Today, I have seen The Avengers for the 2nd time. That's right, I have seen it twice in a span of three days. If anyone out there wants to go again, give me a ring, because I could do it, right now. Forget everything you've heard the past little while, forget the over-analyzers and the people who are calling this film Transformers 3. Those people are fools and their opinions should not be taken into account. This movie is the real deal folks, you read a lot of bitching on this post about movies and with very good reason, but this one is the one to go and see. You won't be disappointed. Where do I begin?
When the movie was announced, I was skeptical. Of course I was. We've heard about team-ups before concerning comic books and they never seem to work. X-Men? Yeah, the films are getting worse. That's right, worse. Any attempt at imagination or innovation has gone out the frickin' window, it's the same drum that keeps getting banged each and every time. If you want to know what X-Men First Class is about, just watch X-Men 1 and 2. Same themes, same storyline, same boring crap. Fantastic Four? It's heart was in the right place and they weren't as bad as everyone says they were, but I didn't leave the theatre inspired or anything (a cloudy Galactus will do that to you.) Justice League? The live-action film got it's plug pulled, because no one could figure out how to do it, (you put a bunch of heads together in a Hollywood studio and what to do you get? Sawdust). So Avengers, no matter how quality the films were preceding it, I was not convinced all the characters could get the screen time they needed or deserved to have the audience give a damn about them. In today's world, it just isn't done anymore.
Well, I was wrong and I'm not afraid to put it into print here. Everyone gets their moment, you get team-ups within the film, everyone gets a crack at the main villain, it's all there ladies and gentlemen, the film that you would want made about The Avengers was done. I can't believe it. I can't believe I'm writing this sentence. I would have thought it would have been another "yeah, it was good, but you know, they could have done this, this and this." Nope. No complaints. No gripes. It's an event picture. You remember what it was like, lining up for Return of the Jedi or something and the anticipation was off the charts and you couldn't wait to get to your seat, grab your popcorn and wait for the flick to get started? Where they're showing the trailers and you're like, get on with it, already? This is this movie. This is a bonafide, no-kidding, no schtick summer blockbuster. Everything you would want, the characterizations, the plot, the spectacle, the action, the humor, the moments, it's all in there.
This movie makes me want to flood Marvel with emails. I want them to reclaim Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four. It is a crying frigging shame that these properties are not getting the treatment they deserve. Marvel would elevate all of these films, believe me. How awesome would it be to have Avengers 2 with Spider-Man joining the team? It could happen. It should happen. Marvel has proven that a movie on this epic a scale can not only be done, but be done right. I think there should be some sort of campaign to have Marvel grab all of their properties back. It has to be done. If they can do a movie this big, this good, this spectacular, then any other Marvel movie that is being made by another studio is nothing but a waste of everyone's time.
So, go see this movie. Again...and again...and again. Support it loud and proud. This is one movie that is deserving of every dollar it makes. I can't wait for Avengers 2.
Rating: a big time 5 out of 5.
- Stephenstein
