Avengers Assemble: Wherein I say a lot about something I don't really have much to say about.

[rheasilvia]

Several weeks ago, I watched Avengers. I thought it was rather fun, but don't have stronger feelings about it than that. There was one plot hole which irritated both me and the unfannish friend who watched the movie with me, however.

So, about the Hulk… The first time Bruce hulked out, the Hulk tried his damnedest to kill Natasha in his uncontrollably destructive rage. But the second time, he actively worked with the Avengers. Not only did he not attack them, he also went out of his way to save Tony. Uhm, sorry, movie, but for a change as drastic and vital as this, there really needs to be an explanation.

Dear translators, may I have a word?
What the hell, people. In German, "remember" is a transitive verb, for god's sake.* Two gods shouting at each other should not use such suspect grammar, especially not twice in a row. That didn't so much throw me out of the scene as catapult me out, causing me to bounce and leave skid marks.

* Heee, pun!

And now for some random opinions and observations.

• My unfannish friend noted without prompting (!) that Loki's actor was clearly the best of the bunch, and that he looked wonderfully insane. She did not agree with me that he needed more screentime, though.


• My unfannish friend also noted that she felt the banter and snark was overdone. To her, she explained, people who are banter-y and snark-y in serious situations don't seem courageous and funny and macho in that "I laugh in the face of danger" way. Instead, they seem unaware of the seriousness of the situation. In other words, they do not seem like people of intelligence and competence.


• I must say, I definitely see her point.


• She did agree with me that in some cases, banter can be used as a defence mechanism to cover up insecurity and fear, and if it's clear that this is the function of the banter in question, it's fine. (See also: Tony Stark.)


• The way the movie staged the Stuttgart scene made it seem like Schäfer Securities (or whatever the exact name of the company was) is established in the Marvel universe in some way. Which – incidentally – is also the only reason I can think of for choosing Stuttgart, of all places.


• Steve made my skin crawl less than I had feared. I did have to suppress giggles every time he actually wore that costume, however, especially when he had the cowl up (this detracted from the drama of several scenes for me). Fortunately, he himself had his own reservations, which made it easier for me to take.


• Thor throwing out the "he's adopted" line did not work for me at all in terms of characterization.


• Hawkeye was much cooler than anticipated.


• So was Bruce.


• I also liked Tony.


• My unfannish friend thought Thor was hotter than a hot thing. I don't get it, but then I'm weird that way. ;-)


• I didn't see any Steve/Tony in the movie, which I am glad for (it's complicated). I am not glad that I am unable to read the pairing, though, because it seems to be the main one in the Avengers fandom right now, and I'm sure some of the fanfic is excellent.


• The flying helicarrier thingie was pretty ridiculous (read: suicidal) in terms of practicality. But I suppose coolness outweighs pragmatism. ;-)


• My unfannish friend loved the big dramatic showdown battle. I take this to mean that it was good. (I am usually rather bored by lengthy fight sequences, regardless of how well-done and how special-effecty. But I acknowledge this is a quirk not shared by the majority of cinema-goers. *g*)


• My unfannish friend wondered what the purpose of gagging Loki was. I assume it was twofold: A - to prevent him from verbally casting spells, and B - as a symbolic gesture to commemorate his cognomen "Liesmith". However, considering that the movie did not actually show Loki doing anything more dangerous with his mouth than smirking, I agree that the gag did indeed not make sense.

One more thought, this time with added X-Men First Class reference.

• You know how the critters in the big dramatic showdown battle were all encased in metal? I couldn't help thinking that Erik would have made extremely short work of them…


• Bet someone at SHIELD is contemplating travelling back in time right now, solely in order to kick the asses of those idiots who fired missiles at someone who could have been a one-man alien-invasion-defeating super-army. Hindsight, how thou art 20/20.

ALSO, why oh why does nobody - including professional screenwriters - *ever* get the Early Modern English pronouns of address right? I'm looking at you, Anthony Stark. It is really not that hard. I still have an unfinished fannish tutorial on the correct use of "thou" and "you" somewhere on my harddrive... maybe I should dig it out and finish it.

Would you believe I started writing this entry to talk about 3D films? I didn't think I had anything much to say about Avengers. Well, next post. :-)