Midnight at the Avengers ... put your camel to bed....

[icarus]

Everyone should see the Avengers with at least ten fangirls. So. Much. Fun.

Oh. By the way, caught the midnight showing opening night last night. Now that you're caught up--

--So. Much. Fun. The movie is cotton candy and unicorns and everything you could possibly want. We stood outside chatting about our favorite moments afterward.

Oh. By the way, I went with settiai, holli, neotoma, kaydeefalls, tassosss, and ... I think that's everyone, but I never quite got the right name connected to the right person. (Next time I'm bringing name tags and patting people on the back, surreptitiously sticking on labels. Though they'll probably wonder why I keep walking behind them to talk. "So..." *walk, walk* "...Holli..." *walk, walk* "What do you think of Thor's relationship with Loki?") Now that you're caught up--

--We stood outside chatting about our favorite moments afterward: it's that kind of movie. We needed a Denny's.

Oh. By the way, I'm kind of kidding about the labels. settiai has an aura of calm competence that has me picking her to organize the next--well, something, whatever needs organizing-- holli has the energy and enthusiasm of a basketful of kittens and should be invited to all parties, everywhere. I mean, at the end of the movie when she stood up told everyone walking out, "DON'T LEAVE! THERE'S ANOTHER SCENE AFTER THE CREDITS!" well, that's just one reason you should go see the Avengers with dedicated fangirls, but it's one of the best reasons! (A group of guys behind us thanked her afterward.) tassosss is that interesting conversationalist you end up talking to about Deeper-Things-Than-This-Party and if she hasn't written for the OTW journal yet, she really should. neotama is the reincarnation of Lauren Bacall, and I don't care if Lauren Bacall isn't dead yet. (Is she?) And kaydeefalls is as cute as a button, will bite me for saying so (ha, ha, you don't know where I live!) and I'm soooo pumping her brain for recs next chance I get. There was a moment during the credits where I glanced over at our beaming, happy-eyed group, and just laughed. I may have made squeaky kitten noises. Now that you're caught up--

--We needed a Denny's. The movie could have been terrible and it would have been a blast.

But Avengers is goooood.

I did not go in with high expectations. These ensemble movies rely on a vast amount of background for a half dozen heroes. Multiple stars vie for the camera, usually creating an undefinable, painful-to-watch tension, what I call the Ensemble Hero Problem. The characters generally don't mix well, they don't belong in the same universe, so the storyline is by necessity forced. Without a central character, the whole mess falls apart. Worse, to deal with the background, movie makers either over-explain (a la Dune) where you feel like you're sitting through a dissertation defense on the history of Hero X, or else write to the hardcore fans and damn the torpedoes for everyone else.

But Avengers has Joss Whedon.

Joss kept the background info to a bare minimum. Just enough for you to follow the story, and no more. He does not pretend that this movie is deep, and explaining is only done to introduce the less well-known heroes (Black Widow who?). To that end, he also kept his plot simple: bad guy is out to take over the world. Bad guy has superweapon. Bad guy is ready to use it. Good guys work at cross purposes, get in each other's way, and make bad guy's job easier.

Do you see the brilliance? Joss has built the problem of ensemble hero movies right into the plot. Genius. Every time The Ensemble Hero Problem arises, it echoes the main theme and holds the movie together. Sometimes he's a little junior high about it, beating us over the head with the tension, but it works. Then it becomes great fun to watch which heroes get along and which don't. And because the movie is about these relationships, nobody dominated.

So how did he hold it together? A great super villain. Whedon is smart enough to spend time developing a personal, antagonistic relationship between the super villain and each and every hero. The super villain, Loki, is the glue, and the various ways he pisses off each hero gives what you need to know that hero, and makes you care about all of them, not just your favorite (or the only one you've seen in theaters, which in my case was Iron Man).

By the end of the movie, I cared as much about Black Widow and Hawk as I did about Tony Stark. (Well, almost. Heh.) That alone is an amazing accomplishment. Add funny, snappy dialog, and Avengers is a joy to watch.

But Joss takes it one step further. They know why people watch comic book movies: ACTION! I usually snooze through action sequences. I-I get bored. I start watching, but I know how it's going to turn out, so my mind has already turned the page. But they interpose enough funny one-on-one character moments, cooperative superpowers, brilliant off-the-cuff superhero ideas, breath-taking "oh no, how are they going to live through this?!" moments to keep even me fully engaged, one action scene after another.

Heroes are heroes. We have so many heroes in this plot, someone is expendable. Heroes sacrifice themselves all the time. Joss knows. And Joss takes full advantage of our fear because he's successfully made us care about them all.

What an achievement. Especially for a lightweight Ensemble Hero Action film that had you laughing through most of it.

Two thumbs up. One for the fangirls, and one for the film.

Comments

[icarus]

Now I must read your entry. I had so much fun at this movie. But truly, I have never been a fan of multiple superheroes in one place, the same way I never liked D&D games where everyone had god-like powers, were all level 500, and basically invulnerable.