Avengers!

[keozen]

I loved the film, as people have already said I think it was the best conversion of the feeling of "reading a good supers comic" to film that's ever been done because Joss didn't try and make it anything it wasn't.

Ohh and I drew this as soon as I got back from the cinema:

Spoiler:

And how has no one mentioned this bit yet:

Spoiler:

Hulk: "PUNY GOD!"
*slams Loki back and forth over the floor like a ragdoll*

[AvatarIII]

And how has no one mentioned this bit yet:

Spoiler:

Hulk: "PUNY GOD!"
*slams Loki back and forth over the floor like a ragdoll*

Spoiler:

oh so that's what the line was, the cinema was too full of laughter for me to hear it

[Angua]

Spoiler:

I'm pretty sure Hulk did the Loki smashing before 'Puny god'.

Anyway, there were so many great lines in that movie. 'don't you need a plan of attack? I have a plan - attack!'

Loki not being able to convert Stark *tap, tap* 'that usually works' (also, is this evidence that contradicts Iron Man 1 in that Stark doesn't have a heart

[roband]

Spoiler:

I'm pretty sure Hulk did the Loki smashing before 'Puny god'.

Anyway, there were so many great lines in that movie. 'don't you need a plan of attack? I have a plan - attack!'

Loki not being able to convert Stark *tap, tap* 'that usually works' (also, is this evidence that contradicts Iron Man 1 in that Stark doesn't have a heart

Spoiler:

I saw it more as, the place on the chest where he taps them to control them is not flesh for Tony Stark, it's metal. I could be wrong.

Also, another great line, when Cpt American is telling them all how to attack, in the big scene at the end, he says "Hulk - smash". Awesome.

[Angua]

Spoiler:

I'm pretty sure Hulk did the Loki smashing before 'Puny god'.

Anyway, there were so many great lines in that movie. 'don't you need a plan of attack? I have a plan - attack!'

Loki not being able to convert Stark *tap, tap* 'that usually works' (also, is this evidence that contradicts Iron Man 1 in that Stark doesn't have a heart

Spoiler:

I saw it more as, the place on the chest where he taps them to control them is not flesh for Tony Stark, it's metal. I could be wrong.

Spoiler:

Oh, I know. It was just the fact that Loki went 'you have heart' then converted Hawkeye, it seemed like an amusing contrast (at least in my head).

[roband]

You broked the board!

[Angua]

sorry about that - I think it's fixed now (subsilver doesn't show broked well).

[hawkinsssable]

Just come back from seeing it, and wow. So so good. Even better than I was expecting from Joss with a budget. It's seriously the only movie I've ever been to where the whole cinema doubled over in laughter together.

[roband]

Just saw the movie again.

Some kid cried when

Spoiler:

Hulk started smashing Loki around. Hahaha.

Picked up on a couple more jokes this time. Felt a bit silly when I was the only one in the cinema laughing though.

[Various Varieties]

Something that could be seen as a flaw by some: The Dark Knight, The Incredibles and the X-Men movies all at least attempted to be themed around some larger, real-life metaphor or message. Avengers doesn't; it's just a movie about these specific characters, nothing more.

Spoiler:

Huh? There were HUGE references to how Loki was basically starting the Soviet Union of Space Magic. Freedom from freedom? Romanov still being 'a little red'? How did you miss that?

I didn't miss it, I agree that the freedom/authority theme was there, especially early on. It just didn't pervade the film to the same extent as the themes of the other superhero films I mentioned: I doubt the film's morality will inspire many critical discussions as detailed as this, for example.

But as I said, I don't view that as a flaw in what was a ridiculously entertaining film. As Angua posted, it's fine to have films that don't shove metaphors and morality down our throat!

[SirBryghtside]

Fair enough, I see your point. I was just a little confused.

[Dobblesworth]

Saw it last weekend. Expectations were high and I'm really grateful they f***ing met them.
One criticism I kinda have, from seeing it in 3D. The filters in the glasses mean you're seeing a darkened picture of what's on the screen. And then when you get the 'space scenes' where The Antagonist is meeting with The Dragon of The Bigger Bad to receive The Army etc., an already fairly dark shadowy scene is reduced much more. Sure I got the jist enough in The Stinger as, well, I'd followed along to the stuff like 'MovieBob' for the past years and what the chatter was after Thor, so it was confirmation more than a surprise for me. It just left me not seeing much.

