Adventures in the Marvelous Zone

In my Captain America review I started by saying that overhyped blockbusters rarely live up to the hype. Key word being “rarely.” Meaning: most don’t live up to the hype. But some do.

Case in point: The Avengers.

Before going to see this movie, I considered it highly hyped. I know that with this cast, and with Joss Whedon as director, Russ and I were expecting great things. No, better than great things—fantastic things!

And we were not disappointed.

At the risk of sounding like a gushing fan girl, I have to say that The Avengers is the best superhero movie I’ve ever seen. Now, I’m sort of new to the genre, but after having watched all of the feed-in movies last week, and waxing eloquent about most of them, even in light of all that, I still think The Avengers was EVEN BETTER.

This might come down to a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, each of these Marvel superhero characters is interesting and compelling and fascinating and whatever superlative adjectives you might want to use in their own right, but what really takes the whole experience over the top, I think, is putting them all together in one room and watching how they interact with each other.

I asked Russ afterwards which he thought the best scene in the movie was, and he said that scene in the beginning when they all first meet, and the conversation that goes on between them, because it’s so real, and so in character, and so exactly how each of them would react to the others. Here we have a group of extremely distinct personalities. Not only do their superpowers differ from each other, but these powers have been granted or visited upon people who are strong characters in their own right, even without superpowers. You throw superpowers on top of such strong personalities, and…kaboom! And then you put all those super personalities and powers together in one room and…DOUBLE KABOOM!

That was the most fun for me. Watching them all get along (or, sometimes, NOT get along) with each other. And, in the end, when push comes to shove, seeing them band together.

I very much enjoyed the new and improved Bruce Banner. Not only is he now being portrayed by a different actor (Mark Ruffalo) but I also sensed a subtle change in his demeanor. He’s still dealing with his overwhelming angst about “The Other Guy,” as he refers to Hulk, but I enjoyed seeing him at work, having something to do, being a brilliant scientist. And of course he and Tony Stark hit it off right away, which is as it should be, and was a lot of fun. It was nice that Betty Ross did not make an appearance in this movie. Frankly, she would have had nothing to add to the storyline, and she may have just got our Dr. Bruce acting all sappy and whiny again. Glad that didn’t happen.

Thor returns to Earth on a mission, and there is a brief nod to his love interest, Jane Foster, where we find out that she is safe. And then we don’t hear from her or talk about her again. Because this is not her movie. We may see more of Jane Foster in Thor 2, scheduled for release in November 2013. But right now, Thor’s kinda too busy for her.

One character I’m glad we got to see a lot more of is Nick Fury. So far, I’ve only known him as this mysterious figure who shows up to invite people to be an Avenger, but now we really get to see his leadership qualities. And he’s pretty good with a bazooka too.

There’s only one girl in this group, Natasha, the Black Widow, and we have a few good scenes that flesh her out more as a character. We hear a bit about her past, get a hint of what motivates her, and for the first time sense some vulnerability, making her seem more human than she did in Iron Man 2. This time around I felt she was a little more than simply window dressing, a “Wow!” factor for all the males in the audience. She’s still all that, of course, but she’s also starting to feel more like a real person.

I was also glad to see Agent Coulson in this one, even as he has been in all the feed-in movies to date, and I especially enjoyed his fanboy adoration of Captain America. That would, of course, fit right in with his character. In fact, I would almost be surprised if it wasn’t Captain America that inspired him to pursue the career path that ultimately puts him in SHIELD. Coulson had some good lines…and some very powerful scenes.

As for Cap, I am gaining even more appreciation for his character. Since he is so much of a leader, seeing him in a group of superheroes, many of whom are natural leaders in their own right, really gives him the chance to shine as a leader. And as a member of a team. The “fish out of water” stuff was also fun.

