Theatrical Review: Avengers- Endgame

Date: Sunday April 28, 2019
Location: Cinemark Theater at Stroud Mall
Time: 12 noon
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo

Cast:
(oh god... so many...)

Tony Stark/Iron-Man- Robert Downey Jr. 
Steve Rogers/Captain America- Chris Evans
Thor- Chris Hemsworth
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow- Scarlet Johansson
Clint Barton/Hawkeye- Jeremy Renner
Bruce Banner/The Hulk- Mark Ruffalo
Rocket- Bradley Cooper
Pepper Potts- Gwyneth Paltrow
Rodey/War Machine- Don Cheadle
Scott Lang/Ant-Man- Paul Rudd
Nebula- Karen Gillan
Thanos- Josh Brolin
Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel- Brie Larson
Peter Parker/Spider-man- Tom Holland
Doctor Stephen Strange- Benedict Cumberbatch
Peter Quill/Star-Lord- Chris Pratt
Gamora- Zoe Saldana
Groot- Vin Disel
Drax- Dave Bautista
Mantis- Pom Klementieff
T'Challa/Black Panther- Chadewick Bosman
Sam Wilson/Falcon- Anthony Mackie
Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier- Sebastian Stan
Okoye- Danai Gurira

...if I forgot ANYONE, I'm really sorry... it's a lot to remember... 

Duration: 181 minutes (+ 7 minutes)... ok, the last LOTR movie was 3 hours and 21 minutes... so this movie wasn't nearly as long as that, but it came close... 

Opening Commentary
I was actually trying to hold off on doing this as long as I could... but considering I had a dream last night where I attempt to tell one of these people how great they were in these movies, the time is about right to do it... admittedly, it's been a weird past couple of weeks and I'd been in a weird state of mourning between a lot of different things in my work life and personal life and this movie added a bit on a top of that... 
However, I will try my best to go into this movie without spoiling anything... as much as there are some things I really do want to go into, that will be a separate post. It's something that will need to be done... after all, I did invest a lot of time and money into keeping up with these movies since 2010. It's a big investment monetarily as well as emotionally. And above all else, it's difficult saying goodbye. I will still see Marvel movies (I'm already looking at Spider-Man for sure), just not every single one. It'll be all about the characters involved. 

As for seeing the movie itself... I feel kinda lucky I got there that first weekend. Granted, this theater is has a couple dozen movie houses, so they're able to show it on multiple screens. But the fact the first 2 shows were sold out and we had to wait to see the 12 noon showing, yeah, that tells you all you need to know. 
We went into the theater and literally sat there for 90 minutes waiting for it. The one big negative I take away from this... they are pumping music through the speakers so it's not completely quiet, but it's the same program played on a loop... at least 5-6 songs they played several times... they do this "Noovie" thing before even showing commercials and trailers and that didn't even come on until T-15 minutes. It's just a pet peeve of mine to have things repeated. Come the third time, I just put on my iPod. I got through Side A of "Abbey Road" before the screen turned on-- it was a good way to kill time for sure. 

Trailers... yeah roughly 17 minutes of trailers on top of an already long movie... at least we did bathroom breaks before all this cuz there was no point in the movie where I could have left and come back without missing anything

"21 bridges"- not only written/directed by the Russo brothers, but it stars Black Panther himself, Chadewick Bosman. Kudos for them putting this guy into position to make more great movies. I just hope this was a good movie. Supposedly, this is about trying to hunt down a cop killer and they have to close the 21 bridges leading in and out of the city to do so. It's also very current and topical and if it's well-received, will stir up some good conversation. 

"Hobbs and Shaw"- I already voiced my opinion on the Fast & Furious series... pass!!

"Godzilla: King of the monsters"- my dad loves Godzilla movies, so he'll probably want to see this one. Supposedly 17+ monsters have risen and are threatening mankind and they want to bring Godzilla to take care of them. Particularly the alpha. All the while, they're playing some version of "Somewhere over the rainbow"... don't know why, but it got me a little choked up. Somewhat of a weird music choice, but this haunting rendition oddly worked...

"Dark Phoenix"- the more I see trailers for this, the more I think I might be interested in seeing it... Jean Grey has always been a tortured character and it really goes all in.

"Men in Black: International"- yeah, I don't think this necessarily needed a remake. And another nod to Marvel- it has Thor and Valkyrie (Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson) teamed up as H & M... it did have some funny jokes, though... 

"Lion King"- first time I'm seeing a proper trailer for this... it looks AMAZING... wow, this is gonna be a great year for Disney movies

"Star Wars- the Rise of Skywalker"- this was a teaser trailer really... but considering how the Last Jedi ended, the title confuses me a bit... unless it turns out that Kylo Ren lied and Rae  really is related to someone we knew from the original trilogy. 
The other night, I saw Return of the Jedi for the first time since Luke came back in the previous movie... it was a little strange... also the fact Luke's Jedi powers seemed to have grown exponentially between episodes V and VI... 

The Main Event
Again, as spoiler free as I can manage... but I'll give the basic details...

We catch up with the Avengers remaining immediately following the events of Infinity War. And some of them got a rawer detail than others about the people that were lost... I just had to say "that's not fair!"... 
As shown in the trailers, Captain Marvel joins them and those remaining get to finally rectify the way the previous movie ended... my only question was... why couldn't they have just added these 10 minutes to the end of the previous movie? Maybe the ending of the previous movie wouldn't have been as somber... 

Then we catch up with everyone left 5 years later... you see those words come up and I'm thinking "whoa"... it kinda knocks the wind out of you.

