::facepalm:: You know, I’d been wondering how everybody knew the eating place was a shawarma place. Doh!
I have to say, I really, REALLY enjoyed the flying aircraft carrier with STEALTH TECHNOLOGY. OMG, big flying things are AWESOME. 
Reminded me of the ship in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
It did remind me a lot of the Valiant from Doctor Who, but it’s probably a fixture in the original comics. The Master vs Loki would be worth seeing, though.
um… wasn’t it actually the other way around? Although Jules Verne was first, I think…
Mjolnir is no heavier, to those who are worthy, than a normal hammer of that size. Heavy, yes, but not titanically so. Maybe 30 pounds or so? But it is unbelievably hard and massive when it hits something. So the issue of lifting it isn’t in play. If you are worthy then you are worthy.
The Hulk, clearly, was not.
Well, yeah, Sky Captain was first. I just like big ginormous flying things. 
With stealth technology.
It’s been around since 1965, so a fixture is a good way of putting it.
You can tell it was an artist’s idea. Visually wonderful and a nightmare in every other way. It’s basically a skeet. It exists only to get shot down. Every villain in the Marvel Universe has taken it over at some point. A handful of non-super powered mercenaries do so in the movie. A well-coordinated Boy Scout troop could do it. In fact, doing so is probably a requirement of some merit badge like Shotgun Shooting or Plumbing.
Well-engineered, though. Note that there is no sound or vibrations on the inside from those four giant jets and that when the engines fail and bombs are ripping through it, there’s no tilt whatsoever.
There’s no tilt when the first engine is shut down (good, they designed it with redundancy), but when the second one (presumably on the same side) goes, it lists significantly.
I would say that it’s amazing that it didn’t fall out of the sky from that, but then, it’s already amazing that it doesn’t fall out of the sky even with all four engines operational.
Got to see it tonight.
Random scattered thoughts:
“mewling quim” Damn. Alrighty then. Really shocked that one made it past the censors, but if it flies it flies. Good peek into Loki tho.
Good scene all around really - loved the way BW played Loki for info (between that and the first scene with her “I’m in the middle of an interrogation here…” totally made it clear to me that she was completely on top of the situation) and also loved the way the actor played Loki as getting just completely unhinged with glee at his impending evilness towards her. Easily the best dramatic scene for me in the movie.
LOVED the physical comedy with the Hulk - the side-arm punch to poor Thor, the “puny gods” scene (we all died - I had trouble breathing for a minute) and even the puttering up on the little motorcycle. I thought that Ruffalo did a bang-up job with both Banner and Hulk. I liked him, and believed him as a character. Really liked that they played up his genius, and built up a friendship/working relationship with Tony. Nicely done there.
Cap annoyed me less than I thought he would, despite playing exactly the role I expected of him as the soldier “follow the rules and work together” cheerleader (although I was a bit happily surprised by the breaking into the storage locker bit).
Thor likewise - I thought he did admirably trying to balance “I miss my little brother and want him back home” and “Good God, my little brother is an unhinged psychopath.” Also he got to be a little less of a tightass because Cap filled those shoes, and it worked out better for Thor that way.
Thought BW and Hawk did a decent job playing superb but not super humans trying to keep up with the big dogs, and kicking some serious ass in the process. Nice shots of the big dogs keeping an eye on them in the battle and either shielding or diverting shots from them while they were occupied.
A little shocked at the amount of damage Cap took and shook off over the course of the film - I wasn’t aware that he was quite that amped up. I can buy that Tony’s gets absorbed by the suit, Thor’s a god, and the Hulk wouldn’t notice, and Hawk and BW stayed mainly damage-free, but Cap surprised me. Not sure that I like that.
Poor Phil. He’s really dead. This is Joss’ writing. I was waiting to see who it would be the whole film, and I really should have realized it sooner. It’s very sad. I liked him so much. Stupid Joss, killing off everyone I like.
Got to see both sneaks at the end - the first one was clearly Thanos - as soon as the ‘courting Death’ comment came up, there was an ooooh from the crowd. And I agree, the dialogue in that last shot was scintillating.
What else. I want a flying cloakable death platform, even if it is superbly killable and stupid in real life, and I want a Jarvis-house more than anything in the world. (HOW did Coulson get past Jarvis in the beginning? So intrigued…)
Loved the movie references, especially “Clench up, Legolas” which got a good laugh in our theatre. The Galaga nod was also fun.
I could watch a looped gif of the “puny god” scene for ages and be happy. That was the hardest I have laughed in a really really long time. I want to see the movie again just for that scene. It was perfect.
Just saw it in 3D with my sister!
I clearly heard the “clench up”, but completely missed “Legolas”.
I loved that scene. Especially since I just came off working 50 hours in 4 days. I completely empathized with the whole “we’re completely wiped out/exhausted” vibe of that scene.
Admittedly, I was never a big follower of the “classic” Avengers — I’m especially unaware of any actual comics-canon that they were so closely connected to SHIELD. And I’m still completely baffled about this “Council”. Who the hell were those people? And isn’t SHIELD some sort of international UN-related organization? These movies have never made it really clear who SHIELD answers to.
While I never got into Thor in my comic collecting, he’s been my favorite so far amongst the Avengers-related movies. In this era (like, the last 20+ years) I’ve grown extremely tired of “badass” heroes who are all dark and grim and gritty, and often indistinguishable from the villains. At the very least, too many “heroes” are just jerks. Thor, as portrayed in his movie, was the most likeable, admirable hero I’ve seen in a movie in a long time. Where most of these heroes just get more and more “badass” as their movies progress, I liked the way Thor started out trying to be a badass, then got humbled, and turned into a genuinely likeable hero.
