The Avengers

As if the freakishly hot weather wasn't a big enough clue, I guess summer is officially here with the first of the big summer blockbusters -- The Avengers. The Avengers has been one of my most anticipated films of the year, especially since Thor and Captain America gave the film such  great set-up last year. Now it's no secret I ADORE superhero flicks -- I've loved both Iron Man films, Thor, and Captain America, but with the addition of Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk, I wasn't sure how that much awesomeness could fit into one film. Taken singularly, anyone of the aforementioned denizens of the Marvel universe is more than big enough to carry their own movie, and given the action-heavy trailers for this group outing I was a bit concerned that character was going to be lost in the sea of explosions. Placing Joss Whedon at the helm of this movie was a masterstroke of genius. Whedon knows how to bring ensembles together and make you care about each of the players, and happily The Avengers is no exception. This movie is freaking AMAZING. Plenty of spoilers to follow... :)

So remember the Tesseract/Cosmic Cube thing? The Tesseract has been on lockdown in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility under the supervision of Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), who reports to the always enigmatic Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) has been the lead scientist on the Cosmic Cube project, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempt (allegedly) to harness the object's limitless energy. What apparently no one realized was what, exactly, a live wire the Tesseract could be, serving as an energy portal between worlds. This is something that, of course, the exiled and angsty Loki (Tom Hiddleston) takes full advantage of, since he's the god of mischief and conniving and all.

Now I could sing Tom Hiddleston's praises from now until the end of time, I love him so much, I do  I do! :) He is such a delicious villain. I mean take his headgear -- it is ridiculous -- but Hiddleston owns it. Props to him for that. :) This time around, Loki is working on behalf of an alien race called t Chitauri. They (mustn't forget, they oddly reminded me of future predators from the TV show Primeval) want the Tesseract, and in exchange for the Cube they'll loan Loki an army so he can conquer Earth and show up his brother Thor. Yes, poor Loki really thinks that is going to work out. Bless his heart. :P Anyways, Loki is a lot of fun in this film -- all sturm and drang and stomping around (watch for the scene in Germany -- Hiddleston in a trenchcoat -- GAH I CAN'T TAKE IT). Loki destroys S.H.I.E.L.D.'s facility and in the process takes Selvig (WHY OH WHY COULDN'T HE KILL SELVIG?!) and Agent Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).

Hawkeye was briefly introduced in Thor, and after seeing Renner at work in this film I have to say it is a crying shame that he and the Black Widow didn't get their own origin film (it's never too late for that, Marvel...just sayin'!). It's really quite wrenching seeing Hawkeye in thrall to Loki, however briefly...but that is more than made up for by Renner's intensity and charisma. He is absolutely delightful in this movie people, DELIGHTFUL. (What's not to like about a guy with a bow?) I love the act that the likes of Hawkeye help balance the superhero team with some sense of humanity, if you will. Hawkeye isn't a demigod, isn't a super soldier, isn't impervious to pain or harm -- he's just a badass with an extremely dangerous skill set.

Hawkeye's partner, for lack of a better term, is the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff, first introduced in Iron Man 2. I can really take or leave Johansson in most films, but I think she does an excellent job playing the icy assassin/spy. This film does a great job of adding some much-needed layers to the Black Widow's character by allowing us to see the cracks in her armor, like letting us see the impact of nearly losing Barton to Loki's machinations or almost getting squashed by the Hulk has on her psyche. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that Romanoff is an woman who looks on her work with S.H.I.E.L.D. as her best shot at redemption. I would love, love, LOVE a film dedicated to Hawkeye and Black Widow's pre-Avengers shenanigans. It's refreshing to see a strong female character in a film like this grappling with issues of identity and her past (as opposed to forcing a romantic hook-up, you know?).

Fury sends Natasha to bring in Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), living in isolation, practicing medicine in India, trying to avoid turning into the Hulk at all costs. Now I've never really been all that into the Hulk, and given the fact that Hollywood has tried and tried to launch a film franchise with little success I wasn't initially very excited about the Hulk's inclusion in this film. I couldn't have been more wrong. Ruffalo is fantastic as the conflicted Banner/Hulk -- perhaps all the green guy needed was a group of other superhero types to play off of? Because the group dynamic between everyone else and the potentially loose cannon that is Banner is terrific and provides the film with some of its most entertaining, laugh-out-loud moments (of particular note is the beat-down he delivers to Loki). I do think there was a bit of a logic jump as far as the Hulk's powers go -- we go from blind rage Hulk to team player Hulk -- was that a result of Banner just applying himself during his transformations or what?

