Avengers Movie (Spoiler Free)

Just got back from seeing the Avengers movie......I'll write a review about it later (like after I get some sleep), but the short version: AWESOME!

Joss Whedon pulled it off beautifully.

If you go to see the movie stay until the end of the credits.....all the credits.  There is a shorter credit scene followed by a clip and then the full credits followed by another clip.

Good Night's Sleep Edit:

The movie was almost 2 1/2 hour long, which in these days of 90 minute movie theater fast-turns usually means that there is a lot to it.  If the movie wasn't packed full then they could edit the crap out of it to be able to turn the theater over an extra time or two in a day's showing.  Whedon put the full timespan to good use, that is for sure.

Right off the bat, this is a movie you are going to have to see at least twice if you want to experience everything.  There were several lines of dialogue I couldn't heard because the audience reaction to whatever happened the moment before.  Normally I'd be pretty pissed off that "my" movie experience got tainted by a bunch of idiots laughing or cheering in the middle of the movie.  I have no ground to stand on this time because I was one of those idiots.  At least in my theater everyone was pretty much the same level of idiocy, except for the couple that brought their small child into the movie.

When I heard that kid start crying as soon as they started the previews I thought this movie was going to be ruined.  A three year old three rows back will do that to any film, but I guess the awesomeness of the Avengers soothed the brat because that was the only sound it made throughout the entire film.

The pacing of the Avengers was pretty good.  Each Avenger got introduced in gradually and some of the ancillary characters from the other movies (Thor & Iron Man) either made an appearance or were mentioned/explained away.  I get that they had to recast Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, and he did a great job in the role, but it was odd to me to have three different movies in the same continuity with three different actors.  I think the Hulk was the audiences' favorite character and the only issue I had with the movie was there seemed to be too quick of a switch between mindless rage Hulk and team-player Avenger Hulk.

After thinking about it for a little bit of time I think I understand that transition a bit better.  When I watch it a second time, or fourth (probably when we get it on DVD) something tells me that some of the few snippets of dialogue I couldn't hear because of audience reaction will help bridge the gap for me.

The movie was a lot funnier than I would have expected, with a lot of little one-liners and "ha" moments that I expect were only there because of Whedon's influence.  He also inserted another signature element I won't go into because of spoilers, but at least he made that element integral to the story instead of just something to do.