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AVENGERS review
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ok folks, yes I did see THE AVENGERS while doing my London run, but I don't think I'll do the whole "Context for the day" bit.
"Why? Gee Harry, your interesting adventures in London are what I live my days for, please oh please tell me all the micro-details of your life... I live for this you fat slob, don't you dare hold out on me now!!!!"
Well, it's like this... What I did on this day pertains to the entirity of the London trip, which will include a vast amount of news on THE MUMMY and STAR WARS EPISODE ONE, and these adventures pertain more to that.
But what I will say is this...
If there was ever a chance of me "LOVING" this movie it was here and now.
Being in England and seeing the AVENGERS was just about as perfect a duo as I could imagine. Going around noticing all the odd (to me) differences in my culture and that of England. The red phone booths, the red post office boxes. The signs saying "WAY OUT" instead of "EXIT", the driving on the left side of the road, the words on the street as you step off the sidewalk telling you which way to look, the "lift" instead of the "elevator", the "tube" instead of "subway"... the subtle little differences like that, that only an outsider notices.
I was prepared for the accents, the humor (after hanging with Brits all day long). I was totally into the sets, having seen Big Ben, Parliament and the Tower Bridge. I was in a hotel with employees in top hats and tails... I had been in a cool british car earlier, I was totally entrenched in what it was to be in London.
And I was seeing the film in a theater filled edge to edge with... THE BRITISH! This was their baby, their icons. In fact in the row right in front of me, I saw JOHN STEED. This fella wasn't just dressed exactly like JOHN STEED, but he physically looked exactly like John Steed... hell as far as I know perhaps THE AVENGERS was actually based on this fella's adventures.
One last thing I want to talk about before I discuss the screening, let me address the issue of why I'm so damn hard on WARNER BROTHERS. My favourite (brit spelling due to influence) studio is WARNER BROTHERS. When I see that damn shield before a film I expect one of the best movies made. Why? Because so many of the best movies made were made by Warners. Casablanca, White Heat, Treasure of Sierra Madre, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Adventures of Robin Hood, Rebel Without A Cause, etc etc etc... So when Warners screws up, when they drop the ball... well dammit they're soiling the shield, they're defiling the collective of what the Warner Brothers name means to me. It's like watching a grandparent die from a stroke that kills half the functions of their brains. It's seeing someone you love and have nothing, but fond memories slowly slip away. It makes me want to get the best doctors, specialists or Dr Kevorkian in there to fix or pull the plug.
Now onto the screening.
It was at the WARNER THEATRE in London off of Leichester (possible misspelling)) Square. The theatre was quite nice, little things like the soundtrack machine where you put 15 pounds into it and punch the button for the soundtrack. Or the escalator ride down to the screening, or seeing British Quads framed on the wall with "COMING SOON" above them. All slightly different, like putting sugar on the popcorn... weird...
While standing in line to be allowed in, several people came up to talk to me, seems I have a decent sized following here due to the press coverage I've had in England. The most telling thing I saw while waiting though was this one girl... she was standing on the escalator, facing her boyfriend, who said something to her about the Avengers, and she made this squinched up yucky face that was like, "Ohmigod, Wasn't that terrible!!"
As we went in we had to find our ASSIGNED seats... something beyond weird for me. I like to walk into a theater and just look for my fave vantage point, this assigned thing seemed like an unholy act of satan, but hey I'm just not used to it. Then as I sat down with Chief Jawa, Rash, Vivien Leigh and Marion Ravenwood, we were all harboring that... "Maybe we'll be the only ones to like it!" Like it was with FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS... It was not to be.
Then the room got a bit dark... and...
Wacky British Commercials came on...
Ok, you have to understand, being an American film goer, there is a tradition of.. Theater 30 second logo thingee.. Coming Attractions (at least 3) and then a 30 Second Feature presentation thing, the THX and DIGITAL sound things, then the FEATURE PRESENTATION.
But in England it's a bit different...
First off is this strange psychedelic 20 second piece with the names Something and Paul... or Pauly and Someone or something like that. It had no significance for me whatsoever, but everyone in the theater like cheered. I was... shocked.
Then came the commercials... There was everything from Seagrams Vodka, to bizarre beers, to THE AVENGERS tv show on some channel. About 20 minutes. I was utterly entranced and entertained. Each commericial was visually stunning and utterly confusing to my American brain lobes. Chief Jawa and Rash were bothing pointing at me and laughing. They noticed that my eyes never blinked, that I never inhaled or exhaled a breath. My retinas never moved. I was stunned. I was one with the british weirdness. I just didn't not know what was happening. How dare they do this to me!!!! How can I go back to the U.S. and see another film and not just loathe not having cool commercials. Pop Culture surrealism at it oddest.
Then came THE AVENGERS...
This review may have some spoilers in it because some of the problems I have with this have to do with what they cut out of the script, and how that effects the current film.
