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Marvel's The Avengers |OT| (Dir. Joss Whedon) [Spoilers unmarked]

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‘Avengers’ Proves Marvel's $4.2 Billion Worth

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) (DIS) Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger said Marvel Entertainment’s value “far exceeds” the $4.2 billion paid for the business after its latest film set a box-office record.

“‘Avengers’ I think speaks volumes in terms of, not only the value of Marvel, but the value that Marvel can create long- term,” Iger said in an interview yesterday with Bloomberg Television’s Carol Massar. “We sit here today with a very clear blueprint about how to create more value from Marvel over the years. Value that I believe will far exceed what we paid for Marvel a few years ago.”

...

Disney’s March science-fiction release “John Carter” led to an $84 million operating loss at the film studio for the second quarter ended March 31. Studio chairman Rich Ross resigned in April.

Iger said he felt the $250 million movie was “very challenged” after viewing it prior to release. The company continued to promote it.

“I felt that given the size of the investment that we owed it to ourselves to at least give it the shot it deserved,” he said.

Screening an early cut of the “The Avengers,” Iger said “we had a pretty good sense that we had a very strong movie on our hands. We didn’t know it was going to break all the records that it’s broken.”
 
Saw it last Sunday. There's not much to be said that hasn't already been said.

Might see it again this weekend at a smaller, local theatre here in New Orleans.
 
I don't know, there's a few duds like Sam Jackson, Natalie Portman, Liv Tyler, and Don Cheadle but otherwise it's been pretty ace.

1307450484_natalie_portman_crying.gif
 
Yeah, I watched Iron Man again the other day. Howard he fit the role quite well and seemed to have good chemistry with RDJ. Was it really money stuff that led to Cheadle getting cast? I can't imagine he'd be cheaper.

Howard was the highest paid actor in Iron Man. He was paid more than Downey the main character.
 
Some wicked images in these past few pages, good stuff GAF.
Noooooo, it is the "ok this is a bit to far fetched even for comic books" crowd.
Has nothing to do with Batman at all.

Keep telling yourself that, it's like I posted previously: If Batman does it, it's OK, cuz he's Batman, but no other character should.

At any rate, BLACK PANTHER DEFENSE FORCE ASSEMBLE!
 
The casting in all these Marvel movies has been pretty damn fantastic. Even when it seemed weird, like Idris Elba as Heimdall, or Johnny Storm as Captain America, or a relative unknown as Thor. They've somehow managed to just nail it every time.

Heimdall was perfect. Like, holy shit. I wish he had more screen time.

I wasn't sold on Chris Evans when it was announced that he'd be Cap. But he nailed it perfectly.

I agree. From the current The Avengers cast, I wouldn't want anyone to be replaced, although I didn't care much for Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

I thought Renner held his own. I wasn't a fan of Renner until Ghost Protocol and now The Avengers. I'm sold.

I actually really wasn't a fan of Don Cheadle as War Machine, but the leads are all great.

I don't know, there's a few duds like Sam Jackson, Natalie Portman, Liv Tyler, and Don Cheadle but otherwise it's been pretty ace.

Yeah, Don Cheadle wasn't a very good Rhodey. That's probably the biggest weakness in the casting of any of these movies. But they nailed it the first time with Terrence Howard.

Don Cheadle was a shit Rhodey, and looked weird as hell wearing the War Machine armour.

I thought Natalie Portman did pretty well. Her and Hemsworth had the chemistry, and like I said earlier here, my only complaint about Thor was that it felt like a short time between being banished and coming back to Asgard. Having just seen it, I counted about 4-5 days (based on day/night in the movie). I think Thor and Jane needed more development, and it had something to do with the time frame feeling short.

Liv Tyler did a decent job. Standard, you could say. Same thing with Sam Jackson.
 
I thought Renner held his own. I wasn't a fan of Renner until Ghost Protocol and now The Avengers. I'm sold.

