THE AVENGERS

So here we are finally, from the very first seeds of the idea sown in Nick Fury’s post-credits appearance in Iron Man, through the end credits pay offs in every one of the Marvel canon’s movies that followed, The Avengers movie is upon us. Opening to megabucks and global fanfare the question that wants answering is “Is it any good?” and the answer flat out is “Damn right it is”!

Carrying on story threads from both Thor and Captain America, the plot follows the creation of the Avengers team to defend the Earth against Thor’s brother Loki; who plots to invade and conquer the planet with a little help from the Chatauri and the Tesseract, the source of unlimited power that the Red Skull craved in Captain America. The action kicks off right from the word go as Loki pinches the sparkly power cube from S.H.I.E.L.D h.q. and Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) finds his only real means to get it back, and effectively save the planet is to resurrect the dormant Avengers Initiative and compile a team of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as our last line of defence. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye are all signed up and get to throw down in the streets and skies of New York as the alien horde arrives.

The key to Marvel’s adaptations has been in their near perfect casting choices for their heroes. There is no doubting the characters are great. Years of comic book storylines and legions of fans are testament to that. So the casting for these iconic superheroes has had to be spot on and they’ve nailed each and every one.

Downey Jr’s take on Tony Stark is still amazing. Narcissistic and arrogant, yet somehow Downey Jr makes these into likeable qualities and you’re rooting for him every step of the way. Iron Man paved the way for this movie and it must be said, the first Iron Man is still my personal favourite. With the Iron Man series Marvel has created the very best of the superhero genre and in the Avengers it’s just business as usual. He cannot put an iron clad foot wrong.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor is equally great. Thor was hugely enjoyable in its own right and he brings an amiable pomposity to the God of Thunder that’s hard to dislike. Some of his ridiculous Asgardian dialogue and speech mannerisms could have faltered were his conviction and believability not one hundred percent.

Chris Evans plays Captain America perfectly. Of all the Avengers, Captain America obviously had the potential to fall prey to hokey American patriotic fervour and was perhaps the one potential stumbling block for transferring the characters from page to screen. Fear not however, as Cap rises to the challenge as always. Cap is a man out of time. Old tyme values in the modern age. The emphasis is always on him being a good guy doing the right thing rather than any notion of overt nationalism (other than y’know, the costume, the shield and the name!).

Scarlett Johansson returns as Black Widow, first seen in Iron Man 2. A master of interrogation and a deadly fighter, she is also very good in this. Her introductory scene in particular is a lot of fun, as she turns the tables on some low life interrogators, calmly dispatching them with some crunchy, brutal fisticuffs; And Jeremy Renner, reprising his role from Thor as the conflicted, archery obsessed Hawkeye, plays a blinder with one of the lesser known heroes.

Finally we get to The Hulk. What to say about The Hulk? I am fond of Ang Lee’s movie. It is flawed, but underrated nonetheless. The Norton starring Incredible Hulk was also decent, if unremarkable. But The Hulk in the Avengers gets the best treatment of all. Mark Ruffalo is a revelation as Banner. He is PERFECT, and the most enjoyable parts of a movie that is more or less TOTAL enjoyment, fall to The Hulk. To say precisely why the Hulk is so great would be to give away some of the best moments, but suffice to say the scrap he has with Thor and his face off against a gigantic enemy are highlights of the whole film. If nothing else, go along to this movie and feast your peepers on the rampaging Hulk smashing aliens to bits. Incredible.

The excellent Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki, the seething, petulant brother to Thor. Sly, cunning, and pulling the strings of megalomaniacal World dominance, he is a fantastic villain and perfect for this.

Stellan Skarsgard and Gwyneth Paltrow are on board as their respective characters from Thor and Iron Man, and although their parts are diminished this time around it’s fantastic they are present for the continuity of the movie and the Marvel universe. All the boxes are ticked and the details considered. They leave nothing out – even going so far as to explain the absence of Jane (Natalie Portman’s character from Thor) from the action.

One of the real joys to this movie is that no character feels left out. Many times with larger ensemble movies, some characters in a large cast need to take a back seat (even my beloved Star Trek has fallen victim to this on occasion), but that is not so here. Nobody gets lost in the mix. All the main Marvel heroes serve the story well without feeling like they are there merely to be included. They each have their own arcs from Iron Man to Hawkeye to Agent Coulson and everyone has something to do and to contribute. And on top of all that they don’t skimp on using Loki either. Everything is evenly balanced and calibrated and the credit for that must go to Joss Whedon.

