Saved! . . . by a Jew and an Atheist?

Saved! is a movie bent on questioning people about their religion. Of course, that point is arguable because many audiences go to movies purely for entertainment value (there is quite a bit there), but don't like being hit over the head with a message. I do, however, feel that a lot may be gained from people (especially Christians) who are able to look past their religion, etc., observe the stereotypes being presented in this film, and are, hopefully, willing to make changes in their spiritual lives so that they don't turn into a Hillary Faye. I mean, really, even she doesn't want to be herself by the end of the movie.

If I had to guess, I would say that this movie is attempting to make a strong statement about perceived Christianity by stereotyping what many people believe is true about Christians -- enter Hillary Faye. Of course, by the end, everyone sees how flawed and fake Hillary Faye is and then people who hate the church and Christians have fuel to keep fighting against Christianity.

On the other hand, there is a message that encapsulated many, if not all, of the Christian values such as love, compassion, and the keen need to help other people are present in this film. The only issue is that these qualities were not exhibited by "Christians" (except for Patrick); instead, the characters who exemplify those qualities are the Jewish girl and the atheist, who ironically is Hillary Faye's brother.

THEY are the ones who don't ostracize Mary or make her feel like an outcast because she begins to struggle with her faith, causing her to be exiled by Hillary-Faye and her friends.

Shouldn't it be the other way around -- where Christians are the Christ-like people? This isn't to say that you have to be Christian to be Christ-like. It's more like I, along with the writers of this movie, am calling Christians out for a wake-up call of sorts because something really needs to happen to remind Christians of how they should me.

Does anyone else see the problem here?

Dark Shadoze

For the record, I do love Tim Burton. I think he's brilliant and unique in the way he tells stories, especially in his works Nightmare Before Christmas and Frankenweenie (I haven't seen this one yet, but the style is very reminiscent of Nightmare).

His latest movie to DVD (Dark Shadows) lacks luster and entertainment value.

This is not the actors' fault at all. Tim Burton's two favorites are there: Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Both are talented and, having made so many movies together,  have a good chemistry and play off each other exceedingly well.

I think most of my "dislike" of the film comes directly from the script. It had a slow beginning and things did not pick up until the last 15 minutes or so. I was nearly bored out of my mind . . . to the point, in fact, that I almost turned it off, but I kept watching, hoping something interesting would happen and respecting Burton's hard work.

I know it plays with various concepts, including Poe's "Annabel Lee," Frankenstein, shadows and, of course, vampires. I can appreciate that hodgepodge of these elements and the way they were combined together. Regardless, their combination aside, I still couldn't get any enjoyment out of this film.

. . . That's not true. There is one thing I liked -- the way Johnny Depp rephrased "kiss my ass" in a hilarious fashion. "You may strategically place your wonderful lips upon my posterior and kiss it repeatedly!" Loved it, but still not enough to save the film in my eyes.

So . . . sorry Mr. Burton; this film isn't as great as your others.

One Blog to Review Them All

One of the most well-known stories in the world is J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. It is a well known fantasy classic that is still as popular today as it was back then. Part of this popularity could be springing from Peter Jackson's meticulous 10-11 hour film incorporating all three books in the series as well as the currently in-production rendition of The Hobbit rumored to be split into three films.

Though I may not be doing the plot summary justice, I will try none the less. In the past, there was a ring forged in the fire in Mount Doom in Mordor called the Ring of Power. It grants the user extreme power, so much that everyone wants it. Frodo Baggins inherits the ring and goes on a quest to destroy the ring with three of his hobbit friends (Sam, Merry, Pippin), a powerful wizard (Gandalf), a ranger (Aragorn), an elf (Legolas), a dwarf (Gimli) and a man (Boromir). Inevitably, they split off and go on their own quests, however, the end goal for all of them is still the destruction of the ring and the salvation of Middle Earth. I hope that's accurate enough to move on from here.

To be honest, I have yet to finish the series, so I will not be able to make connections between the movies and the books. (I know. I'm a bad English major . . . get over it. But I do want to finish it eventually.) I will, however, do my best reviewing the films despite my unfamiliarity with the novels.

Fellowship of the Ring

This is definitely my favorite out of the three films because it seems more about building strong characters so that the remainder of the trilogy can be dedicated to expanding these characters a little and adding a much more intense plot line involving several battles.