Oh no, definitely. I've been a fan of his since The Town. But even though he had a solid performance, I don't think he is irreplaceable like RDJ or Tom Hiddleston, for example.
 
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Liv Tyler did a decent job. Standard, you could say. Same thing with Sam Jackson.

I thought Jackson was decent in his limited screen time before Avengers. But I thought in Avengers he was really phoning it in. At some points it felt worse than others, but I really did not like him, and I love me some Sam Jackson.
 
Oh no, definitely. I've been a fan of his since The Town. But even though he had a solid performance, I don't think he is irreplaceable like RDJ or Tom Hiddleston, for example.

Fair enough. I say give him a cameo in a future film, and give him a bit more development and prominence in The Avengers 2.

I thought Jackson was decent in his limited screen time before Avengers. But I thought in Avengers he was really phoning it in. At some points it felt worse than others, but I really did not like him, and I love me some Sam Jackson.

I actually liked that he kept it standard, nothing crazy. He did the whole bit with Coulson's cards pretty well. Only part I cringed at, though, was when he was speaking with his superiors: "that's a stupid-ass plan" was a bit more Sam Jackson than Nick Fury, but I figured he had to let himself out a little at some point. Ain't even mad.

And continuing the Coulson discussion, I like how he's so polite. "Hello, you're using unauthorized weapons technology." Also, no panic whatsoever. His security personnel just got destroyed by Thor, and has Hawkeye ready to shoot to kill, and he just stands there and lets it all play out.

Son of Coul :(
 
Undoubtedly. Iron Man's success is what made all this possible, and RDJ is what made Iron Man's success possible in the first place. I dread the day when he'll get recast.
I believe his multi-film contract expires after Iron Man 3. I wonder what kind of pay rise he'll be given to stay.
 
I believe his multi-film contract expires after Iron Man 3. I wonder what kind of pay rise he'll be given to stay.

Shit, with how Marvel pretty much hit jackpot with each of their movies, they'll probably slip a piece of paper across the table that says "add numbers after these zeroes."
 
Fair enough. I say give him a cameo in a future film, and give him a bit more development and prominence in The Avengers 2.



I actually liked that he kept it standard, nothing crazy. He did the whole bit with Coulson's cards pretty well. Only part I cringed at, though, was when he was speaking with his superiors: "that's a stupid-ass plan" was a bit more Sam Jackson than Nick Fury, but I figured he had to let himself out a little at some point. Ain't even mad.

And continuing the Coulson discussion, I like how he's so polite. "Hello, you're using unauthorized weapons technology." Also, no panic whatsoever. His security personnel just got destroyed by Thor, and has Hawkeye ready to shoot to kill, and he just stands there and lets it all play out.

Son of Coul :(

I can see that, but honestly, some of his lines felt like he was looking at a teleprompter. Just really flat in my opinion.
 
I believe his multi-film contract expires after Iron Man 3. I wonder what kind of pay rise he'll be given to stay.

Whatever he wants he'll get. I don't see him ever leaving the role as long as he gets paid. He kinda owes his career resurrection to Iron Man too. Also I don't think artistic integrity will ever be a problem because he's starred in some awful movies before like Due Date.
 
I thought Natalie Portman did pretty well. Her and Hemsworth had the chemistry, and like I said earlier here, my only complaint about Thor was that it felt like a short time between being banished and coming back to Asgard. Having just seen it, I counted about 4-5 days (based on day/night in the movie). I think Thor and Jane needed more development, and it had something to do with the time frame feeling short.

I feel like that big problem with Thor could've been easily solved by putting a time skip in there somewhere. Like right after the scene where Thor and Selvig go out drinking, just put "3 months later" at the bottom of the next scene.

A time skip of a few months would have helped with several things:

- Thor truly learning the meaning of humility by living as a mortal for several months, instead of learning it overnight. This also would've made the scene where he finally gets Mjolnir back more dramatic.

