A huge summer blockbuster has now made it's way to DVD, The Avengers. You may have heard if it. I saw it in the theater about a month after it came out (I'm not big into crowds so opening massive weekends are not my thing)---in fact I'll be honest I went and saw another movie and was standing there with popcorn left after the first one...........the door to this one was open so I shrugged and strolled in. This is my illicit movie of 2012. In fact I think it's only the 2nd time in a decade I've actually snuck into a movie----I generally go back downstairs and buy another ticket or I time my movie time to be say a double or a double feature and buy multiple tickets at once. But I took a chance on this comic book turned feature film and slipped in.
Thanks to Blockbuster machines all over I'd seen Iron Man, The Hulk and Captain America so I was reasonably ready for an essentially no-plot movie. What this movie really does is set itself up for it's mega-action scenes. With the Avengers, all the disparate characters, those named above and the B Stars---Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nick Fury have to be brought together by a threat bigger than their individual ability to overcome. Then someone who has faith in them must bring them together---Nick Fury; they'll be tested/betrayed from within---Hawkeye is brainwashed; they'll have internal dynamics that are conflict ridden then they'll rally at the end. Then there's an indeterminate amount of time where a city is trashed as the heroes fight the hordes of the villain, Loki.
The DVD comes with all kinds of nifty additions, interviews, commentary sketchboards and games, it's truly amazing. You might want to consider getting this if you or your partner really enjoyed the film and want more of this special effects bonanza. As a review, did I like the film? Eeehhhh. It was big and bright and loud and predictable. Because blockbuster films are made to be translated into many languages, they are often designed in the least complex ways plot wise so as to translate to people around the planet who might not be able to as easily follow storylines that in depth language would create. That's a nice way of me justifying it's simplicity to follow.
What I found slightly disturbing in the theater, just as an aside was there is obviously an all out war theme in this film and though it is yes, hyper fiction, I consider the times we live in compared to our entertainment. We have railed for years against the wars waged by America yet sitting in the dark theater, still 80% full weeks after this film's premiere people cheered---no, really cheered and then stood at the end and applauded (I'm not kidding) at this film. Not to burst the balloon or get on a rant but the heroes are patently psychopathically insane and have only violence to answer any conflict or threat. If this is our entertainment, is it no surprise that we will attack anyone who can spell nuclear, whether they have a bomb or not. Food for thought, eh?
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