In fact, there’s so much fun in this movie, that a couple of times the audience was laughing so much, we couldn’t hear the next line. No, it’s not a comedy, but there are some good comic lines. I won’t spoil any of them for you here (in case you haven’t seen the movie yet, and if you haven’t, shame on you! Get ye to a movie theatre, pronto!). On top of that, though, I’m pretty certain I’m lacking the “Joke Gene” in my DNA, because I generally have a terrible time remembering jokes. A ouple of really funny ones do stick out, though, but to repeat them here would not do them justice. Really: Just go see for yourself.

Many many months ago, when Russ and I heard that Joss Whedon was going to direct The Avengers, we found this exciting news. We of course know Joss Whedon from his work on Buffy and Angel, so with that in his resumé, the ample and appropriate use of humor was a given. Another given with Whedon, is that he has no qualms about taking the plot in a direction that other movie directors would never dare attempt. As Russ says, “Nothing’s sacred.” Again, I won’t spoil, but if you haven’t already seen the movie….do be ready for anything.

As all comic book fans know, every band of superheroes must have its supervillains, and Loki stands out as the bad guy in all this. He’s working with this group of aliens who are, at least to me, token aliens, token bad guys. Pretty standard fare. But Loki…oh, he is deliciously evil! Of course, we’ve got all that sibling rivalry with Thor at the bottom of it, and he is after all, the God of Mischief. Still, what goes on here is a lot more than simple mischief. He’s evil, and insane, and so much fun to watch.

Of course, the best part about Loki is seeing him get vanquished in the end. No spoiler here, I’m sure. Obviously the bad guys are not going to come out on top. There’s this terrific battle between our superheroes and the alien forces, played out on the streets of New York City, with the Stark skyscraper in the background. It’s all a bit over the top, if you ask me, but then…hey! We’re dealing with comic book heroes here! Of course it’s over the top! And to any who might scoff, “But that would never happen!” Well…duh! That’s why it’s in a movie! A comic book movie! The final sequence is a rollicking bit of action worthy of the very best battles ever laid out by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in the day. Totally worthy, and very likely surpassing anything you might be able to imagine.

I thoroughily enjoyed my first look at The Avengers . This movie cries out for a second viewing. And maybe a third or fourth. It moved so fast, and was so chock full of good stuff, I’m sure I didn’t catch it all on a a first viewing. We saw it in 2D, because we wanted to be able to follow the story and the characters and not be overly distracted by special effects. But now that we have one showing under our belts, we’ve decided to go back in a couple of weeks and see how this thing looks in 3D IMAX. We haven’t seen anything yet in 3D IMAX. We were waiting for a movie worthy of the price of admission for something like that.

And we feel certain that with The Avengers, we’ve picked a winner.

Captain America brings up the rear in our Marvel Movie Marathon. By the time this movie came out in theaters last summer, I had already read enough comics that I was eagerly awaiting this film. Sadly, when I saw the movie, I felt it did not live up the hype (of course, over-hyped blockbusters rarely do). This movie did not impress me to the same degree as the Iron Man movies, or Thor (but I did enjoy it more than The Incredible Hulk).

I think, at least for me, Captain America suffers somewhat from being a period piece. And a war film. Traditionally, girls are not fans of war films, and in that way I guess I’m a traditionalist. I usually don’t have a problem with period films, but I guess the idea of a superhero in the 1940’s somehow just didn’t work for me. In my mind, I think all superheroes are supposed to be modern, more representative of the future, rather than the past.

Now I say all that to preface my next comment: upon a second viewing, I enjoyed the film a lot more. Having more of a sense of how Captain America fits into the Marvel mythology, I appreciated the film on that level. I especially enjoyed seeing Howard Stark in the 1940’s. It was fun to visit the Stark Expo in this film, after having just seen it in Iron Man 2. There were a lot of good references to the Marvel Universe in general, and that helped to anchor this movie experience for me moreso upon a second viewing.