That in mind, most of this portion of the review will be dedicated to the characters and the actors / actresses that bring these characters to life. I'll try to keep it entertaining though.

First, I want to talk about the Hobbits. I love them . . . not so much Sam, but I do acknowledge that he is a critical character and that Frodo would never have been able to destroy the ring without him. They're just so simple and enduring, and, like Gandalf says, always full of surprising qualities when it really counts.

Frodo, of course, is the main Hobbit because he is the chosen one because he inherited the ring from Bilbo. And, as the chosen one, he is entitled to become burdened, sick, hopeless, and dependent on others to keep him sane. As much as he feels the need to complete this task alone so his friends will be safe, he recognized that he will need Sam, but he was unwilling to ask Sam to accompany him. Credit must be given to Elijah Wood for not only playing the most important role in the series, but for also doing so brilliantly. It takes a talented person to begin as a character full of hope and promise and deteriorate to a sickly-looking, obviously-dying person still trying to push through to the end of his quest, a feat he could not have done without Sam, the friend who couldn't bear being separate from Frodo so much that he follows Frodo despite the fact that Frodo stated that he wanted to destroy the ring alone so that no one, especially his friends, would need to fear Sauron again. In the end, however, Frodo is grateful Sam followed him. Frodo is "the one" chosen to bear the curse of the ring and must therefore stand alone, but he still needs Sam for support. Had Frodo gone on along, he never would have made it.

From the beginning, Samwise Gamgee is the simplest of all Hobbits; quite happy and comfortable where he is in the Shire. In fact, there are several times while he and Frodo are journeying together that Sam talks about being able to make it home alright. Sam is also practical -- why else would his pack be the heaviest and why else would Galadreil present Sam with rope while everyone else is given a sword or a bow or anything else? Sam is also loyal and determined to protect Frodo in any and every way he can because he promised Gandalf to not lose Frodo. Even without that promise, however, I feel that Sam would still have followed Frodo through to the end, even if that end is death because Sam is completely faithful and loyal to Frodo. While Sam is not the strongest of the hobbits, he is still necessary to keep Frodo from giving into the will of the ring. Sean Astim, then, has an important job -- to remain as hopeful and joyous as possible because he knows that's what Frodo needs right now -- a companion to be positive and lift him up when the world seems increasingly bleak.

And then there is Merry and Pippin. While they each are their own character, I find it difficult to separate them. They are a packaged deal; attached at the hip even. And, when they are forced to separate from one another, there is obviously a hole there because their missing a part of themselves. They are obviously meant to be comic relief . . . like Laurel and Hardy or the Three (Two in this case) Stooges, but as the trilogy continues, they become strong warriors in their own separate ways. Before that, however, they are the best of friends which means that their roles must be played by actors who can play well off each other as well as provide a distinct personality of their own. Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) certainly fill these roles grandly. The way they interact together is pure perfection. Moreover, they completely embody J.R.R. Tolkien's characters -- just they were written to be.

Merry/Pippin and Frodo/Sam, however, are not the only pairs within the fellowship. There is also the duo of Legolas and Gimli -- a surprise friendship in the making being as elves and dwarfs are considered to be enemies in this realm.  All through Fellowship of the Ring, these two characters are constantly against each other, playing into the "race" prejudice they have been subjected to their whole lives. Both Orlando Bloom (Legolas) and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) add the necessary tension and snide, undercutting statements to one another throughout most of the film while ironically slowly becoming friends. But more on them later . . .









The last traditional pairing is between Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen, who plays a very convincing  ambivalent Ranger running from his "responsibility" as king) and Boromir (Sean Bean presenting himself  brilliantly as a strong, confident warrior believing that the ring can be used to save Gondor without being corrupted which does entice some mistrust from Frodo, but he redeems himself by protecting Merry and Pippin since he can't find Frodo to apologize to). Both are strong, brooding, "alpha"-esque males trying to work together as best they can despite the animosity between them. After all, Aragorn has abandoned the throne of Gondor for a long time and Boromir's family has been chosen to act as stewards until the king returns. Thus, Boromir has a strong sense of disgust for Aragorn, feeling he has neglected Gondor so long that Boromir claims that there is no need for a king in Gondor because Boromir's father was handling things just fine. By the end, however, Boromir proves himself to be both protective of the Hobbits, specifically Merry and Pippin, as well as to be capable of change, especially where Aragorn is concerned by treating him with respect and admitting that Aragorn is truly the rightful king of Gondor.

