The Avengers...Da Bomb...#thatisall

All I remember seeing was an email subject line that read "Marvel's The Avengers Advanced Screening Invite." My fingers automatically hit reply, typed "YES, COUNT ME IN," then pressed send before I read another word. I didn't care what day, what time or where on God's green earth this movie was playing... come hell or high-water (or, in my case, Atlanta traffic) I would be there with bells and my "Marvel Girls Rule" T-shirt on!

Okay, so I skipped the bells…but everything else is accurate. So this past Tuesday night, I drove almost 50 miles from my home...one way... to watch The Avengers in IMAX-3D and it was more than worth it! An amazing thrill-ride from start to finish!

For my fellow Marvel-snobs, it will please you that the movie operates as if you already have prior knowledge of Shield. As usual, Hollywood takes its liberties so some of you purists may get your panties in a wad but I assure you, it's not nearly as bad as how they butchered X-Men. So if you are a bit rusty (or completely clueless), I highly recommended that you brush up on your knowledge of The Avengers from a comic book perspective as well as see the individual movies for each hero, especially Captain America and Thor. Most of the movie centers around them with the bulk of the attention on Thor.

The cast is awesome. Samuel L. Jackson makes a decent Nick Fury. I have fallen in love with Robert Downey Jr. all over again…well, not that I ever really fell out of love with him. He is (as always) brilliant as Tony Stark and completely steals the show. And if you know Tony, he wouldn't have it any other way. He serves up classic one-liners that if you are not into fantasy/sci-fi or not up on pop culture would go directly over your head.  I was disappointed that they did not bring back Edward Norton as Bruce Banner but Mark Ruffalo did a good job of making me forget.

Ladies, you will most definitely enjoy this too. Aside from the succulently scrumptious eye-candy the film provides (I mean Robert Downey, Jr alone…my…lord…#smokinhot), Scarlett Johanson splendidly kicks much ass and does us Marvel Girls proud as Black Widow.  I wish they would have included more of the skills for which she is named for.  Sorry, my Marvel-snob is showing again.  Maybe in the sequel?

There were many applaudable moments. The best, by far, is the final "performance" by The Hulk. When you see the movie, you'll understand. Dude took "Hulk Smash" to another level! Please come back and tell me if you had to fight the urge to give him a standing ovation.

Most would agree that Marvel has had it's share of hit-or-miss movie adaptations over the past few years. More misses than hits, in my humble opinion, but Stan Lee should be really proud. He and his Hollywood compadres put their foot up in this one... for real!

Now I'm not one to condone playing hookie from your job, but today would be a really good day to "come down with something." This is NOT a "wait for RedBox" movie!  #justsayin


(PS> If you think this movie sucks then you obviously have never been taught the joys of mindless-ass-kicking-guilty-pleasure entertainment! That, and you were not hugged very much as a child.)