So finally they all meet. Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Thor and others in Marvel Comic's iconic Avengers series.

Expect huge-budget, non-stop action. Lots and lots of stuff blowing up, and all the loud noises a young lad could ask for. (Or old, if you're a truant like some of us....)

Joss Whedon (the Firefly TV series creator) directs this debut in what should be a hugely-profitable movie franchise.

Wired.com senior editor Adam Rogers takes a leisurely look at Whedon's past work, his unflappable cool under mind-boggling pressure -- and what Whedon brings to The Avengers. It's long but a good, informative read.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/04/ff_whedon/all/1

Looking forward to this! I wonder, though, to best appreciate the movie, do I have to first see the Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Hulk movies? I have all of them on DVD, but so far have only seen the first "Iron Man" film.

I love movies that feature superhero teams, whether it's live action or animated.

Quote from: Jasmine on May 02, 2012, 03:19:39 PM
Looking forward to this! I wonder, though, to best appreciate the movie, do I have to first see the Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Hulk movies? I have all of them on DVD, but so far have only seen the first "Iron Man" film.

I love movies that feature superhero teams, whether it's live action or animated.

Robert Downey Jr. is absolutely terrific in both films, and in #2, my old fave Mickey Roarke tries his best to overcome a very weak script surrounding his character (which has a terrific weapon but the director bungles the action sequences). It's still well worth seeing.

I caught Captain America in the theater, but didn't see either The Hulk or Thor, being as familiar with them as I cared to be. The others in The Avengers (including the villain) are new to me, but I didn't read Marvel comics, much.

Early reviews on this movie are unanimous raves, from the Toledo Blade, and both the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.

Joss Whedon has delivered, and the summer fun season has blasted off to a very promising start.

Like you, I wasn't really a comic book guy, but I did see Capt' America and thought it well worth my time and will probably see it again soon.
I saw Thor and the hulk, but for the life of me can't remember a thing about either one, so they must not have made much of an impression.

I'm looking forward to the Avengers but will wait for the DVD.

Box office returns peg The Avengers as the #2 top-grossing opening-day film in movie history, which is enough to send a tingle down my cinematic leg in hopes of a Firefly revival. Tingle. Tingle.

So now Whedon has every fan-boy frothing at the mouth, and except for that hapless New York Times reviewer's obligatory snark to degrade the entire genre (and Samuel L. Jackson's reply to advise him to switch careers), it's been a cakewalk for Whedon --- up to a point. Now, like Christopher Nolan, he's got a problem. If you start out on a high plane, how can you top yourself in any sequel?

And to get him back, what will Marvel offer him in return?

At this stage Whedon is now the hottest director in Hollywood. The studio-suits would be nuts to NOT let him have his (from their viewpoint) ego-trip side-projects, while binding him to at least the next sequel in The Avengers franchise.

I believe that is a valid operational paradigm when you apply it to James Cameron. The suits gave him a LOT of ego-tripping space, for good or bad. Whedon and Firefly (I believe) does deserve that chance. It was absolute magic on all levels, and it can be revived to GREAT success after the rabid campaign run by series fans, back when it folded. Serenity was such a result (but Whedon hadn't really hit stride yet, and Dollhouse did freak out a lot of his older fans).

That's all changed. He's now the fair-haired boy who brought home a studio-saver.

Okay, guess what? I watched it! And on the first day of release, too! :)

It was a very good movie. The action scenes were incredible, and I was surprised that there were some really hilarious bits as well. I won't give them away, but a couple of scenes featuring The Hulk were truly LOL moments!

I did find the storyline a little hard to follow, and that may be because I didn't watch most of the previous films. But the action and sheer awesomeness of the superheroes more than made up for it.

My next movie will probably be "Men in Black 3."