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AVENGERS
Originally we were going to wait until Saturday like responsible adults, but last night Polaris got home from work and we stared at one another for about two seconds and then she ran back out of the house to buy us tickets to the midnight show. Our audience, unsurprisingly, was really into it. I wouldn't accuse them of being one of the best opening weekend crowds, but the entire theatre groaned and booed the preview of Battleship, and cheered lots for Amazing Spider-Man and Prometheus, which was pretty great. They also laughed and screamed and cheered -- sometimes all three at once -- which means I definitely missed some of this film's better lines. I guess I'll just have to see it again! Oh the hardship.
Before we get to everything I GLOWINGLY ADORED, I do want to observe that the universal incandescent glee over this film did knock my expectations absurdly high. And it was really, really great! It's a really admirable thing when an ensemble film can introduce everyone without feeling overly rushed, and can actually give its entire main cast plenty of screen time without skewing too heavily in any direction. The thing is, though, my own personal ratio of explosions-to-character-stuff has a bit more character stuff. I understand that there's at least half an hour of cut footage? I expect it's mostly NONSTOP CHARACTER STUFF, and I need it like burning.
And I guess while we're on the subject of things I'm being crotchety about, by which I mean action sequences, what even is with the SHIELD helicarrier? I mean, it's fucking awesome, but it seems like such a terrible plan to stick it a mile in the air with Loki on board, so it ended up feeling a bit like a set piece for an action sequence, and then whatever, that action sequence, I loved the final battle in New York about a billion times more.
In things that I loved: EVERYTHING ELSE.
There's no way I'm going to tackle this with anything approaching order, so first, SHIELD! Nick Fury is totally excellent and apparently INVINCIBLE and also a stone-cold bastard, damn. I know this is hardly the point, but when Agent Hill points out that the Cap trading cards had been in Coulson's jacket, nowhere near the body, I kind of wanted to yell at the screen "Those were in MINT CONDITION, FURY!" Meanwhile I had been spoiled for Coulson so that death was just sad rather than heart-crushingly devastating, and also good goddamn, Phil, way to go out epic. I am entirely in favor of any and all fanwanking because a Coulsonless world is a barren world indeed, but I liked that it was actually a lot less horrible and unceremonious than a lot of Joss's character deaths are.
This is no kind of segue, but PEPPER POTTS ILU FOREVER, and I guess it's kind of a segue because I totally adored Pepper and Coulson's friendship. (And Tony's line, something about how Coulson isn't allowed to be called Phil, his first name is 'Agent'.) As usual I just adore everything about Pepper; she was having 12% of a moment! Stark Tower was her idea! I just, wow, I know they didn't get a lot of screen time but I have all the Tony/Pepper feelings now too; I'm still pretty convinced that relationship would become an absolute trainwreck with the addition of romance, but they were so completely adorable. And Pepper apparently has an arsenal of dirty little nothings that make Tony Stark make that face? I deeply want to know what the hell Pepper said to make Tony Stark make that face. Basically I just love themmmm.
I also love Tony, but this is old news. I love that he's secretly the most heroic of any of them -- I mean, presumably if any of them had had the opportunity and capability to chase the nuke and lob it through a wormhole they would have done it, but Tony calling Pepper to say goodbye, and the look of quiet grace when the suit shuts down and he's pretty sure he'll be caught in the blast and not make it back through -- saaklsfkjfd. And of course his interactions with both Bruce and Steve were just fucking excellent. BRUCE. STEVE.
Oh god I was told that Bruce was going to be the unexpected best part of the film but WOW was Bruce one of the best parts of the film! All his quiet damage, and "I'm angry all the time," and the bit where Hulk punches Thor right off-screen damn that was hilarious, and his SCIENCE BROS time with Tony, can we talk about how amazing his Science Bros time with Tony was, and how easy and oddly gentle and respectful and still full of snark Tony was around him. I LOVED IT SO MUCH, NEW SHIP, HOIST THE SAILS, IT IS A SHIP THAT RUNS ON SCIENCE.
