The Avengers

The Avengers
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Joss Whedon (IMDB)

You might be reading this and thinking... wait didn't I see a review about The Avengers on here already... and you would be right. My brother Steve posted his review a few days ago and you can read it right HERE, but I didn't sit through hours of Marvel movies in culmination for this film, not to write a review... so here's my take on the block bustin beast known as The Avengers.

Synopsis: Don't you already know by now?

Where to start... don't believe the hype, this movie is SHIT!

I kid... It was pretty good.

First the bad. I think it has some serious pacing issues. It starts very slow and I found it a bit boring for the first 30 to 40 minutes, then when the first main battle takes place on the air ship it starts to get good. There's another lull in action then it pick back up towards the end. I also found the plot a little stale and not very complex, which in a way I don't mind for this kind of movie.

Now the good. I did enjoy the dialog a lot and found the chemistry between all the characters to be genuine. I thought the action scenes were top notch and well executed. Joss Whedon did a great job weaving in all the heroes in a way that gave them all they're own spot light. Out of all the Hulks, Mark Ruffalo is the best, hopefully they'll keep him. I want some chicken shawarma.

I think this film does a good job at delivering a fun time at the movies. You get a pop corn and a soda, sit back and blank out... isn't that what we all want, just to turn it all off... the weight of this wretched life... sucking anything I have of a soul left out of me... TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF!!!

Cabin in the Woods

Cabin in the Woods
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Joss Whedon (IMDB)

(No Spoilers)
I have been eagerly awaiting the release of this film for a few weeks now. As a fan of horror and a fan of Joss Whedon I knew it was more than likely going to please. One thing I didn't want to know about was the plot, I heard it had some twists and I didn't want the film to be spoiled for me. I am glad I made that choice.

Thor and a group of kids head out to a cabin in the woods for some R&R. Sounds a little like the synopsis to this review. Unlike that movie, this film takes some pretty surprising turns.

I knew I was going to like movie after the title of the film appears on screen for the first time about ten minutes in. This was a fun ride and extremely unique in the horror world, at least from anything that I've seen. It does a fine dance between paying homage to the classic horror films of the 70's and 80's while still taking jabs at how the genre has become stale and formulaic. I enjoyed the comedy in this a lot, especially from the stoner guy (Fran Kranz) and Richard Jenkins. There were a couple of holes in the plot that I found, but I'll save that as it gets into spoiler territory. As a whole, I was really happy with this movie and I'm looking forward to re-watching it soon. It opened this past weekend and you can check the trailer above.

Serenity

Serenity
(2006) [Trailer]
Director: Joss Whedon (IMDB)

Over the last two months I've been watching Firefly on Netflix streaming and it rules. I never got a chance to check this series out when it was on TV, but it's never to late to start thanks to modern technology (Netflix).

The greasy corporate suits over at Fox decided to pull the plug on Firefly after half a season. This is the movie that followed in order to wrap up the story line. 500 years into the future the Earth is all used up. Humans head out to other planets, terraform them and start to colonize. Some planets thrived, others didn't, in between all that madness we get the story of Serenity. A space ship of renegades harboring a government secret... a little girl who's a killing machine.

This movie is a glorified TV episode, which is a good thing. I would honestly recommend you see the Firefly series before watching this, it's only 14 episodes and won't take too much time. It's definitely a little more high budget than the show and there's a lot more special effects. There's not as much western stuff in there, which I miss from the show, but does offer some pretty awesome space battles which were almost nonexistent in the series. The original cast were great, and fortunately they're all back on board. Also manning the helm is Josh Whedon, who's writing and direction are suburb. Serenity (and Firefly) is really fun and a cool campy sci-fi flick which holds up nicely. Check it out, and the show, out on Netflix instant.