First off, I liked the script... It was odd, the whole evil Peel bit was a bit on the loathesome side, but at least it was well explained in the script... so much so that Emma doubted her own sanity. In Chief Jawa's review he talks about the lack of set pieces, well originally there was a great set piece where Emma and Steed fought an army of evil Butlers. Then there was how Sean Connery killed his henchmen... Instead of throwing two darts, he allowed them to go home, then he called them, and with his masterful control of lightning he would strike the transformer outside their window thus electricuting them. Or he'd raise the temperature of their home so high that they would incinerate. In otherwords he controled weather to a very cool level. His fascination with Peel was explained by a 15-25 minute segment cut out of the opening of the film.
The look of the film was exactly what I thought it would be. John Steed by Ralph Fiennes and Emma Peel by Uma Thurmann are exactly as I imagined they would play them, and as such... sure... ok... fine... But Sean Connery... When those people in Arizona told me that they felt embarrassed for Sean... I shuttered.. I couldn't believe it, Connery couldn't be pitied in a film. Oh Gawd I hate it, but maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan... I've never had to look away from a screen while Connery was on it... I have now.
I dug the music from Joel McNeely though, BUT there didn't seem to be any energy in the film, no sense of excitement, no sense of utter jaw-dropping coolness. This film is the ultimate in NOT following up a great trailer. The AVENGERS trailer just screamed COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. But that energy, that pizzazz, that coolness was devoid of the film.
The Thin Man 'dialogue' had one problem... You could tell they knew each other's lines. Not only that, but one could almost know their lines as well.
But where exactly did this movie go wrong? Well it could have been overly listening to the Pheonix test screening audience. They obviously cut sooooo much out, that much of what is left is underdeveloped, under-nourished, and all around lame. With the backbone of what existed before... well basically everything that made me say, "The Avengers had a cool script" was gone. All the unique levels of absurdity were gone, all the character development, most of the charm.
Someday perhaps we'll see the "Pheonix" cut, and we can see whether the Pheonix audience was insane, or if Warners merely saved an extra 30 minutes of our lives from being wasted.
The most alarming aspect to me was the sigh of disappointment I heard from the BRITISH audience afterwards... it was a faint exasperated sense of... it's over...at last.
This film was a disappointment, it's not as bad as BATMAN & ROBIN, it's merely not a great movie for me. I'm sure some will enjoy it, that some will even think it's better than the old series (as hard as that is to believe). This was a missed swing at a hit. This wasn't a curve ball that couldn't be hit, this project, those characters, could have been done dead on, it could've been something... something wonderful. Sigh... but it was Warnified...
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Just in case you really did care
about the spelling of the famous
square in London, it's "Leicester".
Never mind.
How long were you visiting England
for, btw? Enjoy it?
Later,
--ian waldron-mantgani
http://members.aol.com/ukcritic -
Ok, so yes it was cut to bits, the ad made it look better, but I can happily say that I enjoyed this film. Here in the UK the film was pretty much crucified before it had been seen. On Friday one of the national papers spent all of it's inside page telling us why this was the worst film ever made. So Saturday afternoon I took a trip with two friends to see it, just to see if a film could really be that bad. It wasn't. It wasn't great, but I was entertained. Let's face it, any film that has Uma Thurman driving an E-type Jag whilst being chased by Eddie Izzard and Shaun Ryder in a Mini Cooper must have merits. See this film, it's far superior to the likes of Godawfulzilla.
Just my 2cents for y'all
Paul.
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Color me confused but in the trailer did Uma/Emma not go into a phone booth on a nice greeny-ish hill in that painted on leather cat suit and say "How now brown cow?" That one line was why I went to see "The Avengers" and imagine my suprise when that part was not even IN the movie! They showed a longer version of it on E! just now and after she says her line, a little elevator (or lift) takes her underground somewhere. Also they kept referring to Emma as this sexy babe in the cat suit. WRONGO! That was her evil twin...ok technically it was still Emma, but it wasn't Good Emma...kinda like this whole movie...it was The Avengers, but it wasn't GOOD Avengers
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The Avengers is the worst film I have ever seen. It is, quite simply, a whorish piece of trash. It is horrible in every conceivable context. How did they spend $70 million on this? $70 MILLION?!?
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While it is true that "The Avengers" doesn't work as a movie, what DOES work is Ralph Fiennes's performance of John Steed. Actually, to get to the real point, I should say that Ralph's performance in this movie confirmed (for me at least) that he would make a much better 'James Bond' than Pierce Brosnan. I hope that in the future we can watch him enter that 'uber-cool' ruthless persona, and say the words: "Bond,..James Bond"..
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In my opinion, the Avengers will probably become a cult classic of some sort because it was just so weird. Hopefully they will release a directors cut so we can have the whole plot. I thought Uma Thurman was horrible and so was Sean Connery, but Ralph Fiennes was great as John Steed. He is one of those actors who is incapable of a bad performance. The set pieces were also wonderful, but that was about all one could recommend about it.
