Marvel Avengers Assemble

Marvel Avengers Assemble2012
12A
Directed by Joss Whedon
Story by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon
Screenplay by Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
               Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
               Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk
               Chris Hemsworth as Thor
               Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow




As a boy, I loved reading comics.  I still, do, but it's not quite as magical as it was to me then.  The main reason that I was able to read so well, so early, was almost certainly down to my love of reading any comics I could get my hands on.  Mainly, it would be Batman reprints and 2000AD, with some Spider-Man reprints later on.  I would always remember when a character would refer to an event in a previous issue, or even in another comic altogether, and there would be an asterick, pointing the reader in the direction the story being referred to.  Which, at the time, I found very frustrating.

It was my love of comics that also spawned my love of films, as my absolute favourite film as a three year old by was Tim Burton's Batman.  So I would often dream about the next Batman film, or the possibility of a Spider-Man film, or an X-Men film.  The lineup of the Avengers, however, never really crossed my mind.  Iron Man, Captain America and Thor?  All so second rate!

Well, that was twenty years ago, and now Marvel's The Avengers, or, to give the terrible UK title, Marvel Avengers Assemble is the the big hype of the moment, inescapable in the sheer magnitude of promotion it has recieved.  But for all the sound and fury, there was still good call for concern.  After all, despite Iron Man turning out rather impressive, the subsequent Marvel Studios films, from The Incredible Hulk to Captain America: The First Avenger were all just... okay.  Entertaining, yes, but really quite forgettable, and certainly nothing worth getting overly enthusastic about the concept of all the titular heroes appearing in a film together.  After all, if their solo films felt a padded out and shallow, surely cramming them all together would result in utter disaster?

Surprisingly, it turns out that this is not the case.  Whilst the film is certainly not flawless, it's an unstoppable barrage of action packed entertainment that I have not seen the like of in a long time.  A good way to describe it would be to say 'Like Transformers, but good.'  It's not the most original film, and it certainly takes elements of other big superhero films and chucks them in the blender, but it's done with such a sense of fun and style that it matters quite little.

Having said that, I have two issues with the film, although they are certainly not deal-breakers.  Firstly, the plot is almost skeletal in its weakeness.  In fact, it is not too far removed from the sort of film like Battleship in this regard.  Aliens want to invade the planet, for some reason, and the heroes must come together to save the day.  That is all there is to the story.  Furthermore,  there is not much fleshing out of the characters.  It assumes that the audience has already seen these backstories, and there is no time to go over it again.  Whilst I understand that there was no real room in a film already quite crammed into a long running time, it suffers as a narrative in that respect, and cheapens it as a film to be taken seriously.

However, when I was thinking about these flaws, it was when I discovered that it is, to date, the closest a film has come to capturing the spirit of a US comic book.  Big silly crossovers, big silly fights and explosions, and, when it's written well, bags of fun.

Here is where the film manages to shine, where the last few Marvel adaptations did not.  The writing and direction of Joss Whedon.  Light-hearted without being goofy, action packed without being brainless, the screenplay is perfectly pitched.  He also manages to draw out much better performances from the lead actors than I had expected.  Robert Downey Jr.  looks like he is actually engaging with the film a lot more than he did in Iron Man 2, and, despite arguably being given the short straw in terms of screen time, Chris Hemsworth is just as charming as he was in Thor.  Mark Ruffalo is also a big surprise, and arguably the best portrayal of the Hulk seen in the cinema to date.  The weak links, however, would be Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans.  Despite his feminist politics, Whedon can't find much for Johansson to do apart from have fight scenes and look sexy.  It's a little disappointing when it comes from both an actor and director capable of much more, but that's the problem with it being a 'boy' film, I suppose.  Also, whilst I liked Chris Evans the last time I saw him as Captain America, in this film he comes across as a little unconvincing.  Obviously the character was meant to be a wet blanket, and it's not Evans' fault that his costume looks a little silly, but he just doesn't seem as connected here.

All these complaints, though, are minor quibbles.  Marvel Avengers Assemble is a a grand old time at the cinema, and I don't mean it as a veiled insult.  It's thoroughly entertaining, and, despite lacking in substance for such a long film, it never feels boring or like you wasted your time.  Whilst I certainly don't consider it the best film based on a comic book, I would say it is the best film that evokes the spirit of superhero comic books, and all of their strengths and weaknesses.  Highly recommended.

