MY MOVIE SHELF: The Avengers

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 127 Days to go: 88

Movie #313:  The Avengers

There are some people who think The Avengers is one of the greatest superhero films of all time, and others who think it gets off to a slow start with all its stage setting and then kind of throws together a battle scene at the end at least as disturbing as it is triumphant. I think both these positions are fair. I think there are criticisms to make of the film, and I think there are a lot of things to praise about it. Overall, my opinion is an overwhelmingly positive one, though, almost entirely for the way it manipulates so many moving pieces into creating one coherent story.

The scope of The Avengers — at least logistically — is huge. You’ve got three established movie universes in their own right — that of Iron Man Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who had two movies of his own at this point plus a third on deck, Captain America Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) with one movie of his own and another in the works at the time, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) who also had a movie of his own and a second set for imminent release — plus secondary (and tertiary) characters like Black Widow Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Jarvis (Paul Bettany), who have all appeared in at least one of those aforementioned films and need to be woven into this one, as well as the addition of pop culture icon The Hulk, aka Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who hasn’t technically had his own movie yet, if you forget the multiple Hulk flops that have been made over the years, comic book staple Hawkeye, aka Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), and Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill. I mean, first and foremost, that just a ton of actors, and some seriously big name actors at that. The mere wrangling of that many people is a monstrous feat unto itself, but not only did the story have to support all the characters, it had to be substantive and/or rewarding enough that each of these actors feel like they’re making good use of their time. I’m sure a lot of people chalk up motivation to money, but there have been many times when money is not enough to keep an actor in a role he or she thinks is beneath them. The Avengers, in that respect, had a lot on its shoulders, and as far as I’m concerned it delivers beautifully.

Some may be inclined to lay credit for this accomplishment at the feet of Joss Whedon, and I support that. He’s a strong and effective storyteller and he doesn’t leave any of the main figures out of the mix. Each and every one of the Avengers has a backstory, character motivation, individual style, and contributes to the ultimate victory, such as it is (and the movie as a whole is still playful and cheeky in a way reminiscent of classic comic book humor). Iron Man is cocky and flouts the rules, Cap is an idealistic leader, Thor is an arrogant warrior, Banner is a wary academic, Natasha is an enigmatic and manipulative assassin, and Barton is detached and calculating. In addition, beyond their own individual personalities, the interrelationships of the Avengers are fascinating. I love the conflicts between Stark and Rogers, especially, how Steve has no use for Tony’s flippancy and how Tony is clearly resentful of this man his father had such high regard for. But Thor and Steve both having an inability to catch all the references is a lovely touch, and Loki’s constant disdain for Thor (paired with Thor’s conflicting loyalty to and frustration with Loki) is a great rivalry. Natasha, too, who is always confident (unless she’s rope-a-doping you to get some information) and who loves to throw a little wiseass toying Steve’s way, is honest-to-god terrified of Hulk.

Natasha is honestly probably my favorite Avenger after Cap, and I can’t believe people who think she’s a meaningless prop in this film or that she doesn’t have any agency. Natasha is truly one of the most interesting women on film, in my eyes. She’s loyal to Barton to an incredible degree, fighting to save him from Loki’s trance rather than to simply destroy him, despite her somewhat bloodthirsty approach to battles. Though she wouldn’t call her feelings for him love, she clearly cares for him. But she might not be attracted to him, per se, at least not the way she would never admit she is to Steve (I totally ship Natasha and Steve, especially after The Winter Soldier). She’s incredibly intelligent — witty and clever and calculating and savvy in all kinds of ways — and a great spy, using her mark’s weaknesses and presumptions against them. Moreover, despite her detached persona she so obviously has deep feelings for those who are important to her. I think Natasha is a deep well of personality, and every time I think of all the Marvel universe films on the docket that don’t include one devoted entirely to Black Widow, I get pretty angry.

And this is me talking — a person who, you may remember, never read comics as a kid and has atrociously limited knowledge of these characters and their histories. Yet I’m about as invested as I can possibly be. I’d call that a successful franchise, and The Avengers is the integral  linchpin, keeping it all in place. That’s definitely a success.

MY MOVIE SHELF: What Lies Beneath

 

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 139  Days to go: 95

Movie #299:  What Lies Beneath

I love movies that thwart expectations. Harrison Ford has always played a good guy. Even if he’s a nerf herder or a scoundrel or an unfaithful husband and slimy lawyer who grows a whole new personality after being shot in the head, his characters are almost always on the right side of the law, or they are the law, or they’re fighting for justice somehow. He’s even played the President of the United States, who single-handedly fought off Russian terrorists on his plane with his bare fists. The guy likes to be the hero. That’s why What Lies Beneath is such a departure.

What Lies Beneath works, one hundred percent, because the audience expects the best from Harrison Ford as Norman Spencer. He’s an academic, a sophisticate. He has a beautiful wife named Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) and a gorgeous house in Vermont and you are compelled to think the best of him. That’s the kind of character Ford plays. He has an entire movie that can be (and has been) boiled down to him vehemently declaring over and over “I did not kill my wife!” And not ten months prior to What Lies Beneath coming out, Ford starred in a movie in which his loving wife was dead again, only it turns out she was cheating on him with the husband of the woman played by Kristin Scott Thomas. He’s the good guy; he’s the cuckold; he’s the right one. Even if the ghost haunting his wife is some student Norman had an affair with a year ago, clearly it is some Fatal Attraction sort of situation. She’s just some psycho hose ghost and he’s an innocent victim who made a mistake. One mistake! An indiscretion! It should hardly even count. He’s the impeccable one, right?

Okay, so What Lies Beneath is one of those movies that I’d love to be able to talk about without revealing too much of the plot, but that ship has pretty much sailed at this point — and honestly, it’s a movie from fifteen years ago. If you haven’t watched it by now, chances are you weren’t going to UNLESS someone told you the plot. And the plot is really, surprisingly great. (Props to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Agent Coulson — Clark Gregg — who I guess moonlights as a screenwriter, for writing this one.)

It’s safe to say What Lies Beneath was not what I was expecting, but it really surprised me in the best of ways. It’s a murder mystery and a horror story, but it’s not gratuitous or gory. The horror is created almost entirely through atmosphere and tone — setting, music, lighting — and there are some incredibly innovative shots meant to provide alternate visual perspectives: close, confining shots, done at awkward angles, or reflected through mirrors. One even seems to come up from below the floor. There is a physical ghost (Amber Valletta), but she’s used with great restraint and to great effect. She shows up at the most opportune times, to great optimal jump moments, and then the rest of the time her presence is implied through objects or events (I don’t believe in ghosts, but if my bathtub ever spontaneously filled itself once, much less on multiple occasions, I’d be moving.), and Pfeiffer even gives one hell of a great subtle possession scene, where we know Claire’s altered but her husband does not. And the entire final showdown, once Norman has no more outs, is a very suspenseful, tense and satisfying end, all around.

There’s a red herring story featuring Claire’s neighbor Mary Feur (Miranda Otto) that doesn’t seem to be handled quite as well as it could be, and the editing could be just a little bit tighter, but for the most part I find the movie incredibly successful. Even factoring in the two sort of obvious Chekov’s Gun situations (One, never show your villain’s students administering a paralytic agent to a rat without making full use of that paralytic agent come the film’s climax. And two, never explain that your cell phone doesn’t have service until the midpoint of the bridge without eventually needing to make a call on that bridge.), the plot unfolds at the pace and with the effect that the director and writers intend. It’s a solid film, and it’s unlike most everything else that rogue, rugged hero Harrison Ford has ever done.