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PURE HIGH-TEA SHIT! Avoid this picture if you have any sense. Watch this picture only if you are an
insomniac. Don't spend your hard earned dollars on flicks like this. Let us do that for you. Those who didn't
make it out to the movie with me last night were spared a horrible time. I beg you not to waste your
lifeforce on this picture. No wonder they never let any critics review this film before the day it came out.
This has been the worst year for blockbuster films. Yet somehow this flick although extremely boring, still
wasn't as bad as Godzilla. This is because they got bigger name actors to star a big-budget flop, and boy is
it going to flop. It won't even make up anything in the foreign market either, unlike Godzilla, which looks to
be surviving with the sales in the overseas market.
If this movie was trying to achieve high class British humour or a style reminiscent with the 60's series,
bring out the coke, mirror and straws because I don't know how high you had to be to understand what the
hell was going on this film. Nothing is explained with many of the plot lines, the bad guys were atrociously
laughable (well so were the good guys), and I couldn't see how they spent 100 million on this film because
the effects looked like they were done by some third-rate FX company. It also felt like 20 minutes of the film
was missing to explain what the heck I was watching. The movie was only 89 minutes long, but it felt like
an eternity, so I'm kind of glad that they didn't add it, if there was more to add. I was praying for Austin
Powers show up and save the day or snipers to take the actors out one by one.
The only things I can say that made this a little more tolerable than Godzilla was maybe Ralph Fiennes
acting, a cool sword duel between Steed and Peel, and Uma Thurman in that leather outfit, (yeow!). But
that's pushing it for this film. Sean Connery, early on during test screenings, was rumoured to be the only
other redeeming quality about this film, but I have to disagree. You sucked Bond! Timothy Dalton probably
would have done a better job.
No one would want to avenge the death of this flick. Bury it up your vaults Warner Bros! -
I'm English, and until I read an interview with Ralph Fiennes I was completely sucked up by the bad press, and was fully prepared not to see the film.
Then I read Ralph saying that he turned doown 'The Saint' because 'they were doing a completely different film and calling it The Saint, whereas with The Avengers they were actually trying to convert The Avengers tv show to the big screen.'
Because of this a group of friends and I went to see it .... and we all loved it!
Sure it was obviously heavily re-editted, and sure there are a few niggles which would annoy an Avengers purist, but the style and the humour, and even the story was PURE AVENGERS!
It was fun; I particularly enjoyed Eddie Izzard and Shaun Ryder being just Henchmen, with no dialogue AT ALL! Also, the teddy bear scene was GENIUS, and the cheesy ending on the garden rooftop was just like the TV show.
IGNORE THE BAD PRESS AND GO SEE THIS FILM! -
The critics over here slated this movie before, during and after the opening weekend. I am a huge fan of the TV series, and went to see the film only out of curiosity and expecting bitter dissapointment.
I thought it was great.
Sure the plot was weak, but the style of the film was spot on, and in an Avengers movie that's what counts.
I am delighted that an American director had the balls to refuse to turn the Avengers franchise into yet another $100m gun battle.
There were a lot of interesting scenes in the film and some genuinely hilarious moments. I even spotted a few hidden literary references.
How anyone could possibly argue that the last crucifixion of the Batman Franchise (and the audiences forced to endure it) was better is beyond me.
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Since Fiennes and Thurman are so lacking in charm and humour that they are vaguely sinister...
...if you just imagine you're watching one of those wierd end of series episodes of The Prisoner (is it a better re-make of The Girl Who Was Death then the Avengers?)you may actually like it a lot...
... and anyone who tells you Godzilla is better (on any level) must be a pro film critic (ie embittered and lying)
chris -
Just an (extra) thought but is The Avengers the first time we have seen a studio react big time to sites like this ?
It was that preview audience in Pheonix (may be wrong- I'm drunk) that got it heavily cut but I reckon it could have got away with a MUCH easier ride with the critics (esp in the UK where it has been hammered in the press after lots of free publicity) if WB hadn't paniced so badly on the run up to the release. Are the execs as well as the directors taking the Internet buzz seriously now ?
WB- The movie was flawed but will become a cult classic without a doubt. For now it was your spinelessness that helped convince the world it was a turkey.
Keep up the good work Harry
chris -
You forgot Eileen Atkins, as the underused sweet old grandma, with a tommy gun on her bike!
She was so cool as the take charge granny. She almost busted 007.
I do wonder what happened to her in the movie, she just vanished...
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Well, I saw it last night (Monday) with my wife and about 25 others. I agree with everything Hairy Dan said.
For the first hour barring special effects and actors, it felt like I was watching the Avengers TV show. Actually, I'd say it felt more like the New Avengers. The style, the camera work, the colour, the peopleless sets, and the general wierdness, made it feel, for me, that they were reallllly trying to recreate the show.