- Thor and Jane's romance. Now, admittedly, if I knew Natalie Portman
or Chris Hemsworth
was on the other side of the universe and desperately wanted me, I would do everything in my power to construct a crazy quantum physics rainbow bridge to get there and make that shit happen, so I can totally understand their desire to reunite at the end of the movie. But I feel like, "I'll fight to get back here because I've grown to love you over these past few months!" would probably resonate more than, "I'll fight to get back here because even though I've only known you for three days, you're really hot and I totally wanna bone you!" did.

- Loki more gradually screwing things up back in Asgard. Sif and the Warriors Three make a pretty sudden decision to head to Earth and seek Thor out. It would've felt less sudden if we saw that they'd been thinking about it for several months before finally going through with it.
 
I agree, even a 2-minute montage of Thor doing funny stuff in the human world over a few months would have solved the issue with that film easily.
 
I don't know, there's a few duds like Sam Jackson, Natalie Portman, Liv Tyler, and Don Cheadle but otherwise it's been pretty ace.

I thought Odin would have been a strange look for Anthony Hopkins but when I saw the film, BAM!

Instant like.

And I agree with the Natalie Portman bit. Not saying she did a bad job in Thor in any way (she did a brilliant job actually) but by watching her other films, it didn't seem like she really fit into the movie. It's amazing how my mind stereotypes actors into fitting and not fitting into movie roles.
 
I feel like that big problem with Thor could've been easily solved by putting a time skip in there somewhere. Like right after the scene where Thor and Selvig go out drinking, just put "3 months later" at the bottom of the next scene.

A time skip of a few months would have helped with several things:

- Thor truly learning the meaning of humility by living as a mortal for several months, instead of learning it overnight. This also would've made the scene where he finally gets Mjolnir back more dramatic.

- Thor and Jane's romance. Now, admittedly, if I knew Natalie Portman
or Chris Hemsworth
was on the other side of the universe and desperately wanted me, I would do everything in my power to construct a crazy quantum physics rainbow bridge to get there and make that shit happen, so I can totally understand their desire to reunite at the end of the movie. But I feel like, "I'll fight to get back here because I've grown to love you over these past few months!" would probably resonate more than, "I'll fight to get back here because even though I've only known you for three days, you're really hot and I totally wanna bone you!" did.

- Loki more gradually screwing things up back in Asgard. Sif and the Warriors Three make a pretty sudden decision to head to Earth and seek Thor out. It would've felt less sudden if we saw that they'd been thinking about it for several months before finally going through with it.

I agree, but at the same time the whole love relationship with Jane was basically a three-day crush, which they'll be diving into for Thor 2. More time would have been better, but we would've lost the love aspect, I think.
 
Finally saw Thor and wow, wish I saw it before The Avengers. It's ridiculous how much it links to the movie compared to the others. Either way loved it and it was still just as hype even knowing what happens after.
 
Finally saw Thor and wow, wish I saw it before The Avengers. It's ridiculous how much it links to the movie compared to the others. Either way loved it and it was still just as hype even knowing what happens after.
In retrospect, Thor is basically like a Loki origins film in relation to Avengers.
 
Oh no, definitely. I've been a fan of his since The Town. But even though he had a solid performance, I don't think he is irreplaceable like RDJ or Tom Hiddleston, for example.

Pretty obvious what needs to happen. Kill his character and then introduce his twin brother who just so happens to have the same name and is just as good at using a bow, only difference would be is that he's a smartarse, one that rival deadpool, always has a smug smile, and loves the color purple.

This is why I hate Renner as HE, he can't do smartarse/funny/smug smile to save his life. He's too monotone and lacking in facial expression to pull it off.
 
Watch this the other night. Enjoyable watch. It did feel like Iron Man 3, since he was really the main focus with all his witty comebacks and the awesome Thor battle. Watched in 3D and for the most part it was pretty good. A few crazy bits made my eyes go weird, mainly when a bit too much 3D was trying to fly out at me. :D
 
Went and saw it again today. Looking back, Scar Jo was the only complaint I really had with the film. Her acting felt so wooden, and a lot of her lines "sounded cool" but didn't really make sense. She was the only avenger who didn't really feel like a hero either. I dunno.
 
