MAJOR SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!!!!!
Okay, I just have to say first off that this movie is FREAKING AWESOME! From beginning to end the movie just rocks hard core. There's no other way to describe it. Joss Whedon continues to show that he is a genius, plain and simple.
First of all, everybody knew that Samuel L Jackson was going to be awesome as Nick Fury. There was never any doubt in my mind at all. I was VERY glad to see that there was a lot more of Nick in this movie, which makes for part of the awesomeness.
Cobie Smulders did such a wonderful job as Maria Hill. She's not the hard core bitch I remember from the comics, but that's because Miss Smulders made Maria Hill her own and I am looking forward to much more of her in the future. Especially if they get to the part of the storyline where Tony is director of SHIELD and she has to answer to him. I think that will be amazing.
Clark Gregg is the next shining star in this flick. He had some of the funniest lines even if they didn't come across as funny. The vintage Captain America trading card collection was priceless. He totally had a man crush on Cap and it was completely adorable. Now I know I warned about spoilers but there is one spoiler I am NOT going to give simply because I like to pretend it didn't happen. Agent Coulson and Pepper seeming to be friends was pretty amazing and adorable. Especially when Tony gets a little bit jealous.
Tom Hiddleston as Loki was perfectly brilliant. He's just the right amount of evil genius but he also is smart enough to know when he's defeated. Favorite scene ever, though, is the confrontation between Loki and Tony. That whole conversation is amazing but when Loki tries to control him and only ends up hitting the reactor....that was hilarious. And let's not forget Loki getting thrown around like a rag doll by Hulk. So perfect.
I really never thought I'd be able to say this at any point but I now, officially, actually like Chris Evans. I used to hate him. Then Captain America: The First Avenger made me not hate him anymore. Now, I like him. That's as far as I'll go. I like him. I really can't picture anybody else playing Steve Rogers. My brain just won't allow it. He has embodied the character that much. And this movie just showed off his acting skills even more. He took charge when necessary and beat the living shit out of people when needed. It was just an over all fantastic performance. And it was so freaking adorable when Cap finally understood one of the pop culture references that was made. Too cute for words.
There really aren't enough words in my vocabulary to describe this movie so I might end up using the same ones over and over again because it was just that damn good.
Okay, so where was I.
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner. I was a little skeptical at first, to be quite honest, based solely on pretty much everything else I've seen Mark Ruffalo in. Now, my knowledge of his work is nowhere near the full body of his work. I've only seen a smattering of the projects Ruffalo has done and at least one of those have actually involved Robert Downey Jr, so I can just add this one to the list. Anyway. Mark Ruffalo did a wonderful job as Bruce Banner. He had some of the good lines too. And when he said "That's my secret, I'm always angry." That just made my life right there. And Cap's order for Hulk to smash was just too perfect. Now, I know that the Hulk stuff wasn't really Ruffalo but still, I am going to give him credit. I did love him pulling up on the little motorcycle when everybody is standing down town and looking at the mess. He did a very wonderful job playing Bruce. He really did.
ALEXIS DENISOF IS IN THIS MOVIE AND I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU WHERE!!!!!!! If you don't know who Alexis Denisof is then you didn't go see this movie for Joss Whedon's involvement. Just saying. When I reminded my daughter of who Alexis is in other projects her response was "So Robin had to work with Sandy again." and that made me giggle
I am slightly disappointed in Mr. Whedon that there was no random Nathan Fillion casting. Nathan is to Joss as Bruce Campbell is to the Raimi brothers. WHY IS THERE NO NATHAN MR. WHEDON?! HUH?!?!?! You know, I bet this is all Castle's fault. But again I digress.
And now we come to the other Chris. Mr. Hemsworth. I was not even remotely surprised or disappointed when I found out that Chris Hemsworth was cast as Thor. I thought "He's absolutely freaking perfect!" and he really is. No one could play the Norse god of Thunder any better than he does, and he looks the part as well. He's just the right amount of funny while maintaining that godlike attitude. He will help the humans to protect Earth at any cost and it's so amazing that he is like that. Thor's arrival in the movie is grandiose and perfect for a god. Loki being nervous by the thunder and saying "I'm not particularly fond of what follows it" was just wonderful. And the fight between Thor and Iron Man was beautifully done. And, let me just say, Mjolnir + Vibranium = BIG BOOM!
