Stark's tireade against him and team play and to discover and react to the "Phase Two" that Fury has in the works. And you give him a minute and a half more in the battle of Manhattan. You could maybe show some more fighting, but the best way to use this time, would be to show him acting as the commander - perhaps further orders to the first responders - but even more importantly, you show him saving/rescuing the bystanders both on the street and trapped in the buldings. What he needed was a chance to show that he is the opposite of Stark in many ways, but is already a super-hero both morally and physically. Can you think of a better answer to Starks statement that all Rogers is comes from a test tube? Show the mettle in the man, who wades in to the thick of battle, not because his ego says he can do anything, but because his conscious tells him that it is his duty to defend those that cannot defend themselves.
Of the six movies, this one is easily at the top of hte heat. I hope that Joss Whedon does more than just write and direct the second Avengers movie. I hope there are other super hero films in the works for him and his team. And I secretly hope that at some point one of them includes Warbird (who has Avengers ties of course).

The Avengers on IMDb

The Road to the Avengers: The Avengers (2012)

Agent Coulson is dead! Long live Agent Coulson!
The first time I watched this movie I took it all in and mostly thought about everything that had been left out and hoped might make it's way into some future Avengers movie. You know, like Dr. Henry Pym and Janet Van Dyne (leaving out Vision, Scarlet Witch, Tigra and the Falcon for the time being). Now, I know that the sequel deals with Ultron which must include Pym and possibly the Vision, depending on how they spin the tale. I wonder if the will go the X-Men route and introduce new team members each time because then I guess I'm okay with the ones that have been left out because you can add in Pym and Van Dyne in number two. Now that I think about it, the Hulk is good and all, but what about She-Hulk? She is way cooler, plus instant cross-over with the rumored reboot of the Fantastic Four, which I guess we need...because heaven's forbid we should accept mediocre sales and mediocre special effects. If they had given the Fantastic 4 movies the same level of attention (to be read as "budget") that they did the Avengers and it's prequels, we would already have 3 of them and a She-Hulk spin-off movie.
The other thing the movie missed, and in it's defense very few movies tie-in other movies, was a super-powered Manhattan. Fury and the Counsel make references to other super heroes I don't know if you have read many Marvel comics, but when big things go down in New York City, Spiderman tends to turn up. And when really big things go down in the Big Apple, one or more X-Men tend to pop-up - not to mention that Beast left the X-Men to join the Avengers and could be a nice tie-in. These could have been cameos...who wouldn't love to see the latest actor playing Spiderman or hunky Hugh Jackman in a minute or two of this movie? I don't need to explain this to Whedon who did right for the X-Men for a bit and knows how the Marvel Universe works.
I have a confession to make. Let me just take a deep breath first. Okay. I liked Mark Rufallo as Dr. Banner. I tried not to, while trying to not hate the character just because it's Raffalo. Dammit. This happened to me a few years ago with Tom Cruise.
Whedon left something out of this movie that was in every single one of it's prequels - a hint at what is to come and what super heroes it might entail. Thanatos coming to earth for the sport of it is strongly implied, but I didn't see any references to specific heroes, and I was looking for them. Certainly the scene after the credits was entertaining and I think appropriate, but not helpful towards giving a hint.
The first time through, I thought they didn't give enough time to Captain America, and too much time to the Black Widow. This time through, I still think that they didn't give enough time to Captain America, but I liked that Black Widow was a key member of the team and proof that S/H/I.E.L.D. super spies are pretty much street level super heroes. So, who do you take away time from to give to Cap? No one. You add in 3 minutes to the movie. Are you listening Joss? You give him a minute and a half more on the helecarrier to counteract Tony Stark's tirade against him and team play and to discover and react to the "Phase Two" that Fury has in the works. And you give him a minute and a half more in the battle of Manhattan. You could maybe show some more fighting, but the best way to use this time, would be to show him acting as the commander - perhaps further orders to the first responders - but even more importantly, you show him saving/rescuing the bystanders both on the street and trapped in the buildings. What he needed was a chance to show that he is the opposite of Stark in many ways, but is already a super-hero both morally and physically. Can you think of a better answer to Starks statement that all Rogers is comes from a test tube? Show the mettle in the man, who wades in to the thick of battle, not because his ego says he can do anything, but because his conscious tells him that it is his duty to defend those that cannot defend themselves.
Of the six movies, this one is easily at the top of hte heat. I hope that Joss Whedon does more than just write and direct the second Avengers movie. I hope there are other super hero films in the works for him and his team. And I secretly hope that at some point one of them includes Warbird (who has Avengers ties of course).

The Avengers on IMDb

The Road to the Avengers: Thor (2011)

I figure that after two nights of one mythological strong-man, it was time for another.
I noticed something this time through the movie that I missed the first time, probably because I was bedazzled by all  the pretty things, but in the opening when Odin is relating the war a thousand years ago with the Frost Giants, at the end when Odin has claimed victory over the Frost Giant king, someone who is dressed in the same armor Loki wears picks up the glowy crystal power source to take back for safe keeping to Asgard, but then we cut to a later point where Odin is relating the same story to a young Thor and a young Loki. Is this a snafu or was the kind of armor just really popular among the forces of Asgard? In the battle scenes, you don't see anyone else dressed in it, implying it is a particular individual...who is not Loki. Do I even need to mention that there is also a very strong guy wielding a hammer against the Frost Giants? Okay, so the Loki armor is the armor he wore int eh comic book, not the stuff he wears in the movie, and the strong guy with the hammer has a winged helmet like the comic book. I guess I kind of answered my own question here - that it's rather an homage to the comic than a snafu.
But then, who knows, right? I mean we see Odin put his rune on Mholner right after he exiles Thor, but then we see the older scientist flipping through a book of Norse mythology and there is a picture of Mjolnir with the symbol on it. Maybe Odin was just activating what was already there?
Just like iwth the Hulk, I was never that big of a fan of the Thor comic though I really like the look of the Asgardians and read it from time to time. I think as an adult, it might appeal to me more, assuming that it is written for an adult of course. Also like with the Hulk it is not surprising that I like the movie better than the comic book. But, surprisingly I actually like this movie. Sure, it's got Natalie Portman and I'll watch anything she does and at least like her role in it, Black Swan withstanding as I didn't like any part of that movie. Anthony Hopkins is great as Odin, all beardy and buff. And Chris Hensworth is good as Thor. I can't imagine anyone pulling it off better, because it's not his acting that is chesy, it's the character.
I think a lot of people dismiss this movie as the one Avengers prequel you can skip. I even understand their reasons, on an intellectual level, but the fanboy in me thinks this is cool and the most like the comic book of any of the Marvel movies. Well, there is that Dr. Strange movie that is right on, but it's animated so not really in the same league. Thos is the most accurate portrayal of the comic book it is based on of any of the Marvel live-action movies. You have to accept a little cheesiness and let go of the mythological Thor.
A funny thing happened while watching the credits of Thor. I couldn't remember what the little scene was after they rolled. I thought on it as they rolled and realized that I don't think I had made it that far the first time. Which is kind of unlike me, so I let the credits roll and lo and behold, there is the little scene with the Doctor and Nick Fury looking at the cube, but of course the Doctor can see Loki who is telling him what to say. I knew the Doctor was in the Avengers, and Loki and the cube of course, but had missed this link in the chain. I also realized that it makes more sense for Thor to be viewed after Captain America, a that is the movie in which we first see the cube.

Thor on IMDb