i saw the avengers movie

I just saw the new Avengers movie, and I have a few things to report.

I’d say it’s a step below the first one (a small step, but a step).

But first, the good news (some spoilers).

Two things really moved me.

The first Avengers movie went pretty far toward 9/11 in the third act, which was one thing I didn’t care for so much. In my mind, destruction of New York City buildings just doesn’t translate into entertainment at this point.

This one went further in that direction (destruction, people covered in debris, etc.), but the movie (and the Avengers) placed an almost ostentatious emphasis on protecting and saving civilians. I found this moving in places.

Near the end, Cap and the Widow are facing a real crisis. Should they sacrifice a city to save the planet (the same question that came up at the end of the first movie, actually, though it was Nick Fury who faced it then)? Natasha of course says they have no choice, and Cap says no, that’s not acceptable. (This is kind of a continuation of the last Captain America movie, in terms of their different views of the world.)

And then, fairly magnificently, a deus ex machina arrives to save the day and the civilian population (this is one of those moments when you know you’re being manipulated but you’re too busy cheering to care).

Joss Whedon gets a lot of credit for his talent with quips and snark, but that clever exterior hides (barely) a very romantic heart:

That’s what comes out of the other great moment, too. Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch are in the middle of a battle, and she’s freaked out. They’re in the hallway of a bombed out building, and things outside are way worse than she had imagined.

I can’t quote Hawkeye’s entire speech from memory, but the most often quoted part is something to the effect that “We’re on a flying city, we’re fighting an endless supply of killer robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes any sense.”

But there they are. And he says she can stay where she is, in the hallway, and try to stay safe, but if she comes out the door she’s an Avenger. And he goes back out to fight, and we look at the outside of the door, and we know that of course she’s coming out, but it’s still a great moment when she does. And she doesn’t come out diffidently, to say the least.

On the down side, there’s much more action than the first Avengers movie, and less conversation. This is not good, since Whedon’s strengths are far more with the talking than with the punching.

This movie also continues the Marvel tradition of uninteresting villains. They’ve done very well with the semi-villains (evil in the first movie, uneasy ally in the second): Loki and Magneto. They’ve done it twice with Magneto, in fact (McKellan and Fassbender).

But they’ve never come close to giving us a Darth Vader. The closest, in the movies I’ve seen, was Kevin Bacon in X-Men: First Class, but that the was the movie made with no idea which stuff was the good stuff.

And, as has been widely reported, Avengers: Age of Ultron is yet another guy movie. It’s very good that people are upset about how the Black Widow is treated here, but it’s really no surprise. I’m still having high hopes for the Captain Marvel movie, but I do have my doubts about how it will turn out.

If you want an action movie that isn’t a guy movie, Marvel isn’t going to give you that (and neither is DC, despite the fact that they have by far the most iconic female superhero ever).

You’ll have to go to the Hunger Games, or the Alien movies, or Resident Evil.

The last Resident Evil movie (Retribution) was probably not my favorite in the series, but in the credits at the end of the film, the top five actors listed were all women. I don’t think Marvel (or DC) is ever going to give us that, at least not in the movies.

And, by the by, the big ending fight scene at the end of Resident Evil Retribution (over eight minutes, mostly hand-to-hand, no big explosions or fancy CGI) shows what a difference it makes to have action scenes written and directed by people who are really into action.

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