The Avengers Experience/It Was a Good Day

A little over one year ago, I sat in a sold out movie theater and enjoyed one of the best cinematic experiences of my life. Of course, I am speaking of The Avengers. With Iron Man 3 opening last weekend, I felt that pull of the Marvel Universe again and was reliving this day in my head. It turns out the whole day was pretty amazing and I'm going to put it in print so I never forget it.

It was one of those days when everything goes your way. The sun was out (not uncommon in Los Angeles) and it was hot but not too hot. My stepson had a baseball game (they won) and then we were going to the theater to see The Avengers.

Ever since the end of Iron Man, when Samuel L. Jackson showed up as Nick Fury to tease idea of The Avengers, this film has been on my mind. That was May of 2008 so you could say I've been waiting 4 years to see this movie. All the final credit scenes at the end of Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America have been building and building the hype for what could be a great movie. So, naturally after seeing one preview about 8 months before opening day, I kept myself in the dark as far as trailers, featurettes, or any other kind of promotion the film had been offering. This was not easy, especially in the last two weeks when the commercials and product tie-ins were all over the place. However, I pulled it off and it was so worth it. Going in blind without seeing any of the “good parts” made everything so fresh and perfect on the initial viewing that I knew I was watching an instant classic. Ten. Hands down. No questions asked. Not since The Dark Knight have I felt such a feeling of elation while in the theater. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

The day started with going to my stepson's baseball game. His team won 10-5 and he pitched 3 shutout innings and only faced 10 batters, only giving up one single and one walk. He even picked off the guy who walked at second base. At the plate he went 2-3 with 2 singles, 2 runs scored and an RBI. The sun was out, everyone was relaxed and having a good time. It was great. A perfect start to the day. 

We came home, cleaned up and headed for the theater. There was a slight detour first as we ate at California Pizza Kitchen. I had the chicken lettuce wraps…sooo good. My wife had the avocado rolls, my boy had mac n cheese and we all had a good time. 

Then it was off to the theater. When we got there the line was already out the door. My wife dropped me off at the door and I headed in to get the tickets we had (smartly) already bought. Tickets in hand I headed for the line and got in about 30 people deep. I had to stand in the sun after being outside for 3 hours already at the baseball game so that was not pleasant. 

However, my wife went to the bookstore and picked up The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King, the next Dark Tower novel for me. I really appreciated that I as I had been looking forward to getting my hands on this book for some time. The next 10 minutes (while hot) went by fairly quickly as I joined old friends on the page. 

Then it was time to go into the theater itself and I headed inside to grab seats. It was already packed and not that big of a theater, which was a little surprising. The only section with 3 seats available seemed to be up top so I hustled up and was heading to the middle of a row about 5 from the top when a couple approached the seats I was taking from the other side of the row. “How many do you need” I asked. They said four and it worked out that there were exactly 7 seats left in the row. This was just fine with me and I waited for my wife and stepson to get into the theater. They arrived with food and drink and we had to wait about 10 more minutes for the trailers to start. 

I was disappointed (at the time) there was no trailer to The Dark Knight Rises on the cut we were watching. I was looking forward to that being the last trailer I saw before I went to the film on July 20 (In hindsight, not that big a deal as TDKR turned out to be a giant letdown).

Now for the best part: the movie itself. One of my favorite moments about going to the movies is the 5-10 seconds after the previews and theaters reminders are finished and the screen is black. The anticipation of what might be is always palpable, especially with big, sold out theaters of people, hungry for a good story, well told. I savored that moment for all it was worth on this go round. Then the film began. 

I don’t know that I’ve been that entertained by a movie in a long, long time. It was the perfect funny, popcorn, action, superhero movie. All the characters are great and everybody delivers in the film, both as an actor and in terms of their characters within the story. There were a number of great set pieces and some of the best action ever put on the screen. 

Iron Man is awesome in the film. Robert Downey Jr. has Tony Stark perfected and I would say this was his best outing as the character. I would have liked to see a little more God of Thunder action from Thor but what is on screen is quite awesome. Captain America has some great moments and makes up for a lack of charisma and flair by being the brunt of most of the jokes. That's not a slam on the Captain at all or Chris Evan's portrayal of him, as his character is not supposed to be flashy or overly funny. 

That being said, this film and the best action moments come when The Incredible Hulk is on the screen. Mark Ruffalo’s portrayal of Bruce Banner is spot on but the action of the Hulk provides the best moments. When Captain America himself has a fine moment, leading the team and giving everyone the plan of attack, and finishes with, “Hulk…smash.” and the Hulk grins…perfection. The following action is such an endorphin rush of everything that should be The Hulk kicking serious ass that I was literally giddy inside. There is no better way that moment could have been handled and to have such a moment is very rare in film. 

 

I'm speaking of moments like Gandalf vs. The Balrog in LOTR (You shall not pass!) or John Wayne in the doorway at the end of The Searchers or “Get away from her you bitch!” in Aliens. The only recent action movie that comes close to The Avengers is The Incredibles and that was 8 years ago. Just simply awesome stuff. 

The Hulk also owns the best laugh, the best "oh crap" and the best "oh my god" moments in the film (sucker punching Thor, transforming and giving the punch of doom to the Leviathan ship, and smashing Loki respectively). Enjoy the clips below. :)

The character dynamics in the film work extremely well and pairing everyone up in the action scenes was a great way to continue to establish character while at the same time showcasing unique action that could only have been performed by the two/three characters in the scene. 

All praise must be heaped upon Joss Whedon, who took the concept for the film, put his own spin on it and gave fanboys and people who have never picked up a comic an equally entertaining movie. An astounding feat to say the least. 

Walking out of the theater I had this overall feeling of "yes". What I had just witnessed was perhaps the most entertaining movie experience of my life. I was literally drained from the endorphin high I had just been through. My family and I went home and I put The Avengers into the top 30 of my greatest movies list. Time will tell if the film and the action hold up on repeated viewings but I couldn't justify putting it on top of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars just yet. However, I feel the day will come(possibly around 2015 when Avengers 2 comes out) that this film will have earned that place in my list reserved for my life-changing films. This day already belongs there.