Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The Avengers trailer delivers kaboom, but it looks oddly small, soulless, artless.


Well, this is indeed a teaser for The Avengers.  I don't expect to see a ton of new footage behind what was teased in the Captain America credits sequence last July, but I am weary that this trailer is actually a perfect example of what I discussed yesterday.  While the film seems action packed, you'll notice that 80% of the action beats seem to be from the same exterior sequence, which is indeed the finale of the picture (with the remaining 20% apparently from a second-act invasion of the 'hall of justice').  With a budget of $220 million, only $20 million more than the nearly action-less Iron Man 2, will the film be mostly set-up for one giant battle in the last 20-30 minutes?  What we do see looks fine, if a bit small in scale and lacking any real sense of art or purpose.  Yes the special effects are not done, and I wonder if we'll see alien ships in that big shot of the randomly exploding cars in the final cut, but what's there pales in comparison to the sense of scale found in any number of big tentpoles of late (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II, even Battle: Los Angeles).  It's characters we know and love basically posing for the camera (with Johansson again causing an explosion with her farting) and trying to convince us, the already converted, how bad-ass these heroes allegedly are.

Speaking of Johansson, it would have been nice to catch a glimpse of Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, so as to highlight that there is more than one female in the entire film (hopefully Smulders will actually get to talk and have a personality).  The dialogue on display is weirdly bland, with Samuel L. Jackson spending 25 seconds painfully explaining the obvious point of such a super group ('take all the good guys and let them fight the bad guys!') and Downey Jr.'s inexplicable "If we can't protect the Earth, then you can be damn-sure we'll avenge it!" line (because we have to explain why the group is called 'The Avengers'?).  Other than Stark's trademark quips, the only other dialogue of note is Loki's villainous monologue, which actually hints at how the film will likely end (IE - mankind will not turn on each other, but rather rise up at the last minute and defeat the threat alongside the superheroes).  So while the film looks colorful and the finale at least looks like a grandly epic showdown, it's quite strange that this Joss Whedon film seems to be missing his two trademarks: clever dialogue and a strong female presence.  Anyway, I'm sure we'll see another trailer around Oscar-time, and as always, we'll see...
 
Scott Mendelson

8 comments:

obthavariable said...

That awkward moment when you see the New York City skyline, and then you end up on Cleveland city streets, with cars exploding for not apparent reason other than movie magic.

corysims said...

Largely on the money, Scott. Also, what are the odds that WB gets antsy by the hype around this trailer and get a new, full teaser trailer for the Dark Knight Rises out before the end of the month?

ACOD said...

Clever dialogue? You can't get much more clever than Tony Stark's reply to what he is if you take his armor away.

Liam_Ho said...

Agree that the line "we'll Avenge the Earth" sounds terrible considering they all know its the Avengers Initiative. It wouldn't be as stupid if Avengers is never referenced in any of the movies. Its like in X-Men: First Class if bringing the mutants together is called Operation First Class, someone saying we're "first class" heroes. Love Nine Inch Nails but don't think the song fits very well cause of the lyrics. Instrumental would be fine.

Best part would be the glimpse of the clashing characters of Steve Rogers and Stark.

Not sure if this is true but at 1:10 people are saying its same footage from Iron Man 1 of his helmet closing.

geha714 said...

"...it would have been nice to catch a glimpse of Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, so as to highlight that there is more than one female in the entire film (hopefully Smulders will actually get to talk and have a personality)."

Finally, someone who agrees with me on this. The fandom is too busy discussing if the use of an old Nine Inch Nails song as the main track and the typical battle between Whedon lovers and haters.

It looks contained and not as epic as the last hour of Transformers 3, but maybe Marvel wants to keep some stuff underwraps (the movie's effects are probably not ready). Looks like Whedon did his homework and hired a good team to help him (Seamus McGarvey is one excellent DP). The problem with the cars exploding is that looks too Michael Bay-ish. He has coined the whole cool city destruction look, so everything else looks like a ripoff of Armageddon's first 15 minutes.

Last but not least, Cobie Smulders FTW!

geha714 said...

I put my money on December. maybe before Sherlock Holmes 2

Liam_Ho said...

Before Sherlock Holmes 2 is almost a guaranteed. WB wouldn't be stupid enough to release it before then, especially in reaction to Avengers teaser.

Hawkeye said...

Yea, the helmet closing shot was from IM1 unless they shot the exact same thing again xD

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