The audience, seemed a bit bemused sometimes, but they generally seemed to like it and some scenes caused hilarity, (teddy bears).
The problems I have with it have been covered (editing, hollywood ending), but fer crissake, how did Warner really expect a British show with all British characters set in Britain, to go down with US audiences.
Never mind that the film was so bloody wierd and different to anything that Hollywood generally has to offer (wierdo directors like Burton and Lynch excepted, cept let's face it Burton makes commercial films wierd or not).
I personally thought the dialogue although on the surface quite cheeeeezy, (as it should be), to show an impressive level of cleverness also, in a Tom Stoppard sort of way. Some lines where just loaded with meaning.
Now if someone can tell me how the fuck Emma Peel changed into the catsuit after dispatching her evil twin, and where they got those big balls to cross the Thames from, then I'll be a bit happier.
Oh, my wife and I had a furious row after Godzilla because it was sooooo awful she had a terrible headache and hated me for bringing her. Couldn't blame her really.
Didn't happen this time. She enjoyed it too. -
Am I the only person on 3 continents who actually *liked* The Avengers? I had a lot of fun at this film. The teddy bears were classic Avengers, Ralph and Uma and Sean were all brilliantly cast, and I never expect to actually understand an Avengers episode anyway (plot wasn't ever the point of the Avengers, imho). Not that it couldn't have used some improvement (the editor should be shot, and as for the score--what score? I didn't hear no stinkin' score, except when they used Laurie Johnson's excellent theme at the end) but on the whole I enjoyed it.
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I am boggled by the vitriol being spewed at THE AVENGERS. Folks claiming that it's one of the worst movies ever have presumably just sprung forth from the womb, and crawled straight to the nearest multiplex.
After the negative buzz and the lack of a press screening, I was expecting a painfully awful experience. What I saw was a passable, middle-of-the-road film that stayed suprisingly true to the offbeat source material.
Frankly, I give a lot of credit to the producer for sticking to his guns and *not* Hollywood-izing it too much. When was the last time you saw a big-budget, Hollywood action picture with jokes about tea and a room full of conspirators dressed as stuffed teddy bears? That's the sort of skewed reality that was one of the hallmarks of the original series.
The performances were okay--Steed and Peel are *supposed* to be underplayed. I saw nothing on the par of Arnold's turn as Mr. Freeze.
It certainly wasn't a great film; it's not something I'd see a second time in the theater. But in a summer full of gut-wrechingly terrible "blockbusters" such as GODZILLA, ARMAGEDDON and SMALL SOLDIERS (films that had me wondering just *why* I still go to the movies), THE AVENGERS--an all-too-average popcorn flick--looked above average by comparison.
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As a Brit I was appalled at the floating turd of a film.
As a fan of the original series I wish this film be scrapped and WB sent to hell for tarnishing the reputation of The Avengers.
Utter CRAP FILM! -
Oh dear, where do I start...??
How could this film mis-fire on so many levles? What went wrong? Ohhhh dear.
At first I thought all of the bad reviews in the press were "biased" because Warners wouldn't let the critics see an advance screening of it. I am a rational kind of guy, so I thought I would go along and make my own decisions, hell I liked HUDSON HAWK, so I thought I would like this movie.........I WAS WRONG.
Lets start with the performances. The characters were completely at odds, no chemistry, no spark, no charisma. Ralph Feinnes didn't try at all whilst Uma Thurman tried too hard, (I enjoyed her more in BATMAN AND ROBIN), Sean Connery, what can I say, screen legend, the closest thing we've got these days to a Movie Star, was really embarassing.
The performances were no better than amatuer dramatic society performances, or even PANTOMIME. With the pitch rising at the end of each sentence.
His performance made Uma look good.
The best (speaking) performance in the film was Jim Broadbent's "Mother", but that's not to say it was good, just that it was adequate.
Eddie Izzard by a long shot stood out, and that's because he had no lines....which brings me to the next point DIALOGUE?????
The double entendres, were tiresome and you could see them coming before you walked into the cinema. It made my ears bleed to hear this turgid , irksome crap......DON MACPHERSON...I'm coming for you.
The "plot", was absolutely non-existent, what was there made no-sense at all.
i) Why did Sir August have a painting of Emma Peel above is organ?
ii) Where did "Bad" Emma come from?
iii) How did "Good" Emma know that "How now brown cow" would work the elevator?
iv) Father - why was she a baddy?
v) Prospero Weather Project - the sheild goes down at the beginning of the movie, what exactly does this shield do?
Patric Macnee (the original Steed) played Invisible Jones, no wonder he keeps himself invisible, I too would try to make sure no-one knew I was associated with this atrocity.
I was so disturbed that I went home to read the orignal script that I had downloaded from Drews Script-o-rama, and I stayed awake until 1.30 reading this, to see if it would help me make any sense of what I had just seen....IT DOESN'T
Its hard to believe, but the original script is actually WORSE than the movie. For a start Sean Connery's character has no real part in the orignal script, he's killed early on for no reason at all. The real Bad guy is (get this), Emma Peel's dead husbands step-brother...???