Plenty of times though, that film just brought out a certain kind of fanboy in me, the kind that lights up and starts mildly pumping his fists (not high enough to ruin the view of the persons behind, don't worry). For instance, this was a certain line of thought that brought it out...

Spoiler:

Hmm, I wonder if Shield will have a Helicarrier in this canon. Ah here we have Cap and Banner on the deck of a naval carrier. Okay then, I guess that's allowed, maybe they just didn't have the tech to put something like that in the air in this imagining. Oh, "it's going to get hard to breath out here" (or whatever the correct line is), I think I know what's coming. Teehee they think it's gonna a submarine.

[Laserdan]

I'm probably going againt the mainstream of this thread, but I found the movie a bit too long (could've done with 120 minutes) and some parts, storywise, irked me. I'll spoiler-tag it, maybe someone can answer them for me?

Spoiler:

So I know that the Merged Hulk is supposed to be in control and not the mindless rager the Savage Hulk is. What felt wrong to me was that on the ship, the Savage Hulk was going all... savage and stuff. And when he returns to NYC, he's suddenly the Merged Hulk with a high degree of control? Did I miss something in the movie here?

Spoiler:

It's a superhero movie all right, but there is a line with ignoring Newton's laws that when crossed, rips me out of suspension of disbelief. As in "Thor jumps and hammers full-asgardian-god-power-mode on Captain A's shield who is basically just a very strong normal human and it explodes and stuff but Captain A doesn't even move". This is just a minor complaint because the scene itself rocked.

Spoiler:

The part where Loki demands obedience of the Germans in Stuttgart and they comply and one man stands up and basically says "Never again, dude" - I found that quite a bit overdone and too obvious a metaphor.

Spoiler:

Why would Thor die after falling in the glass prison cell? Why would the Hulk die?

Other than that, funny and entertaining. Even my girlfriend liked it, and she's usually not into this kind of movies. Favorite line of the movie:

Spoiler:

(don't remember the exact line) "He killed 80 people and he arrived just yesterday!" - "He's adopted."

[Zarq]

Spoiler:

Hmm, I wonder if Shield will have a Helicarrier in this canon. Ah here we have Cap and Banner on the deck of a naval carrier. Okay then, I guess that's allowed, maybe they just didn't have the tech to put something like that in the air in this imagining. Oh, "it's going to get hard to breath out here" (or whatever the correct line is), I think I know what's coming. Teehee they think it's gonna a submarine.

That was my exact train of thought too :p

[Gellert1984]

I'm probably going againt the mainstream of this thread, but I found the movie a bit too long (could've done with 120 minutes) and some parts, storywise, irked me. I'll spoiler-tag it, maybe someone can answer them for me?

Spoiler:

So I know that the Merged Hulk is supposed to be in control and not the mindless rager the Savage Hulk is. What felt wrong to me was that on the ship, the Savage Hulk was going all... savage and stuff. And when he returns to NYC, he's suddenly the Merged Hulk with a high degree of control? Did I miss something in the movie here?

I took this to be because, on the carrier he's overwhelmed by his anger due to the attack. In NYC he summons his anger instead, gaining a measure of control.

Spoiler:

It's a superhero movie all right, but there is a line with ignoring Newton's laws that when crossed, rips me out of suspension of disbelief. As in "Thor jumps and hammers full-asgardian-god-power-mode on Captain A's shield who is basically just a very strong normal human and it explodes and stuff but Captain A doesn't even move". This is just a minor complaint because the scene itself rocked.

Vibranium shield. Basically negates kinetic energy.

Spoiler:

The part where Loki demands obedience of the Germans in Stuttgart and they comply and one man stands up and basically says "Never again, dude" - I found that quite a bit overdone and too obvious a metaphor.

*Shrug* Opinions are like assholes...

Spoiler:

Why would Thor die after falling in the glass prison cell? Why would the Hulk die?

Dunno, neither does shield, it was just the best way to store a person of mass destruction and get them the hell off the ship as quickly as possible if they became a major threat. Ideally the jetisoned cell probably would've been tracked with a buttload of missiles. Maybe it would kill Thor, maybe it wouldn't, it definitly wouldnt kill the hulk, but might've killed Bruce if it wasnt for the whole 'I tried to off myself but I just Hulk out' bit, shield didnt seem to be aware of that though.

