Avengers Movie Thread

[electric mayhem]

Tally before the weekend is $803.3M worldwide. It has earned $148.5M over the last 4 days. Avengers is looking to make another $80+M domestic this weekend. It's competition, Dark Shadows, is estimated to only open with $27-$30M.


wanna bet it breaks $1B?   

[grither]

Tally before the weekend is $803.3M worldwide. It has earned $148.5M over the last 4 days. Avengers is looking to make another $80+M domestic this weekend. It's competition, Dark Shadows, is estimated to only open with $27-$30M.


wanna bet it breaks $1B?   

i haven't seen a movie twice in the theater in decades... but i'm going back for a second tomorrow!  plus (in canada anyway) there is a premium for 3D AND for IMAX so i will have paid about $37 on the movie so far... and don't regret a thing!  it will break 1B easy

[legion of daves]

wanna bet it breaks $1B?   

without question, it's almost a lock that it'll happen this weekend.

[Jordan]

Saw it again.  Avengers, Dark Knight, Episode III and Return of the King are the only movies I have seen twice since I was a kid. 

It was just as fun as the first time.  I took my dad, who while not a comic book fan, likes action movies.  He really liked it. 

Upon second viewing, ScarJo gives a really, really, really good performance. 

[Wood]

Saw it again last night.

Still awesome.

I think the movie is made by the third act. Prior to that it's a very good Marvel flick, not dissimilar to the others. But that third act? EPIC 

[Tim H]

Upon second viewing, ScarJo gives a really, really, really good performance. 

She stole the movie for me.  Everyone talks about how great the Hulk was, but to me, Black Widow was the star. 

She  got Hulk to join the team, saved Barton, shut down the portal and totally redeemed herself as a character.  She started off the movie wanting to atone for her past and by the end I would say she more than made up for it.  Not to mention she fooled me through both of her interrogation scenes.

[grither]

She stole the movie for me.  Everyone talks about how great the Hulk was, but to me, Black Widow was the star. 

She  got Hulk to join the team, saved Barton, shut down the portal and totally redeemed herself as a character.  She started off the movie wanting to atone for her past and by the end I would say she more than made up for it.  Not to mention she fooled me through both of her interrogation scenes.

yeah i gotta agree, i loved the hulk scenes as much as everyone else, but i was surprised, and pleased at scarjo's role and performance.  maybe i'm misremembering (i'll be seeing it again in about two hours) but i remember leaving the theater a bit surprised at how much screen time she got...i'm going to have to watch IM2 again... if i recall she had a pretty tiny role in that

[aelfinn]

Saw it a second time last night, this time in 2D.  Enjoyed it even more for the fact that my head wasn't hurting from the 3D bullshit. 

definitely agree that I enjoyed ScarJo's scenes even more on the second viewing.


P.S. is it just me or did that Dark Knight Rises trailer seem to show the entire arc of the movie?... I've begun to truly hate these preview trailers

[valance_the_hunter]

I plan on seeing it again tomorrow or possible the next day, and not just because I like the movie, but I really had a blast just being part of the audience.  It had a real sense of community which I'm sure that people back in the day remember from watching Star Wars for the first time.  

Hell…maybe the country NEEDED this movie.  

[Brian G]

You know who I want for the sequel? Henry Peter Gyrich. He'd fit in perfectly, especially if Whedon comes back.

[RickV]

Okay so after listening to the latest episode of the podcast and being a week distant from seeing the movie I had a couple points to state that I was wondering if I am alone on my island in the sea.

1. I completely agree with Vince that while this movie is INCREDIBLY entertaining(I don't want to discount how fun this movie is on the big screen in the moment.) It doesn't have aspirations to anything more than the genre it places itself in, which is my main problem with the Marvel movies and it makes the movies ephemeral and temporary. The Dark Knight seems to be punished for wanting to pull more in from outside just superheroes which is just baffling to me because that is how the best MOVIES are made. It also makes the movie very insular to the comparisons people make, how everyone will say "best Super-Hero movie" instead of "best movie".