However, despite all the time that has passed, a sentiment remains about fixing things. And this is brought into motion because Ant-Man comes back after being MIA... I did not see the most recent Ant-Man movie, so I was completely lost about the events that transpired. (yeah, I'd seen all of the movies but this one and it wound up being the most crucial detail... go figure!)
And the solution is... wait for it... TIME TRAVEL... 
pretty much every pop culture reference is made in relation to this and I cheered when "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" was among them. Love that movie. 

One fascinating turn of events... Tony Stark's role in all this... back with the Ultron saga, he was the one who wanted to "build a suit of armor around the world" and everyone thought he was crazy... he's the only one who isn't really into this because he'd actually moved on and found his happy ending. But Captain America, who still never got over losing his past (after being defrosted and after these 5 years), is the one pushing for this chance at fixing things. It's almost like Civil War all over again where both of them take different sides on an issue and it's because Tony wavers in his position that the events follow as they do. 
Ultimately what we get from all this... those who have followed these characters after all this time know and understand why they decide to take the actions that they do... and actually, that's the theme for the entire movie. 

CGI comes into play a lot in these movies, but they really upped their game with physical transformations whether it's Tony being emaciated after being stuck in space for 21 days or what happens to Thor 5 years later (why they did that- I think it was strictly comic relief and Tony getting to finally use that Big Lebowski reference he'd been saving... I remember RDJ being on the red carpet, talking about how Jeff Bridges is "The Dude" and his son Indio had no idea what he was talking about)... it also made me think whether Thor and Aqua-Man have more similiarities than I realized. I got a very similar vibe and I'd only seen Aqua-Man in the Justice League movie. 

So with this movie... not going into great detail... 
I actually looked at my phone 3 times throughout the movie to try to gauge time stamps and I think I managed to get each hour perfectly. 

Hour 1- finishing off the previous movie, catching up with the characters, establishing where they are and getting the plan together
Hour 2- Time travel and putting those plans into action
Hour 3- the final epic battle with ALL the characters and the epilogue 

In this respect, the three hours really didn't feel that long at all. At least not to me. 

Much of this movie is fan service- it rewards the fans who saw all the movies because we get to revisit moments from previous films. And the dialogue makes dozens of references to previous movies. I think YouTube had a video that showed all 300+ Easter Eggs in this movie that harkened back to the previous ones. 
And all things considered, I got nearly all of the references and it felt empowering. Almost like following a book series and it's transitioned to the big screen and I get things that other people don't because I read the books. (Also a double-edged sword because I'm upset when things from the books are omitted or completely changed). 

These characters (and the actors playing them) are so well established that none of their actions are surprising at the end of the day. 
I liked how they focused more on Nat and Hawkeye's friendship. Instead of getting a few hints in the first few Avengers movie, they really get a lot of screen time together. I'm still hoping that they shoot a prequel where they really show what happens in Budapest. I just know they were both there and they "remember it very differently." There's so much call for a Black Widow movie, but why not have a movie with the both of them, their different bios and how their paths inevitably cross. Plus, as much as I wanted them to be romantically involved, they're not and it'd be good to see a movie with a male and female working together and it doesn't have that romance. Because romance more often than not ruins these things- particularly in TV shows. Castle and Blindspot are among several that went down or lost viewership because of that.

Of course the time travel thing isn't completely foolproof and one extra stop needs to be taken by Tony and Steve... where they go, I really had no clue about, but it was a really special scene for both of their characters. (This is also where Stan Lee makes his cameo).

One moment that happened made me think about "Heart and Souls" where RDJ makes a comment "It's been an emotional time for us all"... in the movie, he's the "corporeal being" that 4 departed souls use to complete unfinished business. The emotional exchange that happens makes sense for that particular person, but with him conveying the action, it's more than a little bizarre. Especially he had encountered this character a number of times throughout the movie and he happens to be connected to someone's unfinished business. 

The final battle is pretty insane... all the battles really are and they all get to a point where the actions more or less blur together... but like with the previous movie, it's absolutely painful how difficult Thanos is to kill... every single split second is crucial. And Doctor Strange mentioned how it was 1 chance out of 7 billion (it was some huge number- I forgot exactly what that they can win)... he wasn't kidding. 

I also got to thinking about Harry Potter and how that movie ended... and Snape's comment to Dumbledore when he reveals that Harry must face Voldemort when he's at his weakest... saying with sarcasm how he was raised as a lamb for slaughter.
It made me also wonder if certain characters were entrusted with the full truth of what would happen with this movie or these movies, just like J.K. Rowling told Snape what happened with his character. Apparently, that was true for at least one person. 

Yeah, everything in this movie happens exactly as it is meant to. Even how it ends and who makes it and who doesn't. I accept that there was a reason for all of it. I even said at the end of my post on Infinity War that I'd be ok with things ending a certain way... 
but it is nice to see character arcs finishing as well as small hints of future movies. 
There are no post-credits scenes. But it's just as well.
I'd like more Marvel movies... I just don't want all of them to build to a massive climax like this again. Not because it's emotionally taxing, but it's just a massive committment and I'm ready to move on. 