4.5/5

Battleship - A review

Battleship
2012
12A
Directed by Peter Berg
Written by John and Erich Hoeber
Starring: Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper
               Alexander Skarsgard as Stone Hopper
               Brooklyn Decker as Samantha Shane
               Rihanna as Petty Officer Cora Raikes
               Liam Neeson as Vice Admiral Shane


I blame Pirates of the Caribbean.  A film based on a theme park attraction will naturally lead to adaptations of more terrible ideas.  The Haunted Mansion was an early example of such failure, but it was Paramount who first hit on the idea of making films about toys.  And so, Transformers and GI Joe.  Surely, though, the seam must have been worked dry when it comes to Battleship?  Or are we going to get the long-awaited Hungry Hungry Hippos film next?

Joking aside, a game of Battleship is hardly the sort of thing that lends itself well to a narrative structure in any way.  With the aforementioned Transformers and GI Joe, you at least have heroes and villians to work with. However even with that, those films barely succeeded in telling interesting or coherent tales, so what hope for Battleship?  Especially when it is aiming for the same audience?

The answer to these questions is, it seems, to remake Transformers, whilst bolting on elements of other successful science fiction films.  Whilst there is a very ill-advised scene which seems to just have the heroes of the film playing the game, we mostly get the plot of Independence Day and Armageddon rolled into one, with plenty of cribbing from big book of James Cameron cliches, and even a bit of Pearl Harbour as well.  Whilst I begrudgingly admit that this was probably the best way forward for a film that should not have been made, it certainly does not justify how derivative the whole affair feels.

As you have guessed by now, it's a big, brainless blowout of a film, geared very much towards the sort of people who liked Transformers.  The main problem here is that, whilst Transformers successfully left me not caring about the fate of the world, or being able to tell one big robot apart from another, this film is actually even more faceless and generic than that one was.

The film opens with a satellite trying see into space, as all alien invasion films do, with plenty of ominous foreshadowing.  Then, after it has been decided that we have had enough expostion, we are introduced to the main character of the film, Alex Hopper, the sort of charming but troubled young stud that I had assumed had died out in the cinema by 1995.  After one mischevious scrape too many, his token responsible older brother Stone has him enrolled in the navy alongside himself.  We then flash-forward five years, and Alex seems to have learned nothing, still bucking authority in the navy, and attracting the ire of Vice Admiral Shane, played by Liam Neeson, with all the intensity and strength of a man who needs to pay a tax bill, but doesn't particularly want to.  Of course, Alex also intends to marry Shane's daughter, Samantha.  So far, so familiar.

With the very high chance that the wargames that the Japanese and U.S. Navies are (conveniently) engaging in (Hey, just like the game!) will be Alex's final campaign before he is booted out of the Navy for one altercation too many, the stage is now set for the action.  The above takes up the first 45 minutes or so of the film.  The rest concerns big scary alien ships that come landing in the middle of the wargames, all set on invading the Earth, and seemingly taking no prisoners.  Naturally, it ends up that Alex Hopper and his compatriots in arms are the last hope for humanity, and the spectacle can commence.

If it sounds like a video game, that's not too wide of the mark.  Product placements, glorified excuses to show off potential toys, and guns 'n' bombs galore.  As you would expect, it's not really an actor's film.  Taylor Kitsch is the lead, and serves his purpose, but doesn't linger in the memory.  All the other main leads just stand around, making dramatic poses and looking attractive, and Liam Neeson pretends to be a grizzled veteran, but really, he just can't be bothered.

Peter Berg is in the director's chair, with his last film probably being his best known, Hancock, and phones in another lazy, visually unappealing and all round sub-standard job.  The odd part is that, through dull direction and a plodding pace, he was able to take an interesting idea such as Hancock, and drag it down into inescapable mediocrity, even with talented lead actors.  Yet, with a terrible idea and, on the whole, uninteresting actors, he is able to make what should be a truly atrocious film into something that is simply only slightly rubbish.

If you are looking for action and well done visual effects, I guess you will probably enjoy it.  The action beats are entirely predictable, but still staged with a degree of competence, and overall it can be sat through without too much discomfort.  It certainly whips through at a brisk pace, and I was actually very surprised to learn it was over 2 hours long, so that is a minor plus.  Overall though, not a film I particularly enjoyed or would recommend to anyone who enjoys things that are aimed at those over the age of 12.

2/5