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a fascinating character to throw onto a team like this -- because historically I don't think anyone is less of a team player than Iron Man, you know? I can't really complain, though, because Stark's ego and quick-witted comments (when he tells Thor he thought the demigod was playing Shakespeare in the park I could've died laughing) make my heart sing, I MEAN IT. Sarcasm of that type delivered with verve by RDJ -- it really doesn't get better than that for my snarkiness-loving-heart. *wink* It was nice to see how Stark's relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) has mellowed him just a smidge (speaking of Potts, her cameo is just one example of what a fantastic job Marvel does ensuring continuity in their films -- I LOVE that). Also, I adored the way Stark befriends (if that's the right word) Banner -- their shared scientific background means they speak the same language -- and Stark, impossible though it may seem, actually has the insight to know how to push Banner to use his alter-ego. LOVE THAT.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is of course a major player seeing as it is his brother wreaking havoc on the planet where his lady love resides (sorry, I couldn't resist waxing poetic -- I love Thor's more formal, courtly manner of speaking -- it's a small thing perhaps but it helps set him apart from the rest of the Avengers). I'm so happy that this movie continued to explore the strained relationship between the Asgardian brothers...it would be so easy to just have the two fill distinct hero/villain roles, but knowing their history, seeing how Thor impossibly still seems to care for Loki (while of course wanting to throttle him) adds fantastic layers to their respective characters. Is it perhaps the fact that Thor can't seem to quite write his brother off that lends Loki the hope of some sort of redemption? Food for thought. :) Stark and Thor are definitely alpha characters on the "team," so this movie explores the struggle to find shared purpose and balance. The Iron Man/Thor introductory fight was a highly entertaining way of working out those intitial personality clashes. :)

Obviously I loved everything about this movie, but I have a special soft spot for how this movie handled the Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) character. Seeing as how we last saw Steve waking up after a seventy year sleep to a very different world, he arguably had the biggest learning curve of the entire group. The thing that impressed me the most in his film last year was that Steve was very much an old-fashioned hero, just a nice guy with deeply held principles of honor and duty ingrained in his psyche. Whedon made the right call in choosing to tell most of the story from Rogers' perspective, as the outsider who has to come to terms with the 21st-century and his place within it. Rogers is very much a soldier's soldier, and his sacrifice at the end of last year's film cost him his brothers in arms, his family, so this film is in no small way about Rogers once again finding a sense of purpose and community. He is the very definition of selfless, so it's interesting to see how he clashes with the more self-absorbed Stark. But for all the angst the payoff during the climactic battle is a sweet one, when the rest of his Avengers cohorts cede to his battlefield expertise and look to him for command in the field.

Now, as much as it pains me I need to talk about Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg). I ADORE COULSON. He's been a constant presence throughout the Marvel films, always bringing the everyman touch to the fantastic goings-on, with snarkiness, sarcasm, and class, completely unflappable. He apparently had a thing for Captain America, and his trading card collection and unabashed fandom was a stroke of comic genius (as well as the whole horribly awkward "I watched you sleep" speech). Coulson was the very definition of team player, how much so revealed by his death. HIS. DEATH. At the hands of Tom-freaking-Hiddleston no less. This is a filmic tragedy of epic proportions in my world, people! Now I realize killing off a well-liked co-worker, basically, someone everyone on the team liked, was needed, the impetus to make this motely crew of loners a team. But that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. *SOBS* WAY TO RIP OUT MY HEART AND STOMP ALL OVER IT, WHEDON!!! (And brings me back to the whole question of WHY COULDN'T SELVIG GET KILLED OFF INSTEAD?!)

I really enjoyed finally seeing Nick Fury in an entire film (as opposed to a teaser scene or two). One gets the impression he is extremely dedicated to his work, but not above using less than aboveboard methods to achieve his purposes (re: the trading card incident). I really hope this announced Nick Fury origin film is given the green light soon, as I'd love to know this guy's backstory, the council he is supposed to answer to (but ignores for most of this film), where he first got the idea for the Avengers Initiative. So many questions, so little time. :)

So, basically, EVERY LITTLE FLIPPING THING about this movie is just made of awesome from start to finish. Whedon did an excellent job weaving together the storylines and strengths of so many disparate, wildly dysfunctional characters into a family of sorts (Firefly, anyone? *wink*), replete with lots of humor and heart. The Avengers worked better than I ever could've dreamed -- a little slice of superhero film paradise. :) Keeping an action film character-centered is no small feat, and Whedon does an excellent job balancing the players with the action sequences. The latter are spectacular (I particularly liked the Chitauris' fishlike ships). And Alan Silvestri, who scored Captain America, provides a rousing score that given his recent history with Marvel films, provides a nice sense of continuity score-wise. With Thor 2 and Iron Man 3 scheduled for release next year, and the Nick Fury film in the pipeline, I can only hope their certain success will lead to a second Avengers film in 2014 or 2015. This formula worked so well, with the same team -- well a sequel just desperately needs to happen. Pretty please? :)

Captain America: The First Avenger

This summer has been an extraordinarily good one for Marvel. First they gave us Thor (my review), which was a delightful little surprise, and now the star-spangled Captain America, which, for a World War II history nut like myself, was pretty much a guaranteed win. Happily it delivered on all fronts, and now I really can't wait for the star-packed Avengers film next summer. That, my friends, promises to be EPIC.