And meanwhile Tony and Steve were great, because obviously, although I really want that extra half-hour back, because I hear it has things like Peggy, and Tony Has Daddy Issues: The Sequel, and all that good stuff. I absolutely adored the bit where they're in each other's faces talking about suiting up and fighting it out, and then DISASTER, and they decide it's time to suit up and fight together instead, and they work so well together! And the bit where Tony snaps that they're not soldiers! And really everything about Steve, jfc I wanted to give him about a million hugs. "I get that reference!"
It looks like this reaction post is delighted paragraphs about Avengers. Okay, in that case, NATASHA FUCKING ROMANOFF. Her complete poise and calm under pressure, whether she's interrogating Russian mobsters or shaking like mad while evading the Hulk! Her deep quiet damage! That scene with Loki, oh my god, obviously like everyone else I love the bit where she tricked him into giving away part of his plan, but what I really adored was the fragmented pieces of dark backstory. And her relationship with Clint, skfdkfd. New bulletproof OTP, okay, love is for children but they owe one another debts. DAMN. Clint was totally excellent too; I really dig that he's crazy competent no matter if he's busy being hypnotized or not, and okay, time for the first genuinely shallow thing, CLINT'S ARMS, DAMN, BOY.
And that's all the things I loved that are not on the brain channel that is on at full blast right now, so. Loki. LOKI. LOKI WAS THAT LEGITIMATELY AN EVEN WORSE PLAN THAN THE ONE TO DESTROY JOTUNHEIM? BECAUSE THAT TAKES SOME FUCKING DOING, BABY, AND YOU ACTUALLY MANAGED IT. One of the things I really desperately want is all the fic about everything that happened to him between his fall and where we see him at the beginning of the film. (I would be totally cool if Tom Hiddleston wrote this fic, because he keeps on verbally writing bits of it in interviews. "He kind of goes through the Seventh Circle of Hell," oh my god shut up shut uuup HOW WILL I LIVE.) Possibly one of my favorite Loki scenes is the one where he -- projects himself, I guess, for a chat with the Other, and you can tell how desperately far in over his head he is. I mean, it's worth pointing out that Loki is in fact pretty good at killing and subjugating his own damn self, and that he's going the Chitauri army route because it gives him something to command. WORST LIFE CHOICES.
Meanwhile I also need to give Thor a memo, and it is called MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY A DIFFERENT TACTIC NOW. Because Thor's tactic is basically, "Tell Loki I love him, act bewildered when he laughs this down, punch him in the face because that's easier than actually unpacking his vicious trauma." Not the best tactic! And Loki's rewrite of what happened on the Bifrost breaks my heart; "Father rejected me and I let go" becomes "You caused me to fall." And sdkjdk the whole scene on the cliff side! The ravens flapping heavily past, and Loki telling Thor about always being in his shadow, and Thor still doesn't get it. And the bit on top of Stark Tower, where Loki snarls "Sentiment" before throwing Thor through a window, and hey look, there are those shiny teary eyes I remember! Listen, there was an Avengers film and a Thor&Loki film, and I loved both of them but the Thor&Loki one gets me where I live.
Um, sweeping up the last stray Loki thoughts, some other things I really liked: he was ... much more properly Loki in this than in Thor? By which I think I mean that even though he was still made primarily of horrifying damage, he did his God of Mischief thing a lot more, both in the trolling smirks department and in the way he successfully sewed chaos. Just as much subtlety, more violent hilarity! Let's see. Also, the bit in Germany with the eye and the -- wait wait don't edge back like that! It was horrifying! I just really loved how when we first get a panning shot of that fancy room there's a decorative altar thing and my first thought was "That had BETTER be used as a proper altar" and then Loki threw someone over it for the taking of eyes! So that was, um, narratively satisfying? Yeah. I also loved the bit at the end when Loki crawls out of his Hulk-made crater, finds himself on the business end of every Avenger, and says he'd like that drink now; I don't know if it was his innocent eyebrows or the general earnestness or what but it was a total Tom moment and I went melty with aww, as I'm sure Loki intended. Oh god and then at the end when Thor's going to take him back to Asgard, that was absolutely a mouth-sewn-shut reference, right? There is legitimately no reason to have Loki chained up and gagged like that except as [a] mythological references and [b] to make my brain melt.
In conclusion, I would love roughly a billion more of these films, by which I mean I am stupidly psyched for Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 (!!!) and the probably-happening new Hulk which I actually have some faith in, and man can't they just make Avengers 2 INSTANTLY? That would be pretty great.