I revisited a bunch of the movies leading up to this... admittedly, I started getting sick of them... but after this, I was happy with the conclusion, but it's very bittersweet at the end of the day. 
It'll be a while before I watch anymore. But I know I at least have to rewatch Spiderman before the new movie comes out (plus I need subtitles to catch EVERYTHING going on- those first 10 minutes were going so fast, it gave me a headache) and Doctor Strange (cuz I got it for Christmas and still haven't watched it- I saw it in the theater ages ago and it's time to revisit that)

Grade: A
(pretty close to perfect, but I can't quite give it an A+... even if its length is justified, it's still an unnecessarily long movie)

Theatrical Review: Avengers- Age of Ultron

Date: Sunday, May 3, 2015
Time: 12:15pm
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 3 (my mom and aunt)

Cast:
[Returning Cast from previous Marvel movies]
Tony Stark/Iron-Man- Robert Downey Jr.
Steve Rogers/Captain America- Chris Evans
Thor- Chris Hemsworth
Bruce Banner/The Hulk- Mark Ruffalo
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow- Scarlet Johansson
Clint Barton/Hawkeye- Jeremy Renner
Maria Hill- Cobie Smulders
Nick Fury- Samuel L. Jackson
Dr. Eric Selvig- Stellan Skarsgard
Rhodey/War Machine- Don Cheadle
Falcon- Anthony Mackie
J.A.R.V.I.S.- Paul Bettany
Peggy Carter- Hayley Atwell

[Newbies]
Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff- Elizabeth Olsen
Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff- Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Ultron- James Spader
The Vision- Paul Bettany
Laura- Linda Cardellini
Dr. Helen Cho- Claudia Kim

Writer/Director: Joss Whedon

Duration: 150 minutes (+3 trailers)

Write-up:

Audience and Previews

The theater wasn't quite as packed as I hoped/feared. The youngest attendees couldn't have been older than five, but there was a good age range throughout. The audience also wasn't quite as active as the previous "Avengers" (which had the greatest audience participation I think I'd seen with any movie- with the "Twilight" midnight showing coming close).
But there were still plenty laughs had, which was nice. There were also certain moments where the movie wasn't just quiet, but the audience (except the youngest among us) was silent. A pin could have dropped and you'd hear it.

Not surprisingly, two of the three previews came from the comic book genre. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice was a teaser where we had a glimpse of Ben Affleck staring at the suit and him and Superman suited up facing one another.
Then there was Ant-Man... I'm still on the fence because that's easily the stupidest name I'd ever heard for a superhero (Paul Rudd apparently agrees, according to the trailer). I'm also not a big fan of insects, so I was cringing at the scenes where we had close-ups of ants and other insects. But the special effects and the acting looked really good. I guess I'll wait until the hype before I decide. [Unlike with this movie, whether the reviews were good or bad, I'd still be going].

The other was your typical disaster movie: San Andreas... which I heard they were having second thoughts about releasing on the set date because of Nepal. It stars Dwayne Johnson (who apparently gets 5 movies a year... whereas I'm lucky to see any of my personal favorite actors ONCE a year) and I also recognized Alexandra Daddario (who I know as Annabeth from the Percy Jackson movies... however out of line they were with the books, I will miss them not adapt to my favorite book of the series).

Amidst the action...
Spoilers from here on out, btw
Whenever I look up articles on writing tips, I often find people suggesting to start a story in the middle of the action.
Kudos, btw, for Paul Feig and Marvel company picking this up immediately where "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." left off last week because it was the perfect segway. Phil Coulson's "Operation Theta Protocol" involved getting the Avengers to locate Loki's scepter.

Last night, we rewatched the first "Avengers" in preparation for this movie... I made sure to note what happened to the scepter. Forgive me for missing where it went considering EVERYTHING that went down in New York. We last saw Black Widow holding it when the Avengers had Loki surrounded and defeated.

Supposedly, the scepter has been taken to a HYDRA forest somewhere in Eastern Europe. So we get an amazing opening sequence with all the Avengers on call, taking on various HYDRA soldiers with their various skill sets. Within the fortress, we also get a glimpse of our two new characters: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. (For whatever reason, though, they are never called that... just like Black Widow is never called by that name). They were experimented upon with the scepter and it allowed them certain powers. Quicksilver has super inhuman speed and the Scarlet Witch has telekinesis and strong powers of hypnosis. We see him use his powers on the Avengers while she takes on Tony Stark when he gets inside to retrieve the scepter and various data files.

Surprisingly, she does not take him out as it could be expected... considering he's the only Avenger inside. Instead, she haunts him with visions of the other Avengers having fallen, and glimpses the abyss that caused his PTSD in the final Iron-Man film. She lets him take the scepter, apparently, because it will lead to the destruction of him and the Avengers.
...hmm... it's almost like she took a page out of Loki's book- he allowed himself to be captured in "Avengers" so he can work mind games while buying time for his comrades to track him down via the scepter.

Lots of great action throughout these first 15 minutes with a little character building (particularly Black Widow and The Hulk) and a tiny bit of forced laughter.
I realize that they're trying to produce something for the younger audiences, but the whole "watch your language" running joke... I'm sorry, it was kinda lame. [On the plus side, that's the only huge negative drew from the movie overall... aside from there being maybe too much action at times]

Ergo the plot...

Besides doing a once over about the two new characters, I knew this much: Ultron was an A.I. peacekeeper Tony Stark created in hopes it would grant the Avengers their eventual retirement. And that this experiment would be one that takes on a life of its own and a purpose counterintuitive to its original intention.
Translation: Ultron wouldn't preserve peace, it would destroy the world, believing that it's the only way to save it.
The mere idea of Ultron as a villain would be super genius if not for the whole "destroying the world" thing.

A Detraction for Tony Stark

Anyone who knows me knows I love me some RDJ as Tony Stark... but after the fact, part of me can't help but think that if Ultron killed him.. well, he might have deserved it. Nobody should experiment with artificial intelligence because it NEVER ends well. Certainly, not for the creator.
The fact he doesn't just do this once but twice in this movie... neither time without consulting the other Avengers besides Bruce Banner- his reluctant partner-in-crime... that's kinda hard to overlook.
This can only mean then that the next Captain America movie will be interesting... whether I'd be #TeamTony or #TeamCap.