A period superhero flick could have easily fallen flat on its face. Thankfully the team that crafted Captain America hit all the right notes character and nostalgia-wise while providing plenty of flash and spectacle to keep things interesting. It feels a bit like the 21st-century equivalent of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I am an admitted comic-book movie geek, but I never thought I'd have my love of 1940s history so gloriously mashed-up with the superhero film genre. It's a fantastically realized dream come true, one that I didn't even quite realize I had. *wink*

Chris Evans just owns this movie as Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America. I am seriously crushing on the man now. :) His all-American good looks and boyish earnestness are pitch-perfect for the role and the time period. His turn as Steve manages a delicate balance between the conventions of modern superhero movies and the innocence and idealism of Hollywood flicks from the 1940s, when "men were men," if you will, fighting against the unfathomable might of the Nazi war machine. The special effects that transform Chris Evans from the 90 lb weakling version of Steve into the unstoppable hunk that becomes a patriotic symbol of the American war effort are, quite frankly, amazing. It would be easy for the CGI to overshadow the characters, and it is a credit to Evans and director Joe Johnston that they don't allow the on-screen magic to usurp the kindness that is the bedrock of Steve's character. Steve's never-say-die determination and gentle spirit are what set him apart, and ultimately it are those qualities that transform him into a leader of men.

As I mentioned in my Thor post, I find myself getting educated on the "standards" of the Marvel comic universe a little more as each film releases. This is probably the way to go, for me anyway, as keeping things straight in the 21st-century film universe is job enough (when compared to reconciling the sprawling, over-lapping, and in some cases contradictory comics canon). The focus of the power struggle in Captain America is a "cosmic cube" stolen by Nazi/HYDRA big bad Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), a source of unlimited power that he refers to as "the jewel of Odin's treasure room." With that you have the Thor tie-in (the cube is briefly seen in the bonus scene at the end of the credits), and prior to Thor, the cube was seen in Howard Stark's notes in Iron Man 2. HYDRA is apparently the evil-terrorist version of S.H.I.E.L.D., which I suspect will be the crux of the conflict in The Avengers.

I absolutely LOVED the film's recreation of 1940s New York. It's chock-full of delicious period detail, from the clothing to the props to the cars, that all work together to set this film apart from your typical superhero flick. All through Steve's multiple attempts to enlist in the army, his best friend is the dashing and confident James "Bucky" Barnes, played by Sebastian Stan. Stan first came to my attention in the all-too short-lived television series Kings, where he played Jack Benjamin. I really loved the friendship between Steve and Bucky, and their later role-reversal - when Steve becomes the guy women swoon over, a reality he does not know how to handle - is really quite humorous to watch play out. Barnes, and indeed the whole motley crew Steve assembles to take down Schmidt, have this great Band of Brothers-style vibe, a bit reminscent of the elites that took on the Nazis in classic films like Von Ryan's Express or The Great Escape. More on the rest of the team in a bit...

Much has been made in the blogosphere of Richard Armitage's appearance in this film as the evil Heinz Kruger. Kruger is a small but pivotal role in the movie, and if you overlook Armitage's gosh-awful take on an "American" accent he does make the most of his screentime. :) Kruger infilitrates the top-secret lab where Steve is turned into a super soldier, and after Steve's treatments prove successful Kruger starts to wreak havoc right and left, blowing things up, shooting secret agent old ladies, and threatening plucky small children (all in his best Guy of Gisborne fashion *wink*). When Kruger flees, Steve gives chase, and the ensuing action sequence is a great introduction to Steve's new powers - and I'm not gonna lie, I kinda enjoyed watching Evans throttle Armitage, and I couldn't help but chuckle at his death scene with a mouth full of foam. However, for as nice as Richard looked with his slicked-back hair and 1940s-era suit, I do wish he'd been one of the good guys. Maybe next time... :)

In a stroke of genius the filmmakers cast Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man's daddy. Cooper's been extremely busy since his break-out turn as Willoughby in the 2008 Sense & Sensibility - he's also appeared in films like The Duchess and An Education. Here, Cooper has the retroactive advantage of being able to watch Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in the two Iron Man films, and it's a great deal of fun seeing him bring the cocky, brilliant Tony's precursor to life, while bringing his own unique charisma to the legendary Stark family name. It was especially great fun watching Cooper mack for the audience at the 1940s equivalent of the Stark techonology expo seen in Iron Man 2.