That leaves Gandalf, the final member of the Fellowship -- a role Ian McKellen played so intensely that he truly became the character. While Gandalf acts alone in the Fellowship, he has a unique pairing of his own with Saruman (played by Christopher Lee who has had plenty of time in his acting career, so playing Saruman was not a challenge for him by any means). They certainly aren't working together by any means; however, they do act as foils to each other. Gandalf and Saruman are pretty much the same wizards with the same abilities and strength (at least after Gandalf the Gray is resurrected as Gandalf the white; the only difference is that one is "good" and the other is "evil."

Anyhow . . .

Moving on from characters and casting . . .

The special effects and character design of the non-human beings was certainly magical. The Ringwraiths were designed impeccably. While they were the men given the nine rings, they deteriorated to becoming sort of grim-reapers*, messengers of death which makes sense seeing as the rings killed the men and gave them a life time service to Sauron and the other dark forces. Even in the scene where Frodo sees them as men when he puts on the ring, these men are skeletal and obviously deformed due to the power they were given to by the rings.

I also liked the set they created for each kingdom of elves. There was some sort of natural beauty untouched by men (essential seeing as humans do not reside there unless we count Aragorn as human rather than Dendreon). These sets are light, whimsical, ethereal and wonderful all at the same time, especially Lothlorien.

Finally, I love the visual representation of Frodo being invisible thanks to the ring. It was interesting and strange; I loved it. It's SO much better than what it looks like when Harry wears his cloak in Harry Potter.         
     Just saying.
     And yes, I am completely aware I'm obsessed with Harry Potter.

And, even more impressive is the writing. I don't know which lines were provided by Tolkien or Fran Walsh (screenplay writer), but I love them all the same.
     "Is it secret? Is it safe?' -- I like the line because of the delivery. It made me laugh.
     "That's nice! Ash in my potatoes!" -- it just makes me laugh
     "Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them?" -- Wonderful life knowledge to ponder over.

*Any guesses on where Rowling's character design of the dementors came from? Anyone? Seriously . . . it's pretty obvious

Riingwraith

Dementor

Two Towers

As the Fellowship splits to go their different directions, troubles emerge on all sides. Gandalf is lost; Borormir is dead; Merry and Pippin have been captured by Orcs; Frodo and Sam are headed to Mordor. All the hope they had leaving Rivendell is gone, but the characters' relationships are getting stronger because without hope, all they have is each other.

Take Frodo and Sam for example. Frodo intended to go to Mordor all on his own; however, Sam followed, unwilling to abandon him. Frodo tells him, "Nothing ever dampens your spirits, Sam," which is exactly what Frodo needs -- some one to pick him up and act as a positive influence in his life because not even Frodo can resist the ring completely. This becomes much more necessary once Gollum joins them on their journey. Gollum/Smeagol and Sam enter a battle all of their own, each trying to "help" Frodo in their own ways: Golll is only assisting Frodo to get the ring back; Sam, on the other hand, sees through Gollum's ruse and determinedly decides to keep Frodo positive and from falling too far into depression and Gollum's trap.

And, since we're talking about Gollum, let me just say that Andy Serkis was wonderful, especially when I associate him as the gay boss in 13 Going on 30. It makes Gollum that much funnier, but Serkis truly was brilliant, especially in the parts where he is arguing with himself in different voices. I loved it. He was brilliFant.

Another pair that grows closer is Legolas and Gimli. Spending so much time together has diminished their hatred, replacing it instead with a jovial rivalry over who can kill/defeat more Orcs etc. in the battles they fight together.

With Boromir gone, Aragorn needs a new person to be coupled with. In this movie, it's Arwen, but not because of their love of each other. Instead, it's because they still see hope in the world when it is clearly getting awfuller by the day. Elrond says there is no hope. The remainder of the Fellowship also lose hope because Frodo is no longer with them and they have to rely on faith alone that the ring will be destroyed. 

The importance of hope, however, is something not to be neglected. It keeps the world from falling completely into the demanding arms of Sauron. . . . But more on that later because there is a lot I have to say there.