I would say that Tony as a character hadn't been the same since what happened in New York. "Iron-Man 3" had its problems, but it had a lot of strong character points for him.
Maybe the whole energy is off for me personally because Tony Stark, while the root of this movie's source of villainy, didn't steal the spotlight as much as he had on previous occasions. He certainly didn't have the gift of ample one-liners he had in the previous "Avengers." There still are some good scenes. Like where he and Captain America are chopping firewood and Cap has the bigger pile because he doesn't need an axe. And the whole lifting Thor's hammer scene, but everyone had a great moment there.
Right now, I can only remember how he "woke up" out of the Scarlet Witch's spell in a cold sweat :P I didn't know Robert could sweat on cue like that.

Pluses and Minuses for Everyone Else

The other members of the cast are given more to do and get more development- a plus for some who don't have stand-alone movies yet.

To me, Thor has always been the type of guy who was all good looks with very little substance to back him up aside from wielding that hammer. But when the Scarlet Witch puts him in a trance, he actually witnesses something noteworthy and pursues it as a potential lead. Sure, it does give the people in charge the excuse to show Chris Hemsworth without a shirt... but him taking initiative and following it through... that's impressive. Going a little further than what Captain America did in "Avengers," investigating Phase 2.
And by further, I mean clueing us into what the next Avengers will be about: the Infinity Stones. [In addition to Loki's scepter, so far, we have the Tesseract, Aether and the stone from "Guardians of the Galaxy"]

Captain America has time to reflect on the past he didn't get to finish with Agent Carter and acknowledges he might not be able to afford to move back to Brooklyn... but for the most part, he isn't given as much to work with as he does in stand-alone movies. Not intellectually anyway. But his fight scenes were choreographed so well with the shield and such... those guys definitely upped their game.
See, Ultron, it's more than just a Frisbee!

Considering their back story, I always expected Black Widow and Hawkeye to get together. But that isn't meant to be... supposedly. She and Bruce Banner had shared moments before, but I didn't think too much of them. Suddenly, the Marvel people decided that we needed a love story in here somewhere. So why not put those two together? Write that Black Widow came up with a "lullaby" that allowed Hulk to resume human form. It's something that would become handy, but whether or not anything will happen between these two remains to be seen.

This does, however, allow for more character development for her. Her bout with the Scarlet Witch was about as brutal as Harry Potter dealing with the dementors in "Prisoner of Azkabhan"... the horrors in her past, how she was created, trained to be an assassin at a young age- it took her longer to bounce back than the others.
And her budding relationship with Bruce Banner allows for some of these things to come out. Plus she adds that sterilization came with the process of graduation from this "academy" she was part of.
Between the "dementor" thing and the part of the film where she was kidnapped by Ultron (for apparently no reason, other than to allow the excuse for her and Bruce Banner to get another scene together), you would think that the people in charge were being cruel to our lone female Avenger. Throwing her through all the female plot clichés.
But she still kicks lots of ass, so it's not as if she's not taken seriously.

The fact he spent so much of "Avengers" brainwashed by Loki, I couldn't wait to see what Hawkeye would have to work with. He probably had the most scene-stealing moments of anyone- a real plus. I cheered when he got the jump on Scarlet Witch before she could work her magic on him. He had a certain electromagnetic arrow that rendered her useless and her brother no choice but to remove her from the situation.
We also find out that he has his own secret family life that we don't see until the Avengers need to go into hiding. No wonder Jeremy Renner couldn't say anything in the talk show interviews...

New Characters, Action and Special Effects

First and foremost, this is an action-packed superhero film. And other than being superfluous at times, the action sequences and effects were SO good. Like cinematic action had just peaked and set the bar for the rest to jump. Especially loved the effects with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. They wouldn't have had the same impact without them.

The fight scene between a bewitched Hulk and "Veronica," Tony's beefiest suit was massive with plenty of comedic moments, but it was mostly destruction. Continuing to harp on Bruce Banner's insecurity about his condition... sadly, it would seem that confidence isn't coming to him anytime soon.

While not as annoyingly invincible as the villain in "Iron-Man 3," Ultron was a worthy foe. He was set on his war path and couldn't be persuaded otherwise. Early on, his powers were so unparalleled, it was almost scary. I approached this movie with a lot of optimism and very little to go on, so I was more marveled [pardon the pun] than intimidated. Him using the hundreds of robots to do his bidding... a little lazy on behalf of the writing because Tony Stark has done the same thing. It'd be another thing if the robots were constructed with the vibranium Ultron used to turn that Eastern European city, Sovokia, into a meteor.
The fight between him and Captain America was really good as well, but when he met his makers- his intentions were more malicious than his presence.
James Spader had the best voice for him- and it was a relief that it was just his voice in this. "Tuff Turf" has me convinced that he was good looking in his younger days... at the age he is now, he just looks creepy :P

Loki, I have yet to take seriously as a villain, but he at least had charisma going for him. [And I kinda miss not seeing him in a movie with Thor... supposedly he had a cameo that was written out, but might make the Blu-ray extras]

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch had a good back story with Tony Stark... how his weapons destroyed their family and they sought revenge. But the trick was figuring how they'd eventually change sides. Once Ultron became more human, she was able to see his destructive intentions.
Both had great interaction with Hawkeye because you never knew quite what to expect. The running joke was "Didn't see that one coming"... considering how Quicksilver has the speed thing and has moments where the results surprise even him.

I already kinda knew he wasn't going to survive this movie, but I was still kinda sad about it. The Russian accent was growing on me :P [had this been a year ago, I'd have been devastated]
At least there's still his X-Men incarnation [although played by another actor without the Russian accent].

Cameos and No-shows
Well, at least I can't say this time that RDJ got special treatment- being the only Avenger who had their love interest in the movie.
There was no appearance by Pepper or Jane Foster :P but that didn't stop him and Thor trying to one-up each other with their girlfriends' accomplishments.