I can't neglect mentioning Stanley Tucci's turn as Dr. Abraham Erskine, a refugee from Nazi Germany and a one-time colleague of Schmidt. Erskine is the one responsible for the super-soldier formula, and having seen the horror of the technology mis-used firsthand, he wisely picks Steve as the ideal candidate for the army's experiments because of his heart and great capacity for compassion. I love Tucci, and he does a great job playing Steve's surrogate father-figure. Tucci brought just the right amount of kindness and gravitas, I guess you could say to the character of Erskine, and I loved his mentorship of Steve.

Hayley Atwell plays Steve's love interest, Peggy Carter - a British member of the Strategic Scientific Reserve responsible for the program leading to Steve's transformation. Atwell worked with Cooper in The Duchess, and has also appeared in the Masterpiece productions The Ruby in the Smoke and Mansfield Park. Most of the time Atwell had a touch too much of the whole Brit "stiff upper lip" thing going on, which squashed any chemistry she could have with Evans pretty effectively for most of the film. However, she was made for the trappings of the time period - with her looks, curves, and hair she looks like she stepped out of a classic Hollywood film. And I did love how Steve's atypical background and the respect he exhibits for Peggy in her male-dominated military field start to win her over well before he proves himself on the battlefield.

Captain America is packed with great acting talent, but believe it or not I saved a favorite for the last. JJ Feild plays the British beret-wearing member of Steve's elite commando unit, James Montgomery Falsworth. Feild was just seen in the Marple episode The Pale Horse, and his upcoming appearance in Austenland can't come soon enough to suit me. Falsworth only gets a few lines, but he gets several nice close-ups, and Feild exhibits a nice intensity and heretofore unimagined flair for fight scenes that I really appreciated. *wink* Plus, the moustache was ADORABLE. FREAKING ADORABLE. Thank you for that, JJ. :) I also can't neglect to mention Neal McDonough (from the Tin Man series) as the moustache-gone-bad, bowler-hat-wearing "Dum Dum" Dugan. According to the IMDB, it looks like Marvel has green-lit Nick Fury's (Samuel L. Jackson) origin movie, and it's rumored Dugan will appear in it - that's something to look forward to, hmm?

So, just in case the length of this post didn't make it clear, I loved this movie. For a little over two hours I got to revel in the movie's glorious recreation of 1940s New York and the accompanying wartime ideals of heroism and patriotism. The trappings of the war bond rallies are a fantastic example of the film's nostalgic flavor, and Steve's first stage costume is a nice nod to the character's original look. The "Star-Spangled Man" theme song was a little slice of retro heaven, recalling the sound of acts like The Andrews Sisters, etc. The vibe of the stateside rallies stands in stark contrast to the newly-minted Captain America's first gig to overseas troops, who don't respond well to a rallying cry from a guy who has yet to see combat. Things like war bond rallies were feel-good shows for the homefront, far removed from the reality faced by troops on the ground. Steve's response to that reality, and his desire to prove himself, is just a small part of what makes his character one to cheer for.

I simultaneously loved and hated the ending of this movie - it's a fantastic set-up for Captain America's introduction to The Avengers team, but Steve's noble sacrifice that puts him in stasis for seventy years just killed me. K-I-L-L-E-D ME. Just as Steve is finally seeing Peggy's heart thaw, just as he's finally on the verge of getting the girl for the first time EVER, he has to crash-land in the Artic Circle. Life ain't perfect in superhero-land. *sigh* While I ultimately think Steve can do better than Peggy, he was so sweet being sweet on the unattainable girl my heart turned to MUSH MUSH MUSH. MUSH, I tell you. On the plus side, Steve's overwhelming angst at losing Peggy and waking up in the 21st-century should make for an interesting character arc in future films. :)

Full of heart, warmth, action, and adventure, Captain America has sky-rocketed to the top of my favorite superheroes movie list (top five at least). Be sure and stay through the end of the credits - the first part of the credits roll over some fantastic wartime American propaganda poster art, but the real treat is seeing the first trailer for The Avengers on the big screen. That, my friends, kicked the fangirl radar into overdrive. It's gonna be awesome. :) Captain America is a perfect summer movie  - brimming with humor, heart, and adventure, and  set apart by a fantastically realized period setting, it's a bit of a throwback movie, in the very best sense of that term. Highly recommended, and let me tell you I can't wait to see it again.