The Avengers

Directed by: Joss Whedon

Written by: Zak Penn, Joss Whedon










I have to admit, I was very late to the "Let's all go see 'The Avengers!'" bandwagon.  Like, a month and a half late.  I've had the problem lately that I get extremely excited about an upcoming blockbuster, but then lose almost all of the will to see it when the movie is finally showing in theaters.

The plot of "The Avengers," is pretty standard fare for a superhero flick.  Bad guy Loki (Hiddleston) decides to align himself with some nasty aliens to take over the earth.  Nick Fury (Jackson) decides to bring together a group of otherwise-unconnected heroes to fight off the evil onslaught.  The heroes must realize that their concern for the survival of humanity trumps their individual personality conflicts.  Action ensues; heroes win.  (And sorry for that last spoiler.)

I've got to say that this movie was 100% what I expected it to be.  Unfortunately, that was also it's biggest weakness.  "The Avengers" played out pretty much exactly how I imagined it would, with a few inconsequential variables.  There was never a moment where I thought, "Hey!  I didn't see that coming!"  The dialogue was sharp, as is expected from a Joss Whedon script, but the plot didn't deviate at all from the simple hero archetype.

Now, that being said, the movie was awesome.  The effects were phenomenal.  The actors really brought the characters to life.  The action scenes were pretty fantastic.  It hit every mark with flying colors.

A friend asked me what grade I'd give the movie.  I said I'd give it a solid A.  I'm just bummed there wasn't that extra-special moment to push it up to an A+.

Margin Call

Written and Directed by: J. C. Chandor

The economic collapse of the early 2000s went largely unnoticed by those who make films. There aren't many movies out there making overt reference to what was (and still is) one of the largest economic disasters of all time. For the most part, films have been depicting middle-class life just moving along like normal, ignoring the larger social context of the past five years. "Margin Call" is one of the few non-documentaries that I've come across to address this situation, using a fictional financial group (clearly based, at least loosely, on Lehmann Brothers and Goldman-Sachs).

Risk analyst Peter Sullivan (Quinto) is told to look at a project exiting manager (Tucci) had been working on, and what he finds is that his company's holdings are headed for disaster. Afraid of what the implications mean for the firm, Sullivan's boss Sam Rogers (Spacey) decides to call an emergency meeting that, ultimately goes all the way to the firm's CEO John Tuld (Irons). To ensure the survival of the company beyond the projected collapse, Tuld decides to order the immediate selling of all of the firm's toxic assets, despite Rogers's warnings that it would cripple the company and sever critical financial ties to other companies. Ultimately, the firm manages to dump their bad assets costing the firm hundreds of jobs as well, and Tuld tells Rogers that the firm took such harsh measures to weather the economic storm that they helped to create.

This movie was good, and one of its strongest aspects was the tension it was able to build by focusing on a limited time-frame and a limited setting. Most of the film's action takes place within a twenty-four hour period within a single building. Important decisions with massive ramifications must be made quickly, and one false move could mean the end of the company.

Another strength of the film was its ensemble cast. Everyone managed to play their part without overstepping anyone else. Irons was outstanding as the ruthless CEO, and Quinto dynamically played the up-and-coming analyst. Spacey managed to add a soft, sympathetic, human touch to his character who is forced to do things that will damage his reputation and his employees livelihoods.

There were a few rough-edges to this film that kept it from moving beyond "very good." Most notably, the presence of Demi Moore. Not only was her acting sub-par in this film (though, to be honest, she wasn't terrible), her character really didn't add much to the movie. I'm not sure what the character's purpose was at all. Her scenes felt like irrelevant fluff. Perhaps the only part that redeemed her role was the scene in which she interacts, brutally and bluntly, with Tucci's character.

It will take a lot longer for history of have a long enough scope to put perspective on this period in America. Still, when we get there, it will be important that we have some kind of cultural document - "Margin Call" - to show what happened when it all went down hill. It's not "The Grapes of Wrath," but it will do. For now.