One FanGirl's Review of 'The Avengers'

Did you know The Avengers came out today? Surely you did since Marvel/Disney has been bashing us over the head with trailers and sneak-peaks and previews for months. Did you go see it? You should—it’s awesome.

See our house is kind of into comics and superheroes and mythologies and fanboys and girls. We're regulars at Dragon*Con and while everyone else hits the beach during the summer, for the past three years we’ve flown to San Diego for ComicCon.

I can’t even talk about ComicCon without having a panic attack of Fangirl excitement.

Anyway, being a girl and stuff, I never really got into the superhero side of comics as a kid (not that girls can’t be into this stuff but I was not). Sure, I have 968697 issues of Archie in my basement (truth) and a box of Sassy Magazines to pass on to my girls, but Superman and Batman and the like were not really on my radar.

Enter my husband who is very into these things. Like very, VERY into these things. I will not even go into the number of toys and accessories he has in his office. The good news is I like super cute guys who bulk up and drop down to like, -10% body fat and I’m prone to make-believe and pretend so I’ve accepted these characters into my life. This makes movies and comic discussion completely normal in our home. One interesting thing about living with this type of person (read: Fanboy) is you ask a simple question like, “Who is that guy Captain America’s talking to?” and you get a three hour response about where he was born, who his mother is, how this person was good and then turned evil and how they can configure a knife into a bayonet, but really Captain America always believes in good over evil so really something-something blah blah yada yada yada…

Needless to say we’ve been pretty excited about the Avengers movie.

For us it’s more than just waiting for opening day. We’ve been waiting for this movie since ComicCon 2010 when it was announced days before that Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer*fangirl*) would be writing and directing this epic movie. I, in fact, was there when he made the unofficial-official announcement in H Hall much to the excitement to nerds everywhere (I know this means nothing to you, but it means something. IT DOES.) Here’s the thing: when you add all the Marvel characters together it’s gonna be pretty huge, but when you add the writing and directing by a legend like Joss Whedon things are going to get interesting.

So I decided to write you guys a small review of the movie, which for the record, I'm horrible at writing reviews so I apologize in advance (no spoliers):

The Avengers:

Let me just say Joss Whedon did not fail. The movie was great. So great. I mean you have Iron Man and all his snarkyness and gadgets. The Black Widow (who I liked better than expected) and Hawkeye (also better, plus plot relevant.) Then there is Thor with his muscles and accent and long demi-god hair. Thor has such a ridiculous sense of humor and I love this. It’s like his ego is so huge he can make fun of himself while still being better than everyone else. Perfect. Of course leading this group of misfits is Captain America, who is my favorite. He’s got his new suit and must deal with the struggles of life in the 21st century and having his own fanboys following him around in real life. I love how Chris Evans captures his earnestness. Always so earnest.

But my personal surprise was The Hulk.

I admit it. I was not completely looking forward to The Hulk. He’s all “Rawr” and “Grrrr” and “riiiiipp I’m tearing up pants.” I think I’m prejudiced against the Hulk due to Bill Bixby and the 1970’s show I vaguely recall from my childhood. I mean, I have fond memories, but eh…it may just be that creepy music at the end of each episode. In the Avengers I kind of hated the idea of everyone being played by a person in the action scenes (Iron Man excluded) and The Hulk being CGI. But this is where I didn't have faith in Joss and how he is the master of all things awesome. I should have known better. If anyone could make the Hulk the best character in the movie it would be Joss.

The Hulk wins.

The end.

In other review stuff, the action scenes were great, the entire movie was hilarious, the backstories held up, and watching the ego-driven, better than anyone else superheroes, struggle to become a team was believable and pretty perfect.

So, from me, The Avengers gets an A++.

And if you don’t care about any of those things and your boyfriend/husband/kid wants to go just say okay and check out the eyecandy of Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans becasue that alone is worth the price of admission (and RDJ too, but I still can’t stop thinking of him from Less Than Zero when he played Julian so I get all weepy and sucked back into 1989 when I see him.)

That's it for now. The most I can tell you is to just go and to...well, #assemble.

*As a mom I have to say there were parts that were fairly violent and a little rough to watch. The Hulk, in all his awesomeness can be pretty scary. It’s definitely too much for my weak-bellied 10 year old, and I’ll probably hold off on letting my less nervous 7 year old watch it for another year or so.