Personal favourite bit of the movie?

Spoiler:

Romanov: So the hulk? Thats your play?
Loki: I...buh? wha?

[You, sir, name?]

I keep thinking the film is about these avengers



Then I'm disappointed when I remember it's not.

[charliepanayi]

More like relieved when you remember the last time they tried doing a film with those Avengers.

[DreadArchon]

Whoah, this movie was excellent. I expected it to be good, but not that good. This is the first movie I've been to in a long, long time that could get such consistent reactions from the audience.

I won't fault it for all the lines I couldn't hear over the top of audience laughter/cheering. I won't even fault it for making me need to Google the guy at the start of the credits... and the scene at the end of the credits was hilarious too.

But I guess everyone knows who the Hulk is.

He's the guy who's always angry, right? Or is that a secret?

[Endless Mike]

Finally saw this and I was very pleased. It was a bit too Whedon-y at times, but that was to be expected. I didn't realize there was another post credits scene and now I need to see it again. Darn.

[IcedT]

I saw this yesterday, and it's the first movie I've seen in a long time that made me want to see it again almost immediately. I'm not much of a Whedonite but everything really came together for this movie. And I missed the after-after-credits scene so I need to go back and see it.

[Various Varieties]

Spoiler:

So I know that the Merged Hulk is supposed to be in control and not the mindless rager the Savage Hulk is. What felt wrong to me was that on the ship, the Savage Hulk was going all... savage and stuff. And when he returns to NYC, he's suddenly the Merged Hulk with a high degree of control? Did I miss something in the movie here?

Spoiler:

Two ways I reconciled that:

1) On the helicarrier he's forced to change; in NY he transforms willingly. I haven't read that many Hulk comics so I don't know if that matches any of the rules for Hulk transformations established there. But it does match with the end of the 2008 Incredible Hulk film, which concluded with Banner trying to transform intentionally.

2) The alien army was simply making him angrier than the Avengers were.

Spoiler:

It's a superhero movie all right, but there is a line with ignoring Newton's laws that when crossed, rips me out of suspension of disbelief. As in "Thor jumps and hammers full-asgardian-god-power-mode on Captain A's shield who is basically just a very strong normal human and it explodes and stuff but Captain A doesn't even move". This is just a minor complaint because the scene itself rocked.

Cap's shield is made of vibranium, a material for which Narrative Laws and the Rule of Cool essentially trump all Newtonian Laws.

[Chen]

I saw this on Friday and definitely enjoyed it. I don't generally like the 3D in movies, though it didn't really bother me in this one (except one scene that absolutely did not work in 3D when one of those dragon things was coming out of the portal). Dialogue was witty and the action was good. It was actually pretty good in terms of plot holes too though there were a couple I guess:

Spoiler:

Why was their solution to Hulk/Loki/Thor on the Helicarrier to drop them in a big box? After seeing what Hulk did to Loki (and him surviving) did they think a drop would just kill them or something? Hulk clearly survived a fall from that height (after he destroyed the jet) and I really wasn't feeling any tension when Thor was falling because he had probably taken worse hits when he was fighting Iron Man.

The only other thing that seemed pointless was the helicarrier itself. There was no immediate threat of being attacked at sea and frankly you just set yourself up for a disaster scenario if anything goes wrong. Why they didn't immediately start to try and land after the attack started is beyond me.

Some highlights that I enjoyed:

Spoiler:

- Hulk beating the crap out of Loki
- Hulk not being able to lift Thor's Hammer
- Hulk taking out the first dragon thing in one punch (they really went with the comics on how strong hulk is really supposed to be which is nice)
- The Iron Man/Captain America/Thor fight
- Black Widow/Hawkeye actually being pretty useful even though they were overshadowed by super powered people.
- Stark wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt for a lot of the movie

[eSOANEM]

I saw this on Friday and definitely enjoyed it. I don't generally like the 3D in movies, though it didn't really bother me in this one (except one scene that absolutely did not work in 3D when one of those dragon things was coming out of the portal).

Both of these are probably due to the fact is was post-production-ed into 3D (this was the main reason I went to see it in 2D in fact).

- Black Widow/Hawkeye actually being pretty useful even though they were overshadowed by super powered people.
[/spoiler]

This. So much this. I really want a Black Widow + Hawkeye film now because they were great together.