As for those Marvel references, this idea of the “super soldier” harkens back to The Incredible Hulk movie. Of course in the comics, it is an accident when Banner is hit by gamma radiation, but in the Hulk movie, while the mutation is still an “accident,” it’s an accident that happens on purpose, when Banner tries out that serum on himself. The theme of the scientifically engineered “super soldier” is present in both movies, so we have a good bit of continuity in this cinematic Marvel universe.

I know Russ is a big fan of Captain America, much more than I am. He sees Cap as the superhero with a heart, devoted to doing the right thing, simply because it IS the right thing to do. His physical powers are greater than the average man, but in comparison to any of the other Avengers’ powers, I would have to say these powers pale in comparison. There is no magic, and the science behind his powers is limited. He is limited (to some degree. I mean, can he fly like Iron Man?) But I must agree with Russ that he is the all-around trustworthy good guy that you want on your side in a fight.

One of the best scenes, early in the movie: at boot camp, Colonel Phillips (the ever craggy-faced Tommy Lee Jones) throws a “live grenade” into a group of soldiers. Everyone scatters, but Steve Rogers falls on the grenade, to protect his fellow soldiers. Who does that? And not only that, but these are the guys who have been harassing and teasing him, because at this point, he’s still a 98 pound weakling, a total misfit. I know I wouldn’t have fallen on that grenade for probably anybody but family, and certainly not for a bunch of virtual strangers that have been giving me grief. But then, I’m not Captain America. Steve Rogers is, inside. He just needed to have his outsides brought up to speed with his insides.

And so we have the “procedure,” where he is shot full of super-soldier serum, so that now, at last, his body can match his heart and his head. And I do say “head” very literally, because early in the movie, they have apparently been super-imposing actor Chris Evans’ head onto some scrawny male body. Most of the time, it’s well done, and you don’t notice, but there were a few scenes where, at least for me, this just didn’t work.

Specifically, there’s a scene where he’s in a cab with Agent Carter on his way to the “procedure.” In some shots, he looks excessively small, kind of like Frodo sitting next to Gandalf in the cart, at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. Then they go to another angle, and he doesn’t look quite so small. But his head still looks too big for his body. It was a little disconcerting. Frankly, I was glad when they finally beefed him up, not just because we could now get to the superhero stuff, but also because it meant I wouldn’t have to see those disturbing body mashups of our main character anymore.

With a hero like Captain America, we need a worthy villain, and in this film, we have one. Hugo Weaving portrays Johann Schmidt, aka Red Skull. Hugo Weaving! I talked last time about the fabulous casting in these Marvel movies, and here is another excellent example. At first you say, “Oh look! It’s…what’s his name? That Australian guy….oh yeah, that’s right…Hugo Weaving!” But very quickly you forget all about Hugo Weaving and Mr. Smith and Elrond and Sir John from Reckless Kelly—if you happen to be at all acquainted with that quirky Australian film from the early 90’s. (You most certainly don’t even give a passing thought to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.) He’s got the accent and the long leather coat and even the red skull. So that’s all you’re thinking about, and wondering how Captain America is going to put him in his place.

So he was good. I liked him. And I guess I liked Hayley Atwell as Agent Carter, the lone female in the movie. She’s very British, and very 1940’s. Hers was a character that could have very easily been a man, but we needed to at least try to inject a little romance into our war story, right? I don’t know if I believed the romance, but it was nice that they tried.

I really liked Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine, but his time on screen was way too brief. Dominic Cooper could very well have been Robert Downey Jr.’s dad—if he had actually lived in the 1940’s. Good physical casting, and he played the part well, with a sort of smart aleck swagger.

However, the one actor who doesn’t really work for me is Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America. I find him kind of bland—just another one of those generically good-looking Hollywood types that can so easily be interchanged with any of the other good-looking Hollywood types. (They’re so bland, I can’t even think of their names now, but I think one is Ryan Gossling, and another is…Matthew somebody?)