Sure, "Bad" Emma is explained in the script, but for what it is worth, she is better leaving unexplained.
The dialogue in the script is as bad, if not worse than in the film, and the plot still makes no-sense.
What I need to understand is that on the basis of this script someone "Green-Lighted" this picture, and there is just no excuse for that at all. The original script is a real STINKER, and although it has been considerably changed for the film, the basis of the "story" is still the same.
What a real missed opportunity, someone should hang for this, and I would start with DON MACPHERSON.
Save yourself the effort, don't go and see the movie, stay at home and watch the trailer 20 or 30 times, its got more plot, its more exciting and it makes more sense.
Mark
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Lost In Space, Godzilla, The Saint, Batman & Robin, GI Jane, Sphere, Starship Troopers.........and those are just the films I've watched in the last couple of weeks.
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Well, as an avid british cinema-goer, I can't say I have any idea what this ad was. Anyone know? I'm intrigued. I had no idea there were no ads at the start of films in the US, if anything I thought there'd be more.
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I went to see the Avengers on one of those preview screenings that we get quite often with the 'big' films here in the UK....
Anyway, I sat down and got ready to watch the movie..... and I did... and I have only 3 words to describe it:
SUCK
SUCK
SUCK
It was sooo poor! There was so much potential to have a REAL corker of a movie - the evil Peel, the deceptiveness of Father... but no - it was gone. There was no 'oomph' at all - and no cool effects either.
So - please - avoid the Avengers like the plague...
Warners strike again..... -
Well I caught "THE AVENGERS" last night and I thought it was okay. Not good, but okay.
It kicks B&R's ass.
It had a couple of scenes that I enjoyed. I liked the wacky comedy in it such as having Sean Connery in a giant bear suit. I thought the Invisible Jones scene was amazing.
I reccomend this movie to anyone who liked LOST IN SPACE (all 5 of you). For the rest of us DON'T SEE IT. Check it out on cable in your interested though. -
Now, really.... ******************
...Godzilla had great moments -- the Elvis bit and the helicopter chomp were worth the ticket price -- and Animal&wife were purest Hoboken.... ********** Starship Troopers had a full-blown reversion of Earth to a Greek city-state culture in response to continual life-or-death war ********** What does this garbage have to offer ?? ********** I had just seen Winds of Desire (on tape), so this trash showed for what it truly is. -
I thought that The Avengers was a middle-of-the-road film. I enjoyed much of the visual style. Too many Hollywood films today try to fill the screen with eye candy to please the MTV Generation. I enjoyed the fact that there was not too much of this. My favorite image was that of the red phone booth sitting in a snow-covered landscape. I also enjoyed some of the irreverent bits such as the teddy bears and such. The script, however, left much to be desired. There was an appalling lack of exposition, characterization and plot development. There could have been so much more to this film. The film left so many questions to be answered such as: what was August's obsession with Peel? Where did the "evil Emma" come from? What caused Father to conspire with August? These issues were barely (if at all) explained during this film. The Avengers seems to be an attempt to be a highly stylized film and it does succeed to some degree. However, the lack of a good script (the true backbone of a film) plagued it and makes it only average. If Warner Brothers keeps dumping money into unprofitable films like this one, they might not last to celebrate a 76th year.
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Harry, Just thought that I'd let you know that whilst many of th e pre-movie commercials are entertaining, they really do grate after a about the tenth time. There is however a great Smirnoff one that stands up to repeated viewing. Shame that the same can't be said about the Avengers.
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From the review and descripton; and the reaction it got from the audience it can only have been Pearl & Dean, surely.
I think I cheered the last time I saw that, too.
Still not seen The Avengers, but I will. It looks great, and people I know who have seen it have all loved it. Besides, critics know nothing; that's a given. -
Not Pheonix. And yes, even the Brits spell it that way.
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Okay, Sean Connery played the villain: much flavoured scenery to be chewed. Ralph Fiennes played Steed: reasonably well, although he could have been a bit more lively. But Uma? She just played "Uma". "Here's Uma in a cheongsam. Here's Uma in a catsuit. Here's Uma in another cheongsam." The whole while I kept wondering, "Where's Mrs. Peel?" As much as I used to hate the idea, I think Elizabeth Hurley would have been better, if only because she'd have played the part instead of just smirking and tossing her hair. At least we can still get the real series on video. Sigh...
