The Avengers

I am dying to see "The Avengers" next year.  Given my fondness for comic books this is to be expected.

I've seen all the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) films at least twice, and if you'll excuse my language, I can't fucking wait for this one.  What?  Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk in the same movie?  Fuck... YEAH!

As far as the MCU films go, I'd have to say that Captain America was the best of them all.  The Incredible Hulk was a close second, and Iron Man 1 and 2 a distant 3rd. 

I thought Thor was just OK.  It could have been a much better movie, if directed by a less Shakespearean director.  When I heard they were making a Thor movie, "Conan the Barbarian" was the first film that popped into my head.  "Yeah," I thought, "If they just make it like Conan, that will kick ass!"  Unfortunately for me, Kenneth Branagh was thinking of King Lear.

As matters now stand, we have about four months to wait for "The Avengers."  You can be damn sure that I'll be seeing it on the first weekend it appears in Taiwan.  The last movie I was in a rush to see was "Tron Legacy," and what a disappointment that was.  Compared to that disaster, "The Avengers" HAS to be better.

A lot of people are comparing this film to the next big DC film, "The Dark Knight Rises," but for me that's just apples and oranges.  The recent Batman films are going for a gritty realism that Marvel would be wise not to imitate.  It works for Batman, but not as well for a big green angry man and a Norse deity. 

Besides, the next Batman will be a film that critics love, but which most moveigoers will only see once.  "The Avengers," if made well, will be the movie we want to see over and over again.