The Avengers means a lot of things to a lot of people. To some it’s a summer blockbuster, to others it’s Joss Whedon’s coming out as a mainstream filmmaker, and to many others an opportunity to geek out over anything related to the film and its actors. Many people did memes, wrote what-they-did-before articles, and even a Friends-type take off of earth’s mightiest heroes. I have two favourite Avengers-related tidbits plus a movie review.
If Pixar Cast The Avengers
It’s no surprise the geeks over at Pixar paid tribute to the cousins over at Marvel. (Both companies work under Disney after all.) Geeky Girls Love Sci-Fi shared this adorkable poster recasting our heroes as some of Pixar’s movie character, including one from their upcoming feature Brave:
It’s no surprise Frozone from The Incredibles dons the Nick Fury eye patch. Both characters are played by Samuel L. Jackson.
I Wouldn’t Follow Loki Unto the Breach, but Tom Hiddleston...
While Chris Hemsworth, and his physique, caught the attention of some audience members in Thor; I enjoy a skinny, English bloke chewing the scenery with his villainy. Tom Hiddleston continues his busy schedule with a turn as Prince Hal in the BBC production of Henry IV and Henry V.
In the Serenity commentaries, Joss Whedon refers to Mal’s speech where he ‘aims to misbehave’ as his version of the St. Crispin’s Day speech. The speech actually shows up in Henry V as Prince Hal matures into the leader rallying his troops before the Battle of Agincourt. Tom Hiddleston provides a off-the-cuff sneak peek:
And Finally a Word About the Movie
I finally saw it.
It took me a few weeks and going to another province to finally see the movie smashing box office records and collective swooning. (That was just from some of the guys.) From a darkened theatre in Red Deer Alberta, I saw a summer film the way I used to remember summer films.
It started with the right people attached to a project from Joss Whedon to even little-known actor Jeremy Renner. It also took a number of films standing on their own to build towards assembling this team. Time and care showed on screen from the plot to the dialogue. The movie simply hung together almost seamlessly to take its audience on a fun ride and care about these flawed heroes along the way.
Perhaps the actor capturing my attention the most was Mark Ruffalo. He seemed like an unlikely choice to play Bruce Banner/The Hulk. His résumé contains indie films or big budget romantic comedies. Can he play this part? Yes and better than Edward Norton’s turn in the last hulk film. Ruffalo’s Banner is a man coming to terms to what happened and his new life with ‘the other guy’ with the same everyman charm exhibited in everything from The Kids are Alright to 13 Going on 30. Ruffalo’s Banner warmly relates to the audience despite the extraordinary setting.
The Avengers proves (again) light entertainment needs to not dumb entertainment. Choosing Joss Whedon to helm the project insures a popcorn movie without thinking a summer moive audience has the IQ of a kernel.
Unpaused Life 