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After reading Harry's review, I realize I saw 'the Avengers' at the exact same time in the same city as Harry. I have just returned to Canada today from 3 weeks in London, but if anyone is reading this at all it is not to know about my vacation.So on with it. Like Harry, I was psyched to see 'the Avengers' in the city where the movie and the TV show took place. And like Harry, if I was ever gonna enjoy this movie it would have been there (you might even say I would have been forgiving, since Emma Peel is my namesake). I was however, dissapointed. One could see some quirkiness seeping through sometimes, along with some good ideas...all faint ghost of a once good script. But we don't judge movies by potential do we? So I'll say that over all I found it to be a bland garden variety action flick. Steed and Peel came across as a karate-British-retro-dressing Mulder and Scully....which doesn't work ..... I love the X-files, and I love the Avengers on TV, but they are different. And Oooooh man they shouldn't have kissed. Oh, and Uma, hun, work on your accent. It sadens deeply me to say I could make an even lengthier bad review. I was really looking forward to this movie, and they blew it. Definitely a rainy day renter.
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I couln't even watch the Avengers movie. I left the theater. I loved the TV series. Personaly, I would have done the movie differently. I wouldn't have Sean Connery wearing stupid costumes. I think Traci Lords could play a better Emma Peel. I would have cast Tsui Hark as the director. This would tear him away from Van Damme. I would have Steven E. DeSouza(Die Hard) write the script and then hand it over to Quentin Tarantino for a rewrite. Add a little Soul Coughing to the soundtrack and I am done. It still wouldn't be as good as the TV show, but it would beat the hell out of this super lame movie wasting space in our theaters.
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As a Brit...I am sick up to hear with all you Yanks claiming that we will love The Avengers because its so sterotypically English..yes its got its red phone booths and macaroons for tea...but this is nevertheless an American's personification of what Britain is like...and for once I will tell you...you've got it wrong. England is nothing like it. In fact red phone booths are a thing of the past and we spend more time in Mc Donald's or Burger King than at home scothing our macaroons. Its the Britishness that makes The Avengers so god damn awful.
I saw it at its first screeing in England with a posse of English film critics and local celebrities like the real John Steed who was sitting in the row behind me. We all came out laughing at how bad trhis movie was. Next year I hope some Brit will remake Dallas or The A Team on the big screen and show how sterotypical Americans can be!!! -
I love the old Avengers... but recently British stand-up comic Eddie Izzard's become my favorite comedian since the seventies!
He is Connery's henchman-- with the Bee Covering machine.
Izzard is about to break big here in America... but the movie around him called the AVENGERS has dealt HIS career a blow.
Connery's done enough good over 40 plus years to warrant our moans, but we still love him. Izzard's just starting...
Hope his next pic with Ewen McGregor is better! -
I didn't excatly *hate* the Avengers, but it did seem like I was in the theater for an awfully long time...and the movie is only 89 minutes long!
I've been trying to describe it to people, and the best I can do is to say that it was like being on some sort of mind-altering drug that made me feel as though my brain were mired in molasses.
Oh, and Uma didn't stand a chance against Diana...sorry! -
I saw The Avengers opening weekend. Like you, I was disappointed. It felt restrained, held back. It could have been really cool, but it just sort of meandered aimlessly to the end.
One thing did interest me though, Steed's 1928 Bentley. My father owned an identical Bentley several years ago which was eventually sold to a judge in Virginia. Why is this so interesting? The original car had a steel bady. My father's car was missing the body when he got it and he had a cloth body made for the vehicle. If you look at the car in the film, it has a cloth body. Same car? Maybe. -
I think I will wait till it comes on tv before I watch it. I loved the old show and can not even think of anyone else doing their roles.
BTW I (for one) LOVED Godzilla -
what little praise i give this movie is due to Ralph Fiennes. You could tell he loved doing it he just had a shitty script to work with he said he would play Steed again. he must be psychotic, poor thing....just give him a better script, someone....PLEASE!!!!!!!
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Im one of the many fans that where totally disapointed with the film. Not only the film was too short, but I also have to agree that Mr. Connery and Ms. Thurman were stuningly miscast.
In defense of Ms. Thurman's acting I have to say: she is one of the best of a new wave of serious dramatic actors of the 90's. With that said... her portrayal of Mrs.Peel sucked big time! Her range doesn't allow her to play cartoonish characters, as should have been obvious to anyone that saw "Batman & what's its name"! However I can sympathize with the producers' plight since the Grand Diva Diana Rigg is a very tough act to follow. Not many actreses come to mind to fill those shoes. To me it was evident that Ms. Thurman wasn't having as much fun with this part as Mr. Finnes.(kudos to him by the way).
I wonder if a longer film would have made a better film. Probably not, but at least some of the deleted scenes would have provided more needed character development.
And who knows? maybe some real good acting lies wasted on the editing floor.......NOT! -
The reference to "Pauly Something" before the pre-movie ads must certainly refer to Pearl & Dean, who do indeed still look after the ad space for some cinemas, and yes, that classic jingle must indeed be applauded. It's a pure classic. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba... oh heck, you either know it, or you just don't care.