Outside of this, I don't have much to say. The plot is just . . . not my thing. I think it's the battle of Helmsdeep that kills it for me. I don't mind them journeying and trying to track Merry and Pippin as an attempt to bring some sort of unity with their Fellowship even though Sam and Frodo, the most important member of the Fellowship is missing. But I hate battle scenes. They really make me sick to my stomach. I know that's a lame excuse, but I don't do death -- even in movies where the people aren't real and some of the "people" are evil creatures. 

I do, however, enjoy the movie overall; it's just the end that bothers me.

Also, what's with Gandalf the White? I've never understood how he "evolved" into a stronger being. Maybe I would get it if I read the books, but it just doesn't make any sense to me, you know?

The movie does, however, have my most favorite quotes of all time.

-I know. It's all wrong. By rights, we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the ending be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding onto something.

-What are we holding onto, Sam?

-That there is some good in the world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.

Return of the King

After everything that has gone on since the end of Fellowship of the Ring, the characters deserve to have a bit of fun and celebration. Of course, Frodo and Sam are not included in this; however, everyone else, especially Merry and Pippen, finds a moment to celebrate finding food and pipe weed as well as most of the original Fellowship is able to unite once more.

This happiness and joyous occasion, however, does not last. Gandalf and Pippen travel to Gondor; Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli go on a quest of their own to collect a debt from some cursed ghost people; Merry, then, is alone. It's heat-breaking really. Merry and Pippin should have never been separated, but they are nonetheless. 

There is a lot of death discussed in this movie. Arwen states that there are more important things than death. Frodo and Sam don't believe they'll make it home, so they mentally prepare themselves for their destruction. At the same time, however, Sam remains fairly positive (when Gollum isn't around) -- that tells me that Sam has not yet hit rock bottom so to speak. This is mostly because he has managed to hang on to hope.

. . . and, honestly, hope is what everyone in the story needs. For example, Arwen has hopes for her life as she chooses to stay in the human. Merry and Eowen need hope to be able to fight. Merry and Pippin need hope of seeing each other again. Everyone is hoping that Frodo and Sam will be able to destroy the ring and save Middle Earth. Aragorn gives the kingdom of Rohan hope so they may fight and regain what they had before Wormtongue was kicked out. Gandalf, however, appears to have lost all hope even if he started this mission based on nothing but hope. 

     "Is there hope?" -Pippin

     "There never was much hope." - Gandalf

That being said, Return of the King is all about finding the hope that they have slowly, collectively lost all hope in Frodo's ability to succeed as the Ring Bearer.

Anyway . . . I am madly in love with the song Pippin sings. The Steward of Gondor's careless eating, however, makes me want to throw up every time -- it's disgusting, but powerful image wise. 

And speaking of the Steward, I am a terrible person for laughing as he runs of the building on fire? Because I laugh every time.

All in all, I enjoy the films -- especially the meticulousness of the details by Peter Jackson and the cast. There aren't many movies that have such a perfect casting, but Jackson's Lord of the Rings definitely fits that bill. Each actor / actress understands their character inside and out. It's beautiful and perfect and I love it.

All that's left to do is wait for The Hobbit to come out as well as try not to get bored since the rumor is that it will take three movies , , , 

WHO'S EXCITED????

And because it makes me laugh . . . 

Also funny

Also funny. . . 

"Toilet Girl" and "Toilet Man" - A Love Story

This movie was recommended to my mom and I by my brother. He does enjoy chick flicks on occasion because we've watched so many together, but I am pretty sure he picked it up because David Tennant, the 10th (I think) doctor in the Doctor Who series, stars in it. I, however, will always see him as Barty Crouch Jr., the Death Eater obsessed with licking his lips (ew).

Anyhow . . .

Decoy Bride is pretty much what the title says it will be. A famous couple wants to get married, but not with the paparazzi showing up and ruining their special day. To rectify the problem, they pay someone to be the decoy bride to trick the paparazzi.  As it happens, however, the groom falls in love with the decoy bride because, well, it's a chick flick and that's just what happens.












I love David Tennant (James) as an actor in this. He's amusing, makes fantastic facial expressions, and has good comedic timing, however I don't think he is that cute; in fact, I would argue that he looks half-crazed (or maybe that's Barty Crouch Jr.). There is, however, something about him that is striking about him that demands our attention.

