MOVIES: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE

Its 1am and I have just got home after seeing the Avengers movie in London. The cinema was PACKED with people queuing to get in when we got there and even more when we got out awaiting the next screening.

All I will tell you is what I have just seen on the big screen is probably one of the most fun movies I have ever seen. I rank it up there with Jurassic Park for a movie that I saw in the cinema and loved from start to finish and that also lived up to the hype.

Wether your a comic extremist (like I am) just a general movie goer in general this is something you have to go see. Its a dream movie come true and something to just strap your self in and enjoy.

I am not telling you anything more about this movie just go and fucking see it!

 4.5 out 5

THE AVENGERS ON FILM: THEN AND NOW

So this weekend the dream comic book movie hits the movie theaters around the world. When the Avengers was first announced a few years back every comic book fanboy soiled them selves and waited for what seemed like forever for this movie to come out.

It is great to see that Hollywood is finally taking comic book franchises seriously as in the past this has not been the case. It has taken a long time for this day to come (a few decades even) but finally the time has come, and the movies the fans want are finally being made. Thanks to advancements in film making more things have become possible which makes the end result something more spectacular.

Today I will be showing you the previous attempts to bring these characters to life on the big screen.

THE HULK (1970'S=1990'S)

 The 1970's live action television show of the Incredible Hulk was a major success. Bill Bixby played the part of Dr David Banner the man who while trying to tap into human rage in an experiment became the Incredible Hulk. Now in the comic the character is in fact called Bruce Banner and the TV bosses changed it to David because they thought Bruce sounded gay, Mr Universe runner up Lou Ferringo was painted green and played the rampaging Hulk. The transformation scenes were pretty good for its time and Lou Ferringo was great as the Hulk but when you watch it today its very corny. One episode the Hulk fights a bear in a lake and the water is washing the green paint off of his skin. 

I and I am sure many people have great affection for this incarnation of the green skinned behemoth as it was the original and the show kicked ass back in the day.

In 2008's Incredible Hulk (which really stayed on the same path as the TV show) Lou Ferringo played a cameo role as a security guy receiving a pizza from Bruce Banner.

They killed this version of the Incredible Hulk off in a TV movie titled "The Death of The Hulk" in the early 1990's after David Banner falls from a helicopter. Bixby would also sadly pass away soon after. Everyone will always have a special place in their heart for this partnership of Bixby and Ferringo.

HULK (2003)

I remember being at my computer monitor in film studies crowding everyone round to watch the Superbowl trailer of this movie in early 2003. I was so excited that the Hulk was being given his own live action movie with all the CGI trimmings. When the movie finally hit the big screens in the summer awful reviews followed. I thought "they must be wrong or they just hate comics or something" so I watched the movie and.. they were right all along. Ang Lee decided to give us an hour or so of a bullshit background story which had nothing to do with anything and by the time the Hulk turned up it was like receiving an out of date birthday cake 10 days after your fucking birthday! This was also the year that Daredevil and Terminator 3 disappointed millions across the globe.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)

In 2008 the Hulk franchise was rebooted to kick start the current Avengers movie. This time round we completely forget the last movie ever happened (which is fine by me) and start fresh. Edward Norton does an excellent job playing Bruce Banner and the movie is made with the same formula from the classic TV show and even uses the same music. The Hulk looked great and the battles with Thunderbolt Ross and the military are nothing short of breathtaking. Tim Roth becomes the Abomination and his clashes with the Hulk are bang on straight from the pages of Marvel. A great movie and if you have not seen it yet check it out before watching the avengers.

THOR (1988)

Thor made his screen debut in the 1988 Incredible Hulk Returns movie. Eric Kramer (from Robin Hood Men in Tights) donned the viking helmet and the hammer for the role. As a kid I loved this movie and Thor is great. He has an epic fight with the Hulk in a science lab (in which everything explodes) and ends up teaming with the Hulk to beat people up. He drinks beer all the time and has bar fights. 

Thor and the Hulk grab a picture with their creator the legendary Stan Lee

THOR (2011)

 In 2011 Thor was given his own mega Hollywood make over and hit the big screens last summer. A well written and casted movie Thor was great fun to watch as a comic fan or just a general movie goer. Chris Hemsworth does a spectacular job playing the god of thunder from Asgaard. With a great supporting cast with names like Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins and great direction from Kenneth Branagh the movie was an all round action packed success.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990)

With the successful release of Tim Burton's Batman a year before you would think they would up the game when making a Captain America movie a year later. The truth was they did the complete opposite and made possibly the worst superhero movie of all time. I have never been able to sit through the entire film it is really that bad. Try and sit through the whole thing without burping sick I dare you!

CAPTAIN AMERICA (2011)

Shortly after the release of Thor we were treated to Captain America: The first Avenger a few months later. This was last movie released to fluff us up for the 2012 Avengers movie. Unlike Steve Rogers last trip to the big screen, this time round it's a home run. Great story telling straight from the pages of the comic telling the story of how Hydra came to power in WWII. Evans is great as Steven Rogers and Hugo Weavings portrayal of the Red Skull is superb.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE (2012)

We now come full circle with this weekends release of the Avengers movie. For the first time ever all these guys are going to be put together on the big screen for the dream movie. What will the end result be? Check back for my review shortly..

