Movie Review: The Avengers

It all started with the film Iron Man, Marvel Studio’s set the map for the eventual team up film based on the comics. From there we had a second Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America films. Each were pretty good but really have all been created for this film. Well I can say very easily that this project is a success. This film has changed everything. Comic book movies will never be the same again. This is all thanks to writer and director Joss Whedon, who mixed comedy with action and has made a film that is frankly rather epic.

The plot is Loki(Villain from Thor) has connected with an alien race. They make a deal. If Loki can open a gateway to Earth through the use of an energy cube, they can dominate the universe, Loki will get to rule the Earth. SHIELD, a secret agency with the goal of defending mankind from super powered jerks, sets up a plan to team Super Heroes together to defend the planet. Nick Fury(Samuel L. Jackson) leads SHIELD and bring in several agents like Black Widow(Scarlett Johannson) and Hawkeye(Jeremy Renner) to bring in other heroes. Captain America(Chris Evans) is held up after the events of his own film. Iron Man(Robert Downey Jr.) is busy building his empire. Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk(Mark Ruffalo) is hiding out to try and avoid hurting anyone.

What is hard to explain about this film is that the balance is perfect. Every actor and character gets their own good amount of screen time. Ego’s clash, heroes fight, while the villain sits back and enjoys the show. I would suggest seeing this film twice simply to listen to the funny dialogue the characters throw at each other.

A stand out here is Mark Ruffalo, his first swing at playing Banner really gives this film balance. All the other heroes pretty much enjoy their abilities. Banner does not. He essentially hates himself and Ruffalo does a fantastic job at bringing this across. Chris Evans also impressed me, a lot of it was the script, but as a fan of the character he is Captain America in my eyes.

Not surprising the strongest part of the film is the third act. When the alien invasion starts and the Avengers must team together and fight, it’s one of the most impressive action sequences to ever go on screen. The details and time that was put into this film is staggering. You’ll be jumping in your seat, you’ll cheer, you’ll shake your head and chuckle and then say: “No way!” or “awesome!”.

The only nitpicks here are some cardboard acting by some SHIELD agents and a score that can be forgotten instantly. These are so minor though I probably shouldn’t have brought them up. The film is the best comic book film to date simply because it has everything. Loki(Tom Hiddleston) eats up his scenes and is such a strong villain here. You won’t be able to help smile when he faces off with his brother Thor or tries to take down Captain America.

Do yourself a favor and see this movie on the big screen…

Rating: 10/10

Thor 2 has a new director…

Looks like Patty Jenkins is going to take the helm on the sequel to the mega hit film of the summer in Thor. It’s unclear if Kenneth Branagh was just not brought on or really didn’t want to do another one. Still Jenkins, who directed the 2003 acclaimed film Moster and also worked on Entourage and Arrested Development. Jenkins also directed the pilot for AMC’s The Killing. So this is not a heavy hitter type of director but the work has been really good.

I really enjoyed Thor and loved its balance. The film could have been over the top corny and balancing the worlds that Thor was in would make the film uneasy. It never did and frankly was a lot of fun, the cast was great and the action when it happened was solid. I hope the second film increases the amount of action we get. I would also like to see Thor kicking some ass while he’s wearing his helmet please!

Weekend Box Office: June 10-12th

Not much of a surprise that Super 8 won the weekend. Some might look at the $38 million and think that as a failure, but frankly with no “big actors” and it not being a sequel that number is pretty amazing. The film didn’t really cost a lot so I’m sure when everything is said and done the movie will be at least financially a hit. X-Men: First Class dropped to second with around $25 million and lost almost half of its audience from last weekend. Again that sounds bad but frankly that’s pretty good for a film like this. First Class is only about a million off from breaking the studio favorite $100 million mark. The rest of the list is pretty basic. Hangover 2 passed the $200 million dollar mark and just keeps gulping down cash.

Woody Allen’s film Midnight in Paris is doing very well in a slow limited release. I’m sure the great reviews are helping it. The fourth Pirates film also broke the $200 million dollar mark but is not exactly the block buster people were expecting. Luckily for them though world wide audiences are eating up and the film is on it’s way to a billion dollars. Bridesmaids also continues to make more money and have some decent legs. Kung Fu Panda 2 also continues to make money but has failed to meet some expectations. Still since kids can see movies more than once this film might have legs at least until Cars 2 comes out.

Next week we get Green Lantern and I’m pretty confident that will be the top movie. Will just see how much money it ends up making.

1. Super 8 $38 million

2. X-Men: First Class $25 million

3. The Hangover 2 $18.5 million

4. Kung Fu Panda 2 $16.6 million

5. Pirates 4 $10.8 million

6. Bridesmaids $10.2 million

7. Judy Moody… $6.3 million

8. Midnight in Paris $6.1 million

9. Thor $2.4 million

10. Fast Five $1.7 million

Weekend Box Office: May 20-22

Well the summer season is going strong. This weekend Pirates 4 landed and as expected it landed in the top spot. Problem is it didn’t make as much as some people predicted. Now this sounds funny I know since the film made $90 million in three days. That’s a lot of money, thing is people were preparing for it to bust the doors off with over $100 million. The previous films opened bigger, At World’s End opened with $115 million for example. The funny thing is that Pirates 4 broke world wide records, the film made almost $260 million around the world. So it’s a hit but not from domestic numbers. It shows that not just America loves blockbusters I guess. I don’t know what this all means for the franchise. Will see if the film has legs but with some big time movies coming in the next couple of weeks it’s possible this film will fade off into the dark.

A big surprise is the film BridesMaids which landed behind Pirates with $21.1 million and shows I guess that the film has some legs. Will see how it does once Hangover 2 opens, doubt two big R rated comedies can survive at the same time. Thor just keeps adding on money to it’s total. Landing in the third spot the big man with the hammer is at $145 million dollars. Following him is Fast Five which is a big time hit and almost at $200 million in total. Everything else is pretty much expected. Summer time is fun though, this is when the big films come out and the box office becomes pretty dramatic.

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides $90.1 million

2. Bridesmaids $21.1 million

3. Thor $15.5 million

4. Fast Five $10.6 million

5. RIO $4.7 million

6. Priest $4.6 million

7. Jumping the Broom $3.7 million

8. Something Borrowed $3.4 million

9. Water for Elephants $2.2 million

10. Madea’s Big Happy… $1 million

Weekend Box Office: May 6-8th

We all expected this so it’s not a surprise, Thor landed in the top spot with a solid $66 million bucks. That’s pretty good for a movie where most people probably have no knowledge of the comic. Still I feel the studio was looking for bigger numbers,  the film has chances to have some legs though. Last weeks king Fast Five drove to second with over thirty million dollars. A huge drop off from last weeks take, but that was really expected.

The rest of the list is pretty basic, new films Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed did alright I guess. Both landing in third and forth respectively. Rio and Water for Elephants are also sticking around adding to their take. Family friendly films like Prom and Hoodwinked two sits at the bottom. I’m confused by the film Soul Surfer, it looked horrible, I avoided it like the plague itself, yet it sticks around in the top ten. Not making big bucks but for sure having some legs.

1. Thor $66 million

2. Fast Five $32.5 million

3. Jumping the Broom $13.7 million

4. Something Borrowed $13.2 million

5. Rio $8.2 million

6. Water for Elephants $5.6 million

7. Madea’s Big Happy Family $3.9 million

8. Prom $2.4 million

9. Soul Surfer $2.1 million

10. Hoodwinked Too! $1.9 million