Drunken Credits:The Avengers

This went up a while ago, but I forgot to post it up on the blog, so here we are!  It's just Black Ninja-sama, Thr3dozer and I talking about The Avengers while being completely fucking drunk.  Enjoy!

IntoxiNarration: The Avengers - All New No DVD needed format... less than 30 minutes long!

YES! The third episode of IntoxiNarration is up.  The format is different, but you no longer need a dvd or booze, but you can get drizzy none the less if you want.  This included the funniest and best parts of our movie commentary with the movie included.  It's less than half a hour long, so it's a lot more accessible.  Hope you enjoy seeing us get annihilated while watching one of my favorite movies.

These is a skit being edited that was supposed to go at the beginning, but due to technical problems, it's taking longer than I thought.  I'll upload it separately and post it here when it's done.

Thanks for everything.  This blog hit 10,000 views this week!  Much more to come and I'll see you fuckin' nerds later!

Grab that beer!

Drunken Credits: The Avengers

We filmed most of The Avengers episode of IntoxiNarration.  Drunken Credits is done and ready for your viewing.  The audio quality is a LOT better than the Pirates episode.  A little mic placement fix and we rocked that shit.  We are really drunk after the episode, so forgive the slurring speech, but the episode is pretty entertaining.  Every Friday I'm putting something IntoxiNarration oriented up, but keep checking out the blog.

I'll be posting a Xenoblade Chronicles review up this weekend in written form.  I may have a video review as well.  I'll be posting Mortal Kombat gameplay videos here and there in the lead up to the release of Mortal Kombat X.

I'll see you fuckin' nerds later!

TremorDeth

The Avengers (2012) Review

First things first, I'm going to have a spoiler ridden section in this review, but I'll label it so I don't accidentally ruin the movie for the people who haven't seen it yet.  Second thing's second, the movie is awesome.  Hands down pure enjoyment for any Marvel/Avengers/Comic fan.  I have a few problems with it on a more intellectual level, but I'll address that at the end of the review.

The Avengers brings together the characters introduced in the five other Marvel Cinematic Universe films.  So it's sort of like Iron Man 3/Thor2/Incredible Hulk 2/ Captain America 2 (even though those movies have all been annouced).  I think a lot of people were worried that it would just be Iron Man 3 and the other characters would take a back seat.  I think this movie connects up with Iron Man 1 or 2 the least of all of the other movies.  It picks up after Captain America is woken up.  They have to explain how Thor gets back to Earth.  They find Bruce Banner (The Hulk) and discuss where he's been and how SHIELD was keeping the military off of his back.  They don't discuss the events of the Iron Man movies, other than the bits that had to do with the Avengers directly (Tony being on as a consultant).  Pepper Potts is in the movie, while the supporting ladies in the other franchises do not make an appearance (Jane Foster is mentioned).  Cap's love interest isn't touched on and Betty Ross is doing who knows what.

The movie moves really fast.  It starts out running and it continues to run until you feel exhausted and then it runs some more.  There's a decent amount of dialogue and character interaction, which is all done really well, but a lot less than in any of the other movies.  This is about The Avengers working as a team and their relationship to each other in this regard.  Tony, Thor, and Cap spar verbally (and physically) and come to an understanding on the fly.

The story is that Loki is back trying to take over the world.  His motivations seem simple, but you find out that this is laid out by someone other than Loki, and he is more of a means to an end than a partner.  The Chitari had found Loki after the events in Thor and outfitted him with some tech and sent him to take the Cosmic Cube (called the Tesseract now).  The cube will power a machine that will open a portal up that will allow the alien race known as the Chitari (they are sort of the Skrulls of the Ultimate Universe) to bring in their army and take over the world.  It's a simple set up, but I think given the team up situation, it helps that things are simplified as far as their goals go.

The special effects are good.  On my previous review I said if the Hulk looks better in The Avengers, I'll believe it when I see it.  I saw TIH before The Avengers in a marathon, which helped me compare the two Hulks.  The Avengers looks better by and far.  I mean as far as you believing he's there with the other characters.  He isn't taking damage like he was in TIH, but the tectures when up against the others on screen makes it more real.

Everything else effects wise is done well.  They use CG when it's needed, but use practical effects when it's not.  I like that method.  CG should be a tool, not a solve all (depending on the situation mind you).  I don't have a ton to say on that front that's not a spoiler.  Speaking of...

