‘The Avengers’ broke the one billion mark over this past weekend. Currently, it is the 11th highest global gross of ALL TIME. Back in 2009, Disney bought Marvel for four billion dollars. The two hour twenty-two minute super hero action adventure made twenty five percent of Disney’s initial investment after just 19 days of it’s international release. Insert Hulk smash snarky comment here.
Think about that for a minute. It really is insane. Not so much that a heavily marketed and advertised blockbuster motion picture made that amount of skrilla…but, the fact that big, dumb summer fun can actually be smart. This is very good news.
Sure, we have seen marriages between creativity and profit in the past (all the successful Pixar films) but something about this feels different. It IS different. I’m going to dub it the ‘Avengers Singularity’. In the years to come we will be able to trace back ALL future projects that scream amaze balls to this moment in time. This Joss Whedon masterpiece.
I don’t say that lightly as I don’t hold Joss Whedon in such high esteem as many of my geek peers do. Up to this point, I thought he was pretty much hit or miss. Sacrilege, I know. ‘Firefly’ was and is straight dope, ‘Dollhouse’ not so much. One thing for certain, you can’t deny that ‘Avengers’ is a clever, well-written, humorous, entertaining blast from start to finish. It’s not just a fantastic ‘comic book’ movie, It’s a great movie. Period. After its killer opening weekend, You would think both fans and the average movie goer would have seen it already and had enough. Wrong. They headed back to their local cineplex for seconds. And thirds. And it is STILL selling tickets. The question is…Has anyone NOT seen it yet?
Living in this modern world of low standards, dumbed down and mindless empty entertainment. HOW exactly did this happen?
It was a movie for everybody.
Pure kicks and fan service. Loaded with laughs and action upon action. Subtle touches for the comic book enthusiasts to marvel over wrapped up in an accessible, snappy, light as a feather package. A magnificent cast hitting every note right while never once getting weighted down in mythos or over indulgent info dumps. Hiddeltons’ Loki RULES yet again. The film keeps charging at breakneck speed.
It is a lesson on how you do it right. From beginning to the end this is probably as good as it can be done. A connection personal and profound made by and for people who love these funny book archetypes. Comic book mania with a high flying sense of smashing through the ceiling of possibilities.
As a kid, I was inspired by music, books and film. I still am. The 12 year old me thinks ‘Empire Strikes Back’ is the greatest film of all time. If I was 12 now, this would have been my ‘Empire’. It is an exciting time. My daughter (who is 11) has seen ‘Avengers’ three times times now. Thor is her catalyst. Will this inject creativity into her life?, Like watching Yoda mentor Luke did in mine?. ‘Avengers’ built on what came it before, all art does. The fact that Hollywood is figuring out that popcorn entertainment doesn’t need to insult our intelligence has to pay later or sooner. The studios profit, and the fans do too when intellectual properties are handles with class and integrity. Right? Shut up! Take my money and save a seat for me in the crowd if this is what we get.
-Dagobot