[JBJ]

Saw this yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed it. All of the actors had the ability to steal the scene, which they each did in a way, but then they kept one-upping each other. The overall plot was pretty straightforward, no surprises there, but the dialogue and delivery was superb. One note on the Norton/Ruffalo change of actor for Hulk.

Spoiler:

I think it was really for the better. In the previous movie, While Norton's character tried to find a cure, he went about it methodically in an almost detached manner. Then of course, the scene at the end where he seems to embrace the Hulk. Ruffalo seemed to have a more emotional relationship with his alter ego, accepting that it's part of him, but also embarrassed about it in a way. It developed the Hulk as a separate character even when he/it wasn't on screen.

Spoiler:

The only other thing that seemed pointless was the helicarrier itself. There was no immediate threat of being attacked at sea and frankly you just set yourself up for a disaster scenario if anything goes wrong. Why they didn't immediately start to try and land after the attack started is beyond me.

Spoiler:

Best guess as to why they were in the air was to give Banner more range while they searched for the tesseract. Longer line of sight, and what-not.
Then they were over land when the attack came and one of the first orders was to get over the sea, as to have a better chance of surviving a crash/hard landing. That reminded me of the following conversation between Fury and some bridge crew member. Paraphrased -
Fury: Get us back over the ocean!
Crew: Sir, navigation maps are out. We lost GPS.
Fury: Is the sun still in the sky?
Crew: Sir...?
Fury: Say "what" again! I said "Is the sun still up?" Keep the sun on the left.

[Dobblesworth]

RE Laserdan

Spoiler:

So I know that the Merged Hulk is supposed to be in control and not the mindless rager the Savage Hulk is. What felt wrong to me was that on the ship, the Savage Hulk was going all... savage and stuff. And when he returns to NYC, he's suddenly the Merged Hulk with a high degree of control? Did I miss something in the movie here?

Spoiler:

Probably the light unhinging of his mind through Loki's staff.

Spoiler:

It's a superhero movie all right, but there is a line with ignoring Newton's laws that when crossed, rips me out of suspension of disbelief. As in "Thor jumps and hammers full-asgardian-god-power-mode on Captain A's shield who is basically just a very strong normal human and it explodes and stuff but Captain A doesn't even move". This is just a minor complaint because the scene itself rocked.

Spoiler:

Vibranium, the Unobtainium of the Marvel universe. It's an immovable object to Mjolnir's unstoppable force. For detail, I think it's the lost element that Howard Stark writes into the Stark Expo for Tony to discover in IM2 and using his home particle accelerator he recreates the element, and wins a plot device that juices up his arc reactor and cures his palladium poisoning. Also recall Cap's gf in CA:TFA shoots a full clip of a revolver at it and we don't see a dent.

Spoiler:

Why would Thor die after falling in the glass prison cell? Why would the Hulk die?

Spoiler:

Presumably it's airtight so maybe oxygen deprivation. Drop it over ocean so occupant would likely drown before he made it out. The glass only breaks when Thor slams into it, pushing off the wall and adding a bit of Asgardian flight for momentum, and then only with an intergalactic super hammer forged in the heart of a dying star. Loki went in disarmed and I don't think Hulk's fists would do as well as Mjolnir.

[Chen]

Spoiler:

Why would Thor die after falling in the glass prison cell? Why would the Hulk die?

Spoiler:

Presumably it's airtight so maybe oxygen deprivation. Drop it over ocean so occupant would likely drown before he made it out. The glass only breaks when Thor slams into it, pushing off the wall and adding a bit of Asgardian flight for momentum, and then only with an intergalactic super hammer forged in the heart of a dying star. Loki went in disarmed and I don't think Hulk's fists would do as well as Mjolnir.

Spoiler:

Hulk can get FAR stronger than Thor the more emotional/angry he gets. That Thor could crack that cell with a regular hit means that Hulk could easily destroy it. Not to mention it got pretty damn destroyed when it hit the ground anyway, a fall which Hulk was shown to have survived after he destroyed the plane he was on. No it was altogether just a bad plan. Maybe if they had dropped the person into a giant fan/blade thing (which is what I thought the intent was at first) it might have done something more to Thor/Loki (though Hulk woulda still survived).

