// April 30th, 2012 // View Comments // b-inspired, featured
It is sometimes said that if you become a writer you will never enjoy another film again. The good ones make you despair that you will never attain the giddy heights of their quality, the bad ones make you grind your teeth and wonder why their mediocrity exists while your delightful genius remains unrecognised.
I have to say I disagree with this philosophy. Great stuff is there to be enjoyed and if possible influence to be gleamed from it. Bad films can be unintentionally hilarious or just simply so terrible you do what you can to wipe them out from your memory. And sometimes there are films that simply fill a void and just leave you feeling happy you had a good night out without really being wowed or scowling and feeling ripped off.
For those of you not familiar with Marvel’s recent output of films Avengers Assembled (known as simply The Avengers elsewhere but presumably changed in the UK due to potential confusion with the camp sixties spy show, or more likely with the truly awful 1997 cinematic adaptation) is the culmination of a massive superhero crossover of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and so forth.
In some respects this is something that has not really been seen in films. True crossovers such as Alien versus Predator have preceded it but this is probably the first example of the kind seen in comics where a number of characters come together on one team.
Part of this has been hints throughout various titles including Thor, The Incredible Hulk and so forth. This has included cameo appearances from different characters in the different films, end credit blink and you’ll miss it in jokes and foreshadowing in the narratives of the films themselves.
The question inevitably for the viewer is how well this ambitious idea would work when put together. Would it be possibly to have characters such as the charismatic Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) alongside the more steely determination of focus of Captain America? More to the point would we find out more about Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner, also involved in the latest Bourne and Mission Impossible films) and Black Widow (featured in the underwhelming Iron Man 2)?
The answer is it works…just about. True there are certain elements I am not a fan of (eg usage of mind control, some convenient plotting) and inevitably with a big cast of heroes someone is going to miss out. However I think this was also true of the first X-Men film and could be more to do with the nature of this kind of ensemble film.
However one personal criticism I have is that the first X-Men film did have more female characters and more to the point a variety of them. Maria Hill of SHIELD doesn’t get that much to do in this, while the Black Widow’s back story seems to be mainly hinted at without fully going into depth.
This is equally the case with Hawkeye, a character whose past is linked with Black Widow’s in the comics and the recent Earth’s Mightiest Heroes cartoon (and I have to be honest I think the cartoon handled it better).
However these are more minor flaws than anything overly serious. Some critics have said the film is a tad overlong in the middle but to be honest a lot of films have this problem and it is not easy to deal with. The action sequences are fun and there’s plenty of smashing so can’t really argue with that.
With all these superheroes you also need a top notch villain. Step forward Loki. He was arguably the highlight of the film version of Thor and Tom Hiddleston delights in his role even more here, more than living up to the “God of Mischief”.
As with the previous Marvel superhero films the patient people who sit through the credits are rewarded with a neat little tease, suggesting there is more to come from this multi franchise. Overall while I’m not entirely sure it merited years of hype, it was a pleasing enough roller coaster and I look forward to another soon enough!
If you are looking for original artwork, brief the Exchange now!
Rob
Street art can take on many a form. Traditionally developed in public spaces, perhaps the medium of aerosol painted stencilled guerrilla art may be first image that pops into mind. Contemporary street artists are changing the perceptions of the artform everyday and the stigma of vandalism that once stood is being broken down piece by piece. There’s something rather special about street art style and in particular large mural pieces. Perhaps it’s the size of space or the freedom to create an artwork that’s organic and evolves within that space? All of which brings me on to the latest work of London based artist Luke Embden.