SPOILERS START HERE...

My problems with The Avengers are all spoilers.  I'll start with my critiques that are spoilers, and then other spoilers that are positive or neutral.

My first problem is that is acts like a sequel to several of the movies, but doesn't go that extra step.  Seeing Cap looking for what happened to Agent Carter.  Did she die of old age?  Is she really old like in the Ultimates?  I know this isn't Captain America 2, and a lot of this will more than likely disappear as a critique once that movie's out, but it leaves the audience wondering.  Though they directly reference Captain America being a 'man out of time'.  They don't show it very often.  Tony makes some jokes about it, Cap gets a Wizard of Oz reference in a delightful moment, but you never really see it in a real world sense.  You don't see him being confused by a PC or any current tech, he just sort of goes with it.  I like how Cap is portrayed in battle and that he adapts to a confusing situation quickly like you would expect, but I guess I'm just jonesing for Cap 2.

The second problem I have is that the Chitari are really marginalized in this movie.  They are the Ultimate Skrulls originally in the UU.  For those of you unfamilar with Skrulls, they're shapeshifting aliens.  They nearly take over the Earth in the second arc of The Ultimates and I think were truely disturbing in their demeanor in the comics (the Chitari, not the Skrulls).  In this movie they were storm troopers, they were 60's Star Trek Klingons, they were Decepticons.  They didn't have a lot of motivation, and they weren't scary or creepy at all.  You could say they were like old school Skrull in the way that they were cannon fodder, but that annoyed me a little bit.  It might just be my love of that storyline in the Ultimates, but there it is.

The third problem I have is the how when Iron Man blows up the Chitari ship through the portal, all of the Chitari go limp.  Are they dead?  Are they unconscious?  My theory is that without the ship supplying them with power, they don't have the strength to lift the armor.  We're not really sure, and I don't recall an explaination for that.  It's convenient, but confusing.  It reminds me of when the control ship is destroyed in The Phantom Menance, maybe that's why it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I would have just liked a little explaination.

Those are sort of minor in the scheme of things.  The movie is still awesome.  I feel like things like that made fans and critics mad at Green Lantern last year, but I feel they'll let things like that pass with The Avengers.  It doesn't bring the whole experience down, but it should be noted.

One of the things I was unsure about was Coleson's death.  I was actually a little shocked by it, but thought that if anyone was going to get killed off, it was Coleson.  Fans of the MCU like Coleson, a lot.  They knew that this would make us dislike Loki even more, and they were right.  He died heroically and his death spurred the rest on to fight the good fight.  I just hate to see him go.  I hope that since Loki killed him, that Thor ends up in the Underworld at some point.  Using Loki killing him as an excuse to send his soul to the Norse Underworld (I don't think this is in the comics, but they could easily just throw out a line referencing that), Coleson could show up in that manner in a future movie... I hope anyway.

Hawkeye was marginalized a little bit.  This is the first movie with him in a full on role (instead of the cameo in Thor), but is taken control of by Loki in the first five minutes.  Whether he's under Loki's control or independent, he's badass throughout.  Black Widow and Hawkeye have no real powers, so they have to compensate by being awesome normal humans.  Black Widow gets a decent amount of screentime and visits her relationship with Hawkeye, which makes you wish Hawkeye had been in a bigger role, but no one went to this movie to see Hawkeye.  They went to see the Big 3 (I like to say the Big 4 in this case, because I heart the Hulk).

SPOILERS END...

In the end, the movie has it's flaws, but is a great ride.  None of the characters are portrayed incorrectly and really just leaves you wanting more after the credits roll.  See it as soon as you can.

9 out of 10 Cosmic Cubes...

Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain American Reviews

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Iron Man 2’s story in a nutshell is Tony Stark outs himself as Iron Man.  Justin Hammer, a rival in the weapons industry, continually tries to out do him while, Ivan Vanko, the son of  a scientist that worked with Tony’s father, seeks revenge for his perceived theft of his father’s work.  Whew.  Don Cheadle replaces Terrance Howard as Rhodey and dawns his war machine armor towards the end of the movie.

Ivan Vanko is The Crimson Dynamo in the comics, but he seems to be a combination of that character and Whiplash/Backlash from the comics.  Mickey Rourke does a great job as this evil, but sympathy inducing character. 