Now I'm going to have lunch and watch last night's Community and do my best to convince my brain that I need to get a few things done today and cannot actually neglect everything including food in favor of writing the torrent of Thor/Loki fic that is building up in my mind.
Before we get to everything I GLOWINGLY ADORED, I do want to observe that the universal incandescent glee over this film did knock my expectations absurdly high. And it was really, really great! It's a really admirable thing when an ensemble film can introduce everyone without feeling overly rushed, and can actually give its entire main cast plenty of screen time without skewing too heavily in any direction. The thing is, though, my own personal ratio of explosions-to-character-stuff has a bit more character stuff. I understand that there's at least half an hour of cut footage? I expect it's mostly NONSTOP CHARACTER STUFF, and I need it like burning.
And I guess while we're on the subject of things I'm being crotchety about, by which I mean action sequences, what even is with the SHIELD helicarrier? I mean, it's fucking awesome, but it seems like such a terrible plan to stick it a mile in the air with Loki on board, so it ended up feeling a bit like a set piece for an action sequence, and then whatever, that action sequence, I loved the final battle in New York about a billion times more.
In things that I loved: EVERYTHING ELSE.
There's no way I'm going to tackle this with anything approaching order, so first, SHIELD! Nick Fury is totally excellent and apparently INVINCIBLE and also a stone-cold bastard, damn. I know this is hardly the point, but when Agent Hill points out that the Cap trading cards had been in Coulson's jacket, nowhere near the body, I kind of wanted to yell at the screen "Those were in MINT CONDITION, FURY!" Meanwhile I had been spoiled for Coulson so that death was just sad rather than heart-crushingly devastating, and also good goddamn, Phil, way to go out epic. I am entirely in favor of any and all fanwanking because a Coulsonless world is a barren world indeed, but I liked that it was actually a lot less horrible and unceremonious than a lot of Joss's character deaths are.
This is no kind of segue, but PEPPER POTTS ILU FOREVER, and I guess it's kind of a segue because I totally adored Pepper and Coulson's friendship. (And Tony's line, something about how Coulson isn't allowed to be called Phil, his first name is 'Agent'.) As usual I just adore everything about Pepper; she was having 12% of a moment! Stark Tower was her idea! I just, wow, I know they didn't get a lot of screen time but I have all the Tony/Pepper feelings now too; I'm still pretty convinced that relationship would become an absolute trainwreck with the addition of romance, but they were so completely adorable. And Pepper apparently has an arsenal of dirty little nothings that make Tony Stark make that face? I deeply want to know what the hell Pepper said to make Tony Stark make that face. Basically I just love themmmm.
I also love Tony, but this is old news. I love that he's secretly the most heroic of any of them -- I mean, presumably if any of them had had the opportunity and capability to chase the nuke and lob it through a wormhole they would have done it, but Tony calling Pepper to say goodbye, and the look of quiet grace when the suit shuts down and he's pretty sure he'll be caught in the blast and not make it back through -- saaklsfkjfd. And of course his interactions with both Bruce and Steve were just fucking excellent. BRUCE. STEVE.
Oh god I was told that Bruce was going to be the unexpected best part of the film but WOW was Bruce one of the best parts of the film! All his quiet damage, and "I'm angry all the time," and the bit where Hulk punches Thor right off-screen damn that was hilarious, and his SCIENCE BROS time with Tony, can we talk about how amazing his Science Bros time with Tony was, and how easy and oddly gentle and respectful and still full of snark Tony was around him. I LOVED IT SO MUCH, NEW SHIP, HOIST THE SAILS, IT IS A SHIP THAT RUNS ON SCIENCE.
And meanwhile Tony and Steve were great, because obviously, although I really want that extra half-hour back, because I hear it has things like Peggy, and Tony Has Daddy Issues: The Sequel, and all that good stuff. I absolutely adored the bit where they're in each other's faces talking about suiting up and fighting it out, and then DISASTER, and they decide it's time to suit up and fight together instead, and they work so well together! And the bit where Tony snaps that they're not soldiers! And really everything about Steve, jfc I wanted to give him about a million hugs. "I get that reference!"
