comics

The Avengers

Jun 22 2012

The Avengers

If you haven’t seen The Avengers then go see it now. It’s fuckin’ AWESOME! The best comic book movie of all time.

Ok, that takes care of my review. Short, sweet and pretty much echoes every other review out there in the world. I planned on doing a longer review, but really, what more is there to be said that hasn’t already been praised in the press and the blogosphere. I can’t even take an opposing viewpoint or find a nit to pick.

That being said though, the movie is amazing … but WHY is it amazing?

I think the concentrated amount of pure awesomeness can be attributed to a few key elements that the filmmakers got right.

It’s A “Comic Book” Movie

Avengers Issue 1“Well, duh!” I hear you say. “It’s about comic book characters.” Yes, but it’s a comic book movie in the old school sense of the term “comic book”. Before books like Dark Knight and The Watchmen came to the forefront of the capes and cowl crowd, comic books were relatively gentle: naive almost. Sure, there we’re ground breaking stories about alcoholism (Iron Man) and drug abuse (Green Lantern/Green Arrow), but they were “special” storylines, akin to an afterschool specials. Heroes never lost (for long), team rosters rarely changed (although Wolverine seemed to be in every issue of every book somehow), and the hero always captured the bad guy: they never killed him. Besides, no one ever stays dead in comic books anyway. It was the way comic books were when I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s.

After a while though, comics went through a growth spurt. Titles like Frank Millar’s Dark Knight and Alan Moore’s The Watchmen gave us flawed heroes. Heroes who would cross the line (sometimes gladly and with aplomb). Heroes who had sex. Heroes with dark secrets and truly haunted pasts. In general, heroes with lives just as screwed up as ours. Gone were the days of the hero being tied to the front of a ship set to ram New York City (Seriously, it was in Captain America #251/252) and in came comics that had become the home to the misguided, the misunderstood and the downright broken. Over time, balance was found in the comics world but the ripples of those initial splashes are still felt…for better and worse.

The 2012 Avengers movie harkens back to the classic tales told in the comics, from the golden age (when the Avengers were actually first formed) up though to the 80’s. You have heroes brought together to fight a madman bent on world domination. You have good guys who duke it out over a misunderstanding. Alien invasions, Helicarriers, a city under siege and inter-team banter that lets you know that even though the heroes have different backgrounds and abilities, they have a growing respect for each other. It is, essentially, a “best of” album of 80’s comics.

Hulk SMASH…ing Success

The HulkI would have to say though, that the stand out character in this already dynamic mix is the Hulk, as portrayed by Mark Ruffalo (and his CGI counterpart). Of all the franchises brought together for this project, the Hulk is undoubtedly the black sheep of the box office. With a mish mash of directors, actors and overall story lines the Hulk movies didn’t really add much to the Hulk mythos beyond what is generally known. Guy gets dosed with radiation. Guy gets big and green when angry. And perhaps that’s all there’s been to the Hulk. But now, with Mark Ruffalo’s wary, twitchy take as well as the personality infused into the big green behemoth, the Hulk is a tour de force and future movies should be much better received. More than just a two legged force of nature, the Hulk on display in the Avengers is a team player and far more aware of his actions and consequences, be they good, bad or funny (whether or not he cares though is still up for debate) .

[WARNING: Here There Be Spoilers]

It Captured The Elusive “Insanely Great Ending”

Thor and Captain AmericaI once had the pleasure of hearing Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) give a seminar on storytelling and he is of the opinion if a writer can resolve the story arcs (internal, external, philosophical) in the climax then you get the “Insanely Great Ending” that delivers maximum audience satisfaction and a near euphoric state (he cited Star Wars as resolving all three in 22 seconds).

In the final battle, soon after the Moment of Despair, you have the victory of Man vs. Nature (defeating the veritable force of nature of the alien invasion), the defeat of Man vs. Man (the defeat of Loki) and the positive outcome of Man Vs. Self (can this group of mismatched personality types form a cohesive team? Yes they can!). All culminating in just the final few minutes of the movie. You leave feeling exuberant and fulfilled.

The Avengers is a movie that satisfies the grognard and neophyte alike. The movie brings us heroes who are household names as well as introduces a wider public to some of the lesser known, but no less cooler, heroes of the Marvel universe.

It is the comic book movie we’ve all been waiting for.

Please feel free to share this post and discuss it (spoilers and all) in the comments section.

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Captain America: The First Avenger

Jan 19 2012

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain AmericaWhat happens when they make a movie featuring your favorite comic book hero? Why you pick it apart on the Internet, of course.

