More First Impressions: The Avengers - Pulp Roots and a Balmy Future

Well folks, The Avengers (2012) is still rocking strong and is clearly the #1 thing in America right now. We should take a moment to mourn the loss of the Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch, though, who has clearly had a tremendous influence on this blogger. It's been a crazy couple of days for sure. But - back to the biggest film in the country.

Can anyone see The Dictator (2012) superseding The Avengers this weekend? I don't think so. Sacha Baron Cohen's latest is appearing more and more desperate as he's suddenly appearing everywhere as his character, Admiral General Aladeen. Note how this post is becoming more and more prescient - as the desperation boils over it's clear that the film hasn't yet integrated itself into the national consciousness the way the greatest of this year, The Avengers and The Hunger Games (2012) have. That is to say, once the hype machine gets rolling, there isn't a need for the blatant and jarring bits of self-promotion that irritate rather than buzz.

Where were we?

Comic Origins: Taking Inspiration by Piecemeal

The Avengers has a team have a somewhat ridiculous history after first forming in 1963. They originally formed not wholly unlike the film - Loki tricked the Hulk into a rampage and Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, and Wasp united to fight him, eventually recognized Loki's mischief, took in the Hulk, and beat down the rogue god. Neat. So the Loki inspiration is certainly present in The Avengers, as is bits of controlling the Hulk (Loki's first main goal is to set loose the Hulk to destroy the rest of the Team on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier). Since then, The Avengers have taken on just about every major player in the Marvel Universe, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, and of course Iron Fist.

The important distinction is how S.H.I.E.L.D. comes in. It wasn't until many years later that the supersecret spy organization had anything to do with the Avengers - except for in the Ultimate storyline that Marvel pushed for at the turn of the century. The Ultimate Universe sought to re-boot many of their comic lines to make them more accessible to new readers who had no desire to wade through forty years of complex, contradictory history. Of course, as the A.V. Club points out, with titles like The Ultimates, Ultimate Comics: Avengers, Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates, and Ultimate Comics: Ultimates, this was still no easy task.


The Ultimates refers to a group of heroes that is more accurately reflected in the film. A Sam Jackson-looking Nick Fury recruits a bunch of ultimate heroes to come together in times of great crisis. This is really straight-up what the film is reproducing and within the context presented, is the only way for all these Alpha Males to work together. The Comic Tony Stark is a team player who recruits and defends and leads the charge (eventually becoming Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. no less). The Film Tony Stark would rather down some scotch and bang Gwyneth Paltrow. Wouldn't we all?

Anyone Else Had Enough of Massive City-decimating Alien Invasions?

This is an aside more than anything, but it seems like we've somehow emerged in a glut of big, crazy weird Alien Invasion films. And everyone is ripping off eachother's designs and no one seems to care. Remember that big chewy Snake Thing from Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) that munches through Chicago? Not all that different from the big squirmy Worm Thing from The Avengers that munches through NYC. From the looks of it, Battleship (2012) and Men in Black III (2012) will bring on more of the same crap.

It's that weird grotesque Alien Design that seems worlds away from more classic streamlined designs that we saw in Independence Day (1996) or to a lesser extent, War of the Worlds (2005). Instead now we have these intricate, squiggly looking things flying around, whether they be strictly machine as in Transformers, or actually organic as in The Avengers. In addition, the battles have become that much bigger - it's no longer outside the realm of possibility that an entire city (often somewhere on the Eastern Seaboard) will get wrecked.

We're in this age of mega-mega-budgeted blockbusters that have these new expectations of Box Office Returns. Cracking the billion-dollar worldwide is no longer a distinction reserved for anomalies like Titanic (1997) or long-awaited adaptations like Return of the King (2003). Just about anyone, from Alice in Wonderland (2010) to Dark of the Moon (2011) is game. With this in mind, filmmakers can set their sights a bit higher, and throw entire futuristic wars up on screen like never before. The results, hollow as they may be in a film like Transformers, look really rad, although they have quickly become repetitive in style.

