[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hPpG4s3-O4]Who is your favorite Avenger? Mine is, hands down, Joss Whedon.Full disclosure: I have never read a Marvel comic. Additionally, I was ambivalent to all the movies that have come out with Spiderman, Ironman, Captain America-man, Green Swollen Man, Hammer Man, etc. I enjoyed the movies for the ever-advancing special effects, but felt their overall depth was not quite up to my expectations. Or maybe standards. Either way. [Note: The aforementioned standards do not apply to horror films. Just sayin'.]But you take a master screenwriter and director like Joss Whedon, throw in some amazing special effects, kick-ass technology, superb actors (okay, maybe not all of them, but we'll leave that to your personal judgement) who can fulfill the roles of both a super-hero AND a complex human being, and suddenly, I begin to sit up a bit straighter in my seat and take notice.A short list of elements that make the Avengers stand out as superior to the other Marvel super-hero movies:
- The main external conflict in the single hero stories is between them and an enemy, with a sub-conflict (or, one could argue, a primary conflict) with themselves. This is a fun story to see unfold once, but since all of the Marvel movies are the same story, varying only in the tightness and design of the heroes' latex suits and handy gadgets they get to use, it's become overdone and unoriginal. Whedon had the freedom and maneuvering room to move beyond this tired theme and take our heroes to a new level of conflict. Not only did they have to fight a common enemy, but they had to learn to do it together. Thus, most of the Avengers focused on the intra-personal clashes and struggles that would naturally come about when you put a demi-god, a narcisstic genius, a sir-yes-sir, bottle-enhanced super soldier, and an invulnerable and unbeatable scientist-slash-mega monster together. After the epic fight scenes we've all gorged ourselves on in the previous Marvel movies, it was high time for exposure to a battle of another sort: a battle of wits. Something Director Whedon excels at.
- That being said, Whedon didn't let us down when it comes to the reason the child in us really loves super-hero movies. The action and destruction were spectacular. I'll say one thing about Bruce Banner; he loves to stomp the holy hell out of New York City.
- And the third and most unexpected bonus of the Avengers was Scarlett Johansson's character, Natasha Romanov. Almost 49% of you are saying "duh," but I'll explain what I mean. Unlike sweet, affable darlings such as Betty Ross or Mary Jane Watson—who are lovely, true, but consistently need a good saving at the hands of their respective heroes—Nat Romanov can and does lay down plenty of hurt on her own. Naturally, being a Joss Whedon film, no one would expect the female lead to take a side role, and once again hats off to Whedon for putting Johansson's character front and center. In a turn of particularly subtle brilliance, there's a point in the film where Hawkeye states the distinction between the Black Widow's identity as a spy instead of soldier, or, in other words, someone who uses wit and intelligence rather than brute force to extract information. This is important in that it gives Johansson's character layers that you rarely find in either super-hero personas or the female characters that inhabit the sidelines of the films featuring them.
And for one final bonus, Mark Ruffalo's portrayal of the Hulk was to date the best of the best. Conflicted, neurotic, nerdy, depressed, heroic, the list goes on. And with the most soulful eyes in Hollywood, who better to embody such a range of characteristics? The good news is, there's a chance we'll see more of Mr. Ruffalo in this role.
If you are a comic book fan, a ten-year-old boy, a ten-year-old girl, an action-lover, a Joss Whedon fan, a green screen worshipper, trying to speed up your rate of hearing loss, or simply looking for a stellar two-hour span of entertainment, the Avengers is the movie for you.Bechdel Test status: Does not pass.
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