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The reference to "Pauly Something" before the pre-movie ads must certainly refer to Pearl & Dean, who do indeed still look after the ad space for some cinemas, and yes, that classic jingle must indeed be applauded. It's a pure classic. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba... oh heck, you either know it, or you just don't care.
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Can't remember who, but someone did a version of Whole Lotta Love in the last couple of years that had the Pearl & Dean theme in the middle...
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Your review was brilliant.
I thought the film was disappointing (as did all British reviewers) but no-one brought in the background information that it had been cut to death because of a bad pre-screening. Why show it in PHOENIX??? Not exactly your average movie audience for the Avengers.
You have explained why the trailer had scenes that were not in the film. Also why the film didn't hang together and had no soul.
If you take away a few bricks the house will fall down!
Thanks for the background information.
John
PS Leicester Square - I think it is a stupid way to spell 'Lester' too!
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well, I saw the film yesterday in Brussels (Belgium) and I must say
that the film was a complete disaster! disappointment!
I don't know if it were the actors, the story, the action or the set (or a combination of them all).
It is always the same, high expectations, big disappointment.
It's a pity, though, for Sean Connery or Ralph Fiennes, who deserve better.
Maybe next time better.
Hector from Brussels,
Belgium -
I just saw an advanced screening of the mighty based on the book "freak the mighty" A good movie that stirred my imagination and for 2 1/2 I was a kid. karin(sp) culkin-who sounds like his brother and of couse looks like him-played well so to say kinda like his brother....I thought it was maybe a clone of Mulkaly(sp) culkin. gillian(sp) anderson plays a sorta white trash-prostitue-which after seeing her all posied and fbi like in the X-files was kind of a shock.
sharon stone who plays the freaks mother was alright
the movie I must warn you sets you up for the heartbreak. When we find out that kevin(the freak) is crippled with a disabiltaing desaise and evenso I knew this when it came to the part in the movie I cried----I hated that cause I knew it was going to happen and the movie is enjoyable filled with laughter up to that one part when the theater is silent and after violin and cello music you hear the sniffs and see tears rolling down the cheeks of the person next to you and you look at the screen wanting to yell focus! but you realize its yourself crying....other than that one scene the movie for a kids movie-like angus was pretty good.
but as far as compiared to some movie I have seen this on is worth the six bucks(my opionion),
evenso -
When will american film makers learn that trying to re-create British classic tv series like The Avengers, or The Saint simply doesn't work!
The Avengers (the TV series) was so British, in its subtle, slightly surreal humour, its camera angles, its writing, that bringing it back in its current limp incarnation was as doomed to failure as the BBC or ITV would be in trying to make a British version of Sgt Bilko. Move on. Create something new. -
I have only walked out of one movie before in my life (Flesh Gordon - don't ask) but after 45 minutes of utter dismay, my brother, his grilfriend and I got up and left (fortunately she's from Manhattan and her big city 'tude got us our money back, now if they could only return the 45 minutes of my life I wasted). I was very excited to see the movie, great trailer, based on one of my all time favourite TV shows and a good cast. What could go wrong? Everything. From the opening credits which were loud and annoying to the constant failed innuendos. No sex appeal and completely flat. I felt sorry for the actors but can't help laying some of the blame on them (is Feines as good as everyone thinks? He's done nothing for me since Schindler's list). I wish your rating system had something off of the 1-10 chart that meant not only should you not waste your $7.50 on this piece of crap, you should not rent it, you should not watch it on HBO and you should be suspicious of any movie that anyone that was involved with this picture is ever involved with in the future.
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well - of course it doesn't matter that Grade flogged the Saint to America - it had a certain "Britishness" about it. As to the "period" well...the 60's looks so naff now, I'm not sure that trying to recreate it would work. Ultimately, what it boils down to is this: Cigar-chomping film execs can't get their heads around the fact that anything remotely un-American will be a box office success. Oh yes, they'll cite Four weddings - but hey - that had just about every British steriotype imaginable. Gibbering aristocrats are easilly digested by American audiences who still think brits are either chirpy cockney chimney sweeps, or tweed jacketed, eccentric old buffers. The origional Avengers had something of the flavour of its period and country of origin, both in humour and style. The latest offering has neither.
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I have just watched an episode of The Avengers on Cable (here in Britain) and it reminded me how stylish, camp, and funny it was. Diana Rigg was perfectly cast as Emma Peel. It was everything the film is not. God help us if they try to make a film out of The Prisoner. Some things just have to be left alone.
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So, it been a couple of weeks since seeing The Avengers at Mann's Chinese Theatre... and yet I can't let the film out of my mind....
Why?!
The movie, was backed by Warner Bros. but there was no way they could have read the script or seen a daily.
I actually enjoyed the movie. I have learned to ignore teasers or previews... for the marketing departments at the major studios are striving for the largest turn out possible for the openning weekend.... not actually capturing the (or grasping) the demographic the film was made for.
I believe that if the film was as advertized by WB it would not have been true to the spirit of the original TV series.
