Monday 7 May 2012

The Avengers movie not as good as...



I ate the KFC burger, so of course I must see the movie.

Marvel's The Avengers just had the biggest box-office weekend in the US ever, a week after it already opened in Singapore.



Most of the reviews have been positive, so maybe my expectations were set too high - but I was a bit disappointed by the movie.

My biggest problem with it was that for much of the running time, the characters are literally standing (or sitting) around in the helicarrier playing Basil Exposition.



For a superhero action movie, it's surprisingly talkie and static.

Yet, despite all the exposition, parts of the plot still raise questions because scenes were probably cut.

Like how can a presumably super-sophisticated military vessel like the helicarrier be so easily attacked?

And exactly how much control does Bruce Banner have over the Hulk?

Did I miss something?

Loki often comes across as a weak villain. For a supposed god, he seems over-reliant on mechanical transportation and human resource.



But I guess a few great moments among the cast make up for the flaws.

I also saw Wrath Of The Titans and Battleship recently.



Wrath Of The Titans is the worst of the lot. It's the sequel to the remake of Clash Of The Titans, which also kinda sucked, but still more fun (the Kraken was released!) despite the atrocious CGI work on Medusa.



The problem with the sequel is the lack of an arc for the protagonist.

In Clash, Perseus went from outcast to hero.

In Wrath, he's already a hero. He's just trying to save his father and protect his son, which is not as compelling.

Neither is the villain - another god, Ares.



Battleship is also a bit of a wreck, but far more enjoyable. This may be sacrilegious to say, but I like it better than The Avengers.

Both movies are similar in that they involve an alien invasion and often don't make sense.

But Battleship is less mannered and outright goofier, which I found more entertaining.

Being an ex-navy guy, I was also amused by the cross-promo the Republic of Singapore Navy did with the Battleship movie.



The RSN recruitment ad before the movie brought a tear to my eye.

Too bad Subway isn't selling a Battleship sub in Singapore.

UPDATE: Okay, I saw The Avengers again. This time in Imax 3D with my kids and I enjoyed it more.

Maybe because now my expectations were lower. Also, the 3D helped tremendously.

I understand Loki's behaviour better the second time around, but some parts that didn't make sense before still don't make sense.

But the worst thing is that I made my kids sit through the end credits for the shawarma scene that I've read about and thought I missed the first time I saw the movie - but there wasn't one.



My kids weren't happy that I forced them to endure the long credit roll for nothing.

I just wanted to get my money's worth. Imax 3D tickets aren't cheap, you know?

So where was the post-credits shawarma scene?!

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