May 6, 2012 9:22 am @Gigglesworth. Point taken. I should pay closer attention.
As for the rest, I still think Johansson sucked while Smulders rocked. The action was nicely choreographed, but the ending was not that satisfying; it offered no surprises or revelations. Finally, if I had to rank the movie among the other Marvel titles, I would place Avengers well below X2, Spider Man 2, First Class and Iron Man.
May 4, 2012 5:44 pm Overall, a very good movie. Not great, though.
First I felt it could have done with more Mark Ruffalo (though he was in enough of it to shine) and less RDJ (though he didn't eat up all the scenery, just hogged a wee bit more camera time than the other deserving actors). I think most would agree that the Banner/Hulk portions of the film were the most heart-felt and exciting.
Second, Johansson was just lousy. A better Black Widow would have been Smuders; her physique is far more imposing, her facial expressions more genuine and appealing.
Third, the dialogue was a bit too clunky (the overlapping monologues in the SHIELD conference room in the first hour simply felt too contrived and forced). Compare, for example, the lines delivered in first two Spider Man movies. Now that's how you compose a tight screenplay.
Forth, characters were a bit too petulant. For instance, I don't believe Steve Rogers would ever be so childish as to challenge Stark to a fight (Thor, who is quite similar to the spoiled billionaire, was more than enough of a foil to high-light the understandable clash of egos). I'd expect him to be single-minded and mission-focused. He seemed anything but, though. Also: the revelation that Banner had tried at some point to off himself seemed to be way out of character with the man I've come to know in print. BB has been always tortured, true. But he's never tried to take the easy way out either.
Finally, I thought the second half paled in comparison to the first -- which is to say, while I loved the character interactions, I thought the action scenes were too predictable and by-the-numbers. A great climax usually has a something unexpected and, at the same time, something satisfying. In this regard, X2 and the second Spider man were far better rendered than the Avengers movie.
All that aside, though, I liked it a lot. Looking forward to see how the same team (though I would like to see one or two more additions -- maybe Black Panther and Scarlet Witch? -- added) deals with Thanos, a f___ing kick-ass choice if ever there was one.
February 29, 2012 11:51 pm Man! I think I've watched the new trailer seven or eight times today! I don't it's either premature or rash to point out that this movie will at least be very, very good -- somewhere in the neighborhood of X2 or Spider-man 2.
Just got through issue 11, and it was a blast. I still can't find the specific panel where Cole attains his power. Is he irradiated or injected? At any rate I'm curious to see how the series wraps up.
I gotta say that I was rather underwhelmed by the big reveal in issue#10. I thought it was too brief (7 pages for an origin) and needed way more fleshing out: for example why did Alpha One feel the necessity to revolt on his home planet? What were the "answers" he proposed and what ideals did they encapsulate? And why did he wait so long to interfere directly in human affairs, especially when he landed a good two hundred years before his first public appearance? He says that during this relatively dormant period he "watched as people lived, loved and died." But given that he tried to take over his home planet, I just don't buy that he is the watching type.
I guess it doesn't help that the series is coming out at the same time as "Irredeemable", a book that covers similar ground and is better overall, at least in my humble opinion (though the art in "The Mighty" as been worth the price alone). You notice how both Alpha One and the Plutonian have to remove a-bombs during baseball games? What ever happened to the national past time?
In the aftermath of Elektra's death, Matt Murdoch nearly goes insane. From love, of course. "She's alive!" he says, startled out of his sleep. And so begins Daredevil's quest to find his beloved. As a man possessed, he tears his way through Kingpin's henchmen in a blind rage, screaming "Where is she?". When finally confronting the big man himself, Daredevil threatens terrible retribution - starting with the Kingpin himself - if he doesn't divulge Elektra's location (for those of you who need reminding, Matt's former-girlfriend-turned-assassin worked for the crime lord). A baffled Kingpin, though usually stoic in his demeanor, is genuinely surprised at a his foe's break with reality. And the reader, unlike our hero, is certain of one thing after this frentic encounter: Kingpin truly doesn't know where she is. Daredevil, however, is undissuaded by the obviousness of truth. He storms off more determined than ever to find Elektra.