Marvel's Future:

Ultimately this film is both an endpoint and a turning point for Marvel Studios. The Avengers was the culmination of many years of hard work, tie-ins, and massive crossover appeal. Its success, however, guarantees that not only will each Franchise continue on its own, but the central Avengers Series will also continue, single-handedly ushering in a new era of Blockbuster filmmaking, one where characters, when done properly, are not limited to any single film, which is liberating, frightening, and exciting to behold.

This film should be a landmark one for Marvel for introducing the Cosmic aspects of its Universe. Now, with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) we got into this a bit, but that's something everyone would more rather forget. Instead, Josh Whedon filled this film with the Chitauri, a more obscure Interstellar Race than most casual fans are familiar with, but his reasoning is just that. The film also introduces Thanos. Nerd as I am, when Loki was talking to the Palpatine-looking motherfucker towards the beginning of the film with cryptic references to their Boss, I was secretly hoping that would turn out to be Thanos, but I didn't think the series had really gotten bold enough to go that far.

The introduction of Thanos and his love for Lady Death is a brilliant set-up for Avengers 2 (2015) or maybe even Thor 2 (2013). I have to think that a Galactic Threat of this magnitude would be in a film no smaller than the scope of The Avengers. It seems as if Marvel is fairly content with keeping its tie-in films a bit simpler while bringing together the big army battles for the core Avengers franchises. If that is the case, there's no way the mad Titan would appear in Thor 2. This also harkens the obvious - will the Silver Surfer return? Could Marvel finally get the rights to some of its other characters like Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four? Or someone analogous that hasn't been used, like Adam Warlock, Quasar, Nova, or the Sentry? Why are there so many of these guys? Are we stuck with Dr. Strange, Vision, and Moonknight?! CAN I GET A BETA RAY BILL?! Shit!

There are plenty of Easter Eggs already in place to give Thanos plenty to do. In addition to his quest for the Cosmuc Cube, Thanos is closely identified with the Infinity Gauntlet, also seen in Odin's Vault, which Marvel has already showed off. There are plenty of possibilities.

The short answer is that Marvel can do just about anything they want now. They can dig up some more villains and heroes from their massive library, throw 'em together and presto - you've made a cool billion shmagooligans. Now, if DC can get their asses moving on a Justice League film, we'd be all set...

First Impressions: The Avengers - Franchises Assembled

We've all been teased and waited for it for years - the biggest Movie Crossover Event of all time - The Avengers (2012) was finally released this weekend and it has dominated in every way it was supposed to. So far it has obliterated previous opening weekend records and is assuredly on its way to being one of the biggest films of all time - it would appear that Marvel's big gamble has paid off in spades. Let's dive into the more subtle (yeah, right) aspects of this film as well as the context of its release - SPOILERS to follow, we have much to discuss.

The Avengers does everything it needs to. It bypasses much of the exposition regarding its characters and trusts its audience to find its bearings while picking up a difficult story immediately. How are are these Alpha Dog characters going to get together and work with each other? The film seems to movie quickly at first, then stalls out, perhaps overemphasizing the difficulty of getting these assholes to work together when they all really know what's at stake.

A Giant Green Rage Monster Finally Done Right:

Impressively, most of the film was actually like this

The film does an excellent job of merging many of the successful elements of other character's films. From Hulk living in a shack in India to Tony Stark's NYC penthouse, the film gives equal time to everyone and it flows fairly naturally. The Big Bad here is Loki, Thor's brother, and it's clear throughout that even after all the crap from THOR (2011), he's still willing to forgive and forget. It's a shame that Loki is more of an asshole than ever. To see him finally get his ass whomped on by Hulk is comforting.

The Hulk has had a tumultuous film career. From Eric Bana to Ed Norton to Mark Ruffalo here, it doesn't seem like anyone had really gotten him right. Part of the success of The Avengers is finally achieving that distinction in two words: "Hulk - Smash." Ruffalo is a superior Bruce Banner in that he has this vulnerability and humility absent from Norton's performance while lacking the whining of Bana. It's also nice to see a digitized Hulk that not only has more of Ruffalo's face but is also a little chunky instead of the tight taught creation of The Incredible Hulk (2008).

