AVENGERS RECAP: THE AVENGERS

Marvel studio's epic 4-year plan to create a superhero team-up movie has finally come to fruition with this weeks release of The Avengers. It has been a grand experiment in corporate synergy that seems to have paid off financially. The film made $200 million domestically this weekend and if it's global numbers are any indication, the film will pass the $1 billion mark sometime in the next two weeks. But financial and artistic success are two different things. Those who have been following along with this series will know that Marvel often avoids distinctive directors and are willing to sacrifice good story elements if it means making a more lucrative product that wets appetites for the next installment. Even Iron Man, the best of these films, is flawed, and none of them have particularly good action sequences. The mantra from Marvel seems to have been "good enough!" Does Avengers break this mold?

Early in the film Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the evil brother of Thor (Cris Hemsworth), steals the Tesseract, A.K.A. the Cosmic Cube, a powerful weapon/energy source that fans will remember from Thor and Captain America. Loki want's to use the power of the cube to enslave mankind. Such planetary threats fall to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) head of S.H.I.E.L.D..  If Fury can find Loki and the Cube in time, he might be able to save the planet. He decides that this looks like a job for... everyone.

The team he assembles is made up of Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor and Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Joining them are power challenged heroes Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and the always welcome Agent Colson (Clark Gregg).  Right away the team is at odds with each other and they bicker with each other in the language of beloved writer/director Joss Whedon.

Hiring Joss Whedon to write and direct The Avengers might be the smartest decision Marvel has ever made in making these films. It's not just because Whedon has written actual comic books, but because Whedon understands how to navigate an ensemble peace (see Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse, seemingly everything he's ever done). A film with four protagonists could have easily become muddled, or it could have become Iron Man and Some Other Guys but Whedon knows how to strike a balance. Everyone has a chance to shine and everyone has something to do. It's a testament to the film that many of these heroes, despite their diminished screentime, have more going on here then in the previous films that where dedicated to them. Captain America is a man out of his time, struggling to adjust to life in the 21st century, and Thor has to deal with his brother's betrayal in a much deeper way than before and is dangerously close to being an interesting character. Even a minor character like Black Widow, who was mere window dressing in Iron Man 2, is transformed into a compelling character by Whedon's script.

The best surprise of the film is the portrayal of Bruce Banner/Hulk. The character was played by Eric Banna in Ang Lee's misunderstood Hulk, and Edward Norton in the Avengers setup film The Incredible Hulk. Norton did not reprise his role for whatever reason and was replaced by Ruffalo (proving that Hulks other power is face changing). Unlike the other actors, Ruffalo doesn't play Banner as a gloomy, tortured man but instead creates a more interesting portrait of a man at peace with the monster inside him. Like a recovered addict, he knows his triggers and is tolerant of other people's skepticism about his control. Hulk as a special effect is also impressive. Until now they've never gotten the look right. Ang Lee's version was technically good but was colored a bright, neon green that distracted from the suspension of disbelief, and the later reboot, got the color right, but everything else looked so terribly wrong. After nearly 10 years of trying, The Hulk finally looks like The Hulk should look. 

Whedon's action beats are similarly impressive. It's clear that Whedon understands how to stage and shoot an action scene. There is a masterful and complex sequence on a flying aircraft carrier that really demonstrates the teamwork heroics that the Avengers are going to have to execute if they are gong to save the world. The climactic invasion of New York might remind some viewers of the Chicago siege in the most recent Transformers film, those viewers should also note that Whedon's version is infinitely better done and more interesting. Whedon's deft handling of character, action and humor also give the film something none of Marvel's films have had, a creative stamp. Avengers may not be the most Whedonesque project, but the man's thumbprint is thoroughly visible. It would have been enough if Avengers was just an well made, candy-coated summer blockbuster, but the fact that it also has personality and whit is a huge bonus.

Grade: A-

Note: There are not one, but TWO scenes after the credits. The latter scene is one of the best jokes in the film so be sure to wait.

Previous installments in this series:
Iron Man
The Hulk and The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captian America

Blog Note: Thanks to everyone who made my Avengers Recap series so successful, you have obliterated all of my readership records. As a result I will be stepping up my game here at G-blatt's Dreams. There will be more reviews throughout the month and on May 25, I will start reviewing all of the James Bond films (1 per week). There will also be a recap of Nolan's Batman films in July AND sometime this summer I will be writing a special, top-secret series in conjunction with our sister site The Film Temple.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL

The Mission: Impossible films have never been very substantive. So much so that the third film shocked some by having a coherent plot. Even the Bond films are deeper than these. What the series is good at is providing a playground for great stunts. An action movie test lab if you will. In that sense Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is a rousing success.

The plot is cut and dried. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his I.M.F. team (I.M.F. stands for "Impossible Mission Force"- love that!) are disavowed after a failed recon mission leaves the Kremlin in ruins. They must clear their name and stop a terrorist from destroying the world itself!

It's a more coherent film than most of the series with extra attention paid to Hunt's team. From the previous film we have the over-eager technician Benji (Simon Pegg), and new additions like the slightly worn out Jane (Paula Patton), and the mysterious analyst named Brandt (Jeremy Renner). The team has great chemistry and unlike many ensemble action films, no one feels extra. It's still Tom Cruise's show, but it's more balanced and everyone has plenty to do (particularly Pegg). The story may be light but the character relationships have an intricate feeling to them.

Outside of a young Jackie Chan, is there a living actor as committed to extreme stunt-work than Tom Cruise? In one nail-biting sequence Ethan must run around the outside of Dubai's Burj Kahlifa hotel, the tallest building in the world. Another actor would have done the done close ups against bluescreen, used a stunt double, etc. But not Cuise, that is the actual Tom Cruise running and jumping roughly 2,000 feet above the ground without a safety net! It's a great stunt, but more importantly, it's a well constructed sequence. The closest that any of these sequels have come to equaling the suspense the Langley break-in from the original.

The danger of having such a spellbinding stunt so early in the film is that nothing can top it. But that doesn't mater as even the more artificial action scenes are great fun. Such as a sequence where Hunt must pursue a target through a giant sandstorm, a prison break based around a Dean Martin song or a climactic fight inside an automated parking garage (it works like a giant vending machine and as ridiculous as it looks apparently such things do exist).

If there's another thing that these films do is provide a great template for directors. Each film has had a different director and each film has unique stylistic thumbprint. Ghost Protocol is no different. It is particularly notable for being the live-action debut of Simpsons and Pixar vet Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille). This is an extremely fun and triumphant debut full of Birds trademark humor. If he chooses to, Bird can very easily become one of the worlds best action-directors. This is not as personal as his earlier films, buy hey, it's Mission: Impossible.

Grade: A-

I saw the film in IMAX. If you can afford it, I recommend it. Roughly 30 minutes of the film was shot using the format and the results are breathtaking. Bird engulfs the audience with the 9 story screen. The dust of the desert. The vertigo of climbing the building. It's all much more real and immediate thanks to the large format film stock.



Picture this 9 stories tall!