Perhaps sensing he will never know peace if he doesn't come to terms with her death, Matt Murdoch - not Daredevil - digs up her grave to face the finality of truth he dreads so much. Being blind, Murdoch will only have complete assurance of the body's identity by caressing the face of the one persumed to be his former lover. If not for Miller's elegantly sparse illustrations, the scene would surely have come off as quite morbid. But it does not. A grief-stricken "Noooo!" echoes across the cemetary, confirming what most readers know all too well by now: it's her.
Distraught and in tears (Miller is the BEST at conveying a hero's emotional frailities), Murdoch is led away gently from his former lover's grave by Foggy, his law partner and best friend. "I loved her Foggy", and with that ends what I consider to be the best self-contained issue ever.
Since then, I loan out this issue to friends and family members who have experienced loss and who want to understand some of the turmoil that is felt when a loved one dies. I've never received a single complaint. So that is what I'm grateful for when I think of how comics have touched me...
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@purplehulk
Very true! The use of Marvel universe characters is amazing! Absorbing Man, the Abomination, and the Leader in one episode!
Just got through issue 11, and it was a blast. I still can't find the specific panel where Cole attains his power. Is he irradiated or injected? At any rate I'm curious to see how the series wraps up.
I gotta say that I was rather underwhelmed by the big reveal in issue#10. I thought it was too brief (7 pages for an origin) and needed way more fleshing out: for example why did Alpha One feel the necessity to revolt on his home planet? What were the "answers" he proposed and what ideals did they encapsulate? And why did he wait so long to interfere directly in human affairs, especially when he landed a good two hundred years before his first public appearance? He says that during this relatively dormant period he "watched as people lived, loved and died." But given that he tried to take over his home planet, I just don't buy that he is the watching type.
I guess it doesn't help that the series is coming out at the same time as "Irredeemable", a book that covers similar ground and is better overall, at least in my humble opinion (though the art in "The Mighty" as been worth the price alone). You notice how both Alpha One and the Plutonian have to remove a-bombs during baseball games? What ever happened to the national past time?
Best line:
Brian: So you had sex before you kissed?
Daisy and Tims: (Shit!!) Yeah...
Daredevil 182
In the aftermath of Elektra's death, Matt Murdoch nearly goes insane. From love, of course. "She's alive!" he says, startled out of his sleep. And so begins Daredevil's quest to find his beloved. As a man possessed, he tears his way through Kingpin's henchmen in a blind rage, screaming "Where is she?". When finally confronting the big man himself, Daredevil threatens terrible retribution - starting with the Kingpin himself - if he doesn't divulge Elektra's location (for those of you who need reminding, Matt's former-girlfriend-turned-assassin worked for the crime lord). A baffled Kingpin, though usually stoic in his demeanor, is genuinely surprised at a his foe's break with reality. And the reader, unlike our hero, is certain of one thing after this frentic encounter: Kingpin truly doesn't know where she is. Daredevil, however, is undissuaded by the obviousness of truth. He storms off more determined than ever to find Elektra.
Perhaps sensing he will never know peace if he doesn't come to terms with her death, Matt Murdoch - not Daredevil - digs up her grave to face the finality of truth he dreads so much. Being blind, Murdoch will only have complete assurance of the body's identity by caressing the face of the one persumed to be his former lover. If not for Miller's elegantly sparse illustrations, the scene would surely have come off as quite morbid. But it does not. A grief-stricken "Noooo!" echoes across the cemetary, confirming what most readers know all too well by now: it's her.
Distraught and in tears (Miller is the BEST at conveying a hero's emotional frailities), Murdoch is led away gently from his former lover's grave by Foggy, his law partner and best friend. "I loved her Foggy", and with that ends what I consider to be the best self-contained issue ever.
Since then, I loan out this issue to friends and family members who have experienced loss and who want to understand some of the turmoil that is felt when a loved one dies. I've never received a single complaint. So that is what I'm grateful for when I think of how comics have touched me...