I was more annoyed by the scene where Hulk was hanging from the jaw of a still-airborne dragon and appeared to be pulling it from the sky. I’m sorry, but strength means nothing in that scenario; mass/weight is everything.
I was also never clear on whether the “dragons” were living creatures or constructs. I assumed the humanoid soldiers were living creatures until they all shut down when Iron Man nuked the mothership ala The Phantom Menace.
I liked the character in the movie, but I was under the impression that Hawkeye was a much-later addition to the Avengers in the comics. I’m only familiar with him from his membership in West Coast Avengers in the late '80s. I’m also a bit put off by the subtle hints at a romantic interest between him and Black Widow. Was that ever actually in the comics? Last I saw (before he died and came back, anyway), he was married to Mockingbird. Also, I seem to recall that he’s a blond in the comics, but that’s no biggie.
Yes. If for no other reason than seeing more of Scarlett Johansson as a redhead.
Are you referring to the 12-year-old girl in Runaways (written by Whedon) punching Wolverine across the street?
I’m familiar with it, and was extremely surprised to hear it (though I wasn’t offended). Watching with my sister, I wondered if she knew the word.
I loved that scene as well. I was completely taken in - a testament to SJ’s skills as an actress.
That scene actually left me a bit dubious. I know Cap’s stronger than a normal man, but I didn’t think he was that strong. Those were some heavy-duty security doors. I could see Hulk, Thor, or Iron Man easily forcing them open, but I thought it was a bit of a stretch for Cap.
I was impressed that Hawkeye actually ran out of arrows. As soon as the big battle started I noted the number of aliens and the number of arrows, and was prepared for him, movie-style, to never run out. I was glad to be “disappointed” there.
Well, Cap’s suit is armored, but yeah.
Granted, there weren’t many people in the theater during the matinee showing I just watched, but I’ve never heard a theater so utterly silent as it was at Coulson’s death. He’d been presented in the other movies so completely deadpan and all-business, and it was always clear that he was a completely normal human. And seeing this normal human die in the course of doing his duty, while surrounded by out-of-his-league, superpowered beings was emotionally powerful. More so than seeing, say, a cop or soldier get killed. Those are guys we all know do their jobs knowing they could die. Coulson seemed more like an all-business office worker. Seeing him fearlessly challenge a demigod was … unexpected.
I can’t believe I didn’t recognize Thanos. I saw his chin and immediately thought “skrull”. This despite the fact that I used to be a huge Silver Surfer fan (mainly during Ron Lim’s run doing the artwork on the title in the late '80s) and reading the Infinity Gauntlet mini-series.
Also, Cobie Smulders. Day-um!
I was a bit puzzled by that, too, at first: At the beginning of the movie, SHIELD hacks Stark, but then later, Stark hacks SHIELD? Who has the greater hack-fu, here?
But then I realized that Coulson was just using the oldest trick in the book, one of the most common tricks used by real-world security-crackers: He had a man on the inside (or, rather, a woman). He didn’t do anything with the computer security: He just asked Pepper Potts to let him in, and she knows him and has authorization for Jarvis, and so she did. The only complicated part of it was Stark’s reaction.
The Marvel Avengers-related movies take a lot of their plot and inspiration from Marvel’s Ultimates universe, which is slightly different from the “classic” Marvel U.
The Avengers (called “The Ultimates” in that universe) were assembled (sorry…) by Nick Fury and SHIELD.
When Clint first appeared in the Marvel U, he was seduced into helping the Black Widow steal tech from Stark Industries (this was when Natasha was still a Soviet spy). After that caper fell apart and BW abandoned him to the law, he decided to try to be on the side of the good guys instead and joined the Avengers. He didn’t meet Mockingbird until around the time the West Coast Avengers were formed, I don’t think.
I thought that too at first, but wouldn’t Jarvis have been in on it if Pepper let Coulson in? That’s what made me re-think it. Jarvis was speaking/acting like there was someone unauthorized in the house, and like he was being compromised himself. I know Jarvis is smart, and capable of snarking, but I didn’t think he was capable of actually dissembling/lying to Stark that way.
Alternatively, if Pepper did let him in and Jarvis was objecting to that, I would think there would be a much different sort of error message than one that indicated hacking or forced entry by unknowns.
Also, why the crap didn’t Jarvis recognize Coulson in the elevator? Jarvis called him “unknown” so that indicates that at least something was wonky, or Jarvis would have said straight-up - “Hey, you know how you told me to ignore Coulson? He’s actually in the elevator, btw.”
Hell Jarvis was probably in on it. Didn’t wanna announce Coulson straight away so he just called him unknown to throw Tony off the scent until BOOM…there’s Phil.
Something cute I ran across today. And I may well go see the movie again. Not sure if it will be as good, though.
I know, right? She gave Scar-Jo a run for her money, hotness-wise.
Well, Joss wanted a scene where Stan Lee dies, but compromised.
I though Gwyneth Paltrow blew them both out of the water. I’d salute those jean shorts with the same zeal as a flag as long as she’s in them.
I don’t know, I thought that Johansson was clearly the hottest of the three, but then, losing out to Scarlett Johansson in hotness is hardly a mark of shame. Paltrow and Smulders were both certainly hot enough for any purposes. One doesn’t criticize Hawking for not being as smart as Einstein, after all.
But which would look better in hot pants?