[Angua]

Spoiler:

I never really saw the cell as a way to kill the person inside it. It was designed for the Hulk - the idea was probably to get Bruce into it when it looked like he was hulking out, try and contain him, and if that didn't work, get him off the helicarrier. Even Bruce didn't think him on that ship was a great idea, so having a quick way to get him off seemed pretty reasonable.

[roband]

I'm probably going againt the mainstream of this thread, but I found the movie a bit too long (could've done with 120 minutes) and some parts, storywise, irked me. I'll spoiler-tag it, maybe someone can answer them for me?

My thoughts on each question, below.

Spoiler:

So I know that the Merged Hulk is supposed to be in control and not the mindless rager the Savage Hulk is. What felt wrong to me was that on the ship, the Savage Hulk was going all... savage and stuff. And when he returns to NYC, he's suddenly the Merged Hulk with a high degree of control? Did I miss something in the movie here?

Spoiler:

I also questioned this, I put it down to him choosing to change, rather than being angered into it. Maybe I shouldn't have to be made to make that assumption, but as the movie didn't explain it - I have to!

Spoiler:

It's a superhero movie all right, but there is a line with ignoring Newton's laws that when crossed, rips me out of suspension of disbelief. As in "Thor jumps and hammers full-asgardian-god-power-mode on Captain A's shield who is basically just a very strong normal human and it explodes and stuff but Captain A doesn't even move". This is just a minor complaint because the scene itself rocked.

Spoiler:

I actually considered doing a little chart of who's powers affect who and how, inside of the team. I like that Iron Man can tackle Thor, Thor can withstand a punch from Iron Man, Captain America's shield can withstand a hit from Thor's hammer and Hulk cannot lift Thor's hammer. There are a lot more comparisons (including Iron Man's 'blasters') which I'd like to look at.
Regarding the shield - it is made of material which does not vibrate. That's why it reflects all of the hammer's power into levelling the forest! Awesome scene.

Spoiler:

The part where Loki demands obedience of the Germans in Stuttgart and they comply and one man stands up and basically says "Never again, dude" - I found that quite a bit overdone and too obvious a metaphor.

Spoiler:

Cheap, but easy and makes the point very obvious. Not the worst trade off ever.

Spoiler:

Why would Thor die after falling in the glass prison cell? Why would the Hulk die?

Spoiler:

Yeah, I dunno on this one. Also - Loki 'ejected' Thor when the ships engines had failed and they were falling out of the sky. How long would it take for a ship of that size to reach terminal velocity - and once it did, would anything be able to "fall" out from beneath it? I questioned this during the movie itself and haven't worked out a way for it to work since.

Hope that helps, even if it's just giving another angle/opinion

[broken_escalator]

Spoiler:

So I know that the Merged Hulk is supposed to be in control and not the mindless rager the Savage Hulk is. What felt wrong to me was that on the ship, the Savage Hulk was going all... savage and stuff. And when he returns to NYC, he's suddenly the Merged Hulk with a high degree of control? Did I miss something in the movie here?

Spoiler:

I also questioned this, I put it down to him choosing to change, rather than being angered into it. Maybe I shouldn't have to be made to make that assumption, but as the movie didn't explain it - I have to!

Spoiler:

I think the movie was hinting at him being able to gain control. Stark was telling Banner that he should try to control it, or something along those lines. Then that security guard told Banner that it wasn't luck that Hulk had fallen into the building; Hulk fell there on purpose. Though we still see Hulk suckerpunch Thor during the invasion, for great amusement.

[roband]

Spoiler:

So I know that the Merged Hulk is supposed to be in control and not the mindless rager the Savage Hulk is. What felt wrong to me was that on the ship, the Savage Hulk was going all... savage and stuff. And when he returns to NYC, he's suddenly the Merged Hulk with a high degree of control? Did I miss something in the movie here?

Spoiler:

I also questioned this, I put it down to him choosing to change, rather than being angered into it. Maybe I shouldn't have to be made to make that assumption, but as the movie didn't explain it - I have to!

Spoiler:

I think the movie was hinting at him being able to gain control. Stark was telling Banner that he should try to control it, or something along those lines. Then that security guard told Banner that it wasn't luck that Hulk had fallen into the building; Hulk fell there on purpose. Though we still see Hulk suckerpunch Thor during the invasion, for great amusement.

