The AVENGERS (2012)

THE AVENGERS IS BETTER THAN SEX
by Reymundo Salao

When we talk about superhero movies, the finest ones that come to mind are the ones that have been taking the superhero concept seriously; the ones that have been open-minded enough to takes such concepts and use serious cinematic styles upon them. Movies like Spider-man 2, and the first two X-men movies have taken superheroes as real people, that is why they have been really great superhero adaptations. But I think cinema in general has already gone past the maturity and open-mindedness to take superheroes seriously. It is time to do way much better than just merely making superheroes realistic. Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight has always been the best superhero movie. It succeeds not only in the sense of being a superhero movie, but succeeds in being one of the finest movies ever made in Hollywood cinema. The degree of Dark Knight is very much off the scales, that I cannot imagine if any movie can even stand equal to it. Not until The Avengers.

Extra Scene at the end of the credits of THOR

Yes, THOR was indeed an awesome movie, and I'm sure that many of you are so pumped up with excitement for the next Marvel comics movie that will lead up to The Avengers movie.

As many of you know, Marvel movies have this knack of inserting an extra scene after the end credits. Examples of that are at the end of Incredible Hulk, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) appears and talks to General Ross (William Hurt) about "putting up a team" (obviously referring to the Avengers), and in Iron Man 2, a scene where we find SHIELD Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) heading to a site where Thor's hammer (The Mjolnir) landed (a similar scene within the Thor movie). At the recent Thor movie, it should already be expected by Marvel fans that there is an extra scene at the end of the credits.

Many of you may have left the movie theater without seeing that extra scene. Well, here it is...



...If we take the context of what is already in the Marvel comics universe, the Cube in the scene may be the Cosmic Cube, which is actually a containment device created by various civilizations throughout the Marvel Universe at various times, including the alien race the Skrulls, and various other, unnamed civilizations (whose Cubes were gathered/stolen by unknown means by The Magus in the Infinity War story arc and The Goddess in the Infinity Crusade story arc). This Cube has the power to change reality, a god-like power, obviously. And most probably play a huge role in the coming Avengers movie. If this cube is in the storyline, then it would mean the involvement of massive degree Marvel characters such as Thanos, who is an alien warlord. If that is so, then the coming Avengers movie will indeed be something beyond fantastic and mindblowingly epic. Let's just hope that our optimisms are at the right track.

THOR is Beyond Mighty

The film adaptation of the Marvel comics character based on Norse Mythology, entitled THOR may seem like a movie that has a heavy degree of fragility to be translated onscreen. The slightest mistake could have made this project look silly or awful. But Branagh and his team have succeeded in overcoming that incredible obstacle and proved that THOR is an excellently-made, and a cleverly-conceived movie. Expectations have been exceeded with this movie.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE

THOR is Coming

Those who have already watched IRON MAN 2 may have already noticed the teases it makes on the Avengers movie (which is set for a 2012 release) and Captain America also. But Iron Man 2 specifically teases on one particular superhero movie. And that is THOR. Well, the teaser comes in the form of an additional scene at the end of the end-credits. It is not much, but it goes like this:

It is New Mexico, and in the middle of the desert, we see Agent Coulson driving towards what appears to be a site where SHIELD operatives seem to be studying something in the area. There is a wide crater. And in the middle of the crater, we see what appears to be the hammer Mjolnir. Thor's Hammer.

It is not really something for regular audiences to be thrilled with, not unless one is a comicbook fanatic or is familiar with this super-hero universe. But for us geeks, it is indeed something to be thrilled with. But what was upsetting is that we heard reports that there was one cinema here in Iloilo that had abruptly cut off the scene, the result is that the people who were awaiting the additional scene were not able to see the said teaser. Yes, this is upsetting because that scene is part of the movie.

