The Avengers Revisited, plus The Good Wife

[shapinglight]

I have done something useful today, I swear (some gardening and the ironing, if you want to know), but otherwise, for some reason, I decided to watch The Avengers movie again.

Brief thoughts behind cut, plus some slightly spoilery squee for season 5 of The Good Wife.



I haven't changed my opinion much. I still think the film is far too long, that some of the characters (Hawkeye and Black Widow in particular) are boring, and that the battle/trashing of New York scene at the end goes on, and on, and on!.

On the other hand, I liked it better than I did the first time, and although they're completely different animals in most ways, the glossiness of the film with its very expensive special effects and A-list actors, serves to make Agents of SHIELD look even more rubbish -which wouldn't have necessarily been the case if the show had had better scripts and better acting.

As for The Good Wife season 5, I watched ep 4 last night. So Diane's married Kurt? They have chemistry, true, but I can't help thinking Diane's doubting friends might have a point. Also, after what Will and the other Lockhart Gardner partners did to her, I really admire Diane for warning Will about what Alicia and Cary were up to.

And the squee? Well, apart from the sheer awesomeness of Diane, I love Elizabeth Tascioni. What a great character. And yet another The Wire alumnus (or alumna, in this case) cameo. Kima! That makes four.

Trivial stuff: I think I read somewhere that Enver Gjokai was in The Avengers, but I saw no sign of him the first time I watched it. Think I spotted him this time. Was he the younger of the two policemen Captain America was giving orders to?

Also, my attempts to read a quite well-written Thor/Loki fic have come to a juddering halt. Seems I just can't cope with incest that doesn't involve vampires (even though Thor and Loki are only stepbrothers). Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age?

Comments

[snickfic]

Yes, that policeman was Enver.

I recently rewatched myself, and found my opinion mostly unchanged: pleasantly forgettable, with a lot of individual moments between characters that I enjoyed (I appreciate how many different combos of characters among the main team get moments together) and a lot of utterly ridiculous Plot. Feh, plot.

I quite like Natasha, but find Hawkeye deadly dull. Of course, he still hasn't gotten anything to do in the MCU...

[shapinglight]

Yes, that policeman was Enver.

:) Glad I recognised him finally.

I agree that the character moments are the best, especially any featuring Tony Stark. Downey Jnr has chemistry with everyone. I quite like the Thor/Loki scenes, but 100% evil Loki isn't my favourite incarnation of the character.

but find Hawkeye deadly dull.

Oh boy, yes!

[snickfic]

Have you been keeping up with Loki in comics lately? He's very... complicated. Since I haven't gotten around to reading Gillen's Journey into Mystery run where everything got started (I think), whenever I try to read something with Loki I always feel like I'm missing have the necessary info.

[shapinglight]

No, I've missed all the Kid!Loki stuff completely, which I'm beginning to think I should probably rectify. The character sounds like fun.

[ningloreth.livejournal.com]

My favourite line in The Avengers is when Loki says, "I'll have that drink now." (Or words to that effect ;-)

I love Elizabeth Tascioni, too -- the way she won over David, and when she said, "I just ask questions until it starts to make sense." LOL.

I think Diane's marrying Kurt's an interesting development. I wonder if it will become a major strand of the plot? I've always liked Gary Cole. Do you remember Midnight Caller?

Have you seen the trailer for next week's episode, btw? It breaks my Will/Alicia shipper's heart, but I don't think his reaction would be so violent if, underneath the denial, he didn't actually love her.

ETA: Thor/Loki fic. I don't see Loki as sexually active; I'm not even sure he has the parts. He's obsessed with seducing everyone, but he doesn't follow through. (Admittedly, I haven't seen him in Thor II).

[shapinglight]

My favourite line in The Avengers is when Loki says, "I'll have that drink now." (Or words to that effect ;-)

It is quite amusing.

I think Diane's marrying Kurt's an interesting development. I wonder if it will become a major strand of the plot? I've always liked Gary Cole. Do you remember Midnight Caller?

No. I do remember American Gothic, though. He was very creepy in that. I honestly can't see Diane/Kurt working long-term. We'll see. I also wonder if her marriage to him might not prevent her getting the judgeship.

I haven't seen next week's trailer, but can infer from what you say what must happen in it. I'm not a Will/Alicia 'shipper myself. I don't think Alicia loves Will.