I feel like that big problem with Thor could've been easily solved by putting a time skip in there somewhere. Like right after the scene where Thor and Selvig go out drinking, just put "3 months later" at the bottom of the next scene.

A time skip of a few months would have helped with several things:

- Thor truly learning the meaning of humility by living as a mortal for several months, instead of learning it overnight. This also would've made the scene where he finally gets Mjolnir back more dramatic.

- Thor and Jane's romance. Now, admittedly, if I knew Natalie Portman
or Chris Hemsworth
was on the other side of the universe and desperately wanted me, I would do everything in my power to construct a crazy quantum physics rainbow bridge to get there and make that shit happen, so I can totally understand their desire to reunite at the end of the movie. But I feel like, "I'll fight to get back here because I've grown to love you over these past few months!" would probably resonate more than, "I'll fight to get back here because even though I've only known you for three days, you're really hot and I totally wanna bone you!" did.

- Loki more gradually screwing things up back in Asgard. Sif and the Warriors Three make a pretty sudden decision to head to Earth and seek Thor out. It would've felt less sudden if we saw that they'd been thinking about it for several months before finally going through with it.
Only problem there is that Loki wouldn't have waited months to kill off Laufey and Jotunheim.
 
I think Scarlett did a good job. Her palpable fear after the Hulk incident convinced me that for the very first time Natasha had no control of the life-threatening event that just happened.

I also think her character was written so much better here than in IM2.
 
IM2 was a mess and it felt as if someone was trying to force an Avengers prequel instead of creating a Iron Man movie with some SHIELD elements thrown in it.

That said, I missed wavy haired Scarlett :(
 
I finally got to watch the movie yesterday. Here are my thoughts...


- Previews shouldn't be done in 3D, it's terrible. The quick shots don't give you ample time to figure out what to focus on. I've never had that much discomfort before.
- It seems as though Marvel is incremently making The Hulk better and better. I REALLY enjoyed his portrayal in this film, and was disappointed that he disappears so much. They did a good job of showing his visceral rage. His first appearance truly gave a sense of horror, I loved it.
- Black Widow! I was shocked! I typically hate the casting for female action stars. They'll cast someone like Halle Berry or J. Alba to be a hardened soldier and it comes off as phony. Whomever was cast for BW did a great job.
- I'm not a big follower of the Avengers, so I was worried about how the two "lesser" characters would be portrayed. They did a good job of handling that.
- I think I preferred the look of the previous Hulk, the Avenger Hulk looked very cartoonish is certain scenes, especially the last one.
- I need a WarMachine cameo!! LOL Just cus i like him.
 
I finally got to watch the movie yesterday. Here are my thoughts...


- Previews shouldn't be done in 3D, it's terrible. The quick shots don't give you ample time to figure out what to focus on. I've never had that much discomfort before.
- It seems as though Marvel is incremently making The Hulk better and better. I REALLY enjoyed his portrayal in this film, and was disappointed that he disappears so much. They did a good job of showing his visceral rage. His first appearance truly gave a sense of horror, I loved it.
- Black Widow! I was shocked! I typically hate the casting for female action stars. They'll cast someone like Halle Berry or J. Alba to be a hardened soldier and it comes off as phony. Whomever was cast for BW did a great job.
- I'm not a big follower of the Avengers, so I was worried about how the two "lesser" characters would be portrayed. They did a good job of handling that.
- I think I preferred the look of the previous Hulk, the Avenger Hulk looked very cartoonish is certain scenes, especially the last one.
- I need a WarMachine cameo!! LOL Just cus i like him.
Scarlett... Johansson? You've never seen her before?

I like War Machine too. We seem to be in a minority though ;)

Looks like I'm going with a couple friends to a smaller theater tonight. Hype!
 
