The Avengers SMASH More Records

The Avengers continues to shatter box office records. This weekend it earned the second highest grossing week ever with 103.2 million. Only a week ago it grabbed the highest first weekend with 207.4 million. This weekend it also joined the exclusive billion club by pulling in my that a billion dollars worldwide.

I can honestly say this is the first film that I have come home contemplating whether or not it was the best movie I have ever seen. It is the first movie I have seen 3 times aat the movies since Revenge of the Sith (I can't remember whether I saw Toy Story 3 two or three times). In a word, AMAZING!

The Avengers is not great because of an intricately woven story or blindsiding plot twists. Several critics are baffled at its success because of these missing elements. No, the Avengers is great because of YEARS of planning. No other non sequal movies has ever had 5 films preceding it to tell backstories, develop characters, and get us attached to the characters. This is there true success. They started a movie with characters we already loved. It is a comic reader's fantasy and the fanboy in me was geeking out the entire 2 hours and 22 minutes.

In my opinion the X-Men series failed miserably because of lack of character development. They only gave us time to know Wolverine, Professor X and Magneto. The rest were extras. Avengers is a movie that has learned from the mistakes of all who have gone before it. The Eric Bana Hulk movie can finally be laid to rest in landfills everywhere.

The comedy in the Avengers is often unexpected and spot on. If not for the last 45 minutes of action I would think I was watching a superhero comedy done to perfection (take not Green Hornet writers. The Avengers also reminds us that a superhero movie can stay true to the comics and still be successful. Re-imagined realistic and often sadistic darker takes that I cannot bring my children to see (ahem Dark Knight) are not the only ways to bring heroes to the silver screen.

I will not spoil anything here, but I will tell you that this movie is worth the 20 dollar ticket. What's that you say? tickets are not $20? That is correct, but I'm telling you it would be worth it if they were.

Marvel Goes Disney

WOW!  Can I just say wow!  Did I say wow?  Disney buys Marvel Comics for $4 Billion, wow that is actually not as much as I would have expected.  Personally I love Marvel and believe that Disney got it just in time.  I mean Marvel has just started making movies without the likes of Fox or Sony and they already put out blockbuster smashes like Iron Man.  I hope this doesn't mean we will see Tony Stark in a Mickey t-shirt around his mansion (maybe a rebirth of Dark Wing Duck through Marvel would work, although I wouldn't get Lucas to direct since "Howard the Duck" was such a flop).  Seeing a Marvel park at Disney World would be an amazing fruit of this new venture, can we say "Mr. Fantastic Roller Coaster", Cerebro 3D, or Punisher the Musical (ok maybe not the last one).  I guess this move was to be expected though.  Disney used to be on the forefront of imagination, now if they can't think of it they buy it (i.e. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Power Rangers").  I will say that Disney has it's finger on the pulse, that is why they did not even consider a D.C. Comics buyout.  Ha! Take that Aquaman!