Spoiler:

Good point. Though I think the suckerpunch was purely 'in-control' Banner

[eSOANEM]

Spoiler:

Why would Thor die after falling in the glass prison cell? Why would the Hulk die?

Spoiler:

Yeah, I dunno on this one. Also - Loki 'ejected' Thor when the ships engines had failed and they were falling out of the sky. How long would it take for a ship of that size to reach terminal velocity - and once it did, would anything be able to "fall" out from beneath it? I questioned this during the movie itself and haven't worked out a way for it to work since.

Spoiler:

They still had two engines running, even if that's not enough to keep it afloat, it will slow its fall significantly.

[roband]

Spoiler:

Why would Thor die after falling in the glass prison cell? Why would the Hulk die?

Spoiler:

Yeah, I dunno on this one. Also - Loki 'ejected' Thor when the ships engines had failed and they were falling out of the sky. How long would it take for a ship of that size to reach terminal velocity - and once it did, would anything be able to "fall" out from beneath it? I questioned this during the movie itself and haven't worked out a way for it to work since.

Spoiler:

They still had two engines running, even if that's not enough to keep it afloat, it will slow its fall significantly.

Spoiler:

That's not how I remember it. They lost one, because of Hawkeye's arrow directly into the engine - then lose the rest when he fires the weird-tipped arrow into a port on the bridge of the ship.
Did I remember wrong?

[broken_escalator]

Spoiler:

I thought they lost 2 engines at most, but I don't remember how many engines that technomagical arrow took out.

[Chen]

Spoiler:

Exploding arrow took out one engine which they started again. The virus arrow only took out one more engine. That's how they stayed in the air. They said if they lost 2 they'd fall out of the sky.

[roband]

Spoiler:

They WERE falling out of the sky. The altimeter was flying down and Fury was telling the pilot to get them over water...

[Angua]

Spoiler:

Yeah, but Iron Man restarted it so they stopped falling.

[UniqueScreenname]

I was most impressed by how the movie was able to highlight all of the characters well. I don't feel like anyone was ignored, except maybe Hawkeye, but he wasn't really there for most of it.

As far as the glass box thing goes:

Spoiler:

I guess I assumed that the force of the box hitting the ground would be bad for whoever was inside. They obviously would survive the fall, but thousands of pounds of metal and glass shards all through their body, a bit more doubtful. That's how I connected it in my mind.

[Adacore]

Spoiler:

Exploding arrow took out one engine which they started again. The virus arrow only took out one more engine. That's how they stayed in the air. They said if they lost 2 they'd fall out of the sky.

Spoiler:

If we're going to point out plot holes, there is of course the question of why Hawkeye didn't just fire four exploding arrows at each of the four engines...

[[username]]

This movie, and in particular that scene, gave me a newfound respect for Hawkeye. It might have had something to do with the lack of that hideous purple costume...

And...

Spoiler:

I hadn't realised how horrible a person Nick Fury was until now. I mean, the Phase Two thing, and the Captain America cards... I just ended up disliking him. I found it fairly distracting, actually.

I'm yet to see it again, for some reason. I don't really know how I didn't walk out of the cinema and buy a new ticket straight away.

Hopefully next time I'll spend less time thinking about my changed perspectives.


Final note: I often find that big movies get hyped up to the extreme, then fall kind of flat compared to expectations. It was really great, for once.
Final quote:

Spoiler:

Thor: He's my brother!
Black Widow: He killed eighty people.
Thor: He's adopted.

I'm going to stop typing now.

[Various Varieties]

Spoiler:

So I know that the Merged Hulk is supposed to be in control and not the mindless rager the Savage Hulk is. What felt wrong to me was that on the ship, the Savage Hulk was going all... savage and stuff. And when he returns to NYC, he's suddenly the Merged Hulk with a high degree of control? Did I miss something in the movie here?

Spoiler:

I also questioned this, I put it down to him choosing to change, rather than being angered into it. Maybe I shouldn't have to be made to make that assumption, but as the movie didn't explain it - I have to!

Devin Faraci's written a piece for Badassdigest explaining it pretty thoroughly:

http://badassdigest.com/2012/05/08/abou ... -avengers/

In that post, Devin quotes some of Film Crit Hulk's New Yorker piece on the movie. (And it's excellent news to see Film Crit Hulk writing for The New Yorker! If you can look past the all caps thing - or use a tool like this - he's a brilliant movie critic.)