One of the greatest highlights of the movie had to be the final party at Tony's place... final because it's the last light point of the movie before Ultron arrives.
Our token Stan Lee cameo is here and has great laughs to go with it.
Lots of great interaction with the characters. We get to see Falcon and Rhodey. Afterwards, everyone tries to lift Thor's hammer and hilariously fails.

I was disappointed Falcon didn't get more to do other than randomly show up here and at the end. Loved him in the latest Captain America movie [something I should probably revisit, now that the whole HYDRA thing makes sense].
Rhodey, meanwhile, got to tell stories at the party, get on Tony's case about "representing" when they couldn't lift the hammer, and he helps with the final battle scene- where Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. lend a hand with evacuation. [Too bad Phil Coulson couldn't make it... seriously, how long can they keep secret the fact he's alive? would the Avengers turn rouge if that truth was revealed?]

Believe or not, the scene with Thor's hammer wasn't just filler... when Tony created his second A.I. being [The Vision], Thor's hammer was the one thing that convinced the other Avengers he was fighting for the right side. He was able to lift it and was therefore worthy.
Considering how Thor nearly choked Tony out over Ultron, him being the one person on his side about this creation was a plus.
And the infinity stone in Loki's scepter finally has a place where it can't be used maliciously again- on the Vision's forehead.

The only remaining question is what the other two infinity stones are, where they are and what role they'll play in everything.

Grade: A
[on the same level with "Avengers," weaker on some points and stronger on others]

35. The Hurt Locker (2009)

Code-name: Right-wing Oscar

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Type: drama, wartime

Cast:
1st Class Sgt William James- Jeremy Renner
Sgt. JT Sanborn- Anthony Mackie
Specialist Owen Eldridge- Brian Geraghty
Staff Sgt Matt Thompson- Guy Pearce
Contractor Team Leader- Ralph Fiennes
Colonel Reed- David Morse
Connies James- Evangeline Lilly

Notable Awards & Nominations:

OSCAR- Best Picture
OSCAR- Best Director- Kathryn Bigelow
OSCAR- Best Sound Editing
OSCAR- Best Sound Mixing
OSCAR- Best Original Screenplay- Mark Boal
OSCAR- Best Film Editing
nomination- OSCAR- Best Actor (Jeremy Renner)
nomination- OSCAR- Best Original Score
nomination- OSCAR- Best Cinemtography
nomination- Golden Globe- Best Picture
nomination- Golden Globe- Best Director- Kathryn Bigelow
nomination- Golden Globe- Best Original Screenplay

Introduction:

When it comes to the Oscars, everyone has an opinion one way or another.
I have my own little vendetta to sort out with the Best Actor category, but cinemaphiles like myself go crazy when the Best Picture Oscar doesn't go to the right film.

How "Goodfellas" shoulda beat "Dances with Wolves"...
How "Shakespeare in Love" unjustly trounced "Saving Private Ryan"

My first embittered Oscar battle was the year "Brokeback Mountain," the most talked about movie at the time, lost out of "Crash"... an ensemble picture no one heard of...

But I never flipped out more over the Oscars than the year "Avatar" lost to "The Hurt Locker," a movie I never heard of before awards season. Heck, the majority of the people who saw it did so long after it won the awards, just to see what all the hoopla was about.

It make me wonder...
if Hollywood really is as liberal as people believe (most of which, I happen to be related to), how come "Avatar" lost to a movie that promoted the war in the Middle East and "Brokeback Mountain" lose to some random ensemble film that happens to star a lot of A-listers?

It might be a PC thing (giving it to a movie helmed by the first ever female director to win an Oscar). It might be to make up for the fact that "Saving Private Ryan" lost to "Shakespeare in Love"...
My only guess is that it had to do with how people were starting to doubt our involvement in the Middle East, with W's popularity waning in the latter part of his term, and this was our way of paying homage to our troops... having a movie few people even saw win the Best Picture Oscar as our way of thanking for their service...

Even after seeing it, I still maintain my position that "Avatar" should have won... more on that on a later date...

So why is this among my top movies?

...first of all, I should probably thank Jeremy Renner for talking me into it and by extension, I should thank Robert Downey Jr. for fueling my thirst to learn as much as I could (via the movies) about the Marvel Universe and the Avengers.

Before seeing him in anything, I only saw Jeremy Renner as this rough-around-the-edges guy. On trailers and such, he didn't seem like my type.
After years of boycotting "The Hurt Locker" over the Oscars, I finally caved. Part of it was opportunity (it happened to be on TV one weekend) and part of it was timing ("Iron-Man" was playing after it)... the final contributing factor was that "The Bourne Legacy" was weeks before its release date and the trailers for it looked awesome.

Write-up:
Some Spoilers Ahead

For starters, this was a decidedly different movie experience.
Guy Pearce's character dies in the first scene, which brings in Jeremy Renner to take his place. His unit is in charge of disabling and removing roadside bombs.
The very nature of that is intense in of itself and the way it was brought to life in this picture-- you gotta have respect for what these people do. Several moments throughout the film, I stopped breathing, was on the edge of my seat, just hoping that Jeremy Renner survives to the end of it.

Another impression I had was that Jeremy Renner was only going to be a minor character in this... but he really was the protagonist. Not only that, but I was getting a contact adrenaline rush watching him in action. I can only describe his character as a "maverick."
To put this on the record, Jeremy Renner lost the Oscar to Jeff Bridges... overall, I'm not a huge fan, but all I have to go on are "The Big Lebowski" (which I've yet to give another chance to wrap my head around), "Iron-Man" (where he plays the bad guy) and "True Grit" (where I had zero love for him because John Wayne left too good a first impression on me in the original).