Whedon knows his onions. This is fact. To be honest I’m not much of a Buffy fan (from series 3 it all started to go a bit pear shaped for my money), but Firefly/Serenity is masterful science fiction and my hat is most definitely off to the man for that. He tests his mettle here with the Avengers and juggles multiple character arcs with raucous action that provides giddy excitement. Moreover it is funny. The tone is light without being too insubstantial, and the dry sense of humour that runs through the likes of Firefly and Buffy has found a comfortable home here alongside some more overt genuine belly laugh slapstick.

It’s a strong movie indeed.  Again, its appeal is probably that this is one for both the fans and the casual Marvel dabbler, as well as your average Joe Cinemagoer. What’s all the more impressive is that although it certainly helps to have seen the other films, Thor and Captain America in particular lend a lot of character and story strands, you don’t HAVE to have seen them to be able to understand  it on its own.

To call something ‘a popcorn movie’ or a ‘blockbuster’ seems almost like a dirty word these days, but maybe that’s because they so rarely deliver on their promise. The Avengers takes back the blockbuster and delivers… and then some.

I’ve seen it twice already (it’s been out 2 weeks), and I would go again. Make of that what you will!

IMDB: The Avengers

Since the official poster is beyond appalling, and far and away the worst thing about the movie (Iron Man and Captain America unmasked on a badly photoshopped mess) here is a way better version from poster god Tyler Stout.

C.H.U.D.

Let’s kick things off with some personal background to C.H.U.D., or Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, if you prefer. This particular sci-fi horror opus has always been something of a white whale to me. Let us travel through the hazy mists of time back to the early/mid 80’s where I was but a film obsessed child of a marvellous new technological age. Yes friends, I was witnessing the birth of a brave new dawn for humanity as the cinema found a new home in our living rooms. The home video boom was upon us.  Many was the time when I would go into Flickers, our local video library (as they were called in them days) perusing the many titles that I was both allowed and forbidden to rent. C.H.U.D. fell into that latter category. The cover of the video staring down at me from the racks, was both scary yet intriguing at the same time. Part of me wanted to see it desperately, and another part of me was too terrified of it, much like the large Reanimator poster they had in there for a time.  Also I’m sure my friend Chris Purser had claimed, at the time, to have seen C.H.U.D. thus elevating his credibility in those long gone days when having watched (or merely having claimed to have watched)  a 15 or 18 rated film was a badge of honour. Now, thanks to the sterling work of the Melbourne Horror Film Society, who screened it in the back room of a Northcote pub in a double bill alongside fellow mutation sensation, The Stuff, I have finally clapped eyes upon C.H.U.D. and I can once again hold my head high in the playground.

C.H.U.D. then, is a rollicking good fun sci-fi horror yarn about a subterranean bunch of glowy eyed toxic beasties, picking off homeless folk and errant dog walkers while Jaws-style beaureacrats try to cover it up. Starring future Home Alone alumni John Heard and Daniel Stern as a photojournalist and soup kitchen chef who soon get hip to the fact that something is decimating New York’s underground street people population. They team up with maverick cop Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry) whose ragged pursuit of the C.H.U.D. investigation stems from a mysterious and personal vested interest.

It was a bit of a slow burn to begin with. It took a little while to crank itself up, and I could perhaps have done with a bit more actual screen time for the C.H.U.D.’s, which I can only imagine must have been due to some budgetary reason. But when the C.H.U.D.’s attack they up the ante with a rather excellent head hacking set piece. The upshot of it all is that there is a lot of fun to be had here. There is an early career appearance from John Goodman and the geezer off of Mork and Mindy as a couple of beat cops, and the C.H.U.D.’s themselves are excellent hulking, slimy fiends.

I’m stoked to have finally seen it, and once seen, not only will you have enjoyed a tasty slice of 80’s mutant horror, you’ll be able to fully understand the C.H.U.D. reference in The City of  New York Vs Homer Simpson!! Predictable 80s staples are easily forgiven, as this flick got heart.

IMDB: C.H.U.D.

 

Excellent (but sadly sold out) C.H.U.D. t-shirt design from Fright Rags