392: The Avengers

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[00:00:56] I figured I could start from the beginning but I feel like people jump around so much with what they watch and all that.

[00:01:02] I figured it doesn't really matter, hopefully.

[00:01:05] So I figured I'd start with the Avengers films, all four.

[00:01:09] So this time we're going to do the Avengers from 2012.

[00:01:13] Which is written and directed by Joss Whedon.

[00:01:17] Stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Colby Smulders,

[00:01:25] Samuel L. Jackson and many others.

[00:01:28] And the synopsis is, Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team

[00:01:33] if they're going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.

[00:01:40] So I vividly remember going to see this when it came out.

[00:01:45] There was huge hype, you know, this was the first time we had ever had all these different

[00:01:49] characters on screen together in this big movie.

[00:01:52] And they all had their own standalone films.

[00:01:56] So there was massive anticipation for this and Marvel was still in phase one, so still

[00:02:01] in the early stages of everything.

[00:02:03] And I've seen the movie probably maybe six times or so over the years, at least in its

[00:02:10] entirety.

[00:02:11] And when I first saw it, I loved it.

[00:02:12] I thought it was the coolest thing ever, as many probably did.

[00:02:16] And I still enjoy it to a certain degree.

[00:02:19] I think it's very solid.

[00:02:21] Surprisingly, the action, especially the final act is probably the best part, which I guess

[00:02:26] in some ways is the point because that was the whole point of having these characters

[00:02:31] come together, fight together.

[00:02:33] And so I think that part looks amazing, like the effects gorgeous still even 10 plus years

[00:02:40] removed.

[00:02:42] And the whole cast works really well together and they do throughout all of the MCU.

[00:02:46] It's very good casting across the board.

[00:02:48] Joss Whedon, I don't love him and it's too bad that he has really his career has kind

[00:02:53] of plummeted because of his behavior on set amongst other things.

[00:02:58] And so it's a shame that he did these movies and basically just dropped off after that

[00:03:03] point.

[00:03:04] And even before that, I was never a huge fan.

[00:03:07] I was never a big Firefly fan or anything like that.

[00:03:10] But no matter what, he has a great writing voice, especially for comedy in these films.

[00:03:16] I think Avengers and Age of Ultron have some of the best comedy out of any of the MCU films,

[00:03:22] especially in the team up films.

[00:03:24] He has a good handle on energy, the style and delivery of humor as well in his direction.

[00:03:31] So I think the comedy and the writing overall is very, very solid in this and Ultron.

[00:03:37] I think talking criticisms, though, and maybe it's no huge shock, the production design

[00:03:43] and even costume design pretty atrocious.

[00:03:46] Clearly, they put all of the money towards the effects, especially in the third act.

[00:03:51] And so like the production design, the costume design really kind of suffered.

[00:03:55] Like it looks terrible.

[00:03:57] I think any interior scene for the most part that isn't CG looks pretty bad in my opinion

[00:04:04] and very low quality, but is what it is.

[00:04:06] You know, you had your priorities and clearly they did well in this movie.

[00:04:10] So that's a small issue, not a huge problem, but it's something I always notice really

[00:04:15] more and more when I watch it.

[00:04:17] The score is great.

[00:04:18] The iconic Avengers Marvel theme.

[00:04:21] I love that.

[00:04:23] And another big point that I think honestly some latter Marvel movies suffer from is

[00:04:30] Loki to me is aside from the Winter Soldier, really one of the best villains and most

[00:04:36] interesting characters across the board in the MCU.

[00:04:40] I think this movie especially really utilizes that very well and makes it more compelling

[00:04:46] for me because I love villains.

[00:04:48] I love a good villain because that can also help make the hero's journey and challenges

[00:04:52] more interesting and compelling.

[00:04:54] So I think Tom Hiddleston is so underrated.

[00:04:56] He's great as Loki.

[00:04:57] I love the design of the character.

[00:04:59] All that stuff is good.

[00:05:01] Some other good moments, the Hulk smash scene with Loki where he smashes him back and forth.

[00:05:08] Fantastic.

[00:05:08] Love that.

[00:05:09] And also where Hulk becomes angry and starts smashing through the city.

[00:05:14] And then the iconic Avengers assemble moment where the camera pans around all the characters

[00:05:20] and that's still very iconic.

[00:05:22] So there are a lot of moments and a lot of sequences that still really hold up.

[00:05:27] Wouldn't be my favorite Avengers movie would be somewhere in the middle, I think ranking

[00:05:31] wise and wouldn't be in my top five or top 10 favorite Marvel films, but it really did

[00:05:37] set the stage for what you could do with superhero films, the scale, the amount of

[00:05:43] characters, everything.

[00:05:44] So it's very impressive in a lot of ways and I will always have that nostalgic love

[00:05:50] of being blown away by this totally new thing in movies.

[00:05:55] So yeah, that one is a heavy four out of five.