The Avengers - A

Finally saw The Avengers on Thursday! (Well, I say "finally" even though it'd only been a week since it had come out. But in geeky anticipation time, it's a long time. XD I felt like the only geek left who hadn't seen it!) Have to say, it lives up to all the rave reviews. I give The Avengers a solid A.

LOL! Too true; too funny. We need more beefcake cheesecake in comics. XD

In the way that Iron Man was the perfect fun, action-packed (but still logical) comic book superhero summer blockbuster, Avengers was the perfect fun, action-packed (but still logical) comic book superhero team summer blockbuster. It was a really enjoyable movie with a sensible plot, good characters/actors, lots of action (but not over-the-top), humor (oh, quippy Whedon), and even romance (good chemistry all around; I love Tony/Pepper).

What impressed me the most was how balanced the movie was. Whedon did a really great job with writing, directing, and editing in order to properly showcase the large team of 7(!) super-egos (and several supporting characters) and make excellent use of the star-studded ensemble cast. @_@ Each hero had their moments, from heroic to funny to badass. And I liked their interaction with each other, both in conflict and bonding, that showed them growing as individuals and as a team. Even the villains felt fleshed-out and entertaining.

Wow, I can't think of anything I disliked about it. Avengers was so good, it made me want to watch all the solo hero movies, in order (fandom OCD). I liked the Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor movies, but I had skipped the Hulk ones because I never found the Hulk interesting until now. Kudos to the Marvel cast and crew for turning this DC comics fangirl into a movie Avengers fan.

That said, even though Iron Man was the perfect "fantastic fun" superhero movie, The Dark Knight was the perfect "real epic" superhero movie, smart, serious, grounded, thought-provoking, and evocative. And I expect The Avengers will be similarly matched by The Dark Knight Rises later this summer. ;P (Now if only DC would shape up and start making more frequent and quality solo hero movies to build up a Justice League one! Til then, we got RandomGuy's hilarious parody trailer. ;)