Chris Evans just doesn’t do anything for me. I was going to say maybe it’s the role, because Captain America is such a Mr. White Bread all-around good guy, that maybe I actually found the character more bland than the actor. But when Chris Evans played Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies, he didn’t do anything for me there either. So I think it must just be the actor. Not that I’m saying he’s a bad actor! Not that at all. He’s just not my type of guy.

Since I’ve mentioned the humor in the other Marvel movies, I’ve got to say something here as well. The thing that struck me the funniest was the musical montage, when Steve Rogers is pressed into service as a PR symbol for the American military. We have a really goofy song, dancing girls, and a stage bit where the costumed hero punches Hitler in the mouth. I’ve no doubt that something like this would have gone over really big back during WWII. I don’t know if I believe that the military would have wasted their only super-soldier on a PR gig, but it does help to explain how Steve Rogers as an American soldier ends up prancing around in what is basically a ridiculous outfit. (Don’t hate me for saying that! In your heart of hearts, you know it’s ridiculous.)

And we really do need some explanation for that costume, don’t we? Thor is not in a “costume,” that’s his battle uniform. Iron Man’s “costume” is what actually gives him his power. Hulk can’t help it. In The Avengers we’ll revisit Black Widow, who looks rather fetching in her skintight black jumpsuit, and we’ll meet Hawkeye, who is appropriately attired as an archer. Russ tells me the Captain America PR storyline is not canon, but in this case I’m grateful for it, because it does actually explain a lot about Steve Rogers’ stars and stripes.

By the end of the movie, Steve Rogers has been dug up from the ice, still alive, revived, and ready for action. Disoriented, he meets Nick Fury in the middle of Manhattan, and is asked (more or less) to continue his good work by joining the Avengers.

And now our Marvel Movie Marathon has come to an end. All the players are in place and we are ready for The Avengers. Well, almost. We still have to get Thor back from Asgard, and locate Bruce Banner in the Canadian outback, but these are small concerns which I am sure Joss Whedon will address and deal with swiftly, so that the fun of The Avengers can begin right away!

Of course I’ll come here to give my impressions of The Avengers after we see it this weekend. I must say that, all in all, this Marvel Movie Marathon has gone by way too fast! But it was so much fun watching and reviewing these movies that I think every now and then I’ll throw in a quick review of some of the other Marvel movies we have on our shelves, as well as other Marvel movies as they hit the theaters.

In a way it’s sad that comic books are not be as popular as they once were. But that being the case, it is extremely exciting to see these great characters live on, popular as ever and infused with new life, as Marvel Comics morphs from the Silver Age to the silver screen.

A few days ago I said that the first Iron Man movie was my favorite. But then last night we watched Thor, and I must revise. I’ve just decided that Thor is my favorite. Robert Downey Jr. is probably my favorite actor of the whole bunch, but overall, Thor is my favorite movie. And I’m going to tell you why.

With Iron Man, it’s all about science and technology. With Hulk, it’s all about science and technology run amok. But with Thor…it’s magic! And I like magic. As far as I’m concerned, magic in a movie is almost always a good thing — well, maybe except for the Harry Potter series, where I feel, at least towards the end, that the magic becomes a crutch, a convenient plot device that essentially saps any true drama from the story because all Harry needs to do is wave his wand and shout ‘’Abracadabra!’ and whatever is troubling him shall be instantly vanquished.

But that’s another matter entirely. I came here to talk about Thor. And I feel like I’m going to be gushing through this entire post, because I love this movie so much. I’m trying to think of something bad to say about it, even a little bit bad, and …well, okay. We could’ve had more scenes with Chris Hemsworth with his shirt off. Yeah! There you go. Something bad about the movie: not enough Chris Hemsworth with his shirt off.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, what can we say good about the move? Well, I mentioned the magic, and of course that includes the magical world of Asgard, and also the realm of the Frost Giants, which were all excellently depicted. There are a ton of end credits for artists and designers, and I think each and every one earned their paychecks on this one. I don’t know how much of what we were seeing was “real,” how much was CGI, how much was simply “art,” but it all looked fabulous and it all worked.

