Re: Rate The Last Movie You Watched.
The Avengers 10/10. In this case, the whole is indeed greater than the sum of the parts. I think I rated Cap and Iron Man a 8.5 or 9, Thor and Incredible Hulk a 7.5 or 8. Still haven't seen IM2.
I've always been more of a DC guy than a Marvel guy -- always preferred Batman and Superman to anything Marvel had to offer. But, The Avengers was just a great movie. Lots of fun. Struck all the right chords. Funny in all the right places. Characterizations were great -- Stark as the sarcastic self-absorbed playboy; Rogers as the out-of-his-time morally sure-footed soldier; Banner as the understated soft-spoken scientist; Thor as the Shakespearean overly-serious god. Even liked Johannsen as Black Widow and Renner as Hawkeye -- two characters I knew next-to-nothing about.
I especially liked the portrayals of Hulk and Captain America. My first thought was that Cap would simply be outmatched. He can't physically hold his own with Thor, Iron Man, or Hulk, and it would be easy for him to get swallowed up in a movie like this. There had to be a solid reason the other guys needed him around. But, he fit in well as the old-timer, the battle strategist, and ultimately the moral leader of the group. And, his moral center never wavered from the 40's icon -- even to the point of saying "ma'am, there is only one God, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that." Nice touch.
Hulk was done really well. It seemed important to note that the rest of the group is scared of Bruce Banner -- he ain't really a teammate as much as a wild-card. Even Thor treaded lightly around him ... coming to blows when he had to, but ultimately a bit afraid.
It wasn't better than Batman Begins or The Dark Knight -- both of which are in my Top-10 movies -- but it was closer than I expected it would be. Felt more comic-booky than Nolan's trilogy ... which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just a different vision. Nolan's movies are more layered, more allegorical (particularly TDK), more serious, and much less fantastical. That's kinda the universe Batman lives in ... particularly Nolan's Batman. Gritty. Hard-edged. Avengers was just the opposite ... yet still great. Lighthearted. Fantastical. Took itself seriously enough to be compelling ... but not as constantly and oppressively serious as Nolan's Batman. Just an altogether fun experience.
My wife and I have three small kids ... seven, four and 7 months. We don't get to the theater to see movies all that much. I think this was the first one we've seen since Cars 2, and Inception prior to that. I've been looking forward to TDKR more than this (which will be our next date night), but I'm glad the wife and I spent a date night on Avengers. Even the wife really enjoyed it. I only hope DC can do something similar with a Justice League movie after 2013's Man of Steel, and the Batman reboot.
Avengers is definitely an instant top-tier superhero flick. Probably my favorite of the Marvel movies so far. Looking forward to 2. Hopefully they'll find a way to bring Spider-man into the fold.
SnakeDoc