2. I think Joss Whedon is to close to the material to do truly interesting things with it in a way that someone who is bringing more of a film side of it to the material (like Raimi or Nolan).

3. I admit a lot of my displeasure in the long run is probably due to Whedon because I sense his voice more than I do the characters and his writing sacrifices character for constant quips for nearly everyone including the Norse God who has been on Earth for all of a month making jokes that I don't think he would have the context to make. I didn't mind Firefly but that seems to be the exception that proves the rule. The characters are too quick witted for the conversation.

4. Loki gets written out of the movie right about when the final action set piece starts up. Then he gets turned into a punchline twice the fact that he was replaced with a faceless mob with ZERO personality was also a letdown. Also the entire sequence in Germany with the War Vet and the direct Hitler comparison made me cringe.

5. Transformers 3 was more memorable than this which lets be honest in movies that are based purely on more towards spectacle entertainment being memorable is a big plus.

[ryan]

Okay so after listening to the latest episode of the podcast and being a week distant from seeing the movie I had a couple points to state that I was wondering if I am alone on my island in the sea.

1. I completely agree with Vince that while this movie is INCREDIBLY entertaining(I don't want to discount how fun this movie is on the big screen in the moment.) It doesn't have aspirations to anything more than the genre it places itself in, which is my main problem with the Marvel movies and it makes the movies ephemeral and temporary. The Dark Knight seems to be punished for wanting to pull more in from outside just superheroes which is just baffling to me because that is how the best MOVIES are made. It also makes the movie very insular to the comparisons people make, how everyone will say "best Super-Hero movie" instead of "best movie".

2. I think Joss Whedon is to close to the material to do truly interesting things with it in a way that someone who is bringing more of a film side of it to the material (like Raimi or Nolan).

3. I admit a lot of my displeasure in the long run is probably due to Whedon because I sense his voice more than I do the characters and his writing sacrifices character for constant quips for nearly everyone including the Norse God who has been on Earth for all of a month making jokes that I don't think he would have the context to make. I didn't mind Firefly but that seems to be the exception that proves the rule. The characters are too quick witted for the conversation.

4. Transformers 3 was more memorable than this which lets be honest in movies that are based purely on more towards spectacle entertainment being memorable is a big plus.

was with you for some of this but a big hell to tranny 3, and i more or less enjoy them for what they are. i cant remember any dialog from that, but i can quote, and think i will be able to years from now, those quips in Avengers. whether or not they are all needed is another story, but they are memorable. being adopted, and having an adopted sibling as well, made that Thor line the best in the movie for me.

[RickV]

There is a quote about Transformers 3 that I have saved for just this occasion because I agree with you that I don't remember a quote from TF3.

 

Michael Bay, for all his myriad flaws, is above everyone else at one simple thing - and that's directing an action scene. Now, because of the limitations of content and technology, he's gotten even better at it. You want characters, acting, story, mythology, thematic heft, visual splendor, or even a Transformers movie? Look somewhere else. You weren't going to like this anyway.

The scene in that skyscraper, the final conflict and the squirrel suits are more memorable than 2 hours and 27 minutes of Avengers and that is something to me.

[ryan]

There is a quote about Transformers 3 that I have saved for just this occasion because I agree with you that I don't remember a quote from TF3.

The scene in that skyscraper, the final conflict and the squirrel suits are more memorable than 2 hours and 27 minutes of Avengers and that is something to me.

yea i remember it but only as "that part where the building is falling over and they are sliding down out of it". and sadly, i had forgotten about the squirrel suits entirely   and i think its bc with those movies its all that, all the time and it blurs for me. even between movies where i have problems remembering what crazy shit happened in which movie. tho i can tell you Devastator had giant testicles in 2 and Bumblebee peed on a dude in 1 bc they had me
I loved the first movie, but i think it was bc it was the first time we got to see how awesome giant transforming robots can be on the big screen...that opening sequence with the helicopter especially. but those few moments are the only ones that stick out for me really and 2 of which bc they were really dumb. plus Bay bugs me with how much he cribs from his other movies. i know its to save $ but come on. example below.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/H7kcqB3thJM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/H7kcqB3thJM&rel=1</a>
your quote should actually read "Michael Bay, for all his myriad flaws, is above everyone else at one simple thing - and that's directing an action scene (he's already directed)."

