Is "The Avengers" a little overrated?

[Black Eye Guy]

I always wonder is Joss actually over hyped (specifically with the Avengers) or do we just feel he is because we note every bit of media he gets. Most people I know don't have a clue who wrote/directed the Avengers. And if I told them it was Joss Whedon to them they wouldn't have notion who I'm talking about. In much the same way I can't tell you who wrote/directed Winter's Soldier, but I can tell you I enjoyed it tremendously and think it's the best Marvel have produced. But whoever did write and direct it, do they have a fanbase off in some corner of the net, noting their every move?

Very much agree, it probably comes across more over hyped to us as, I at least, have a google alert for his name and such.

the difference I would see is that articles about avengers often mention Whedon by name, whereas articles about Winter Solider often refereed to the writers more as "Winter soldier writers/duo".

that again is probably tied to more of people actually in the media being fans of Whedons work, but his name is definitely out there more than Favreau's was as the director of Iron Man.

I dont really know anything about the guys that wrote WS either, but I know they are are duo and they wrote on Community, which is a massive internet-people savy show, so I can imagine there is a large section of the internet yelling about how they told us all so.

 

[thetopher]

Very much agree, it probably comes across more over hyped to us as, I at least, have a google alert for his name and such.

the difference I would see is that articles about avengers often mention Whedon by name, whereas articles about Winter Solider often refereed to the writers more as "Winter soldier writers/duo".

that again is probably tied to more of people actually in the media being fans of Whedons work, but his name is definitely out there more than Favreau's was as the director of Iron Man.

I dont really know anything about the guys that wrote WS either, but I know they are are duo and they wrote on Community, which is a massive internet-people savy show, so I can imagine there is a large section of the internet yelling about how they told us all so.

I have noticed much more interest in who's directing each Marvel movie since The Avengers came out.
When IM3 came out lots of people were commenting on how Jon Favreau wasn't directing it, instead that it was some guy who's 'signature' was doing Christmas movies- which is why IR3 is, inexplicably, a Christmas movie. 🙂

Plus a lot of focus on 'Gaurdians Of The Galaxy' has been on director choice (at least with the internet buzz) of James Gunn (I think.) who directed the excellent 'Slither'- which I love. 🙂

Maybe the trend won't last or maybe people will finally focus more on which directors are decent and make good movies and which directors are vastly overrated. *Glares at Roland Emmerich.*

 

[Black Eye Guy]

I have noticed much more interest in who's directing each Marvel movie since The Avengers came out.
When IM3 came out lots of people were commenting on how Jon Favreau wasn't directing it, instead that it was some guy who's 'signature' was doing Christmas movies- which is why IR3 is, inexplicably, a Christmas movie. 🙂

Plus a lot of focus on 'Gaurdians Of The Galaxy' has been on director choice (at least with the internet buzz) of James Gunn (I think.) who directed the excellent 'Slither'- which I love. 🙂

Maybe the trend won't last or maybe people will finally focus more on which directors are decent and make good movies and which directors are vastly overrated. *Glares at Roland Emmerich.*

Totally agree, I didn't even know Favreau directed till IM3, Favreau was just the guy in the movie and the guy from Friends to me. It wasn't till it started getting reported that he wouldn't be directing IM3 that I realised he was the director.

I think more attention is being put on the writers and Directors now becasue they want the movies to be good as we've invested a lot of time in these movies, and also cuz of Joss who is known in fan culture, so it's not just named actors being attached to movies it's named directs too.

 

[LeeJones41]

Just a little.

Don't get me wrong, I really, really like The Avengers, and I enjoy it every time I watch it. Seeing all of the individual Marvel stars on one screen together and how they interact is awesome, and I think it's very safe to say that Avengers lived up to the remarkable hype it had heading into its release. The dialogue between characters is classic Joss, and on the whole I think it's a great film.

That said, I don't think it's the best superhero movie ever. All three of the Nolan Batman movies, I felt, were better, had far more emotional resonance. While the acting in Avengers in terrific, I thought that Batman cast was stronger in that field. I also think that "Captain America: Winter Soldier" is a better movie than Avengers, and had far deeper themes.

Avengers is great, but when I think about it, it does a lot of relatively generic things really, really well, whereas I thought all three Batman films, Winter Soldier and even the first Iron Man added something new. I mean, the plot of Avengers is fairly simple. The alien invasion looked VERY similar to the bad guys from Transformers 3, and at times I felt it bordered on the silly (we're going to NUKE New York!!!!...really?).

Again, I'm NOT knocking it. I do think it's one of the top five superheroes out there, but the way people talk about it at times, it's like it's one of the greatest movies ever made, which I don't think is a fair assessment.

I think I might agree with you. I really enjoy "The Avengers". And I think it is one of the better superhero movies ever made . . . but perhaps from a superficial level. After a recent re-watch, I realized that I didn't find it that emotionally challenging. It didn't lead me to think about the movie's plot. It's rather straightforward and simple. Now, some might find this to be a good thing. And I believe it is . . . to a certain extent. But movies like "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (which I now regard as superior) and even "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Captain America: Civil War" (which I regard both as inferior) to be more challenging from a narrative point of view.

Batman is a normal human being though, he doesn't have any Wolverine type healing powers, that's why it's so stupid, plus when he gets out he seem to magically reappear in Gotham within a very short amount of time.

I suspect that Batman was in that prison for several months . . . perhaps three to four months.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

After a recent re-watch, I realized that I didn't find it that emotionally challenging

I agree with this. I've seen Avengers 2 more than I have 1. And while I enjoy The Avengers, I feel like there's more character progression in Age of Ultron.

I find the first Guardians of the Galaxy to be overrated. I much prefer Vol. 2 because I think it deals with deeper emotions. Which I just prefer more than the simple funny movies in Marvel.

 

[LeeJones41]

And while I enjoy The Avengers, I feel like there's more character progression in Age of Ultron.

The pity of "Age of Ulton" . . . at least for me is that I found the narrative rather shaky and questionable. And the whole city rising to the sky thing? Rather dumb.

 

[Anyanka Bunny Slayer]

I can't conceive of any scenario, EVER, where the American government would even contemplate droping a nuclear weapon on New York City.

Perhaps not, but they had no problem demolishing the World Trade Center awhile back.

That being said, I was never a huge fan of super hero films...until the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. But the Avengers is probably the best action film I've ever seen. Definitely not overrated. 😎

 

[thrasherpix]

I'd say overrated, but not bad.