Avengers

I think the reason the film was so successful was because it was made for people who have been fans of the characters and those who became fans through the preceding movies, all of which did extremely well on their own. Knowing the background of and between each character and their relationships has a definite impact on how well one will not only enjoy, but understand the film.

It really does little for anyone who isn't already "prepped" to enjoy it, but it wasn't made for those people anyway. One might argue that good films are self contained, but again, it really wasn't made for those people. And contrary to popular belief, not all things are made to please all people, successful works are made by those that understand their target audience.

Additionally, one complaint that I've heard a lot of was that Hulk goes from not being able to control his ability to being in absolute control with no explanation, which is false if you paid attention to the film and have seen the end of the Ed Norton Hulk film. This album kind of explains it http://imgur.com/a/lw53z
 
that link is deliberately edited around contradictions, he's trying to justify something he knows to be false. the whole aircraft sequence is a parody of itself. the whole movie for that matter.
 
Of the 'source' films, I saw Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America, and Thor. Of those I thought only "Iron Man 2" was good; "Iron Man 1" was fair, and the other two pretty much duds. So arguably, I suppose you could say I was pretty well prepped to *not* like "Avengers" : )

I should add that I've greatly enjoyed many other comic-based big-budget Hollywood films, like most of the X-Men, series, Nolan's Batman series (and the first Tim Burton one), Spiderman 1 & 2, Sin City, V For Vendetta, etc., so it's not that I have any objection to the genre. Far from it...
 
For me, it's perhaps the biggest mystery on the all-time box office top 5 (or even 20). This sucker simply printed money; there's no two ways about it, but...

Really? You can't see why it was so successful? I mean, there's movies I have HATED, like the last two Transformers, but I understand why they made money. I think it's pretty easy to see why Avengers, even divorced from critical analysis, made bucketloads of money.
 
No movie has ever pleased 100% of the public. So it is understandable why you didn't like it. I myself loved it. It's kind of like I still don't understand why people loved the Dark Knight so much and I just thought it was ok.

But Avengers was the best Super Hero movie I've ever seen.
 
Well, I suppose, sure...if you simply abstract the 'property', star, and big-budget VFX factors collectively as box-office predictors. Mix 'em all together and you're pretty sure to turn big bucks. But #3 all time is hard to swallow. In the company of some bonafide masterpieces, it just seems wrong. There was so much wrong about the movie for me - almost in every respect including the aforementioned predictors. VFX in particular, which almost certainly explains the bulk of the Transformers success, was pretty mundane in "Avengers" IMO. Expensive, flashy, elaborate, yes, but not notably imaginative IMO.

Incidentally, I noted from previous posts that you enjoyed the film, and you're a person here who I consider very well informed and astute about film in general. So it just goes to show ya...one man's passion is another man's...

Really? You can't see why it was so successful? I mean, there's movies I have HATED, like the last two Transformers, but I understand why they made money. I think it's pretty easy to see why Avengers, even divorced from critical analysis, made bucketloads of money.
 
True, true, indeed. A quick visit to rottentomatoes will prove this easily. Pick a personal all-time fave and there will be credible critics who didn't care for it much at all. Pick one of your all-time stinkers and some will have found it just fine and dandy. Aside from certain classics (just about no one's gonna publicly diss Citizen Kane), there's virtually no exceptions. C'est la vie...

No movie has ever pleased 100% of the public. So it is understandable why you didn't like it. I myself loved it. It's kind of like I still don't understand why people loved the Dark Knight so much and I just thought it was ok.

But Avengers was the best Super Hero movie I've ever seen.
 
Well, I suppose, sure...if you simply abstract the 'property', star, and big-budget VFX factors collectively as box-office predictors. Mix 'em all together and you're pretty sure to turn big bucks. But #3 all time is hard to swallow. In the company of some bonafide masterpieces, it just seems wrong. There was so much wrong about the movie for me - almost in every respect including the aforementioned predictors. VFX in particular, which almost certainly explains the bulk of the Transformers success, was pretty mundane in "Avengers" IMO. Expensive, flashy, elaborate, yes, but not notably imaginative IMO.

Incidentally, I noted from previous posts that you enjoyed the film, and you're a person here who I consider very well informed and astute about film in general. So it just goes to show ya...one man's passion is another man's...
Well I respect your opinion Ted, even if I disagree with it. At the same time, as much as I enjoyed the film, I'm not going to go to the mat to defend it. I liked the film's wry sense of humor most of all, and I notice people who don't like the film don't seem to appreciate that element.
 
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