that said, id take Bay's Bad Boys movies any day of the week. infinitely more re-watchable for me anyways

[RickV]

I don't understand why people got so bent out of shape over that I mean film makers have been cribbing from each other forever I don't see the problem with a director wanting to reuse a thing that worked for him in the past (I don't believe we fault people in other mediums for doing that).

I do not want to turn this thread into the TF3 department but that is a big part of it, when I go see a Michael Bay movie I can tell instantly that it is a Micheal Bay movie Whedon has a distinct writing style but the direction is so very blase and unremarkable that I don't value it as much as a movie.

[Tom Morris]

Michael Bay treats every movie he makes like one overblown music video.  He could never run a Tv series.  Also compare how he directs women.  ScarJo was in The Island, and was boring and wooden.  Anyone with a hot body could do that.  Whedon actually gave her real direction and I don't think most actresses could succeed as she does.

[RickV]

Yeah because of the script. The direction is still doing all it can to put her ass in your face I mean there is that image in this thread of the poster. Yeah he totally is in to objectifying women but he doesn't hide it or apologize for it.

I think I may have come off overzealous one way or the other no where in this have I meant to claim that I think TF3 is a good movie. I don't like Michael Bay movies (outside one scene of Armageddon and the Bad Boys stuff), I do however think he makes distinct memorable films and as a director he is a unique entity in the current age of cinema. I do not think Avengers even reaches that. (At least Astonishing X-Men had Cassaday to hold up the writing and plotting I didn't like but this has nothing.)

[Brian G]

Okay so after listening to the latest episode of the podcast and being a week distant from seeing the movie I had a couple points to state that I was wondering if I am alone on my island in the sea.

1. I completely agree with Vince that while this movie is INCREDIBLY entertaining(I don't want to discount how fun this movie is on the big screen in the moment.) It doesn't have aspirations to anything more than the genre it places itself in, which is my main problem with the Marvel movies and it makes the movies ephemeral and temporary. The Dark Knight seems to be punished for wanting to pull more in from outside just superheroes which is just baffling to me because that is how the best MOVIES are made. It also makes the movie very insular to the comparisons people make, how everyone will say "best Super-Hero movie" instead of "best movie".

2. I think Joss Whedon is to close to the material to do truly interesting things with it in a way that someone who is bringing more of a film side of it to the material (like Raimi or Nolan).

3. I admit a lot of my displeasure in the long run is probably due to Whedon because I sense his voice more than I do the characters and his writing sacrifices character for constant quips for nearly everyone including the Norse God who has been on Earth for all of a month making jokes that I don't think he would have the context to make. I didn't mind Firefly but that seems to be the exception that proves the rule. The characters are too quick witted for the conversation.

4. Loki gets written out of the movie right about when the final action set piece starts up. Then he gets turned into a punchline twice the fact that he was replaced with a faceless mob with ZERO personality was also a letdown. Also the entire sequence in Germany with the War Vet and the direct Hitler comparison made me cringe.

5. Transformers 3 was more memorable than this which lets be honest in movies that are based purely on more towards spectacle entertainment being memorable is a big plus.

I agree with most of this, but you lost me at the Transformers stuff also. Just as Whedon is stamped all over Avengers, Bay is stamped all over the Transformers film. I think that comes down to a personal taste issue.

[Kamakazi010654]

Weekend estimate is 103 million. Which is way above any other second weekend.

I wonder how it will do next weekend with some competition in the action/adventure genre.

[Tom Morris]

HULK VS Liam Neeson!