I have my personal gripes about the Best Actor category, but after being nominated twice in a row, I can't help but feel Jeremy Renner should have gotten the Oscar for this film. Because it's unlikely he'll get another shot. Unless of course he embraces that "maverick adrenaline junkie" archetype one more time.

After the first bomb specialist got himself blown up, the first big mission Jeremy Renner had was to disarm a roadside bomb, only to find out that it's connected to a network of several bombs. While he's doing his thing, his comrades are keeping a tight watch on the streets for anyone holding a potential detonator.
Everything went well, but before getting to the resolution, it was intense stuff.

And that was the movie in general. You're in the battlefield with danger possibly lurking around any corner. Horror movie thrillers have the same thing going for them, edge-of-your-seat nail bitter type moments. Unfortunately, the number of horror thriller vastly surpasses war movies, where the real horror stories are. Truth is stranger than fiction, etc, etc.

I'll admit, I'm an American that takes being an American for granted more than I should. Over the past five years or so, I've made small adjustments in the right direction and it's taken movies to do that for me. As long as I get to the same place, what does it matter how I got there?
It took Robert Pattinson dying in the blindsiding final minutes of what looked like another angsty young adult drama for me to appreciate 9/11. When it happened, my biggest concern was it was the only thing on TV for the longest time. But yeah, never took 9/11 for granted again, and that year, I penned a short story that was my way of paying homage to our troops. In essence, it was about one of the people he left behind when he died and how she found a way to carry on. Still hadn't gotten around to writing the sorta-sequel where she meets someone whose life was saved by him in the war.

I've only seen a handful of movies in the genre and as far as the serious war stories go, "The Hurt Locker" is my favorite.
"Saving Private Ryan" was really good, definitely worth the wait, but I think I found something disappointing about it... maybe the fact everyone died by the time it ended, but that's to be expected, I guess.

This movie got a lot of comparisons to "Platoon" and for good reason. It's about showing what life was really like in the metaphorical trenches of war. It shows all parts of the human condition, good and bad, coming to light. And there's the fact that Vietnam and Iraq got a lot of comparisons because there were troves of people who said we had no business being there.
I knew I had to see "Platoon" for a number of reasons... one I'll get to in a future movie discussion where it's more appropriate for me to go into...
but the biggest reason was that that it was the best picture winner in 1986... which I kinda see as my year cuz I was born that year.

To cut to the point, "Platoon" was one of those most numbing movie experiences I've ever had. Oliver Stone and I don't get along well for that reason. Except for the first "Wall Street," which was pretty good, the movies I'd seen of his devoid me of feeling. They contain experiences you get absorbed into, they chew you up and spit you back out, just like the people in their movies.
Luckily for Jeremy Renner, he didn't go the way of William Defoe. How his death scene came about, more than the fact he died, it ripped out my insides. I haven't forgiven Tom Berenger since (but anyone who knows me knows there's someone else I have it in for a million times greater for something he did in a movie... that's also a discussion for another day).

What sets "The Hurt Locker" apart for me that made it not just watchable but enjoyable?
Most of the things it won awards for.
The screenplay was written by Mark Boal, based on a period of time he spent with a bomb squad in Iraq.
It only had a budget of $15 million (all of which they made back, plus $700,000 after winning the Oscar), so the quality of it doesn't screen "Hollywood." It feels real, not manufactured just for the sake of profit. If anything, it's one of the most anti-Hollywood movies to win the biggest prize in the industry.

And Jeremy Renner doesn't play your conventional war hero.
For one thing, he's part of a unit that's a relatively new branch of the military. Roadside bombs are a big part of the war in the Middle East and it's interesting to see that brought to life for us to experience.
For another thing, he's a rare brand in that he runs on adrenaline and instinct more than following orders. He goes that route a little bit in "The Bourne Legacy," but in that case, he doesn't really have a choice other than to work outside the law. He has his job to do in the movie, but if it gets the job down, he'll do whatever it takes. Including taking out his earpiece while disarming a bomb.
Amazingly, he didn't get chewed out for that. He just got a punch in the arm and told never to do it again.

Throughout watching it, I kept thinking how this character was someone I'd like to have on the front line with me. He’s not only good at what he does, but he shows compassion and would be great for keeping morale sharp. In that ambush scene, this one guy was trying to find a piece of equipment or reload a gun and was freaking out. He helped him get through it and told him he could do it.

A sub-plot that stuck with me involves a local kid. He sells pirated DVD's on the streets and is friends with one of the soldiers. They had a nice little relationship, how they interacted with each other.
Sadly, given the state of things, I had this feeling it wasn't going to end well for him. The soldier almost gets himself killed in his quest to find out what happened to him.

About 90% of the movie is tension and adrenaline where you really can't afford to relax. But they packed a lot into the last half hour.
Between the incident with the kid, a battle in the green zone where someone gets injured in friendly fire, and a suicide bomber with a bomb impossible for even Jeremy Renner, the freaking bomb specialist, to detach him from... there's a lot that goes on, but the quality of the story remains constant.

The ending was anti-climatic, but it wasn't a complete surprise.
For what feels a short period of time, Jeremy Renner returns home to his wife and son, showing us another side of him before he has to go back.
In the movies, they like to focus on the sad fact that our troops only get a short time stateside before they have to go back for another tour. But in his particular case, it might be deeper than that. Like his life IS the adrenaline rush of the danger and it's hard to leave it. In reality, there are more serious version of that where PTSD gets involved. I can definitely see that further down the road for his character. Much further.



 

51. The Avengers (2012)

Code-name: Marvel
(what else, right?)