I especially liked the Rainbow Bridge. In the comics, the Rainbow Bridge is an actual rainbow (a la My Little Pony), and if they had done a canon rendition, it would have just been tacky. It wouldn’t have fit with the majestic sweep of the rest of the scenery. But the multi-colored crystal highway was perfect! Understated, gorgeous, yet true to the original concept; it got the point across.

So the magical places were well done, but you know what? I even liked the design of the small New Mexico town where Jane and company do business. There was a real “mid century modern” feel to the place, and I happen to be a big fan of mid-century modern. It looked shabby, yet incredibly hip.

But even better than the sets…how about that casting? Anthony Hopkins as Odin? C’mon! Could they have done better? I mean, Ian McKellen is already taken for Gandalf, and Laurence Olivier has been dead these many years. But Hopkins lends the exact amount of royal dignity to the role.

Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston as Thor and Loki are so obviously perfect in these roles that it goes without saying. But what really blew me away were the kid actors who portrayed them as children. Could they have possibly gotten any two kids who looked more like their adult counterparts?

As far as I have read in the Thor comic books, I have not yet met Sif or The Warriors Three. So I can’t speak about the casting of these roles, but Russ tells me they were pretty much right on. He says he would have liked to see Hogun looking a little less Asian and more like a Mongolian, and that Volstagg is supposed to be much larger, but other than that, he feels they did a good job.

Once again we have that strong female character. In fact, Sif is a stronger female character than any I’ve met so far, either in the Marvel movies, or in my comic reading. Is she a tougher chick than Black Widow? I mean, if Sif and Black Widow got in a fight, who would win? I would go with Sif. I’m not sure, but I think she must have some magical aspect to her strength and courage. True, Black Widow is a highly trained professional, but she doesn’t have the air of Asgard in her lungs. Now, maybe I’m wrong about this, but that’s just how I see this at the moment.

Speaking of female characters, I’m not getting out of here without mentioning something about Jane Foster. I don’t know if she’s my favorite female Marvel character ever, but this Jane is by far more interesting than the Jane Foster of the comic books. The little I’ve seen of Jane Foster in the comics, she’s all about being a nurse and being secretly in love with both Dr. Blake AND Thor (of course not realizing that they are one in the same.) But Jane in the movie is smart, she has a career, she has goals and dreams. She’s committed to her work, and I always admire that in any character (in fact in any person). She has flaws (her driving skills are autrocious) and…and…

And you know what? Actually, it just occurred to me that she’s not really as well-developed as a character as I would like her to be. I wonder if we’re going to see her in The Avengers? I certainly imagine we’ll see her again in Thor 2, due out at Thanksgiving, 2013. Hopefully, we’ll get more insight on Jane Foster, at least in Thor 2.

Okay. I just realized something “bad” I can say about the movie. I thought the “love story” between Thor and Jane was not as developed as it could have been. But then everything happens so fast, there’s hardly any time for a connection to develop. I mean, I can understand why Jane is so taken with Thor (even before she knows he’s a Norse god), but what exactly does he see in her? Well, she’s attractive, to be sure, and maybe he also admires her dedication to her work. Or maybe it’s just that having lived in Asgard all his life, he’s tired of those Asgardian women, and an Earth woman looks mighty appealing to him, since she is different and “exotic.” But then why didn’t he go for Jane’s assistant, Darcy? She was just as cute, if you ask me. And she also had some better, funnier lines. (“I am not dying for six college credits!”)

Okay, I had to bring that up. Funny. Humor. Yes. This movie is funny, it has its moments of humor, and it all works. The humor does not detract from the extremely serious storyline, but does tend to make the characters more real, and more likeable. Of course, there is a good deal of humor in the “fish out of water” jokes that come from Thor adjusting to life in this new realm (“This drink! I like it! More!” SMASH!!!). And as I mentioned, Darcy has some pretty good lines too. A light feeling of amusement permeates the entire movie.

