Thursday, April 26, 2012

Avengers: Joss Whedon is god!


Was planning to write about the first 3 episodes of Saka no ue no Kumo which I watched yesterday but can't shake Avengers from my mind. I'm planning the go watch it again tomorrow which I've never done cause a bloody movie ticket in Australia costs like aud $25 which is like USD $26. Normally for movies I loved like Fight CLub, Watchmen or Unbreakable it was just wait for DVD to see it again but Avengers is epic.

I used to buy lots of comic books since I was a teenager, mostly X-men though but but I was a huge fan of Mark Millar's Ultimates which was the grittier version of the Avengers and Ultimates 2 was the last American comic I bought. So many years of reading Marvel comics have taught me that there is no long term pay off for reading them. Its all about creative teams playing in the Marvel sandbox and any brave direction a series takes is always undone. This is not a rant against the fulfillment of reading superhero comics but rather that I am a fan. I think my introduction to the Avengers was playing the crappy Date East Megadrive game at my neighbour's house.

I am however, a huge fan of Joss Whedon on the strength of the first 4 seasons of Buffy and the whole Angel run. Angel getting cancelled was such a sad thing for me, especially with season 5 being so good. Made me stop watching tv after that. Whedon is like a geek god, having written Astonishing X-Men and being the second director beside Kevin Smith to have written a critical acclaimed comic series.

The first Iron man hinted at what the future may bring. The movies following that were good but they weren't satisfying it was all about setting up the Avengers. Marvel made sure they didn't suck but they had to serve a greater purpose. The first X-Men movie was good. The second was even better and one could see an epic third one coming until Fox decided to rush it.

Avengers is what X-Men 3 could have been. Huge payoff after a long set up. Cap and Thor would have been better if they had a bigger budget so they can do more actions and Marvel have been saving the money so they can blow it up in the Avengers. This is what Transformers could have been if Michael Bay cared more about characters than blowing things up and inserting childish jokes. Everything happens in this movie and there a lot of references for comic fans to pick up.

Avengers could possibly be the funniest movie of the year. Funny action movie that manages to be cool? Can't remember the last time I saw something like that. Whedon manages to balance 9 characters in a 2 hour 20 minute movie, give them all their own character arc and time to shine. He's been doing it on tv for a long time, just over the course of a season. Its just unbelievable what a amazing job he has done. Whedon needs to be signed up for a 3 picture deal and be given the freedom to take the Avengers where ever he wants to take them. I want to see Whedon's smaller, more personal Avengers movie that he has mentioned in an interview.

Marvel has finally gotten its 5 star superhero movie. I can't go back and watch Cap and Thor anymore because they seem to crappy in comparison. Screw the individual movies except for Cap 2 cause Cap adjusting to the modern world should be interesting. I want Avengers 2 next year. All hail Whedon. Hope he gets the freedom and money to do whatever projects he wants to do.

2 comments:

m236 said...

wow not only you watch J-Dorama you also like Whedon. Watching The Avengers tomorrow, now I can't wait! Did you watch his other movie: Cabin in the Woods?

Akiramike said...

Cabin in the Woods is coming straight to DVD in Aust. Now if anyone laughs at me liking Buffy/Angel, I can point them towards Avengers.