Let's take a look at these Hulks for a quick second. Here is the 2003 Bana version, The Fat Green Glob. Now, it doesn't look all that terrible considering it was nine years ago, and the film really isn't all that terrible, either, despite an atrociously slow opening and lots of weird stuff like those crazy Hulk-dogs that attack him in the woods. Next, we have the ripped-up Norton version, which wisely skipped an origin, and tho most of the cast was an upgrade, it didn't handle Blonksy that well and we just knew there could be more. Finally, the Ruffalo seems to find its way in the middle, and sure makes for an ugly mug. That's just the way we like it. Hulk does everything he needs to do - exist as a huge liability whenever Banner is around any other human but smashes it up when "the Other Guy" comes out. It was also assuring that this was finally a chance for Hulk to run wild - he needed to smash everything in sight and for once this actually helped the good guys.

Power Suits, Mjolner, and...Handguns?

Oh, humans.

Moving on to some of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, it's more obvious than ever that Nick Fury as played by Sam Jackson is a huge shady dude, although he had some cool scenes, like shooting down his own planes when he needed to and telling off Powers Boothe and the rest of the Secret Council. Of course there was a shady Secret Council. Cobie Smulders didn't really seem to do much and was definitely the weak link in the cast. Clark Gregg shined as usual with a little bit more humanity and his death was surprising and shocking to both the Characters in the film and the audience, tho even in death he had some great lines.

Hawkeye spent most of this film in the throes of Loki, which called back to his history as a villain and took him out of the running against the other Avengers. If this hadn't been the case the film would have become even more muddled and it was a good call to do. Scarlett Jo on the other hand had some heavy lifting to do and her role was more prominent than I expected. She actually performed well and it was exciting to see.

The Central Trio:

Okay, how about the Big Three? The dynamics between Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man make up the core of the film and are the LeBron, Kobe, and Carmelo of the Marvel Universe. They all really lay it on the line and all get some serious wounds in the final battle. The Captain's selflessness and Boy Scout nobility are immediately apparent, seventy years after that kind of stuff was cool. It will be interesting to see where they take him in Captain America 2 (2014) after the events of this film.

Thor, Cap, the Iron Man

Thor comes in fairly later than the other characters, and it's a dream to see a battle both between him and Hulk (for no small reason that they are some of the only characters who can challenge each other), as well as between him, Iron Man, and Captain America. I mean, you have to see these dudes brawl with eachother, that's definitely part of the ticket price. I think all told we got to see Nick Fury vs. Hawkeye, Thor vs. Iron Man, Thor vs. Captain America, Thor vs. Hulk, Hulk vs. Black Widow, Hawkeye vs. Black Widow, and of course, Everyone vs. Loki.

In the end though, it's all Iron Man's show. Robert Downey, Jr.'s charisma led Iron Man (2008) and was a huge factor in assuring that these films would be profitable enough that this whole Crossover Universe would be possible. His questionable character is on trial throughout the film and it's deserving enough that he has a major role in defeating the nasty Alien buggers in the end and the major self-sacrifice.

C'mon Legolas

What's interesting is how some of the characters' ideologies have been flopped from their Comic incarnations. I've talked about this a bit before. The Central Theses of Iron Man and Captain America were central to Marvel's Civil War Storyline a while back. Iron Man has generally been an advocate for security and government registration while Cap favoured greater independent freedom. The Avengers neatly swaps these ideologies fairly naturally. We've gone into Tony Stark a little bit more in-depth before, check this out.

The more interesting dynamic within Marvel Comics has always been between Cap and Stark. They're really the Batman / Superman equivalent and the film somewhat gets into their arguments and reconciliation. Thor is surely another big character, though, but he has always had some distance from the rest of the group based on his more cosmic origins. His growth since THOR is apparent, the Thor that started his own film would have been much more reckless, instead his big beef here comes from his intimate connection to Loki, his brother.

All This from a God of Mischief?

Actually everyone in fairly equal share contributes to foiling Loki's plan, from Black Widow disabling the portal generator, Cap assigning roles through his natural leadership qualities, Hulk smashing Loki's face, and Thor taking him back to Asgard. Downey Jr. gets all the best wisecracks though, and the Black Sabbath shirt he wears throughout the film is another nice nod to his irreverence, as is the cool mid-battle scotch he tries to share with Loki.

