"KINDRED SPIRITS ARE NOT SO SCARCE AS I USED TO THINK.
IT'S SPLENDID TO FIND OUT THERE ARE SO MANY OF THEM IN THE WORLD."
- Anne of Green Gables

Kindred Spirits

Saturday, June 2, 2012

"Earth's Mightest Heroes"

Thursday I got to go see Avengers in the theater... in 3D too. :D And I enjoyed it immensely!! :D But as a fair warning: I may let loose a few plot spoilers. But I'll try and keep that to a minimum. :)

The Avengers
Synopsis: Nick Fury assembles a team of "avengers", after the Tesseract - a cube with unlimited power in it - gets stolen by Loki and his team of cohorts. And now Loki plans on taking over Earth with "help" from an army of out-of-this-world beings. And he is sure he will win - even if the Avengers dare stand in his way. They're just mere mortals, right?

 Iron Man puts it well in this statement:
Loki: I have an army.
Tony Stark: We have a Hulk.
Loki: I thought the beast had wandered off...
Tony Stark: You're missing the point! There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be darn well sure we'll avenge it!

Characters:

 So, to start off, we'll go with Nick Fury who starts this whole "Avengers" group. He's played by Samuel L. Jackson, who does a wonderful job. Now, I will say, Fury was not one of my favorite characters for the first half of the movie. But the fact is - that he was necessary. Very much so. And that I appreciate him. Cause some of the Avengers needed a little kick in the booty, so to speak, in order to work together. :) Oh, yes, bullheadedness runs rampant throughout this movie... and braveness. :) Ahem... but I'm rambling... so back to the subject at hand... :D So did I like Mr. Fury? Yes and No. He just had to grow on me. :) Once you know that he is willing to go to any length to back up the Avengers and stop Loki, you like him more.

Nick Fury: [to Loki] You threatened my world with war. You might not be glad that you did...

Loki is the villain. Sometimes you want to have the snot beat out of him (like the "puny god" part :D). And sometimes you wish he would turn to the good guys side. Cause he would make a really good good guy. He's a sympathetic character... and especially if you've watched Thor. But Tom Hiddleston does a really "good" bad guy. :D Plus... that smile... ugh. I think to sum up that smile in three little words, I would say: smug, crafty, and mischievous. 

And yet there is one part where he is funny...
Loki: I am a king!
Thor: Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! You come home.
Loki: I don't have it. You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where.
Thor: You listen well, brother. I...
[Thor is knocked off the mountain by Iron Man who tackles him in mid-flight]
Loki: I'm listening!
LOL! It's a good thing the theater was mostly empty cause I burst out laughing. :D


One thing I must ask, though, is this.... Does anyone else feel that his helmet looks absolutely ridiculous with those horns on it??!! I mean, aagh!! Call the fashion police!! Seriously... it would be hard to walk through a door with those things on. Who could pose like he does - all serious and everything - with that on his head?!

 Then we have Natasha Romonoff/Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson). I greatly appreciate that she doesn't try to be alluring, "sexy", or anything else. She just a person who's there to get the bad guys. And she just wants to get the job on hand done - and to win. Her back story is interesting (and troubled), and sympathetic. Thank goodness she's one of the Avengers. :) She also delivers one of my favorite lines in the movie.

Tony Stark: [chased by a Leviathan] Guys, I'm bringing the party to you!
Natasha Romonoff: I don't see how that's a party.
 This below is the "party". :D

Yeah... this movie is also chock full of sarcasm and smack talk (but not in an overpowering sense). :D

 Thor... brother of the man with horrible horned helmet. Yep, he's Loki's brother... except he has his head screwed on straight and doesn't wear horns (unlike Loki) thank goodness. And I must say... Chris Hemsworth has that Shakespeare/Old English talk down pat. You just about need a dictionary to understand him sometimes. The words Thor uses sometimes are as big as his arms. :D Thor knows how also smack talk in Shakespeare too, as an added bonus. ;) And I love his hammer. Boy it packs a wallop. One thing though... he doesn't get called in to the Avengers by Nick Fury. He comes of his own accord, because he know Loki is up to no good.

