Avengers

I wasn't going to go see it.  I wanted to, oh boy did I want to, but movie tickets are expensive.  Much more so than they are where I last lived and I'm at a point in my life where every dime counts.  Which sucks because I love going to the movies.  I think it's jacked that movie tickets are competing with gasoline in how they seem to keep rising and don't get me started on the concession stands.

So when I get my paycheck and that little devil sitting on my shoulder says, "Go see this film," the angel on the other side says, "Wouldn't you rather have food in the cupboard and refrigerator this week?"  Food wins that argument.

Until today.  I picked up paycheck, saw how tiny it still was... and then I looked across the street at the movie theater and thought, Screw it.  I'm watching The Avengers.  This is one that must be seen on the big screen.

No regrets.  Until next week when I open the last of my Oriental Flavor Ramen.  Then I'll have to move onto the Chicken Flavor Ramen.  Ah, cruel fate!

Here's the thing about The Avengers and why it's so great: it's standing on the shoulders of all the previous films and their achievements.  Without an audience that had invested itself in the previous stories, this film would still be good but I doubt it would have as much power.  And all the previous films have been leading up to this one: we've known The Avengers was happening since Iron Man (those patient enough to watch the epilogue after the credits.)  The movie more than fulfilled our expectations that began in 2008.

Nobody needs to hear me rave about how The Avengers series has raised the bar not only for superhero movies but all movies in general (the Oscars will turn a blind eye but they're usually pretty dumb anyway.)

What I liked most was how Joss Whedon handled an ensemble cast and let everybody stay big, if not make them bigger.  I mean, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America already made a presence for themselves in prior films.  But even though this story is not about them, it does them no disservice.  Each of their personal stories in this still feels large.

I won't talk about plot, I'll just focus on characters and relationships:

I like how Tony Stark's personal life is going well; he's got his priorities completely on track and though his moments with Pepper Potts are short, their love for each other really makes the climax so poignant and heart-wrenching.  I wouldn't have felt so attached to the ending without it.

Hulk was a surprise.  I don't like the Hulk.  I think the last two movies with him are stupid (though some pretty inventive action scenes.)  No interest in watching the TV series.  Bruce Banner/Hulk is really Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde and the conflict never seems any deeper than that.  The Hulk was my favorite character in this movie.  Maybe it needed Joss Whedon's touch.  Maybe it needed Mark Ruffalo to play Bruce Banner and provide the face for Hulk.  Perhaps the script just let him do something important this time besides run away.  Whatever it was, I cared about this character, was wowed by the stunts, and laughed like mad.  How many can match Tony Stark for laughs?

Speaking of which, I never would have pictured Tony Stark and Bruce Banner being buddies but that was a very natural friendship.  I want to see those two pair up more.

Captain America is once again a fish-out-of-water.  But that's okay because he knows how to adapt and grow and he is still every inch the hero he was in the last film.  In a way, he's the one I care the most about; I like having real good guys in a story, somebody without moral failings stand tall even when everything and everyone is against him.

Thor is the man but his character also depends the most on having watched his film first.  Without that, I don't know how I would be invested in his story at all.  In a way, this movie is the true finale to Thor.

Black Widow was in Iron Man 2.  Good eye candy and some cool action sequences, but overall, a very shallow character.  This movie, it's not like I cared about her as a human being but I was very intrigued.  Before, she was just a very advanced spy/assassin with no depth.  Now, she's an enigmatic figure that you don't want to cross.

Hawkeye was the true underdog here.  He's the only Avenger without a prior film appearance and nobody but Black Widow to provide a link that he belongs on the team.  Joss Whedon made all the right decisions in making him matter.

Agent Coulson has been in most of the prior films but was always easy to overlook.  Everybody who watches the movie will know that he gave the story nobility.

Then there's Director Fury.  Truth be told, I have the same trouble with Black Widow and Hawkeye that I have with him: it's tough to invest yourself into a spy character because they're all liars.  If they weren't, they wouldn't be very good at their job.  You might like them but you'll never trust them.  (The reason I prefer Jason Bourne over James Bond is because Jason Bourne has an opportunity to stop living a lie whereas James Bond pours himself into that lifestyle.)

Still, even though Director Fury is a liar, I have to appreciate how he does what he can and then trust the good guys to be good.  That's humility you don't find in many people in authority.

Now I'll have to choose between food and entertainment once The Dark Knight Rises comes out.  <sigh>