The Avengers

[rachelmanija]

I am often underwhelmed by things fandom goes berserk over, but that was very, very enjoyable.

I expected to love Black Widow. Especially since several people, including my father, emailed me specifically to say, "Go see The Avengers. You'll love Black Widow." But I had not expected to love the Hulk, whom I had previously found quite boring. (In comics. I haven't seen any of the Hulk movies.)

Also, and this is largely due to his camaraderie with Black Widow, but I thought Hawkeye was the hottest of the men in the movie. I do love a man with a long-range weapon.

Feel free to put spoilers in comments.

PS. Regarding previews, Brave looks surprisingly good. Tim Burton is finally releasing Frankenweenie! And Sasha Baron Cohen continues to be anti-funny.

Comments

[ide_cyan]

Jeremy Renner is smoking hot, no argument there. (Though I love Tom Hiddleston just as much.) Albeit that his archery skills aren't up to par with Jennifer Lawrence's, apparently.

[oyceter]

Ahahaha didn't want to say too much about the movie for fear of raising too many expectations! But OMG isn't Black Widow THE BEST??? Also, yeah, I totally found Hawkeye hot after that and really really really want Black Widow and Hawkeye platonic or shippy angsty PTSD spy fic!

I loved Hulk too, and I never even cared about him enough to watch any of the movies! Have been finding some fun fic on AO3 too if you want.

[rachelmanija]

Black Widow and Hawkeye platonic or shippy angsty PTSD spy fic!

...maybe I should write some! Though I am terrible at plotting spy stuff. But I loved all their history and respect and tenderness with each other.

I loved her so much! She kicks ass while tied to a chair! She interrogates and dominates people while they think they're interrogating and dominating her - TWICE! She gets scared and hurt and exhausted, and she picks herself right back up and keeps going!

Yes, please, would love some fic. Anything but Steve/Tony. I know that is the juggernaut ship but I have no interest in it. I guess, unless it's more ensemble-y. That would be OK. Would love some angsty Bruce Banner fic.

[oyceter]

I KNOW SHE IS SO AWESOME! She kicks ass in a chair and then beats people up in it! And I love that very practical and resigned look when she decides to hijack an alien ship to go up and stop the tesseract!

Here's what I've found so far... it's all post-movie because I really liked the movie dynamics, and I don't really ship Steve/Tony either. Mostly I've been looking for gen team fic and/or awesome Black Widow fic, so let me know if you find some too!

http://archiveofourown.org/works/400596
Sappy and dorky and maybe a bit OOC, but it has funny team dynamics so I DON'T CARE.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/400392
I think the Bruce/Natasha dynamic doesn't work with the movie characterization, but I like it anyway. Also good team stuff, along with great Natasha and Bruce.

http://archiveofourown.org/series/18743
Really cute series with excellent Natasha and Bruce, along with great team cameos.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/400974
REALLY CREEPY with Natasha backstory from the comics

http://archiveofourown.org/works/401588
TEAM!!

[kate_nepveu]

Hah, I was just looking for your post to rec the last one to you!

[badgerbag]

I felt leaving that movie that Bruce/Tony might be my geek OTP....

[mme_hardy]

Mine, too, mine, too. That scene was so sweet!

All in all, that movie gave excellent buddy values. Natasha and Clint, Bruce and Tony, and poor Cap and Thor, united in their cluelessness if not much else.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I could pretty much just ditto your entire comment. :-D

(And I say that as somebody who's never really been a shipper. But now I am! Hawkeye/Black Widow 4EVAH.)

[tool_of_satan]

I agree with all of this. I thought Black Widow was well-written and I thought Johanssen did a good job with the role. And I liked the relationship between her and Hawkeye, particularly the fact that it was kept non-romantic.

And the Hulk was definitely more interesting than I expected. Although the second of the recent films (with Edward Norton as Banner/Hulk) wasn't bad (I didn't see the first one, directed by Ang Lee). However, I don't think it rises to the level of "you must see it," unless you are fond of Tim Roth, in which case maybe it does.

[rachelmanija]

I am excessively fond of Tim Roth. Is he a villain?

[tool_of_satan]

Sort of - he's a British officer (Royal Marines, I think) presumably seconded to the US Army (the movie does not go into the fine points of this). He leads the team trying to capture Banner and later takes a dose of the serum that turned Banner into the Hulk in order to be able to take him on. This turns him into the Abomination, apparently an old Hulk villain (I read the Hulk very rarely back when I was reading Marvel, so I don't recognize any characters except Banner and the Rosses).

[mme_hardy]

Cosigned. I never, ever thought I could care about the Hulk. Some fine acting there. And the Bruce Banner bonding over geek stuff was so nerdily adorable!

[smw]

So I'm not alone in loving the Hulk? Good to know!

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I thought the film pretty meh. Well executed but superficial.

HOWEVER, I am totally agreed with you on the Hulk, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow. When they were on screen I wasn't bored. Like you, I've never seen The Hulk done as well as Ruffalo (although I don't remember the Bixby Hulk).

The rest of the time passed pretty slowly. I have to admit the Cap/Stark byplay really bored me.

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

+1 on Hulk, Hawkeye (definitely the hottest, and those biceps!), and Black Widow. I loved her methodology. I also really liked Agent Hill, played by Cobie Smulders. Extremely competent.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I saw it again today, and I love Black Widow.

[thecityofdis.livejournal.com]

Agreed, on all counts!

I am also bowled over by how great BRAVE looks. I expected it to be reasonably promising, but (unpopular opinion alert) I hated Tangled, and the early previews reminded me a lot of that.

But this looks to be another beast altogether, so now I'm excited for it.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I have yet to watch the movie, but I continue to be so weak for archers I have no doubt I will adore Hawkeye, crappy form and all.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

It seems the crappy form may be more evident in the trailers than the movie itself - Toby was looking out for that. Although he's not an archer himelf, so take that for what it's worth. (He prefers to play sneaky characters with ranged weapons in video and tabletop games, so he's got a layman's interest.)

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm pretty much a layman myself, but I shot a little in high school and I've had friends who are very good.