ETA: Thor/Loki fic. I don't see Loki as sexually active; I'm not even sure he has the parts. He's obsessed with seducing everyone, but he doesn't follow through. (Admittedly, I haven't seen him in Thor II).

I think Loki has the parts, but you're right. He comes across as pretty much asexual.

[dalmeny]

Milage does differ, doesn't it? dmw and I find the film to be a great pick-me-up and we love Black Widow. (Also very fond of Banner.) Have to agree about the film Hawkeye: we much prefer the version in Matt Fraction's comics.

[shapinglight]

I quite like Banner, but I'm afraid Black Widow just gets on my nerves.

[chasingdemons.livejournal.com]

In The Avengers, I thought the scenes that took place on earth were stupid and the characters very uninteresting. Thor - not my type of man. And yeah, the incest thing isn't a big draw for me. Now Loki/Spike or Loki/Wes. That could be interesting.

[shapinglight]

Now Loki/Spike or Loki/Wes. That could be interesting.

It could, though as I said to ningloreth above, I find Loki weirdly asexual.

Having said which, I quite like the idea of Loki/Jane fic. Maybe I should try reading some of that.

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

I find the Diane/Kurt storyline almost unbearably stupid -- and quite unbelievable. It's like someone took a dig at the show for being too liberal, and they said, Hey, We'll Show YOU! I don't know if you've seen the ep where they run into her friends, but it was lazy writing at its worst, imo.

[shapinglight]

It's like someone took a dig at the show for being too liberal, and they said, Hey, We'll Show YOU! I don't know if you've seen the ep where they run into her friends, but it was lazy writing at its worst, imo.

That's the episode I've just seen. I suppose reducing the disagreement between them to the guns thing was a cliche. And this isn't the first time this show has tried to show that its fairly obvious liberal credentials don't make it biased. The one openly liberal judge, for instance, Denis O'Hare's character, is always shown as a bit weak, etc, etc. Classic woolly liberal fence-sitting, in fact, which real dyed in the wool conservatives probably find very amusing.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Yeah I didn't really get into The Avengers, I was expecting to really love it after all of the fandon hype, but I was left feeling like it was hard to get much out of it if you weren't already familiar with the comic books and the previous movies. It seemed like it was very much written with the idea of giving those existing fans the movie that they had been waiting for, but there wasn't all that much there for newcomers who were unfamiliar with the characters

[shapinglight]

It seemed like it was very much written with the idea of giving those existing fans the movie that they had been waiting for, but there wasn't all that much there for newcomers who were unfamiliar with the characters.

This is true. It was the culmination of a story built up through the other films - Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk. If you hadn't seen any of those or didn't know who the characters were in some other way (ie. through some knowledge of the comics) you were pretty sunk, I think.

[caliente-uk.livejournal.com]

The best thing about 'The Avengers' movie is Tony Stark for me. I have to admit to being a bit of a Robert Downey Jr fangirl. In a very shallow, "oh my goodness, isn't he sexy" kind of way... ;)

I adore 'The Good Wife'! I was surprised Diane married Kurt, but I'm always happy to see Gary Cole on my TV screen (I remember him in 'Midnight Caller' and 'American Gothic' and loved both!).

I'm nervous about what's likely to happen now Will knows the truth about Alicia and Cary. I'm not a Will/Alicia shipper as such, but I've always found their relationship interesting.

And yes, Elizabeth Tascioni is fabulous! :)

And changing the subject to a different TV show, have you seen the trailer for GoT S4 yet? I so can't wait for April to get here!

[shapinglight]

The best thing about 'The Avengers' movie is Tony Stark for me. I have to admit to being a bit of a Robert Downey Jr fangirl. In a very shallow, "oh my goodness, isn't he sexy" kind of way... ;)

I agree. Downey Jnr is absolutely the best thing in the movie. I love Loki and I love Loki and Thor, but in this movie, they bore me. Loki is far too one-note, and Thor just hits stuff.

I'm nervous about what's likely to happen now Will knows the truth about Alicia and Cary. I'm not a Will/Alicia shipper as such, but I've always found their relationship interesting.

I don't 'ship them either. I find Will slightly creepy. But he is interesting. So is Peter, for that matter. I tend to 'ship Alicia with Peter, though I can never quite put Peter's previous betrayal out of my mind- any more than, I suppose, Alicia can.

And changing the subject to a different TV show, have you seen the trailer for GoT S4 yet? I so can't wait for April to get here!

Ooh, yes! It looks fab.