Director/Co-Writer: Joss Whedon
Type: comic book adaptation, action/adventure, dramedy, sci-fi/fantasy

Music: Alan Silversti (known for his work with Robert Zemeckis, but scoring "Captain America" was his previous Marvel connection).

OSCAR nomination: Best Visual Effects

Cast:
Tony Stark/Iron-Man- Robert Downey Jr.
Steve Rogers/Captain America- Chris Evans
Thor- Chris Hemsworth
Bruce Banner/The Hulk- Mark Ruffalo
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow- Scarlet Johansson
Clint Barton/Hawkeye- Jeremy Renner
Loki- Tom Hiddleston
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson- Clark Gregg
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill- Cobie Smulders
S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury- Samuel L. Jackson
Pepper Potts- Gwyneth Paltrow
Dr. Eric Selvig- Stellan Skarsgard

(Aside: You know I'm crazy about a movie when I can list all of the cast members by heart, but not all of my favorite movies have this vast an ensemble of big names).

Write-up:
Tread lightly, there be spoilers afoot

Part One: The Story so Far

This picture (as well as the universe it represents) is so vast, it's probably best I write it over a couple days.

The biggest selling point of this massive franchise is how the story builds and remains consistent throughout the movies.
All the Marvel fan boys knew that this movie would be huge with all these big characters coming together under one roof.

Me, I knew I'd be seeing it because it was another Downey picture, but I wanted to do my homework on the other Avengers before seeing the movie. That way, I'd know the rest of the characters just as well as Tony Stark.
And to their credit, the rest of the films were done exceedingly well... with, possibly, the exception of "The Incredible Hulk." Sometimes, I wonder if the dysfunctional "Hulk" "franchise" isn't more complicated than amassing the Marvel universe as a whole.

I'll try to keep this short and concise, but going from all the films to this point, this is where we stand:
(Also, Feel free to skip down to "Part 2" for my discussion of "The Avengers" film)

• Billionaire playboy Tony Stark was attacked, then kidnapped by terrorists in Afghanistan. In captivity, he not only constructs a self-sustaining electromagnetic (arc reactor) to keep the shrapnel out of his heart, but a body of armor to escape. This body of armor evolves into the Iron-Man suit, which Tony uses to "protect the people [his weapons] put in harms' way," writing the wrongs committed by his Stark Industries colleague Jebadiah. By the end of this movie, he reveals his "secret identity" and S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury pays him a visit to tell him about "The Avengers Initiative"

• In the sequel (Iron-Man 2), Tony takes on a few new rivals while going through a mid-life crisis AND the government nagging him to turn over his technology. Nick Fury determines that Tony he doesn't qualify for "The Avengers" because of his [several] character flaws. Black Widow also makes her first on-screen appearance.

• Dr. Bruce Banner was experimenting with Gamma radiation when something went terribly wrong. Now when he gets angry, he transforms into a big green monster known as The Hulk. After the events of The Incredible Hulk, including a relationship with Liv Tyler's character (when he's transformed, it reminded me of "King Kong"), he removes himself from society where he can work on controlling his transformations... (P2: replicating the super solider program)

• Thor is a demi-god who hails from a realm known as Asgard. When he commits a major discretion, he's banished to Earth, stripped of his powers. While Thor learns humility (and finds love), his "adopted" brother Loki assumes the throne. Eventually he regains himself and overthrows Loki, who falls to his supposed death.
• If you pay attention, you see Clint Barton (code-name Hawkeye) make a cameo in "Thor". (Thanks to my research, I caught that the first time 8-) ).

• Steve Rogers was a young man from Brooklyn whose host of medical issues kept him from enlisting in WWII. He is recruited for a "Super Solider" project where he is injected with a powerful serum that enhances his physicality as well as the personality traits that set him apart. Captain America starts as a character he plays to sell war bonds, but soon he puts his new powers to great use... leading him to take on Red Skull of the evil organization HYDRA, who aspires world domination with the Norse artifact, the Tesseract. He's victorious, but his movie ends with him crashing into the ocean, preserved with the Tesseract for 70 years until they're found by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Part Two: "Avengers" Assemble

For the most part, I only included information vital to the backstory directly leading to this movie.

In his "exile," Loki finds new allies to exact revenge on Thor and the planet he'd fallen in love with, Earth. The Chituri present him with a weapon in exchange for the Tesseract and opening a portal for their invasion.
Meanwhile, the Tesseract is being studied at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters by Dr. Selvig (who worked alongside Jane Foster, Thor's love interest). Acting on its own, it opens a portal, bringing Loki to Earth... making for an action packed opening scene ending with not only his escape, but the brainwashing of Dr. Selvig and Hawkeye, now his allies.

Other than this movie running a little long (2 hours, 24 minutes), my only other gripe is the fact Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) spends most of the movie as a bad guy. His character is developed somehow through Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) and how this turn of events affects her, but not enough "good" screen time for my tastes. 
I looked them up on Wikipedia previous to this and from what I gather, they have an interesting history that I'd love to see put to film. Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely.

For the most part, we find all of the main characters where their stories left off.

S.H.I.E.L.D. spy Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow) gets the call when she's in the middle of an interrogation. Hawkeye is her main motivation for coming aboard, but it's more about her owing him a debt than anything romantic... or so she says.

Dr. Bruce Banner is in Calcutta, far removed from civilization. Black Widow insists they need him to trace the Tesseract's Gamma signature more than they need "the other guy" (aka The Hulk).

Steve Rogers is exactly where we left him at the end of "Captain America"... give or take a couple months.

Then there's Tony Stark, who's christening his new self-sustaining Stark Tower in NYC with his girlfriend, Pepper.
(I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed this, but isn't it interesting how she's the only superhero girlfriend in this movie?)

