THE AVENGERS: In Theatres May 4, 2012

[Mister Mets]

Well, now that my own marathon is over, this is how I'm looking at it:

1: Iron Man
2: The Incredible Hulk
3: Iron Man II
4: Thor
5: Captain America

-The first half of Cap was really good, setting up Steve Rogers uber nobility and honor but once he actually got put on to the battle field, it kind of lost with me the laser guns, hydra goons and stuff.

-Hugo Weaving is masterful at playing villains, the opening where he kills that poor bastard hiding the cosmic cube (scrw you, Marvel studios, I'm not calling it the damn tessacraft) was perfectly creepy but once The Skull started just zapping people instead, the vibe sort of started going off in a weird direction for me.

-Thor was pretty good. It told the origin story it needed to tell, made Loki the first sympathetic villain in this universe. Chris Hemsworth like Downey with Iron Man created this fun version of Thor that is faithful to what you identify with the character as but abit refreshingly different.

-Rated Hulk high because it still has my favorite action scenes and I'm just a Hulk nut in general. Still wish The Abomination didn't look like a giant weird flesh monster though. Needs more scales and reptilian-ness.

-Iron Man set the standard and it's still the most solid flick out of all them today. Iron Man 2 was great but it didn't feel quite as focused.

Wow, this series has had diminishing returns for you.

Fantastic film! So much to love about it.

Spoiler:

My favorite part was when Hulk hit Thor for no reason. Mark Ruffalo did a great job. Thanos was great, I thought it was obvious that he was the "master" but still loved seeing him.

Hulk was the biggest crowdpleaser. That was one of his many applause moments in the film.

[Mister Mets]

Spoiler:

So that's what it does.

That was a good

Spoiler:

death scene.

Spoilers. PLEASE don't read if you haven't seen the movie. Seriously. You have been warned.

Spoiler:

Yeah, that. That bummed me out. And fucking Bleeding Cool ruined it for me. Their SPOILER-FREE commentary *alluded* a character dying...but didn't name the character. They simply called him/her the true emotional core of the series...which made it obvious. I really wish I hadn't read that because I would have REALLY been broadsided by it. Hell, I'm still hoping it was a swerve.

Yeah, that was spoiled for me, too.

Still satisfying.

Spoiler:

Every non-comic fan I know has asked me who he is. I just want to buy every person a copy of Infinity Gauntlet and hand it to them.

It's an interesting cliffhanger in that it's more effective the more you know about the characters.

Someone who googles it will be more impressed about what's coming.

[Dr. Chaos]

Wow, this series has had diminishing returns for you.

I wouldn't say that as much as I've just never really been a fan of Steve Rogers or Thor.

I was never going to be really big on First Avenger or Thor, I think. They were good for what they were but not the superhero movies for me.

[BAMF]

Obviously, Avengers trumps all the solo films for me. However, if I had to rank the individual MS movies, I'd go:

1. Cap
2. Iron Man
3. Thor
4. Iron Man 2
5. Incredible Hulk

The order is kind of sketchy. I go back and forth with Iron Man and Cap. I don't know if Cap is my favorite strictly because he's my favorite Avenger...Iron Man could very well be the better movie for me. Order is also pending for Iron Man 2 and Thor. Not sure which movie I liked better. Iron Man benefited from some great performances, but I'm not so sure about the movie itself. I may like Thor better strictly because he's Thor and I already ranked one Iron Man movie above him. I liked Hulk, it just didn't resonate much with me.

Another re-watch is in order with a more critical eye.

[Ray G.]

For me -

1. Avengers (9.5/10)
2. Captain America (9.4/10)
3. Iron Man (9/10)
4. The Incredible Hulk (8.5/10)
5. Iron Man 2 (7/10)
6. Thor (6/10)

[Dr. Chaos]

Just got done reading the EW story.

Sam Jackson has read The Pro. That made my day.

[Corrina]

The movie did Widow great justice.

I thought so as well. In fact, I was impressed how much each character was, well, like they should be.

My twins (12) are now HUGE Hulk fans.

[Dr. Chaos]

I thought so as well. In fact, I was impressed how much each character was, well, like they should be.

My twins (12) are now HUGE Hulk fans.

Nice.

Also, I really kind of want a Black Widow solo spy film now.

Weirder things have happened, if Blade and Ghost Rider can become a hit despite being consistent flops in the books, I like to think anything is possible still.

[Cradleman]

my rankings (and ratings)

1. Avengers (9.6/10): really really fantastic film
2. Iron Man (9.0/10): one of the better origin stories i've ever seen. just a great film
3. Captain America (8.5/10): i love the WWII setting, love Evans as Cap, and really just everything about it
4. Incredible Hulk (7.8/10): haven't seen it in quite awhile, but it was enjoyable and the only one of these that i need to add to my movie collection
5. Iron Man 2 (7.2/10): It brings the funny but fell short in a few areas. still really fun though
6. Thor (7.0/10): it's a good film, imo, but not really close to the best ones in the series

[Dr. Chaos]

I only have two tiny negatives:

I didn't like how The Hulk seemingly walked around with his fists on the ground like a gorilla sometimes. I know The Hulk is a lot less smarter but I'd like to think Banner doesn't regress so far back that he's actually going back on human evolution.

And yeah, to whoever kept complaining about Cap's new costume, you were right. It did kind of stick out like a sore thumb. Which is a shame, the one from First Avenger would have probably blended in better.