I’ll keep this short since I’m doing three smaller reviews today.  The graphics are as good or better than the first movie.  The comedic aspects of the first are in full tilt here without going to far.  The action is top notch.  The characterization of the turmoil inside of Stark in this case is rather than changing as a person due to his near death experience in the first movie, has to deal with the reality that he is going to die from his power core poisoning him.  Captain America’s shield (or a prototype?) makes as appearance and a television shows that the events of The Incredible Hulk are going on at the same time.  Also the after credits sequence alludes to the next movie in the series.

Iron Man 2 is decent, but the weakest entry in the trilogy.

8 out of 10 suitcase armors.

Thor (2011)

Chris Hemsworth is Thor, Anthony Hopkins is Odin, Natalie Portman is Jan Foster, Tom Hidleson is Loki.  With that out of the way, I didn’t know what to expect from this movie.  I liked the Ultimate version of Thor, who isn’t anything like this Thor, personality wise (originally… Jeph Loeb screwed that up).  Thor was missing during the time I was reading New Avengers, so I wasn’t as familiar with the character as I had been other comic characters. 

The story, though complicated with all of its mythology, is boiled down pretty simply in the introduction (with a lot of awesome action).  Thor due to brash actions that start a war is stripped of his power and sent to Earth by his father, Odin.  There’s some trickery by his brother Loki and Asgard is put into danger as well as Earth (or Midgard to the Asgardians). 

I found it odd that they never straight up called the Asgardians ‘gods’, but were referenced as being worshipped as gods.  The word god for current society is so convoluted or vague that calling a physical being with super powers a god could be confusing… I guess.  If they are aliens, that’s weird at best, but I’m pretty sure everyone will call Thor a god outside of the movies.

The graphics are good.  The characterizations are entertaining and fun, but serious when they need to be.  That seems to be a pattern with the MCU.  Comedic aspects mixed eloquently with serious aspects.  This is a bit more serious than Iron Man 1 & 2, but not as much as Captain America.  This is a good movie as well.  It may be the most important movie in the series to watch before The Avengers due to Loki being the main villain in both.

9 out of 10 Mighty Mjolnirs

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

This movie is more of a set up for The Avengers if anything.  It is still a really good movie.  I frankly like having bigger universes link up to each other to create a wider continuity.  A lot of reviewers complained about the ending just being a set up for The Avengers and didn’t pull of a good ending in it’s own right.  I really disagree.  But first… synopsis time.

Chris Evans is Steve Rogers who is a scrawny and can’t get into the military to fight during WWII (this is a period piece in case you were wondering).  He is accepted into a super soldier program due to his heart and his understanding that power shouldn’t be abused.  Hayley Atwell is Peggy Cater, who is a British intelligence officer and Steve’s love interest.  Hugo Weaving is the Red Skull.

The Red Skull obtains an object (that is Asgardian in origin) called the cosmic cube, which seems to be an infinite power source.  Hydra (a Nazi scientific offshoot, that becomes independent during the movie) creates weapons the will dominate the allies and allow The Red Skull to take out the Nazis and the Allies.

Steve Rogers becomes the first super soldier, but the man who created the serum is killed and no one else can get the solution to work (remember this isn’t the digital age).  Steve becomes a USO/Bond selling entertainer, which is hilarious by the way and really reflects the time period.  When his childhood friend is captured in Europe, Captain America disobeys orders and proves himself as a soldier (before this even his fellow soldiers taunted him).

I’m not going to spoil any more, because I actually know people who haven’t seen this yet, so I’ll stop there.  The Red Skull is awesome.  He’s evil and deceptive and feels like an equal to Cap in almost every way.  Chris Evans and his skinnying had people nervous about his portrayal, but he does a fantastic job and I even forget that he played The Human Torch from time to time.  This movie could have been really bad, but it was done really well. Joe Johnston more or less makes up for JP3 with this movie.  Sorry had to do it.  Side Note -  JP3 is okay on occasion, it just isn’t anywhere near the first two movies.

The ending is really sad and I think sets up the man out of time aspect to Steve Rogers that wasn’t touched upon in this movie, but I’m sure will be explored in The Avengers or Cap 2.

This leads directly into The Avengers and should be watched before this beast comes out Friday.  I’m seeing the marathon which is all five of these movie followed by a midnight showing of Marvel’s The Avengers.  I’ll have a full on review for that up as soon as I get home on Friday.

9 out of 10 Star Spangled Men.