Although Nick Fury abandoned the "Avengers" issue, he brought everyone together out of desperation... and let's just say, given all the different personalities, it doesn't go over smoothly at first.
Heck, when Iron-Man and Captain America meet Thor for the first time, they're beating the crap out of each other :-P but that's what happens when Thor gate-crashes their plane and steals Loki, who'd they'd just taken hostage. It serves to give Loki a scope of the people he's up against, but I think these battles are here to indulge the fanboys.

The first half of the movie takes place on a flying fortress enveloped by a cloaking device. Absolutely massive and impressive to look at. I'm sure fans of the Joss Whedon series "Firefly" were pleasantly reminded of what once was. I knew very little about him and his work going in, but I did know "Firefly" had a strong ensemble cast.
For that reason, he's the perfect director for this movie because it's about all the pieces and how they work together.

Before going any further, the recast of Bruce Banner needs to be addressed. From how I understand it, the studio had a similar falling-out with Edward Norton that they had with Terrence Howard... minus all the extra drama that recently surfaced.
I thought Edward Norton did a good job balancing the aspect of his character, but Mark Ruffalo fit into those shoes rather well too.

I heard a rumor that he came on-board because Robert recommended him. The two had worked together previously on "Zodiac," granted they were on opposing sides.

For me personally, RDJ is in his prime in this movie, both physically (Tony Stark at his most attractive, lol) and with his acting prowess. The pace of his dialogue continues to be amazing and he cornered the market on hilarious one-liners.

If all that wasn't enough, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner together was a huge fangasm. I love both of these actors and their characters got along so well because they spoke the same language... complicated scientific stuff. I understood most of it, but I'd never be able to explain it :-P
Mark Ruffalo said in an interview he did with Robert that Tony Stark was the successful scientist he wanted to be.

Early on, we see friction between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers because they operate on different wavelengths. Steve Rogers has that old military mentality, which was about following orders and careful planning... Tony's the opposite, more about attacking first and asking questions later.

Perhaps the most curious aspect of the first half was that Loki more or less allowed himself to be captured at Stuttgart, Germany, and nobody could figure out how to get answers from him about his motives.
You can't 100% take him seriously so his level of villainy is subliminal. He likes to gather information and use it to his advantage, pushing buttons and such. When Black Widow pays him a visit in his cell, he explains how much Hawkeye told him about her and uses it to threaten her... what he doesn't get is that he divulged something he didn't mean to:
he wants to "release The Hulk."

Everyone starts coming to terms with that, but an argument between these personalities ensues after Tony Stark and Steve Rogers's investigation (using different methods) leads them to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Phase Two"... using the Tesseract to make weapons of mass destruction. According to Nick Fury, all of that was put into motion after the events of "Thor" occurred.

Which brings us to the first of two HUGE battles that encompass the second half of the film:
Hawkeye and the rest of Loki's forces find the fortress by using the Tesseract to track his scepter. He cripples the controls of the ship as well as destroys one of its four engines. While Captain America and Iron-Man come together to fix that, Banner transforms into The Hulk and Black Widow can do nothing more than escape his rampage. He and Thor also get into it. Interestingly, The Hulk is stronger, but he's incapable of lifting Thor's hammer.

Black Widow also gets into a good fight with Hawkeye, both of them being equally matched. Finally, he got a good smack upside the head that knocked him out... and allows him to finally come around (seriously, he spends roughly 90 minutes of this movie playing for the wrong side... that sucks).

Thor and The Hulk get hurled back to Earth. As Loki makes his escape, the last line of defense he has to get through is Agent Coulson. He put up a great fight, but his death was such a sad moment in this movie.
We got to know him in "Iron-Man" as well as "Thor"... in this movie, we even learned that he was a huge Captain America fanboy.
But as we all know now, he was resurrected for the TV series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.". The only trick is we don't fully know in what matter he was brought back.

As for the avengers, post-confrontation, this tragedy manages to do exactly what Fury hoped for: it brought them together.
And so we get "The Battle of New York"... ironically with Stark Tower at the center of it.
It's hard to imagine, I know, but there is actually someone in the universe that's more vain than Tony Stark :-P

It goes without saying, but the battle is pretty massive, taking up a huge chunk of this movie. It's pretty cool out all the different superheroes and their abilities come together to handle the Chitauri invasion. Amidst all the action, there's still room for a little humor every now and again.

Captain America has a great scene where he's giving cops a few orders about handling the crowd control. The cop's like "why should we take orders from you"... something happens and his skepticism immediately vanishes :-P
Loki isn't entirely absent from the action, duking it out with Thor and later, The Hulk... most likely the one moment people couldn't stop talking about after seeing the movie.
Loki can act tough all he wants and he plays a good mind-game, but he's not the kind of villain you can take seriously. Nonetheless, he likely has a good sized fanbase all to himself.

Final Remarks

I'm borderline on parodies, but "SNL" did a hilarious one when Jeremy Renner was hosting. The main plot: what can Hawkeye do when he runs out of arrows? (which he does at some point during the battle).

When putting together my list, I thought it might have been soon for me to consider this among my favorites... but the fact is that it's my favorite theater experience of 2012, maybe among my favorites in my lifetime. It's literally built for the big screen and it helps to have a lively audience who laughs at all the right places.

After "The Dark Knight" trumped the box office success of "Iron-Man" (and the following year's Oscar race... yeah, I'm never letting that go), part of me will always worry about whether they'll ever make "The Justice League" happen in the same fashion.
Because Superman and Batman are really huge, iconic, comic book personalities, I think it's highly doubtful they can pull it off. 

Ultimately, "The Avengers" was the third biggest box office hit of all time... with "Titanic" and "Avatar" as super-stiff competition. And I'm cool with that.