Kelly Macdonald (Katie) is also in this film playing the decoy bride to have enough money to heal her sick mother. She did a fairly good job, but I am too influenced by the Harry Potter series and kept picturing Helena Ravenclaw instead. I also kept seeing Merida from Brave because she voiced that character. She also has something about her that draws the audience in despite her fairly plain face.











As Katie and James get to know each other, they get on each other's nerves. The banter is wonderful. I love the dialog between these two. It's brilliant and I love it. It's beyond hysterical.

All in all, this movie very adorable / cute. And it is definitely a traditional chick flick because the guy falls in love with the wrong girl even though they seemingly hate each other at first. It's quite predictable, but I'm okay with it because I wasn't expecting anything deep or intellectually stimulating within the film. And, there's nothing wrong with chick flicks as long as you know what you're getting into. On the other hand, if you didn't know this was going to be a chick flick from the title, you're kind of an idiot . . . No "manly/macho" film will EVER have the word "bride" in the title. Just saying.

And, for the record, a chapter can indeed be an entire book because if William Faulkner or Nathaniel Hawthorne can make a single sentence a paragraph, it should be acceptable for James's book to have only one chapter. So there.

Prom:The Soul-Crushing Mistress

Oh prom. The semi-required dance that every high school senior must partake in to move on with their lives. Honestly, it's not that great. I didn't even go to my own prom. I did, however, go with my boyfriend to his a year earlier. It was lame. My boyfriend spent the night talking to his friends, specifically my best friend's girlfriend who was also a senior. This got old pretty quick, so my best friend and I decided that just because our dates didn't want to dance didn't mean we couldn't dance together. That was the nicest part, but really it's standing / dancing around awkwardly with people you may or may not have liked while eating food tasting only slightly better than cafeteria food.

That should make it easy to understand why I didn't want to go to my prom. I kind of regretted it on the Monday after prom because that's all anyone was talking about, but I know I made the right choice. It was prom or band banquet. Band banquet won with flying colors.

Anyhow . . . I'm not talking about the movie and seeing as this is a movie blog, I might want to do that.

Disney's Prom is about . . . well, prom. It explores every kind of stereotype about how teenagers deal with their prom. It has been accused of being High School Musical 3 without the dancing, but I don't think that's really the case, though both movies do have a prom in them. But if that's the standard, Prom is also 10 Things I Hate About You, She's All That, Pretty in Pink, and countless other films. So that claim is ridiculous.

Moving on . . .

In the film, there are two distinct views of prom.  






For Nova, Prom is everything. In fact, Nova dedicates everything she has to create the perfect Starry Night prom for her fellow seniors after all the supplies and decorations are burned to the ground. It's all about a perfect, magical night to change everything. Personally, I feel like she's severely over-romanticizing prom. It's not a change everything night. Yes, it's  a night that allows for some sort of connection between all the cliques; however, once school starts again on Monday, everything goes back to "normal." Nothing has changed.  But, for some reason, however, Nova makes prom out to be the most significant moment in a person's life.

   




     "High school -- It happens to everyone. And for four years, it has a way of dividing us: athletes, over-achievers, drama queens, jokers. But then, just before it ends and we're almost out the door, one night has a way of bringing us together: prom. It's the one night when no body cares who wore the varsity jacket and who got cut from the team. It's the night when you might find yourself singing at the top of your lungs with people you've never even spoken to. The night when that cute guy from math class might finally make his move. Prom's our night and each of us wants it to be unforgettable."

     "Prom. A night when nice guys might not finish last. When friends might completely surprise you. And the person you were throughout high school could change in an instant. Maybe you find what you're looking for. Or maybe you just find yourself. It's true. One night can bring us all together. But it's more than that. 'Cause when it ends, it's really just the beginning."

These quotes ought to provide enough evidence to show what prom means to Nova as well as what she thinks it should be to everyone else. At least she's happy though. And if prom makes her that happy, then I say let her have it.





I, on the other hand, am more like Lloyd. He hates the idea of prom:

"The prom is like the Olympics of high school. You wait four years, three people have a good time and everybody else gets to live on with shattered dreams."

That about sums it up. Prom is pointless, especially for the "normal" students who aren't nominated for any award and do not have a date. His sister, however, tells him to try finding a date because it might make the idea of prom more enjoyable. I won't tell you how that turns out, but I will say that his attitude towards prom does not change much.