Of course, there are plenty of moments that are not funny at all. Lots of serious stuff going on here, battles, betrayals, and sibling rivalry gone out of control. The story is just…EPIC. As Russ says, almost Shakespearian. No wait, let’s drop the “almost.” This story of kingdoms, families, love and war is worthy of the most noble presentation. And that’s exactly what director Kenneth Branagh gives it. Branagh, of course, is really big on the Bard, having directed and starred in screen adaptaptions of Hamlet, Henry V, Othello and Much Ado About Nothing. The man knows his Shakespeare. And I think his familiarity with that classic bit of literature that really helped to infuse Thor with all the grandeur it deserves.

So, Marvel Entertainment has some fabulous casting directors, choosing the very best actors for their films, but let’s not overlook the fact that they also seem to chose the perfect director for each of their projects.

Which leads us finally to a word about Whedon as director of the upcoming Avengers film. As big-time fans of the Buffy and Angel TV shows, Russ and I have come to trust Joss Whedon to put his quirky stamp of action, drama, suspense and humor on everything he touches. The buzz on The Avengers is good, and we do not anticipate anything in the way of disappointment. Favreau delivered with Iron Man, Branagh gave us the best possible Thor, and Whedon should be able to put it all together in one nice neat and delightful package with The Avengers.

Can’t wait!

Next stop in the Marvel Movie Marathon: Iron Man 2! This means another rollicking ride of action, excitement, suspense, humor, and this time, I would say, a bit more drama than before. Almost immediately, we find that our hero Tony Stark has some issues to deal with. Big issues. The government wants him to hand over his Iron Man suits. But that’s almost inconsequential in comparison to his larger problem: he’s dying. The palladium powering the arc reactor which keeps the shrapnel from entering his heart is in fact poisoning his blood. He’s tried everything he can think of to remedy the situation, but to no avail. His doom seems certain.

And how does he react? Badly. In fact, we spend a good deal of the movie watching Tony attempt to self-destruct. He starts simply, by racing in the Monaco Grand Prix, then proceeds to a drunken party where, outfitted as Iron Man, he blasts objects thrown in the air, pees in the suit (don’t worry, it’s got a filtration system) and just generally embarrasses himself in front of his guests.

I do have to say, that was a hard scene for me to watch. Oh, how the mighty are falling! It was upsetting, yet when I think about it, it makes perfect sense that someone like Tony Stark would behave exactly like this. With all his power and wealth, I’m sure Tony’s spent most of his life believing that he is indestructible, untouchable. Add to that the power he has recently acquired in his Iron Man persona, and that sense of immortality must be multiplied a thousand fold. Impending doom is difficult for anyone to deal with. But how much more, someone so full of life and purpose as the great Tony Stark.

Of course, though, he doesn’t die. And he’s not going to die. (You didn’t actually think he would, did you?) We get a glimpse into his relationship with his father, another difficult thing for him to deal with, but through the magic of film, it is his father who points him down the path to solving his problem. And mending their rocky father/son relationship at the same time. It’s touching. Not sappy. Just touching.

In this installation of the Iron Man saga, in addition to the usual cast of characters, who we met last time, we now meet several new characters as well. Most notably, enter Black Widow, who here is not referred to as Black Widow, but rather as Natalie Rushman, and more exactly as Natasha Romanoff, an operative for SHIELD sent to keep an eye on Tony.

This chick kicks ass. Was I talking just yesterday about the portrayal of women in Marvel Comics? I’m not really familiar with Black Widow, or a lot of female super heroes for that matter, but here is a different type of woman than Betty Ross. Or even Elizabeth Ross (as she’s called in The Incredible Hulk movie we watched yesterday). I would have to check with Russ to be sure, but my impression is that Black Widow does not have any “super powers” above being a highly trained fighter. But for this film, that’s all she needs.