It looks like this reaction post is delighted paragraphs about Avengers. Okay, in that case, NATASHA FUCKING ROMANOFF. Her complete poise and calm under pressure, whether she's interrogating Russian mobsters or shaking like mad while evading the Hulk! Her deep quiet damage! That scene with Loki, oh my god, obviously like everyone else I love the bit where she tricked him into giving away part of his plan, but what I really adored was the fragmented pieces of dark backstory. And her relationship with Clint, skfdkfd. New bulletproof OTP, okay, love is for children but they owe one another debts. DAMN. Clint was totally excellent too; I really dig that he's crazy competent no matter if he's busy being hypnotized or not, and okay, time for the first genuinely shallow thing, CLINT'S ARMS, DAMN, BOY.
And that's all the things I loved that are not on the brain channel that is on at full blast right now, so. Loki. LOKI. LOKI WAS THAT LEGITIMATELY AN EVEN WORSE PLAN THAN THE ONE TO DESTROY JOTUNHEIM? BECAUSE THAT TAKES SOME FUCKING DOING, BABY, AND YOU ACTUALLY MANAGED IT. One of the things I really desperately want is all the fic about everything that happened to him between his fall and where we see him at the beginning of the film. (I would be totally cool if Tom Hiddleston wrote this fic, because he keeps on verbally writing bits of it in interviews. "He kind of goes through the Seventh Circle of Hell," oh my god shut up shut uuup HOW WILL I LIVE.) Possibly one of my favorite Loki scenes is the one where he -- projects himself, I guess, for a chat with the Other, and you can tell how desperately far in over his head he is. I mean, it's worth pointing out that Loki is in fact pretty good at killing and subjugating his own damn self, and that he's going the Chitauri army route because it gives him something to command. WORST LIFE CHOICES.
Meanwhile I also need to give Thor a memo, and it is called MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY A DIFFERENT TACTIC NOW. Because Thor's tactic is basically, "Tell Loki I love him, act bewildered when he laughs this down, punch him in the face because that's easier than actually unpacking his vicious trauma." Not the best tactic! And Loki's rewrite of what happened on the Bifrost breaks my heart; "Father rejected me and I let go" becomes "You caused me to fall." And sdkjdk the whole scene on the cliff side! The ravens flapping heavily past, and Loki telling Thor about always being in his shadow, and Thor still doesn't get it. And the bit on top of Stark Tower, where Loki snarls "Sentiment" before throwing Thor through a window, and hey look, there are those shiny teary eyes I remember! Listen, there was an Avengers film and a Thor&Loki film, and I loved both of them but the Thor&Loki one gets me where I live.
Um, sweeping up the last stray Loki thoughts, some other things I really liked: he was ... much more properly Loki in this than in Thor? By which I think I mean that even though he was still made primarily of horrifying damage, he did his God of Mischief thing a lot more, both in the trolling smirks department and in the way he successfully sewed chaos. Just as much subtlety, more violent hilarity! Let's see. Also, the bit in Germany with the eye and the -- wait wait don't edge back like that! It was horrifying! I just really loved how when we first get a panning shot of that fancy room there's a decorative altar thing and my first thought was "That had BETTER be used as a proper altar" and then Loki threw someone over it for the taking of eyes! So that was, um, narratively satisfying? Yeah. I also loved the bit at the end when Loki crawls out of his Hulk-made crater, finds himself on the business end of every Avenger, and says he'd like that drink now; I don't know if it was his innocent eyebrows or the general earnestness or what but it was a total Tom moment and I went melty with aww, as I'm sure Loki intended. Oh god and then at the end when Thor's going to take him back to Asgard, that was absolutely a mouth-sewn-shut reference, right? There is legitimately no reason to have Loki chained up and gagged like that except as [a] mythological references and [b] to make my brain melt.
In conclusion, I would love roughly a billion more of these films, by which I mean I am stupidly psyched for Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 (!!!) and the probably-happening new Hulk which I actually have some faith in, and man can't they just make Avengers 2 INSTANTLY? That would be pretty great.
Now I'm going to have lunch and watch last night's Community and do my best to convince my brain that I need to get a few things done today and cannot actually neglect everything including food in favor of writing the torrent of Thor/Loki fic that is building up in my mind.