I may think prom is over-rated, but I can still appreciate, however, how many different challenges prom-goers have to go through before that special night.

     1) The "IT" couple nominated for and expected to become Prom King and Queen. Their relationship, however, is far from being perfect. The King is a little too free with his affections which, in the end, will lose him two girls. And, instead of freaking out about the break-up, the Queen is as regal as her title implies she will be. She goes to prom alone with her head held high.

     2) The couple expected to go to prom together can't because one of them has been accepted into a special program at the university he will attend in the fall, leaving his date to scramble trying to make her own night magical in a very short time period only to see that her date makes it to prom after all.

     3) The couple in progress, though they are not expected to last. She is preppy, sweet, ambitious and loving prom. He is a fighter with more detentions than he can count who is forced to help set up prom. As you would expect, they begin to fall in love and become "star-crossed lovers" because they are from opposite sides of the track so to speak, just like Molly Ringwald Judd Nelson in Breakfast Club. There is even a Breakfast Club moment when they are chased through a rival school by a school security guard.

     4) The desperate guy who goes through the list of every girl in school begging them to go to prom with him, but is turned down every time.

     5) The crazy guy no one believes because he insists that he has a hot girlfriend from Canada who looks like a Victoria Secret model.

     6) The guy who falls in love with a girl and sacrifices everything to be with her, including his best friend.

     7) The girl who has a panic attack about her future and being away from her boyfriend and gets defensive and emotional about going to the prom to the point that she nearly loses her boyfriend over it, even though he did ask her to prom in the cutest way.

As you can see, every prom date issue, then, is clearly covered within this Valentine's Day-esque montage of characters that are linked despite their differences.


Overall, the movie is cute. A little cheesy, but still enjoyable if you don't mind Disney films because, let's face it, the live action ones are all fairly similar and if you enjoyed your own prom experience.

Look Out, Iron Man's Bringing the Party to You

Marvel's Avengers is a superhero movie that has been in the works for a long time. Starting with Iron Man, the excited anticipation has bloomed as The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America have been released in theaters leading up to this one moment -- The Avengers.

As typical in most super-hero movies, the world is once again in peril and in desperate need of salvation. The only ones able to help are the "special" people, gifted with abilities that could save the rest of us generally helpless, normal people when we can't save ourselves. This time around, the world is being attacked by Loki of Asgard, brother of Avenger Thor, as he tries to spread truth and freedom to the human race. Nick Fury of S.H.E.I.L.D., however, believes differently. According to Fury, we need soldiers to fight in this war . . . or in this case, super heroes, though technically Captain America is the world's first and only super soldier. Anyway, as Fury says, 

"There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, so when we needed them, they could fight the battles that we never could... " Thus, six extremely, extraordinarily talented people are brought in to work together to rescue the world without killing each other out of pride and anger before it's too late.

Loki, however, seems to be oblivious to the order he brought forth while trying to create war and chaos. In a conversation, Stark rightly says, "Let's do a head count here: your brother the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and YOU, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them." This maybe coming strictly from Stark's pride and arrogance, but he is correct.

Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) 

While Stan Lee's original Black Widow has the powers of being an exceptional, athletic, weapons-trained spy whose been exposed to the Super-Soldier-Serum, who changed her life to work with S.H.I.E.L.D.
In this movie, however, Black Widow only hints at her talents, mysteriously claiming  that she as a "very specific skill set," implying that she can get information out of anyone by being sexy, coy, and a complete and total kick-butt spy.
Johansson did a wonderful job reprising this role, though I am basing this mostly on her stunts and the change in her hair, because in Iron Man 2, she could have been renamed Medusa. That was awful.

Captain America (Steve Rogers)

Rogers is the same good-old boy he was in Captain America, but his attitude has changed. He seems much more jaded, restless, and annoyed with the world, especially Tony Stark (Iron Man). Some of this frustration could come from Stark's patented sarcastic remarks such as  "Everything special about you came out of a bottle." Then again, Stark could get on everyone's nerves -- Captain America gets the brunt of it becasue he is the leader of the Avengers and Iron Man has authority issues. At the same time, however, he is still obviously a man out of time, making comments like "Son of a gun" and "There's only one god ma'am and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that." 

