The Avengers

We went to see this with the biggest comic book nerd we know. At the end credits, she was explaining who the new bad guy is going to be, how he actually does court death, and then she said something technical about this power he harnesses or something. She really shot her nerd wad. However, we recommend going to this movie with a nerd so that they can explain all the subtle references and jokes (like The Hulk trying to pick up Thor’s hammer). Also, this nerd friend brought Framboise and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout to the movie theater for us. She kept it cold with ice packs in her backpack. Best movie buddy ever, and that drink mix is great. Another good one is a Black Velvet with one-half Strongbow and one-half Guinness. Drinkers: At least drink good stuff. Toss out that Bud Light!

Anyway, as to the actual movie, we were surprised at how much it was a straight action movie, only with a better script than most action movies. It wasn’t like the Chris Nolan Batmas in that there were dark, deep, emotional themes (by the way, Ern teared up after the Batman trailer. It looks so unbelievably awesomesauce!). It wasn’t like Thor or Captain America with themes of patriotism and a love story (even though Hawkeye and Black Widow are totally going somewhere. Weird, because in the comics, she just kind of screwed him over). There really wasn’t much in the way of themes. It was just a really bad ass action movie. The action sequences were among the best we’ve ever seen and the 3-D is actually worth the cost of the glasses and worth wearing them for over two hours.

The cast was perfect. First of all, that movie has so many hot guys. Captain America is a gaywad, but we didn’t mind him here. Robert Downey, Jr. was perfect as usually in that role. But the real triumph was Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. We like neither Ruffalo or The Hulk normally, but Mark was a great Bruce Banner. He really felt like the character and The Hulk kicked major bum and brought some humor. We think the movie might have been a tad too long, but overall, we enjoyed it and were entertained. Having Joss Whedon write and direct was a great idea. This is what happens when you give a smart guy and geek a Blockbuster to make. What happens? You get a crowd pleaser that actually isn’t stupid. We wish there was more to it, emotion and substance-wise, but for what it was (a straight action movie), it brought the house down. Ern doesn’t much care for Marvel (DC all the way), and she liked this movie.

Movie grade: B+