I wasn't into "comic" books as a kid, probably due either to society's boy-gender bias towards the phenomenon, or because I was too busy with Harry Potter and Pokemon, and my brothers weren't into it. But whatever the reason, I am unwilling to count it a loss: I loved my childhood just the way it was and I am fully capable of enjoying the slew of Marvel movies coming out recently without having read the preceding comics.
Watching these movies does make me wish I had the time/lack of inhibitions to read the old comics, though. I've tried a couple times since I saw Iron Man for the first time when it came out in 2008, but I'm afraid I've reached that unfortunate stage of "enlightenment" where suspended disbelief is harder and harder to pull off. (I really hope it's a phase I'll grow out of; it's keeping me from re-enjoying Star Trek: TNG, too).
I've seen Iron Man 1 and 2 and Thor, but never got around to seeing Captain America or any of the Hulks, mostly because I heard bad things about them. I loved the Iron Mans because I love technology and I love the way Robert Downey, Jr. plays Tony Stark and I'll always take a good dose of Gwyneth Paltrow. I enjoyed Thor when I watched it a second time, because it verges on too cheesy for my taste and I had to get past that to enjoy it. Originally, before I went to see The Avengers, I jokingly referred to it as Iron Man 3 because he was the only reason I was as interested in it as I was. But now that I've seen it, I realize that Iron Man really is only a part of it, and I don't mind.
So, who's my favorite avenger, you ask? Well, that's probably a close contest between the Black Widow and Iron Man. But my favorite character in the movie was definitely Loki.
Yes, I will admit, part of it is Tom Hiddleston's winning smile. But I also like that, as he is in Thor, Loki is not what I think of as a "comic book" villain. He's motivated by more than just a lust for power or even his cosmic Daddy issues. He likes messing with people, and he's jealous of his brother, and he doesn't know who he is or where his inheritance lies. Like any real person, his reasons for being the way he is are multi-faceted, and maybe even he doesn't entirely understand them.
But the Black Widow is epic in more ways than one, so let's not forget about her.
Joss Whedon directed this movie and at least worked on the screenplay. When my boyfriend saw his names come up in the credits, he said, "Oh, so that's why the dialogue was so good." I'm not sure that I 100% agree (there were a few cringe moments for me) but I do appreciate that it must have been quite a challenge to turn all those main characters who had had their own movies into co-stars and keep everyone sane and happy. And Whedon's team did it fantastically, I think. I definitely think there were one or two characters who took center stage more than the others, but not to the point where it became their movie, and I was sufficiently impressed.
I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who
- has seen and enjoyed the other recent Marvel movies
- isn't too fussed about demolishing half of New York city
- hasn't yet seen the Marvel movies because they're afraid of them being cheesy
--Mary
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