Evans still makes a fantastic Captain America, but I still wish another actor got to be the Captain because Evans was the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies.

Hawkeye (Clint Barton)

Like Black Widow, Hawkeye is an extremely powerful and talented athlete specializing in acrobatics and martial arts as well as being an excellent bowman.

We don't get to see a lot of Hawkeye in this movie, but it's obvious that he knows what he's doing. Also, he's pretty to look at.

Incredible Hulk (Bruce Banner)

In this film, it appears that Banner was able to tame the beast inside because, as he reveals, his secret is that he is  "always angry." It's also nice that he has a better attitude when dealing with Stark than Captain America. The first words Iron Man says to Banner is "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster. " Banner laughs lightly and shrugs it off like it was no big deal.

Also, can we please keep Ruffalo as Hulk? I'm tired of all the switching around.

Iron Man (Tony Stark)

Robert Downey Jr. is back to play Tony Stark, the guy Captain America says is "all about style," while Stark claims to be a "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." That's all that needs to be said about RDJ's performance. This is his third time playing Iron Man and he's had that role perfectly covered since the first film.

He does, however, save the day by getting rid of the nuke, and nearly dies in doing so. Thankfully, however, he is jolted awake by the Big Guy yelling in his face.

"All right, hey! All right good job guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow, let's just take a day."

Loki (Loki)

Loki comes to Earth claiming that he is "burdened with glorious purpose" to bring freedom and truth to the world. He is stood up to by normal men as well, not just the super heroes because "there are always men like you," referring to famous dictators such as Hitler.

Banner is right in saying "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him." Craziness, however, is acceptable because despite his  lack of convention, he knows exactly how to take the Avengers down -- by making everything personal.

Crazy could also be counted as eccentric because "He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience.  . . . That's just the preview, this will be opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered . . . " just like Stark.

Nick Fury (Nick Fury)

As Fury confesses to Loki, "You've made me a desperate man." Desperate enough to call in to-be-heroes to save the world based upon "an idea . . . called the avengers initiative. the idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes." "They needed the push . . . they found it."

He is willing to take risks and disobey "stupid ass" orders because he believes in the Avenger team.

Samuel L. Jackson was made for this role. His attitude and persona fits easily into this role.

Thor (Thor)

I can't say that I was excited about Thor's appearance. His film didn't impress me at all. In fact, I found it a bit . . . lame.

In this movie, however, Thor left a much better impression, which makes me think that it is not Thor that annoyed me, but the people who wrote, directed, and produced his stand-alone movie were full of epic fail, not Hemsworth.

I will say that Hemsworth makes a wonderful Thor. I love it. He looks the part and he can change his voice to match his body and role.

Personally, Iron Man and Hawkeye are my favorites. Tony Stark has the best dialogue out of anyone on screen because he is sarcastic, cynical, arrogant, and he rocks it. Hawkeye, on the other hand, is just nice to look at -- definitely not something I usually say or notice.

"You're missing the point! There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it! " - Tony Stark

Now we just have to wait for the second Avengers movie coming out in 2015.

Before then, however, we still have other films to enjoy: Iron Man 3 (2013); Thor: The Dark World (2013); Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014); and, apparently, Ant-Man (TBD)

Unfortunately, there does not appear to be another Hulk movie in production. But who can blame them? Hulk is mocked as a terrible movie. The Incredible Hulk didn't do much better, but it was better. But even Edward Norton couldn't continue with the role because, according to rumors, Norton wanted too much money for playing in the Avengers, so we're on Hulk #3 -- Mark Ruffalo.

All we can do is hope that Ruffalo can break the current streak and play Hulk for more than one movie. I hope he can, because, honestly, I'm tired of the constant switching and I enjoyed Ruffalo in this role.

THANK YOU JOSS WHEDON!!

Interesting side note . . . I could have been in this movie.


Do you remember the random blond waitress trapped in the chaos going around New York City? That's Ashley Johnson. Her first big starring role was on Growing Pains as Chrissy Seaver, the youngest daughter. That could have been me. My aunt submitted my picture to the producers or whoever and they called back saying they wanted me for the role. Thankfully, however, my mom pulled me out of that. I like my life as it is without the fame or whatever. Plus, have you seen what happens to most child stars? It's not pretty.


Therefore, I could have received this role as well.