Hawkeye's costume needs more purple in the future. I get that the mask probably doesn't work on film, but they gotta get some purple in there somewhere. The purple on his vest looks way too brown. Boot straps, belt buckle, something, anything. And there's really no need to worry about him clashing with Hulk since he's not a giant green monster.
 
The Marvel casting duds are as follows:

Liv Tyler
Don Cheadle
Mickey Rourke

The rest of their casting has either worked out fine or been exceptional.
 
Just saw it last night , I went in with my expectations tempered, mostly because I'm not the biggest Joss Whedon/Marvel fan in the world. My thoughts:

- The biggest surprise for me, was that this is easily one of the funniest movies of the year so far. Seriously, this had more laugh-out-loud moments than any comedy I've seen up to this point.
- People weren't kidding when they say that literally every single character gets "their moment". I know initially many were worried that Iron Man would be front and center while everyone is in the background since RDJ is the biggest name in the movie, but nope. I felt the movie did an excellent job of making every single member of the team feel important and useful.
- Fuck, The Hulk stole the show. I mean...
"And Hulk....smash."
- I loved that Captain America talked like he was straight out of the 1940's, makes total sense that he wouldn't immediately pick up on modern English vernacular. I'm also glad they avoided pushing his not understanding modern culture/technology into the ground. That could have been used for a few cheap laughs (like picking up an iPhone and going "What is this devilry?" etc).

This is a textbook example on how to do a smart and exciting summer blockbuster. I seriously don't see how anyone could watch it and not get any enjoyment out of it.
 
I finally got to watch the movie yesterday. Here are my thoughts...


- Previews shouldn't be done in 3D, it's terrible. The quick shots don't give you ample time to figure out what to focus on. I've never had that much discomfort before.
- It seems as though Marvel is incremently making The Hulk better and better. I REALLY enjoyed his portrayal in this film, and was disappointed that he disappears so much. They did a good job of showing his visceral rage. His first appearance truly gave a sense of horror, I loved it.
- Black Widow! I was shocked! I typically hate the casting for female action stars. They'll cast someone like Halle Berry or J. Alba to be a hardened soldier and it comes off as phony. Whomever was cast for BW did a great job.
- I'm not a big follower of the Avengers, so I was worried about how the two "lesser" characters would be portrayed. They did a good job of handling that.
- I think I preferred the look of the previous Hulk, the Avenger Hulk looked very cartoonish is certain scenes, especially the last one.
- I need a WarMachine cameo!! LOL Just cus i like him.
0101_wmnz.gif
 
The Marvel casting duds are as follows:

Liv Tyler
Don Cheadle
Mickey Rourke

The rest of their casting has either worked out fine or been exceptional.

I don't know much about comic whiplash, but I like Mickey Rourke in the movie, my problem is with the way he fit into the story, felt he should be more central to the plot and not spent majority time sharing villain duties with that other businessman, but Rourke himself look great, and menacing. love his intro in the racing track
 
I don't know much about comic whiplash, but I like Mickey Rourke in the movie, my problem is with the way he fit into the story, felt he should be more central to the plot and not spent majority time sharing villain duties with that other businessman, but Rourke himself look great, and menacing. love his intro in the racing track

Comic Whiplash is actually two different characters, Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo. I didn't think Rourke was all that bad honestly.

And confirmed, watching it today again!
 
The Marvel casting duds are as follows:

Liv Tyler
Don Cheadle
Mickey Rourke

The rest of their casting has either worked out fine or been exceptional.

I liked Liv Tyler in Hulk. She had some funny scenes and good chemistry with Norton.
 
After Fantastic Four's casting, I'm not going to raise a single name in the MCU movies. I mean for starters they cast Captain America as Human Torch. Who does that.
 
I scribbled this.

2012-05-09-Avengers-01.gif


God I loved this movie. The Long continuing shot where all the characters were fighting the aliens together, jumping around, helping each other...just totally nailed how I saw the Marvel universe working since I was 13. Just a constantly crazy New York full of super heroes doing their own thing.
 
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