Bruce Banner: I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him.
Thor: Have a care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother.
Natasha Romonoff: He killed eighty people in two days.
Thor: He's adopted.

Now we come to the character that I've never really liked. Until now. Robert Downey Jr. has always nailed the Tony Stark/Iron Man character...


Tony Stark: I thought I didn't qualify. I was considered, what was it... volatile, self-centred, and I don't play well with others.
and I never really like Iron Man for that. But in this... well, he's way more respectable. And I like what he says to Loki in the first quote in this post. He's dead serious when he says: "You're missing the point! There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be darn well sure we'll avenge it!"

That's the kind of hero I can respect. Warning: Plot Spoiler! And right there at the end when he just about well... dies, as he's falling through the portal... I was thinking 'NO!! You cannot kill off any of the heroes! That would be weird!'

He also has his fair share of good lines, too. :) This one made me crack up so hard!! :D

Thor: Do not touch me again!
Tony Stark: Then don't touch my stuff.
Thor: You have no idea what you're dealing with.
Tony Stark: Shakespeare in The Park? Doth mother know you weareth her drapes? 

Chris Evans reprises his role as Captain America/Steve Rogers. And even though I thought he'd be my favorite, he's not. I like all of them, and I do have a favorite, but it's just not Captain America. I know that a lot of people will say that he's the best... nice teeth, cool suit, bravery, etc... so sorry to burst your bubble if you are bummed that I don't say that Captain America was my favorite in this. I do admire his bravery - just jumping into the middle of a gun fight, jumping around on the outside of a flying aircraft carrier... etc. :D Yeah I think that I'll leave that up to him. He's also very level headed... which helps balance some of the other characters out. :)

He's very serious... and I do like this one line he delivers. Seriously sarcastic would fit his description.
Natasha Romonoff: [discussing attacking Loki] They're basically gods.
Steve Rogers: Ma'am, there's only one God, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that.


I have seen the two other major Hulk movies - one where Eric Bana plays him, and one where Edward Norton plays him. I liked Eric Bana's version, but not Edward Norton's. That being said about Eric Bana's, I think that Mark Ruffalo is my favorite of the three now. He has the Bruce Banner/Hulk character nailed. A soft spoken doctor exterior, that hides an inner terrifying "hulk". =) He's very matter of fact, concerned about harming anyone innocent when he's the Hulk, and super smart. Banner and Stark get along very well, too. Really good friends rather... to where when Bruce is Hulk, he's in control enough so that he is able (Small plot spoiler) to save Iron Man when he comes back through the portal. They also both speak this weird scientific language. :D

Bruce Banner: [Loki's] got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.
Tony Stark: Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.
Bruce Banner: Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet.
Tony Stark: Finally, someone who speaks English.
Steve Rogers: Is that what just happened?
[Stark and Banner shake hands]

This guy was my favorite Avenger - Hawk Eye/Clint Barton. Jeremy Renner played this arrow shooting, modern day Legolas (actually his bow and arrows are cooler than Legolas', in my humble opinion :D). He has his own sad background. *Spoiler Alert* And, *ahem*, for the first half of the movie he is on the bad guys side - against his will. His brain gets taken over... so he can't do much about it, poor guy. He is caring, steady, great fighter, and the kind of guy who would take a bullet for his friends. He's a very interesting character. They need to make a movie of him so that they can tell his story (since they have on almost every other Avengers).
Natasha Romonoff: [watching the aliens come toward them] This is just like Budapest all over again.
Clint Barton: You and I remember Budapest very differently.
I also like his friendship with Natasha. It's almost like a brother-sister relationship. Him helping her away from her troubled past. *Spoiler* And the fact that in the past he was sent to get rid of Natasha when she was a bad "guy", and instead reforms her and spares her life... It's almost a Snow White, and the Huntsman kind of thing. :)



 I hate what happens to Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). I do find it kind of funny how he acts like a kid at Christmas when he's around Captain America. :D Even when Captain America is just being Steve Rogers.

