The Avengers - 7/10
It was mostly OK, but with too many flaws to be the great movie it should have been:
a mediocre score, without even one memorable theme, and parts of it sounded oddly familiar, like taken from another movie
unnecessary 3D conversion: luckily it did not give me headaches, but it was a constant distraction throughout most of the film
the villain was way too ridiculous to be taken seriously
[spoil]somehow the cast of ensemble of superheroes did not fit together very well until the very end[/spoil], though maybe they did intend that, given their story arc
speaking of story, it was a bit too predictable for my taste
On to the good parts:
the best Hulk in any movie or TV series so far
Pepper splendidly steals the show from Iron Man (remarkable, given how he steals the show from almost everyone else, and she doesn’t exactly get much screentime)
the battle at the end has some very impressive visuals (would have been even better, if they kept it in 2D, of course)
Let’s hope a certain scottish princess will deliver a much more interesting film…
I pretty much agree with everything you said. The highlight of the film was Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk and I think what bothered me most was Loki. I don’t care about the purpose of his design and costume: it looks downright stupid that I had difficulty taking him seriously at all. I also don’t like that his hair looks cheaply dyed (black) and has a weird, flippy style. Loki’s also not a terribly well executed character himself. Pretty lame.
Did anybody who saw The Avengers stay until after the credits? And if so, did you [spoil]know who guy was that was smiling at the camera? Because, all I’m saying is, he’s the most powerful villain in the ENTIRE Marvel universe.[/spoil]
For those that saw the first bonus scene during The Avengers credits, [spoil]there are rumors that Thanos might be the villain in Thor 2 (next November), seeing as how the Infinity Gauntlet had a blink and you’ll miss it cameo in the first Thor.[/spoil]
In the past week I’ve seen The Avengers and The Dictator. The Avengers is the best movie of the year (that I’ve seen. SO FAR). And I enjoyed the Dictator as well. So offensive, so funny.
Aliens (Extended Cut) - 10/10
This is a true SciFi masterpiece that just refuses to show its age, except for some audio clipping in one scene (and it looks amazing on Blu-ray).
There are so many things I love about this film, like…
Ripley/Newt/Hicks/Bishop are such a dream-team (why on earth did David Fincher have to ruin the ride in the sequel?)
great practical effects that beat most of the CGI used in current movies
wonderful mix of suspense, action, humor and lots of heart
powerlift battle - 'nuff said! (splendidly parodied in “Wallace & Gromit - a matter of loaf and death”, btw.)
already great in the theatrical cut, downright amazing in the extended cut
one of the very few german dubs that are on par with the original version
That’s a really good question, but I wouldn’t put all the blame on Fincher, who after all was just someone struggling to make his first film and entering the business. And his posterior work more than makes up for that mistake.
I think it was the writers’ fault, and probably the producers’.