There’s one particularly great scene where she is breaking into the Hammer compound to find the villain Vanko, and Happy insists on coming along with her. As they enter, Happy engages one of Hammer’s men, and spends the next several minutes fighting him, and eventually knocking him out. While Happy is thus engaged in this single battle, Natasha has gone down the hall, knocking out and stringing up bad guys left and right. Finally Happy put the final “kaboom!” on his opponent and proudly announces, “I got ’im!” only to look up and see the trail of destruction caused by a woman who he thought was nothing more than a mild-mannered legal assistant.

At this point it might be worth noting that Happy is portrayed by Jon Favreau, who also happens to be the director of both Iron Man movies. He does a good job acting, but an even better job directing. I’m glad they decided to stick with the same director for both Iron Man movies. There’s a seamless consistency between the two stories, a similar look. I’m reminded of how Chris Columbus directed the first two Harry Potter movies, then they got a new director, and for the third film onwards, I almost fel t like I was in a completely different universe. We don’t get that here. And, as Martha Stewart would say, that’s a good thing.

Another note about casting: we have some minor villains, Justin Hammer and Senator Stern, portrayed by Sam Rockwell and Gary Shandling respectively. I think it was an interesting choice to have two actors who are primarily known as comedians playing these roles. Because, of course, they are not the real villains, they’re just sort of a petty annoyance for our hero. The fact that we as the audience know these faces as funny men, I think, lends to the impression that as far as villains go, they are laughable.

Of course the real villain is Vanko, portrayed by Mickey Rourke. I’m not really a Mickey Rourke fan, but I must say I think he did a splendid job with Vanko. With the heavy Russian accent, though, I sometimes had a hard time understanding everything he said. But then, this was the kind of character where maybe you don’t necessarily need to listen to everything he says. In his look and his demeanor, his intentions are clear. The bit with the electric whips was pretty cool too.

Now one more note about actors, and this I have to mention, because I just found out that Stark’s computer, known to us as “Jarvis,” is voiced by the actor Paul Bettany. How cool is that! I’ve always been a big Paul Bettany fan, ever since seeing him in A Knight’s Tale. I think it’s a testament to the Iron Man movies though that while watching and listening to Jarvis, and having this idea in the back of my head that “Gee, that voice sounds familiar…” at no point did I feel compelled to jump up and consult IMDB on my computer. I can get that way about familiar voices. But the Iron Man movies had me so engrossed, I didn’t at all feel like jumping up, not for any reason.

One more thing, and then I must go. Russ is a lot better at this than I am (he being a longtime chronologist) but hepointed out to me that there are bits of the preceding and upcoming Marvel movies woven into this Iron Man! For one thing, towards the end of Iron Man 2, Tony has the TV on, and there is a newcast of the events that we just saw in The Incredible Hulk movie! So apparently that movie and this movie are taking place at approximately the same time!

Not only that, but at one point Coulson, the SHIELD agent, tells Tony that he’s been called away to New Mexico. Why? Well, we find out why at the very end of the movie. And by “very end,” of course I mean the “endpiece,” which is shown after the lengthy credits. Now, if you are one of those people who jump up the moment the credits start to roll, then you would have missed this. Shame on you for jumping up, but if you did jump up and missed this, then you have no one to blame but yourself. But if that’s the case, then I’ll tell you now what you missed: In New Mexico, Agent Coulson drives to a crater. The camera pans down from the SHIELD agent to the center of the crater and a strange object: Thor’s Hammer, Mjolnir, which has just fallen from Asgard to Earth. And of course, what is our next stop in the Marvel Movie Marathon? Thor!

Well, enough said. Tonight we watch Thor! And this weekend, we get to see all our characters come together in The Avengers!!

Double exclamation point well deserved.