On the topic of THOR, yes indeed, THOR is coming and is about to be released on May 6, 2011. To those who have no diea yet, THOR is the Marvel comics character who is also based on the Norse mythology god of thunder. The movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh (the Shakespearean actor & director, whose popular works include Hamlet (1996) and an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), and will star Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

With what appears to be initial stages of generating hype for the THOR movie, the first image of Chris Hemsworth in costume as Thor has already been released online; it's such a teaser photo since the picture is cropped in a way that it does not give out the full details of that the costume would look like.

IN MY OPINION, I am not liking the way the costume covers up his arms, like a chain mail sleeve that actually kinda looks rubbery in this picture. Im not too much of a purist as to how a movie adaptation should look like the source material, but in this case, the original comicbook costume, in my opinion, should be preferred. His muscle arms should show because this adds to the Norse god feel to it. ANYWAY, this is just a minor reaction and I'm sure that if the movie turns out to be great, then minor nitpicks like this will just simply disappear in the process.

Joss Whedon will direct & rewrite Marvel's THE AVENGERS; also do rewrites on the CAPTAIN AMERICA script [updated]

Marvel Studios is in final negotiations for Buffy the Vampire Slayer series architect Joss Whedon to direct Marvel Studios' The Avengers. That's the fast-tracked film that would amount to an all-star team of Marvel superheros, including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), as well as SHIELD leader Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), among other characters.

Iron Man 2 gets released in May, Captain America will begin shooting this summer in Europe, Thor is in production, and Marvel Studios just set Pete Sollett to direct Runaways, based on the comic book series created by Lost writer Brian K. Vaughan. Marvel has considered all of the individual superhero movies to be an intro to The Avengers.

Whedon is a genius when it comes to character development in the action-adventure-sci-fi-fantasy genre. He has created the universe of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, a universe of unforgettably cool characters. Those three series have garnered are really solid following. On the other hand, his one full length film SERENITY which is intended as a finale to the Firefly series was not very successful at the box office, but went on to become a cult classic, and was able to generate a sort of "second success" (a very big one) in DVD and Blue Ray home video.

When the third X-men movie (X-Men 3: the Last Stand) was still in pre-production, Whedon was one of the strong contenders to be chosen as director, especially because he has also been heavily involved in the world of comicbooks as a writer. In my opinion, if Whedon was the one chosen, the X-men franchise could possibly have been saved from the humiliating deterioration director Brett Ratner has caused it.

Whedon's expertise in dealing with character development and balancing it with sci-fi fantasy type action, added with his knowledge in the Marvel comics universe, makes him the perfect choice to be director of The Avengers. The AVENGERS is set to be released in the first weekend of May, 2012.

UPDATE: Whedon will rewrite AVENGERS & CAPTAIN AMERICA script as well
source: filmschoolrejects.com

Per Pajiba, Whedon’s deal with Marvel looks to encompass a bit more than just directing The Avengers. It was already assumed that he’d be rewriting the script originally penned by Zak Penn, but Pajiba’s source (henceforth known as Deepajiba) reports that Whedon will also be doing some work on the script for Captain America: The First Avenger. The current incarnation is credited to Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely whose previous work includes The Chronicles of Narnia series as well as the low-key black comedy You Kill Me. Those credentials promised a fairly middle of the road Captain America film, and director Joe Johnston at the helm doesn’t exactly raise expectations any higher. (How he continues to get work after The Wolfman I have no idea.)

So for those of us who see Whedon as a fairly brilliant writer this is terrific news. His directorial experience is far more limited and spotty so a wait-and-see approach seems best regarding the news of him actually directing The Avengers, but we should definitely be excited at the thought of him working on the screenplays for both films. His strengths have always been in the character and dialogue departments, and his contributions to both movies will probably serve to add humor, depth, and personality to characters big and small. And he’s already familiar with superhero-related stories thanks to a simultaneous career working in the comic field. He’s worked on several comic series, but the most notable and acclaimed would be his very popular run with Astonishing X-Men. Add in his many years with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse, Angel… and the future is starting to look a lot better for Captain America and The Avengers.