MOVIES: SPRING/SUMMER MOVIE NEWS

This is something I have not done in a long time (actually not since the first post I did in 2009), so today I will do another round up of my thoughts. I will be giving you a write up about some of the upcoming 2012 movies, that I find interesting along with the trailers. So here goes,

AMERICAN REUNION

So the cast of the original American Pie movie are all reunited after 13 years after the original movies release. I cannot believe that the first movie was that long ago, as it only seems like 5 years ago I saw that movie in the Romford Odean (click here to read about this cinema in past article).  The sequels after the first one took a nose dive in the same fashion that the Saved by the Bell New Class did. I am sure it will be something which is acceptable to sit through, but I highly doubt it will have the same magic of the first movie.

WRATH OF THE TITANS

I did not mind the new Clash of the Titans movie (for my review click here) but it is not something I have ever had the urge to give a second watch. I am all for movies about, gladiators, Greek mythology, Spartans, and killing trolls but when you play Marilyn Manson in the background of the debut trailer.. your gunna really fuck me off. What the fuck has Marilyn Manson's cover of sweet dreams got to do with anything? Just for that reason I will not be going to see this movie!

PROMETHEUS

This is one movie I am very curious about and what the final end result will be. I have heard lots of different things already about this film and its connection to Ridley Scotts original Alien movie. I have heard that this movie is a prequel, that it is not a prequel but takes place in the same universe as Aliens, and that this movie is not a prequel and is totally unconnected. The trailer looks very exciting and interesting and will definitely be some I buy a ticket to watch. One thing to bear in mind is that Ridley Scott is very hit and miss, but when he hits he hits a home run and I hope on this occasion he hits it.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

This will more than likely be the biggest movie of the summer and the final part of the epic trilogy of Christopher Nolans Batman. The one thing I am getting ready for is disappointment, but not because of a lack of faith in this particular movie, but because of history. The reason I say this is because there has NEVER been successful third movie when it comes to comic franchises. Now yes the sequels always do well in the box office but in the heart of the true movie lovers and comic fans, it all goes downhill after the second.

Now lets see, Tim Burtons Batman was a great movie and the fans wanted more so we got Batman Returns, which was great and then Batman Forever.. Now I saw Batman Forever twice at the cinema during the summer of 1995 and enjoyed it but when you compare it to the first 2 it doesn't match up.

OK then the original Superman movie was an artistic and financial success so then they released Superman II which was even better. Superman III... the movie goes all slapstick because some one thought it would be a great idea to cast Richard Pryor because he is funny. Now I dont hate Richard Pryor in fact I am a fan but Superman III sucked. 

Now on to the Sam Raimi Spider Man movies. The first one was enjoyable even though it differs a lot from the comics, but it was a good movie so we let it slip. The second movie was fantastic, and the third... biggest pile of dog shit ever.

So after that brief history lesson you can see my point of why I am not getting my hopes up. After so many years of fuck ups on the third installment of super hero movies, you must see my point. However I will go to the cinema and watch this and I hope and pray it is as great or if not even greater than the last 2. I have tried my best to stay away from any spoilers or forums as I want to watch this film without any surprises ruined. Some people have already downloaded and read the scripts of this movie and some people even went to the length of going to the cinema recently to watch 5 minutes of this film. To be fair that is a pretty pointless thing to do when you think about it. Loads of people went to go see the new Harry Potter movie just because it had the debut of the new Batman trailer and walked out after it finished. That shit is just fucked up. Here is the trailer

THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN

So Spider Man is being given the reboot this summer and from what I have seen so far so good. So we just wipe our mouths and just pretend the last Spider Man movie never happened (which is a nice thing to) and start fresh. From what I can gather this movie is going with the story line of Peter Parker's parents becoming S.H.I.E.LD agents and leaving him with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. The tragic Gwen Stacy will be Parkers love interest for this movie (which was a subject that pissed the fans off about the last Spidey movies) and the Lizard looks to be the main antagonist. Have only seen the trailer so far and I am hoping to not see anything else until I actually go and see this movie. Looking forward to it.

THE EXPENDABLE'S 2

Now the first movie was good and I enjoyed it. It wasn't as great as I had expected it to be, but with a cast line up like that it was never going to live up to anyones expectations. I went to see the first film on the opening night, and being a fan of big explosions, guns and fighting I really enjoyed it. The second movie is released this upcoming summer minus Mickey Rourke and Stone Cold Steve Austin. However Chuck Norris and Van Dam have been added for what should be a good, fun, and action packed movie.



AVENGERS ASSEMBLE

This is the one I am looking forward to the most this summer. Being the comic fanboy that I am when I first heard about this being announced a few years ago at a comic convention I lost my shit. Unfortunately Ed Norton has not reprised his role of Bruce Banner (in which he done a great job in the Incredible Hulk from 2008) due to money negotiations or something. How ever I have always cared more about Bruce's muscle bound, green alter ego than the doctor himself. This movie will be either one of the greatest comic movies ever made or will be the biggest flop in the universe. Either way I will be there on the opening night.