A FOR AWESOME TEAM

Why do people like Superhero movies?

Personally, I think it is because we love the feeling of Good overpowering Evil.

And we love to witness 'victory' against all odds.

But I derive a different pleasure watching The Avengers. To make it clear, it is NOT THE GOOD LOOKS of Captain America, although he is indeed smokin' hot!

I love the movie because it reminds me of the sweetness of team victory - the pleasure of working together as a team. To be honest, at times, I am not much of a team player because I do enjoy working alone. But I love working in a team when there is one with wonderful dynamics.

I can't help it but when I was in the cinema, I thought of my college team mates who have went through so much with me last time when we were working our butts off for our final year assignment - YY, Lydia, Kim Fatt, Nic and Eugene. Because our team really consists of different people with different strengths and personality that somehow gel together to pull through our project (despite our disagreements and arguments). At the end, it was so fun that I would do it all over again! :)

I am also thankful that the current team back in my office is also a super dynamic one, which therefore means, I am also having quite a blast working with all these unique individuals from different backgrounds.

Anyway, back to "The Avengers" - the most talked about movie of the week!

Seriously, almost everyone I know on Facebook is posting about The Avengers for the past few days! And most of them say that they are going to re-watch it. So I knew I had to watch it!

Managed to get tickets on a public holiday and my Labour Day has never been so well spent.

The theme of the movie is, yes "Teamwork".

I love how all the Superheroes are brought together as a team, and it is really awesome studying each and every single character and how each of them have their strengths that made them a formidable team.

I tried identifying a favourite character, but I really can't because I really love them all. My least favourite could be Thor, but then he is also quite interesting.

The movie in general:

In my opinion, the movie is successful not because of the promo and the fact that it rides on the fans of the various Superheroes featured in the movie.

As a movie goer, I admire the fact that it managed to squeeze in so many different characters so compactly. Not everyone can do it - tell a story with so many characters while maintaining the essence of each and every single one of them.

Credits must definitely go to the script writer for being able to come out with the storyline incorporating all characters and not to mention, the additional brilliant and witty lines that ensured that there was not a single dull moment in the movie.

I look past the CGI and special effects for I am not really into that, although I wouldn't say that I am not amazed by the awesomeness of the fighting scenes and the catastrophic blows virtualised by special effects. What I am saying is that, even if you minus those 'cosmetics', the movie would still be bearable. 

Like I haven't said it enough times already, what I enjoy most about the movie is how the characters come together. Hence, I shall delve into my thoughts on each character.

Captain America - The focused Leader

He is not my favourite character in the movie because of his looks.

He is my favourite character because he is different from me. Captain America has qualities that I admire - he is focused and is a leader. (Did I tell you have a thing for men who make strong leaders?) The way he commands and lead his team makes him so captivating! Ok, excuse me for bringing in 'girlishness' into this but seriously, I admire the way he leads his team and how he just knows what he is doing. When he talks, he sweeps you away, doesn't he? I think his presence seems to make everything ok.


Note: I really miss Hayley Atwell's character - Peggy, the lady who Capt. America is in love with but never get a chance to even go on a date with her. I love that character SO SO MUCH and if there's a female role model that I want to follow, I'd so wanna be her. 

My favourite line by Captain America:

When he told Ironman to "Speak English"

It reminded me of how I always tell my Irish colleague to speak English when she speaks TOO FAST! 

Ironman - The Cheeky Tech-guy

I enjoy his character because he reminds me a bit of myself.

Always the person who tries to be "smart" and crack lame jokes when things are supposed to be serious. But of course, I am no Tony Stark because I am not as smart.

Tony Stark has his own issues but he is the type who tries to take a lighter approach to things; that's why I like his character. I also digg his brilliance with technology! The last act of sacrifice he made was sort of predictable though, because at the beginning, Captain America claimed that the Ironman wouldn't sacrifice himself.

I did not watch any Ironman movie, but I am very interested to watch it now. From the movie, I understand why Ironman is so popular (probably the most popular); I believe Ironman must be a hilarious watch because Robert Downey Jr. had played it with much wit. 

My favourite line by Ironman:

"Please tell me nobody kissed me!"

Dr. Banner/The Hulk - The No-confrontation Guy

Closest to the Top for me actually is Dr. Banner because he is such a sweet guy (and yes, I do really like Mark Ruffalo). I love that he doesn't want power, although he literally has it. What strikes me as interesting for his character his how he can be completely opposite of who he really is when he turns 'green'. He is actually a really kind guy who tries to avoid confrontation and tries to be the peacemaker, but when he is The Hulk, he becomes someone who just destroys. Although I did not watch any of The Hulk films, I learned from the movie that he is angry because he can't control his own powers and he is afraid of who he is, and what he is capable of doing. Will definitely try to watch The Hulk if Mark Ruffalo is playing The Hulk in future because compared to Bana and Norton, I feel only he has the quality to play this compassionate and kind role of Dr. Banner. Of all the Hulks in the silver screen, I really think that Ruffalo is the best....I am not going to comment on the original TV Hulk though. 

My favourite part featuring Dr. Banner:

When he rides in with a scooter/motorcycle to battle

Black Widow - The Sexy Spy and Hawkeye - The Precise Arrow Dude

The only girl in the team. Not really a fan of Scarlett Johansson because I never liked the role she chose to play. But I must say, she was pretty good in this movie, but I feel that to prove that she owns the character, we will need to watch more. 

There is much more to learn about the Black Widow because there is no movie about this Superhero yet. I do not blame the movie for not writing or revealing much about her, because I know it is a strategy to attract audience for a film on Black Widow specifically. If I am not wrong, there will DEFINITELY be a movie on the Black Widow soon. The Avengers have cleverly planted teaser lines in the movie to get people wondering about the character Black Widow.

Hawkeye is also super interesting because he and Black Widow seems to have a connection. For one thing also, both of them are characters without their own movies, so it will be very interesting to see how their movie turned out. I also like how cool he is...a man of few words but an awesome shooter. 

My favourite line by Black Widow:

Love is for children. 

Thor - The Mighty DemiGod

My least favourite not because of anything, but because he is just not as 'humanly' portrayed. He is more like a God, rather than superhero, but still rocking it in his own ways. I mean, for a Superhero movie, I don't think Thor was much of a right fit, you know, he is for one thing, Half-God...but well, The Avengers did make it work somehow. I can't relate to his story yet because I did not watch Thor, but am looking forward to watching it.

One character that I also enjoyed watching, though he didn't last in the movie was the dude who died (Dr. Coulston or something) and was a huge fan of Captain America. Although his life ended in the middle of the movie, he left quite an impression and he is the core reason for the 'teaming' up. So kudo's to his character too...

If I have anything negative to say about the movie, it would be how predictable it is. Because like any other Superhero movies, we know how the plot and climax is...

We know who will triumph in the end. We can't let the villain win.

But in this ugly world, maybe that is what we need to boost our spirits - the belief that at the end of the day, GOOD will still defeat EVIL! 

Besides, some situations are too grey to tell the difference anyway.

However, being able to turn such boring and predictable plot into an interesting watch deserves some credits. 

So, the conclusion? It is worth the watch because you get a taste of so many superheroes in a single dose of cinematic delight.

TC-My Rating:

I LOVE THEM ALL!