Yet another person that I was not that fond of before taking on a comic book character would be the lovely Miss Scarlet Johansson. When I first heard she was cast I was a little upset. I figure, who better to play a red headed Russian than a red headed Russian. (If you don't know who I'm talking about you are not a true geek.) But she has truly shone as the Black Widow and done a wonderful job. She was very good in Iron Man 2 but she was exquisite in The Avengers. "A very specific skill set" indeed. Is there something between Barton and Romanoff? I don't know. I think that they have the kind of relationship that is built on the battle field. The kind of thing that soldiers who have fought together have with each other. Is it romance? I'll let the story figure that one out. I do know that they have seen and done things together that make them closer than any two people could ever think to be.
And speaking of Clint Barton, gotta love Jeremy Renner. I loved his work in The Hurt Locker and I was so excited when he was cast as Hawkeye. His performance in this movie actually has my daughter wanting to take archery lessons. And let's talk about that archery, shall we? That quiver was FREAKING AWESOME!!! (wanted to use another F word but trying to keep it clean.) And the arrows with the interchangeable heads were so cool, Let's not forget that bow that all he has to do is shake it a bit to get it to engage. So awesome. There are no words to describe his archery skills. Being able to shoot behind him without even looking. But that's Hawkeye more than it is Jeremy Renner. He was very good, though. He did the role justice.
I'm not going to say very much about Stellan Skarsgård because there's not much more to say other than he did a great job. Unfortunately they didn't give him much in the way of screen time, but what he did get was wonderfully done. And even though he was controlled by Loki, he still managed to help beat the bad guy so all is good there. Just great job over all.
And I was saving the best (in my mind) for last. Mr. Robert Downey Jr. I can't lie. I am so in love with this man. I envy Susan Downey like you wouldn't believe. But that's where I am ending that bit of gushing. Okay. TONY HAD THE BEST LINES IN THE WHOLE DAMN MOVIE! And the best references ever. Calling Thor Pointe Break was funny but calling Hawkeye "Legolas" was geektastic. I have always know that Tony Stark was a geek to his core. Deep down inside that swaggering hunk of sexy arrogant man is a little kid with glasses and braces sitting in his parents' basement in a Star Trek uniform playing Dungeons and Dragons. It can NOT be denied. And Tony is swagger and sexy and arrogant, there's no denying that either. Now, the whole Tony/Pepper relationship thing is adorable. Especially the look on his face when she's whispering in his ear. Priceless. Again, I gotta go to the confrontation between Tony and Loki. If JARVIS had a testosterone detector it would have been going off like crazy. That was one hell of a pissing contest. And the Mark 7 armor. OMG! This is just the precursor to EXTREMIS. I'm telling you. I think one of my favorite moments is toward the end when Tony gets done saving the world and then he's going on and on about this shawarma place and how he wants to find out what it is. It's like, you just nearly died and you're going on about shawarma? What the hell, man? But that's Tony for you. Completely insane. And when he comes to the realization that Loki is going after Stark Tower, the way he delivered that "son of a bitch" was too good for words, really. But one of the very best scenes was the scene between Cap and Tony that was talking about the thing I would like to pretend didn't happen. The level of emotion coming from both of them. Tony actually teary eyed.....it was beautiful, it really was. And the "Please tell me nobody kissed me." was absolutely freaking hilarious. And I am so thankful every day that somebody decided to give Robert Downey Jr. A chance as Tony Stark all those years ago because there is no one on this planet better suited to play him. NO ONE! And if Kevin Feige thinks he can recast Tony if Robert decides to quit, he's got another thing coming. Robert isn't the only one that doesn't want to see Iron Man played by someone else. Now, does anybody get the reference on why Tony wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt is hilarious? If you don't, I'm not explaining it to you. There was an interview with Robert in which he admitted that he'd stolen one of the Black Sabbath t-shirts and then lost it. $20 says Indio has it. Just a thought.
Now, the first after credits scene that reveals who will be the villain in the next movie, priceless and I will not spoil that one for you. I will, however, say that there is a SECOND after the credits sequence that has them all sitting in he damaged shawarma place quietly eating their food. Thor and Banner seem to be the only ones enjoying it but everybody is eating. In the background you see one of the employees sweeping up glass. It's hilarious, really. Especially because there is no dialogue, there's just them sitting there. Absolutely wonderful and a great addition.
Over all, I say GO SEE THIS MOVIE! It deserves as many awards as anybody can give it. I am most definitely going to go see it again sometime this weekend. There is no avoiding that at all. Even if you don't know anything about the comic books, go see it. You will NOT regret it, believe me.
And go buy the sound track. Right now you can get it from amazon.com for $5 as a digital download and that's for this month only. DO IT! Live to Rise by Soundgarden is a kick ass song and the rest of the album is just as good. Especially A New Way to Bleed by Evanescence. It's great.
This is my longest review to date. After a little bit of editing it’s at 2063 words and I might need to edit more later.
