Movie Madness: The Avengers rule!

In one word:

AWESOME!!!

Some random thoughts (because I'm still a bit tired from my crazy weekend in Germany and Luxembourg and can't seem to get my brain to function rationally, and I really wanted to get this out before it hit the screens in the US):

• Believable build up which takes the disparate and at odds with each other loner characters and forges them into a team to be reckoned with! This also provides us with some of the best moments in the movie (the character interaction) and some great dialogue (which I'm sure are even better in English than in Spanish *sigh*). And Joss Whedon succeeds in making sure all these characters gets their moment to shine, once again proving he is the king of ensemble movies! :o)

• A considerable level of danger... people we care about will seriously harmed, and some die! (This is heart-wrenching Joss Whedon material after all! *sob*)

• Speaking of Whedon and his trademark dry wit and snappy dialect, even translated into Spanish (*sigh*) I could tell he totally nailed Tony Stark's usual zingers! Great one-liners from many of the other characters as well, which I won't specify as they would probably get lost in translation (can't wait to see this again at some future date in English!). Oh, and again since this was in Spanish I have no idea if there was any trademark Jackson-swearing! :p

• Was really iffy about Scarlett Johansson being in this... "ooh look a hot chick!" Ummm NOPE! That hot chick kicks ass!!! She could probably give Buffy a few tips! (again, she got several Buffy-worthy quips and retorts) And she's actually got a lot more depth than when we first met her in Iron Man 2 (where she just plain annoyed me).

• Saw it in 3D, and although cool (but a bit dark) I don't think it needs it... probably looks just as fabulous in 2D.

• Note: as with all Marvel movies there IS an extra scene after all is said and done! This one is placed after the main part of the credits (animated references to the main characters) and could be a clue to a possible sequel! After that you can leave. I stayed until the very end hoping there would be something more... but nada.

Don't know what it's about? Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) gets together a group of (somewhat unstable) superheroes to kick some alien butt! Starring Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo taking over from Ed Norton), the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson, love her intro!), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner, sadly not given enough to do). With Norse god of mischief Loki (Tom Hiddleston) as the charming principal antagonist trying to get his hands on a blue energy cube to let the aliens invade... New York of course! :p

io9 has got a great "Guide to the Avengers for the Extremely Confused" which would be useful if you intend to go see this without having seen the 5 previous Marvel movies (Iron Man 1+2, Thor, Captain America, Hulk) which were basically made to set up THIS movie! In summary 

"Relax, endearingly perplexed moviegoer! The Avengers isn't that hard to figure out! It's just your run-of-the-mill ensemble flick about a vitamin-enhanced World War II soldier, a viking space god, a tycoon in a flying exoskeleton, an indestructible irradiated man-child, a Judo master in a catsuit, and some guy who's really, really good with a bow and arrow. Furthermore, it's all mired in five decades of comic book lore! Easy peasy!"

io9 has also got a very insightful interview with the amazing Joss Whedon about the relationships between the characters in this film. Neither of these Links contains any spoilers, so don't worry!

And my final link: for a great review, discussing the movie's strong points and its flaws without spoiling anything (minor miracle!), and some fun movie quotes, check this out over at Billie Doux!

Now let Blockbuster season officially begin!

And allow me a moment to gloat that The Avengers hit screens in Europe a full week before the US! (even if I had to see it in Spanish).

There, done gloating. Go watch it and enjoy! (then come back and tell me what you thought!) :o)