batleh

As someone who has not read Marvel comics, has not seen the films "Captain America," "The Hulk," "Thor," or "Iron Man II," this film failed to pull me in. As a standalone movie, "The Avengers" feels like a mishmash of rapid surface-level character introduction and way too much action. Little attention is given to character development, as it seems viewers are expected to come into the film with a degree of knowledge.

However, this is not to say that I think the film would be great if I did have some knowledge of the backstory. There's little in the way of a moral here or a deeper meaning, as this is just a good-GUY-saves-world plot. It's one that (like many superhero movies before) makes me ask if character development or THOUGHT, for that matter, really are being extinguished by money-driven action. I wouldn't even call this a "popcorn movie," as I found few laughs and absolutely no connection to the characters in my experience.

I like action movies, but I need to be drawn in to the characters in order to CARE about the action. "The Avengers" didn't even try to draw me in, it just said "here are the heroes, now watch them fight!" If the first hour had established some human element for the heroes, I might have liked the action. As it stands, the audience is thrown into the arena with the invincible combatants, and expected to immediately feel for them despite their inherent invincibility. I must ask - why should I care about action when one side can't lose and I haven't been told otherwise? Why should I root for the Yankees? (The only reason I can see is because the "bad guy" Loki wears a ridiculous looking costume).

I keep attempting to find redemption in society's reception of this movie. Maybe that's why I hope that I'm just missing a big part of the backstory. I'm a big Whedon fan, and came into "The Avengers" hoping to see some more of his magic. I was rewarded with a two-and-a-half hour snooze fest of CG action. My only sincere hope is that the millions he makes off of this movie funds "real" projects of his in the future.

It's an interesting show for me, two story lines that aren't completely separate - the operators in the field vs. their families (plus usually one of them) at home in the states. These stories are sort of like a book with two story lines where you just want to skip over one story because you're so interested in the other. It's hard to actually watch some family squabble on the home front when you know the guys in the field are pinned down in a minefield...

Anyway, David Mamet is creator/producer. You'd think his writing abilities would reflect on the scripts, but this doesn't happen until the 2nd season. The first season holds your interest, but the writing is pretty poor and cliché, very predictable. 2nd season picks up the pace plot-wise, and finally kicks into higher gear towards the end.

The show isn't exactly realistic (how realistic/unrealistic, we'll never know seeing it's the Delta force), but is entertaining. Somewhat like 24 without the ridiculous cliffhangers, silly plot twists, or melodrama. It will make you want to be in spec ops.

8/10 - it kept me watching.

Well, the praise for this movie must be due to Heath Ledger's death, or at least I hope that's the reason, because the movie is pretty disappointing. Ledger is a convincing maniac, but the rest of the cast falls short. Is Christian Bale in this movie? I think he gets the least screen time of the three leads (Ledger, Eckhart included) and really doesn't get many good lines. The only scenes I enjoyed were between he and Ledger. The editing of this film reflects the Joker's theme - chaos...was that intentional? If so, a poor choice. After the wonderful simplicity of many superhero films, including Batman Begins (I'd give that a 9/10), Dark Knight may have not been edited at all! It seems thrown together with no accounting for the viewer's intelligence. I've seen better episodes of television.