Being a lifelong Captain America fan, this movie had a lot of expectations to live up to, and it did it in spades. I have spent a goodly portion of my adolescent life in heated “Cap vs. Batman” debates with my beset friend, Spencer (obviously, Cap would win … hands down). I have always gravitated towards heroes who, for all intents and purposes, are ordinary people who stand toe to toe with monsters, gods, mystical beings and mechanical juggernauts. I have always enjoyed the likes of Captain America, Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Punisher, Batman, Green Arrow, etc. Those individuals who have honed their bodies and minds, who have developed extraordinary skills and can stand at the vanguard of heroic endeavors.

Captain America in particular strikes a chord with me as a character who is a man who wants to do good in the world. A man who is as strong of heart as he is frail of body. I think that I saw a lot of myself in Cap, from the frail body (I was a skinny bugger) to the patriotism (I consider earning my Eagle Scout badge a defining moment in my life). That being said, in the original comic book, Cap’s back-story is relegated to a mere handful of panels. Only later was his back-story expounded upon and did he tell of his life growing up in Brooklyn. I felt Chris Evans did a great job of bringing Steve Rogers to life, even with my misgivings about his casting since he also appears as the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies. But he really brought heart and vulnerability to the character that offsets the near indestructibility of the future super soldier. I enjoyed how they incorporated the traditional Captain America uniform (red pirate boots anyone?) into the frustrating sideshow aspect of his career. With this solid foundation I felt the movie did exceptionally well was build up the story of Steve Rogers the man with an extensive back-story before he became a Nazi punching (and shooting) machine.

Now, shooting Nazis brings up another aspect of the Captain America movie that the filmmakers handled deftly. We are given a movie that seamlessly blends together Captain Americas from different eras, writers, universes and even other movie franchises. The origin story and overall plot of the movie is from the original run of comics from the 1941 to 1953. Cap’s more utilitarian WW2 uniform is straight out of the Ultimates universe. Speaking of which, who is the updated combat suits designer? Why Ironman’s dad himself, Howard Stark. For those Cap fans who have followed Ed Brubaker’s amazing run as writer on the series, we are treated to a glimpse of the Winter Soldier to be in the character of Bucky. And while we also get the Howling Commandos from the 616 (original universe), we get the Ultimates universe Nick Fury.

Now, just the appearance of the Howling Commandos in a few production stills released months before the movie sent my heart soaring. My love of Nick Fury as a character began long before he was the Earth’s number one super spy and S.H.I.E.L.D. director. Nick Fury and His Howling Commandos were some of the very first comic books I read and collected. I remember pedaling my bike four miles to “the Paperback Trader” to buy 25 cent back issues. Sure, there were other war books like Sgt. Rock, The Haunted Tank and the suspiciously similar sounding Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders (another favorite of mine), but Nick and his gang always held the top spot in my weekly haul. I understand with the inclusion of the Ultimates universe Nick Fury (who was always Samuel L. Jackson, even in the books) it would take some extensive revisionist history to have a man of color leading a combat unit in WW2. Regardless, we have a great Nick Fury for the movies AND I got to watch Dum Dum, Gabe, Izzy and the gang in the flesh, kicking Nazi ass and taking names. Wahooo!

Red SkullIt has always been my opinion that a good guy can only be as good as the bad guy is bad, and the Red Skull is one of the baddest of them all. Nazi? Check. Mad Scientist? Check. Genocidal maniac? Check. Face that looks like Steve Buscemi turned inside out? Check. Cosmic Cube, the ever powerful deus ex machina that stands at the linchpin of so many of the Cap vs. Skull battles? Check. Hugo Weaving is a stand out Red Skull, but in this movie the handling of the Cosmic Cube  is where my only misgivings with the movie lie. It is powerful. Weapons powered by it can vaporise a soldier … but that else can it do? At the end of the movie the Red Skull has set his sights on dropping Cube powered bombs on the U.S. But what will that do? Destroy a building, a few blocks, the entire city? Earlier in the film, when the Red Skull orders the destruction of a town to really cement what a sociopath the man really is, perhaps that act would have been a better time to show the viewer the destructive capability of the cube. Either raw Cube power during that scene or held for a later scene with the dropping of a test bomb. As it stands, we have the final battle taking place between the hero and villain with the real threat of failure being a vague notion at best. Cap and Skull battle it out, but to what end? To save a building, a few blocks, an entire city?

Ultimately though the plot stays true to Caps later “origin” story in which he is re-introduced to comic book audiences in 1964 with the “frozen in ice and thawed out later” story. Cap is destined to be a man out of time, but the movie makers have imbued the character with such heart and a sense of honor and duty that future movies should be interesting to watch as this man of duty and honor finds himself in a modern world sorely lacking in those attributes. Captain America: The Last Avenger is one of my favorite movies and I look forward to seeing Cap in action along side the Avengers as well as in his own franchise.

4.5/5 Stars

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