The Avengers (spoilers)

[EHyde she/her]

So I went to a midnight showing of The Avengers last night. I loved it.

I have never read the comics, so I only know these characters from the movies. And for me, pretty much everything just worked. So many great moments, and hardly anything to complain about. The only thing I felt was a bit off was how earlier in the movie, Hulk was completely out of control, and later, he was able to sort of function as part of the team. I buy that there could have been an explanation for this ... it just didn't come across in the film. Also how when the alien base was destroyed and all the aliens on Earth died/stopped working--up til then they had seemed to operate independently so that didn't make sense either. And the close-fitting jumpsuits that everyone on the flying aircraft carrier was wearing just made me think of Star Trek. But those are really minor things.

I was pleasantly surprised by Black Widow actually. I hadn’t liked her much after Iron Man II and had been under the impression that seduction was her main superpower (probably due to her outfit), which is something I hate. But it totally wasn’t! While the fact that she is female was a big part of the way she operates, it wasn’t about using her sex appeal, it was about taking others’ preconceptions about what women are like and turning them on their heads.

[Alliare she/her]

Well, I loved Irom Man. That witty character is just too much for me, I had a fair laugh qith many of his quotes. And some characters are gorgeous.

[Link Von Kelsier Harvey he/him]

There are two main reasons I really enjoyed the film. The first is that the film didn't rush through the characters introductory scenes. Every hero was given time to be (re)introduced and established with full scenes that might have belonged in a movie that was just about that character. The second reason I liked it is that they maintained very strong continuity across all the films. If it happened in a previous film, that's what happened, rather than relying on selective continuity like many other franchises would have. I'm a sucker for Continuity Porn, and this movie had it in droves.

Honestly, those two reasons are also my main problems with the Harry Potter films. Every scene feels like it's a mad rush to get across the necessary information and then move on to the next one, and they only maintain continuity if it's convenient.

Sorry for that mini-rant. Yeah, this movie was awesome.

[EHyde she/her]

Yes, it felt like all the characters got plenty of time for their own development, and no single character stole the show. That was handled really well.

[Chaos he/him]

I loved the Avengers.

I think Tony Stark got the most funny lines. He was awesome. But on the same token, it wasn't as if he stole the show. I thought everybody got some good character development and moments. I agree with you, Ellen, that Black Widow was much better here than Iron Man 2. I honestly don't remember much of Iron Man 2 because it was pretty mediocre, but Black Widow was much clearer--and better--of a character here. She was awesome.

The movie was just ridiculously, ridiculously fun. I loved laughing so much. I loved Captain America's unconquerable honesty and... team spirit, I guess? Every character came across so excellently. Seeing the interplay with everyone was amazing.

I didn't notice the thing about Hulk at the end, Ellen, but that's probably because Hulk so epically kicked butt that I didn't care.

Overall, I loved it. I'm definitely seeing this one again in theaters.

[Sweetness she/her]

This movie was amazing. My dad, who has literally been waiting for this movie for fifty years, totally loved it. He had nothing bad to say about it.

One question, very spoilery.

The part where Loki starts ranting at Hulk and Hulk smashes him into the ground, Hulk said something, but I didn't catch it (nor did anyone around me) because the whole theater was cheering. Does anyone know what he said?

[Lance Alvein he/him]

Hulk said "Puny god!"

I also liked the second secret ending after the credits... Although its surprising how many people left the theatre before that scene came on

I think that Mark Ruffelo did a great job as Banner/Hulk as well.

I'm probably going to be going to it again with some other friends later as well, so I'm hoping to go to the 2d version next - the 3d seemed ok, but it didn't really seem to add much to the movie.

[Shivertongue he/him]

The explanation for the Hulk is very simple.

Banner said at the end, right before turning into The Hulk, that his secret is that he's always angry, which was followed by a smooth transition into the "other guy". Basically, he has control over his anger, for the most part, and thus has control over his transformation. What happened when he changed earlier, during the attack on the Helicarrier, was that his control slipped, and the Hulk broke out. It was why the transition in that case was jerky, with sudden spasms of change, as opposed to the later transformation, which was smooth and fluid.

Overall, I thought the movie was fantastic. One of the best comic book movies I have ever seen, and the absolute best interpretation of the Hulk in particular. I definitely want to see it again.

[Thought]

Great fun, with just enough crunch that you didn't notice when things made no sense. Generally, if a character didn't shine brilliantly in a previous movie, they shined in this one.

There were a few quasi-plotholes (like why did someone tell Tony that taking the bomb through the portal was a one way trip when it clearly wasn't, or what was Loki's goal in letting himself be captured), but nothing that stopped me from thoroughly enjoying the movie.

[FeatherWriter she/her]

I have an Avengers problem. It's seriously all I can think about. I've seen the movie four times now and it has taken over. Joss Whedon is amazing. Though, the first time I went to go see it, I hadn't seen any of the other movies before hand (Bad fan, I know. It's been rectified now!). At one point in the movie I leaned over to my friend and asked "Why is Tony Stark's shirt glowing?" She gave me the flattest look like "Get out of this theater right now." I felt like a dork. I thought he just made all of his shirts glow because he was Iron Man! Oops.

Anyway. Sorry to resurrect a kinda dead thread. But seriously. THE AVENGERS.

Okay, back to writing Loki fanfics.

[Yados]

What's cool is that we're getting movies for Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy.

For future movies, I really hope we see Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel and maybe She-Hulk. While Whedon did an excellent job with what he was given (Black Widow) the lack of female characters in the Avengers (and upcoming movies) was kind of disheartening.

[Lady_Yasha she/her]

What's cool is that we're getting movies for Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy.

For future movies, I really hope we see Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel and maybe She-Hulk. While Whedon did an excellent job with what he was given (Black Widow) the lack of female characters in the Avengers (and upcoming movies) was kind of disheartening.

I really hope we get She-Hulk too. The Guardians of the Galaxy plot line will be good if they're going to follow on with Thanos' cameo appearance at the end of The Avengers. Which might signal they plan to do the Thanos Imperative storyline.

I've only read several of the comics (Iron Man predominantly) but this film translated each character perfectly. There was enough dialogue to fit in exposition for people that haven't seen the stand-alone films that they can understand and recognize each one.

[chongjasmine]

I like this movie.

I find it to be humorous at time.

My favourite character is Thor.