Spoilers may well abound (I don’t think they do, particularly, but hey, tread carefully people).
So, I went to see the Avengers (or, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, because in the UK the name’s been taken, once by a somewhat ropey film, and once by an awesome tv series). I’m not a diehard fan of Marvel’s avengers, indeed, it’s not something I had really taken much notice of. I like superhero stuff, but I generally get it through film, not through other media.
Having watched the trailers, I was a bit grumpy about there only being one woman in the team, and her not seeming to be a core member, how wrong was I. I’d actually heard about it beforehand, and knowing that Joss Wheedon scripted & directed it meant I was quite tempted to see it. The unfortunate thing about Joss Wheedon being involved is that it gave me really high expectations, which without the depth of understanding of the background of the characters, it’d probably be impossible to get from a film.
It’s like my friend James’ experience of watching Serentity without watching Firefly. If you don’t know the background of the characters, the amount of world building you can do in a film is somewhat limiting – and Serenity alone vs Serenity following Firefly is a completely different experience. I suspect the same is true of The Avengers.
However, you can see Joss’s touch. Natasha Romanoff’s character is, for once, a female superhero that is not mostly eye candy, nor relegated to being saved by the men. The humour is clever and the little jokes inserted into the action scenes are brilliant. I’m particularly fond of
Natasha Romanoff (as the aliens approach): This is just like Budapest all over again.
Clint Barton: You and I remember Budapest very differently
Which sits at just the right moment.
Anyhow, I wasn’t blown away by it. It wasn’t an experience that left me going “I must have more”. It wasn’t like when I watched the first Matrix film the first time, and was completely wowed and did the whole ‘I must see this again, immediately and forthwith’. But it was good, solid, clever and funny. Aye, so, worth watching, probably not worth the expense of going to the cinema, but the air-con was nice :)