Captain America splitting up the fight between Thor & Iron Man.

Steve Rogers: Hey! That's enough!
[Captain America looks at Thor]
Steve Rogers: Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here.
Thor: I've come here to put and end to Loki's schemes
Steve Rogers: Then prove it! Put the hammer down.
Tony Stark: Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his hammer!
The "arguing" scene. See below quote. :)

Steve Rodgers: Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?
Tony Stark: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.
Steve Rogers: I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.
Tony Stark: I think I would just cut the wire.
Steve Rogers: Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.
Tony Stark: A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything that's special about you came out of a *bottle.*

This looks super cool in 3D. :D And on here too. :)

Fury trying to recruit Steve.

Nick Fury: There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, so when we needed them, they could fight the battles that we never could...


Loki: Ah, the soldier out of time.
Steve Rogers: Trust me, the only one outta time is you.

Personally, I'd take Captain America's outfit over Thor's. The cap would get caught up on things too often. Plus, I might trip on it. :D
Tony Stark: [to Thor] No hard feelings Point Break, you've got a mean swing. 


Thor: You people are so petty... and tiny.
Yep, Thor, generally anything would be, with that big hammer of yours. ;)

Take a look at that bow and arrow. Super cool. :D It's funny... I took an Avengers personality quiz and ended up being Hawk Eye (which I put down at the bottom of this blog). The description fits me perfectly... well, except I'm not always precise and I don't always have new toys. :)


Oh, and Tony's computer, Jarvis? Love it when he does things like this. I want one (the computer, not the cube). :D

Loki, in my opinion is an idiot. His brother, Thor, keeps on sparing his life even when he really doesn't deserve it. Good grief... when will Loki ever get it through his head?!



Natasha Romonoff: [to Hawkeye] This is nothing we were ever trained for...

Tony Stark: Dr. Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.
Bruce Banner: Thanks.
Hmm... any other little details... let's see...

It did have some language. But it wasn't that bad or prolific - except I think that they took God name in vain once, maybe twice. :/

There are no "scenes" to skip... if you know what I mean.

I would recommend this for 14 and up (but it depends on what your family's standards are).

I would be willing to buy this movie... :)

My rating:
4 1/2 star

Hope you all enjoyed this review (and hopefully it was helpful)... and feel free to comment and tell me what you think. :D

Toodles!

4 comments:

Mikailah Autumn said...

I totally loved this review! OH my goodness.. one of the best movies ever. :) I loved the quotes in there. THOR: do not touch me again!
TONY STARK: then don't touch my stuff.
THOR: you have no idea what you're dealing with.
TONY STARK: shakespeare in the park? doth mother know you weareth her drapes?
I loved that part.. haha. :) Also the "he's adopted" part. ;)

lovely, lovely. ;) great review, Stephanie. :)

xo,
Mikailah~

ps-come enter my giveaway! :)

Sophia said...

I was going to be SUPER angry at you for Captain America not being your favorite until you said you liked Hawk Eye better - Me tooo!!! :)

Petra said...

Great review! You pulled out some of my favorite quotes from the movie! I'm really sad Hawkeye didn't get more screen time, though. I don't feel as if I know him as well as I do the other Avengers, but he seems like a great character--sensitive, strong, thoughtful. I really hope they give him his own movie!

I loved Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Banner, as well. He made the character really sympathetic and his friendship with Stark was so cute. I've never liked Start before--he's too arrogant and obnoxious--but I began to appreciate him as the only one who treated Banner like a person instead of a monster.

ChildrenofEve said...

First of all, I love your blog, and your standards.
Secondly... ...Yeah the horns get in the way.
I have a full Loki costume so I know what I'm talking about.
I had to spend a while practicing how to avoid ceiling fans!