Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Avengers [spoilers]

Joss Whedon is amazing.

He did a good job, though I still have trouble complimenting Joss Whedon, even after I ended up liking where he took Dollhouse. He juggled the different characters well and made them all seem important to the team.

Charles in Wheden-Phobic.

He didn't even like Buffy that much, even though the series was awesome!

An incredible action movie from start to finish!! Everything in it (with the possible exception of Loki's helmet) just works.

Visually, it's probably the first decent 3D that I have seen since Avatar as well. Although I think if I go see it again, I'll do the non-3D version to escape the motion blur. It was certainly better than most but I still found it distracting at times. I'd actually recommend the 3-D version though if you are only going to see it once. I'll be very interested to see The Hobbit when it comes out so see it filming in 48 fps can resolve or at least help with that.

The Hulk has two epic moments that made the movie but I won't even hint at them as even a slight hint would completely spoil it for you.

I agree about the Hulk comments, he rules!

I really love how the Hulk stole the show, repeatedly.

BTW I put spoilers in the title so we can chat about it!

ENOUGH!...

RE: Whedon

If you've watched Firefly and don't think he's an amazing talent then there's no hope for you.

Firefly was my first real exposure to Whedon (besides the original Toy Story), so it's the reason I disliked him so much. I just kept hearing how he wrote such amazing characters and clever dialogue, and I didn't find any of the characters in that show all that deep or wonderful. And then I heard a lot of how he writes female characters so well, how they're so strong and independent, but when I watch his stuff, it still seems like a guy writing about women. Also regarding Firefly, people seemed to love the whole western-in-space aspect of it. They loved the meshing of the two genres. I guess they forgot George Lucas already did it in Star Wars, only he didn't beat us over the head with it quite as much. Anyway, it was just the wrong thing to be exposed to first, after hearing people talk him up so much. Despite having reservations about several aspects of the show, my appreciation for him did go up after watching Buffy. So, Mark, it wasn't fruitless having me watch it. And I'll admit that Dollhouse won me over, especially in the second season. I liked where he took the concept.

I enjoyed Firefly, was greatly entertained by the dialogue and love the music.

Just goes to show ya.

This is the first movie that i have though was worth the 3D, i was not that impressed with the 3D in Avatar. The way Avengers is filmed in 3D is MUCH less gimmicky. I felt comfortable recommending that my cousin and her boyfriend spend the extra cash for the 3D version of this movie.

Actually, the only reason i went to see The Avengers in 3D was because i got platinum tickets from school for 7$. They were valid for 3D movies as well as 2D, so me and my buddies went to the 3D option.

p.s.

Firefly was a very good show, and serenity was a pretty killer movie as well. Ahhh nostalgia....

I still enjoy Firefly. Not sure exactly why. I bought it on DVD, then when I started using blu-ray players, upgraded it to blu-ray. I don't watch it very often, though.

I was really hopeful with Doll House. I watched the first season of it and was disappointed. Maybe it'll pick up after watching season 2.

Funny how people see the same things so differently.

Funny Firefly came up. I just started rewatching them a few weeks ago.

I'm not arguing Charles, but for the sake of an interesting discussion, you could pick virtually any genre and make an argument that Star Wars already explored that aspect of Sci-Fi. Most obvious was medieval fantasy, of course. So you are definitely not wrong, but I'd hardly say Firefly copied Star Wars. I see them as pretty different concepts within Sci-fi.

Also, Star Wars was hardly the first throw in a western element. Let's go back to the late 60s and a Star Trek episode where the crew relived the shootout at the OK-Coral.

Even when the west was literally being won, there was sci-fi. Edgar Rice Boroughs started writing about John Carter of Mars in 1912. The majority of the stories took place on Mars but the main character was a toughened soldier from Virginia (OK, that's East vs. 'Western') but his personality and war tactics on Mars were derived from his pioneer days soldiery. There were mounts like horses and the bipedal ,insects like, warrior race who roamed the plains and fought against the more civilized human type cultures in the cities was pretty much pure cowboys vs. Indians.

Again, not arguing. Well, OK I am but in a fun way.

Saying Firefly sucks might get your killed in the circle of friends I roll with.

Seriously thou, I never understood why people claim Star Wars is Western. Maybe for like 5% of it but that's it.

I liked Dollhouse but I definitely didn't love it the way I did Firefly. The story and characters weren't nearly as compelling.

As for 3D movies in the theater Avatar is still by far the best (technically) one I've seen. I'm going to put Transformers3 in a tie with Avengers for second place. Everything else I've seen doesn't even really deserve to be ranked. I've seen nearly every 3D movie in a converted IMAX theater for comparison.

Good points, and I figured someone with more knowledge would have many earlier examples of western influence in science fiction. My problem isn't that he stole the idea from George Lucas or any other person, simply that the western stuff is what a lot of Firefly fans point to as being really great about the show. For me, it's done way too obviously to be effective.

And no worries about argument versus discussion on stuff like this. I know there's nothing sacred about my tastes. Everyone develops their own sensitivities to things. There's no such thing as perfect taste.

I don't really care about the western stuff on the show. I just enjoyed the plots and characters. And the mysteries.

And the bewwbs.

Goes without saying.

I agree Charles. Taste is 100% subjective. Sometimes, our own tastes even change.

I used to think Doctor Who was quiet simply terrible and that it was way to cheesy for me. Somewhere after realizing that I kept watching it anyway for some reason, I decided that there was a distinct wittiness to a lot of the lines that kept me waiting for the next one and that there was often a subtle cleverness to a lot of the plot lines. I was then able to accept that the cheesiness I perceived was actually what gave it it's charm.

But then again, admitting to be a Doctor Who fan hardly lends me any credibility. heheheh.

Now, back to Avengers.
On the way out of the theatre, my wife asked my what my favourite scene was. I was obviously taking too long to decide when she came out with.
"From the look on your face it was the scene where Gwyneth Paltrow was wearing those the short shorts!"

I could only laugh, to deny it might be in the top three might be a lie. Luckily she laughed too. Gotta luv my wife for putting up with me.

Don't worry. We do.

heh

I don't think I can point to any one scene but (spoiler) when the Hulk beats the piss out of Loki had me laughing so hard I was crying.