re: Official Avengers thread

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Is cap stronger in the comics? Did they tone his strength down a bit for the movie because they didn't want another hero that's pretty unstoppable ?

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Not really, it's just comics allow for so much more (20 foot jump kicks and what not) that it seems he is more powerful than he would be. They should have had him take out a bigger hoard with no help.

I thought it was really good, but not nearly as amazing as being made out to be. Also the movie didn't play well in 3d, the action moved to fast and It made things look blurry. I wouldn't mind checking it out in 2d, so I can just enjoy it and not worry about focusing so hard at the screen. And question; what is it about the Hulk in this movie that people like that much more than the previous?

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Is cap stronger in the comics? Did they tone his strength down a bit for the movie because they didn't want another hero that's pretty unstoppable ?

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Nah. In the comics Cap has what is called "peak human strength" which is kind of a nebulous term in itself but I take it to mean the strength that a regular human could acheive under ideal circumstances.

At least for one stretch (sometimes in the 70's I think) he got some level of superhuman strength through some plot device or other but I don't know exactly how long that lasted.

I finally saw it this weekend and loved it. Aside from the fact it focuses on character, what made it stand out was how the action scenes were shot. Instead of the rapid fire cutting which is so common, the movie uses long tracking shots. I could actually follow the action.

I did read an interesting column on it this morning, comparing it to Batman. I do think the movie is proudly old-fashioned, and embraces its comic roots instead of the gritty realism of The Dark Knight. It is a gleefully uncynical movie, and I honestly liked that. Cynicism is so exhausting.

LINK

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Times were tough when The Dark Knight came out, but they were tough in a large, existential way. There were two wars and a lot of fear mongering, all of which felt present yet distant at the same time. It was the stock market crash in 2008 that brought it all home, and it’s what set the stage for The Avengers.

We are living in a time of precipitous uncertainty. Nobody is interested in the grey areas anymore. Much like the 1930s - the time when superheroes were birthed - we’re hungry for something that feels optimistic, something that’s hopeful. Something that tells us it’s all going to be okay.

That something is The Avengers. It’s the most relentlessly positive blockbuster in years. The big conflict in the film isn’t between the Avengers and the Chitauri, it’s between the Avengers. It’s a movie about squabbling, disparate people coming together to get things done. No character feels extraneous, and everyone has something to do that only they can accomplish. The film's money shot isn't an explosion or a fight scene, it's a shot of the characters standing together, united. It’s exactly the fantasy that will appeal to a nation divided drastically along seemingly insurmountable partisan lines. It's the fantasy of teamwork.

At the lead of The Avengers is the star-spangled man himself, Captain America - a character who was seen as almost impossibly cheesy a decade ago. The idea of a big screen version of Captain America NOT mired in post-Watergate political cynicism would have been a joke before 2008; he would have seemed out of touch and square. But now a little square is appealing, and with all the lumps America has taken lately Cap’s non-partisan, non-jingoistic patriotism feels right and good.

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