After some technically difficulties we come back strong with our takes on Joss Whedon’s Avengers.
We finally all watched The Hannah Montana movies, and you might be surprised by our reviews.
Throw in some Saved By the Bell talk and our opinions on the Spike Lee Oldboy remake for good measure.
Here it is. Episode 114: Boom Boom Clap

It’s been building to this for years now, ever since Tony Stark first suited up to be Iron Man. Since then, we’ve had a sequel to that film, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America, each working as a set up to this moment, when all of them are brought together to form The Avengers. Expectations are high and if early reviews are to be believed, they’ll be met, but I have a sneaking suspicion that in retrospect, opinions of it won’t be nearly as good. The Avengers is no different than any other superhero movie, except there are six of them, which turns out to be too much for one film. Eye candy notwithstanding, The Avengersis tonally inconsistent and character growth is all but missing, making it one of the most disappointing and shallow experiences of the year.

The main villain of the film is Thor’s Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Using an artifact called the Tesseract, he has opened a portal through space and has arrived at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base where Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his team of scientists are working. After causing a bit of destruction and forcing agent Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), to take his side, he sets off to start a war. Fearful of what could come, Fury forms a team of Earth’s greatest heroes to fend Loki off, which includes Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner/the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Loki’s brother, Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

The Avengers has a number of problems, but its biggest is that too much of the film’s enjoyment is supposed to come from the novelty of seeing all these heroes fight side by side against evil and even that proves to be too difficult a task to pull off. Although the finale is unquestionably fun to watch (particularly thanks to the Hulk), the film misses a clear opportunity to make this team a single unit. Aside from one instance where Iron Man bounces a projectile of Captain America’s shield, the powers of the heroes are never incorporated together. Instead, Iron Man is flying through the sky, the Hulk is jumping here and there off buildings, Thor is fighting his brother and Captain America is on the ground doing his own thing. They’re isolated so much it begins to feel more like little snippets of each hero’s movies have been cut together and less like the cohesive team experience we were promised.

When they are all together, they’re not fighting (unless it’s with each other), but these characters have been established differently in their own films and they don’t particularly mesh well. Iron Man, for instance, is the funny one, the one who always has a quip ready to spout out when confronted by someone else. In his own films, where the tone could be established as a singular trait, that’s totally fine, but when opposite the seriousness of Thor or Captain America, he doesn’t work, and vice versa. In one particular instance, Captain America is struggling with the idea that the he was frozen solid for 70+ years and everyone he knew, everyone he fought alongside with in the war, is now dead. He’s unfamiliar with the modern world and is finding his predicament difficult to handle. The movie then directly transitions to Stark in his playboy pad bouncing jokes off left and right. There’s an uncomfortable flow in The Avengers—it doesn’t know whether it wants to be a serious, tense action film or a silly, self aware comic book movie—and it pervades the entire thing.

There’s also a distinct lack of character progression in The Avengers. While it could be argued that the other films addressed that issue by building them up to this point, it doesn’t excuse the thin writing here, which is surprising given how gifted writer/director Joss Whedon is with writing characters. They all end up pretty much where they were before (despite some poorly implemented middle ground where the characters struggle over the death of a character with whom they hardly had any interaction), which is precisely the problem. The story moves forward, so the characters must as well, but they don’t. Any minor progression is forced in arbitrarily and usually through quick lines of dialogue. Thor says at one point he used to court war, but now shuns it, as if that’s all you need for character growth.

Now, is The Avengers still worth seeing? Sure it is, but only for the most basic, visceral reasons. It’ll get your adrenaline pumping, but emotionally and narratively, there isn’t much going on. Never mind the useless, ugly and sometimes imperceptible 3D that dims the picture; when it gets to that final stretch of film, you’ll be won over, just as I was. Without it, the movie fails. That, of course, makes it a clear case of style over substance, which is what the public is calling for, so I guess in that regard it succeeds, but consider this. Both stylistically and narratively, The Avengers is most comparable to the recent Transformers films in that they both neglect the story and characters, hoping the slam bang finish will make the audience overlook its obvious deficiencies. That’s not a good thing. Once the excitement dies down and moviegoers have had repeat viewings, the veil will be lifted. The Avengers is nothing special.

The Avengers receives 2.5/5

What’s good about it
The special effects…maybe.

What’s bad about it
Where do I begin? This movie was almost too painful to finish. The films mixed religious overtones were ridiculous and confusing, and the ending may induce riotous laughter. What happened to director Alex Proyas?! He did Dark City! And The Crow! I tried to forgive him for I, Robot. But seriously this film should be filed under Atrocity. I would rather welcome a documentary on Nicholas Cage’s ever changing locks. Now that would be entertaining.

Bottom line
Do I really need to say it again?

2.The Unborn

In this supernatural thriller, Casey, (Odette Yustman) is plagued with nightmares and a demonic force that haunts her during her waking hours. Her only hope to break the debilitating curse is spiritual advisor Sednik, played by Gary Oldman.

What’s good about it:
Not a damn thing. Unborn offers absolutely nothing new to the genre. Director David S. Goyer leeches from far superior source material and defecates all over it. Thanks Mr. Goyer.

What’s bad about it
Not even the presence of the mighty Gary Oldman can save this complete waste of celluloid. There is nothing of any value to see here.

Bottom Line
Don’t rent it. Don’t buy it. Avert your eyes at all costs.

3. Push

Director Paul McGuigan spins this sci-fi action tale about a group of super powered paranormal operatives. A telekinetic “mover” (Chris Evans) teams up with a future seeing “watcher” (Dakota Fanning) to steal a billion dollar secret. But to outrun the government agents after them they must enlist the help of a mind controlling “pusher” played by Camilla Belle.

What’s good about it
Director Paul McGuigan proves that he can put together some good action sequences, and most of the cast turns in credible, if sometimes hammy, performances.

What’s bad about it
Chris Evans. Does anyone else feel like he’s a second rate Ryan Reynolds? The script does a decent job of explaining the universe that these supernatural beings live in, but ultimately it’s too convoluted and the characters are too thinly drawn.

Bottom line
Rent it if you’re in the mood for brainless action science fiction, but don’t expect too much.

Question: Does anyone else think Evans is just a second rate Ryan Reynolds?