Loki is the Norse God of Mischief, a Trickster God like Anansi the Spider, the Southwestern Coyote, or Bugs Bunny. No, no, that doesn't seem appropriate at all, right? Would a Trickster God ally with a massive Alien Army to conquer the Earth? I'm inclined to believe otherwise, but that's neither here nor there. Tom Hiddleston does some excellent work here, Loki is a tough line to walk between intelligent, cunning, and psychotic. He's a fearsome baddie and although he tends to be lesser known than some other villains, he's assuredly the best to be thrown at the Avengers right now. Red Skull could be a nice choice, but the Abomination isn't really that huge of a threat, and anything from Iron Man is crap. To present a conflict for the Avengers you really need someone with enough machinations as Loki and they nailed it.

There may be another villain suitable for this kind of Global Threat and The Avengers presented an incredible tease for him. For now, pick up some shawarma, we'll be back tomorrow for more.

The Long Halloween Vol. III - Cinco de Mayo

Well folks, it's time once again for the Third Installment of The Long Halloween - Norwegian Morning Wood's monthly look at a different holiday every month and the proper pop culture ways to celebrate it. In our third year of pulling this crap we've descended into the Obscure Edition - highlighting the random, insane, peculiar holidays that may otherwise go unnoticed. With that said, today actually shouldn't be all that unfamiliar - welcome to Mexican St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo.

That's right folks. It's High Noon on Cinco de Mayo - time to substitute Coronas and Sauza for Guinness and Jameson and party with the steady beating Latin Heart in all of us. The celebration commemorates a great battle, and is known regionally in Mexico as El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla, meaning "The Day of the Battle of Puebla." The battle was a huge victory for the United States of Mexico that pushed the French out of the territory and halted their invasion plans.

Yes, apparently France tried to invade Mexico during the American Civil War, the result of which is Cinco de Mayo. Sometimes History really is fun. It really is a Holiday that should be celebrated my Americans as well, not only does it mark another defeat of the cheese-eating surrender monkeys, but if the French were able to get a decisive win over Mexico they would have been in a better position to aid the Confederate States of America in their rebellion against the Union. ¡Viva la Mexico!

So what should we watch with our cervezas and tequila and this grand day? At first I thought Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) would be appropriate, but I really can't distinguish between any of the Mexico Trilogy on this day. Director Robert Rodriguez has contributed to the Mexsploitation genre with El Mariachi (1992), Desperado (1995), and the aforementioned Once Upon a Time in Mexico. All three are classic counterparts to traditional Westerns that more often paint Mexicans as scumbags or drug dealers. Well, there are still scumbags and drug dealers here but there are heroes and badasses, too. Antonio Banderas crafted an image and a career from these films, echoed throughout pop culture, naturally leading to Puss in Boots (2011).

It's tough to think of a proud Mexican film that doesn't involve either Antonio Banderas or Robert Rodriguez. Will Ferrell's recent Casa de mi Padre (2012) may do the trick, but you really have to be in on the joke to enjoy that one (I certainly did), and there's crazier, more Mexican stuff out there. Recently Machete (2010), and its pending sequel, have been explicit and blatant Mexsploitation events full of Mexican pride expressly contrasted with White American influence. To celebrate a battle that kept out Foreign White Influence, what better film than Machete? In the same vein we could look at Antonio's The Mask of Zorro (1998), which includes bar none the greatest movie scene of all time, seen below:



It may just be that I was getting my first boners when this film came out. It may just be that if I was Zorro this is the only thing I would do with my sword powers and I would do it all the time. Or it may just be the intense sexual tension so perfectly encapsulated, managed, and diffused, but it's probably just because Antonio and Catherine are both pretty hot. Oh, Mexico.

While we're on the subject, why not visit our fair friends south of the border with National Tourism Week that also begins today and runs until May 13th? You could go to Mexico like so many of our cinematic idols, from Josh Brolin's mariachi wake-up in No Country for Old Men (2007) to Martin Lawrence in another one of my all-time favorite movie scenes from Blue Streak (1999). Or if you want to limit tourism to our own damn country you could just plop in Vacation (1983), because Hollywood hasn't improved on that yet.