And because of the little details that were put in or left out, I can save hope that at least one person other than a Lucas Or a Spielberg can get their vision to the screen.
To me, WB is responsible for trying to sell an apple as an orange.... and for that I would give them no end to chastation.
Battle on Harry.... they have bought a clue, yet.
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Just saw this (double featured with The Negotiator...not exactly a perfect match). It was definetely...weird. You could tell it had been butchered in the editing room, but it was too odd for mainstream audiences anyways. (Why Phoenix? Ugh.) They also added the "Oh, fuck!" as henchman #1 died at the last minute to up the rating from a PG to a PG-13. All the previews had it as a PG. In any case, I kinda liked it, although I had fairly low expectations due to the horrible reviews of it. "Sean Connery in a life sized teddy bear costume" is probably the one thing that I least expected to see in my lifetime. However, I like surreal weirdness, and this movie has plenty of that. The effect of this movie was kinda like taking a large variety of recreational pharmaceuticals. However, there were plenty of bad parts to the movie. The music sucked. Connery gave the worst performance of his career. And the editing was horrid, everywhere to the various plot holes caused by scenes cut from the final print to the way the fight scenes were edited. Every shot of London had NOBODY on the streets, which was intentional (although I don't know why), but made you emotional detached from the movie. In any case, I recommend you see this movie if you are drunk, stoned, or just in a very weird mood. But don't pay full price.
. -
Never mind Diana Rigg, I still remember and lust after the first Avengers lady, Honor Blackman. All that black leather and karate!
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What have movies such as
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Agree that the movie was a disappointment. I went to London this summer too, to see Kevin Spacey in "The Iceman Cometh", and was looking forward to seeing the landmarks again. Unfortunately that was the only thing enjoyable about this flick. It really was like a bad Batman movie. If cutting from the original script was the reason, then maybe a "director's cut" version will restore its sanity. But doubt much can be done about Sean Connery.
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Round about the first scene with the 'phone box on August's property you can see the sound boom come into shot from the top.
BCNU -
Casting was all wrong...Ralph was more like Stan Laurel than Steed...The english liking for tea was to say the least a little overdone..and the script terrible. One critic pointed out the obvious point regarding it's American appeal..however it bombed attempting to do just that. TV classics should be done with affection..sticking to the most appealing aspects..eg `Mission Impossible'...It would appear with the `Avengers' no-one had seen the TV series...maybe they were only babies back then!!...Moral of the story...alway's consult the fans of the original before you blow your budget!
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Ive just read your review of The Avengers, and as somebody that lives in England and never watched the series, I have to say that it wasn't that bad. It had a nice style to it. Also your comments on adverts before films at the cinema over here are bullshit. They become tedious and boring after you seen the same run of adverts and trailers for the 20th time, admittedly sometimes you get a bit different stuff, like once I saw an ALL SAINTS music video of their cover the RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS 'Under the Bridge'. But mostly its the same old Smirnoff Vodka and Brut Aquatonic(its a deodarant) adverts, and its mighty bloody boring.Sorry Harry, I just had to get that off my chest.
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The Paul thing mentioned in the review, before the ads came up was almost certainly Pearl & Dean who still compile the ads for Warner Cinema and played this quirky trailer with psychadelic looking lights coming towards you before the adverts started.
I beleive they "modernised" their music a few years ago but judging by the applause mentioned in the review, I wouldn't be surprised if they revived the classic "pah pah pah" music just for this film.
--
Hywel Williams
hw@starfury.NOSPAM.demon.co.uk
(remove NOSPAM for reply) -
This is easily the most underrated film of 1998, and one of the most underrated films of all time. You can tell the critics were prepared to hate it.
Part of it is indeed Warner Bros.'s fault. I've read the script. The studio cut out several key exposition scenes for no adequately explored reason. If these had been left in, more people would have been able to understand the basics of the plot, lay back and let the surrealistic reverie of the film sink in.
Ah, the reverie. This, unlike the similarly outrageous but totally ineffective BATMAN AND ROBIN, is an atmospheric, whimsical film. In the aforementioned B&R, the bizarreness was never convincing. I could smell the coffee and donuts waiting just offstage. Everyone overacted, there was no atmosphere, and it took itself seriously.
In THE AVENGERS however, the actors are thankfully understated. They act as if these sorts of things happen all the time, which I guess they do in this world. "That man's dressed as a teddy bear. Hmm." "Emma has a clone. Well I'll be." There are several little, wonderful, impossible details- the unique plant that Sir August has bred, the miniature globes simulating weather conditions, the sudden hurricane on August's grounds, London almost literally buried in snow- it's a neverending catalogue of things that are not seen in the real world, but perhaps should be. This, along with a strong visual sense, makes for an overpowering atmosphere that I found wonderful.
The plot, though somewhat disjointed, is still easy to grasp. The basics are fairly clear, at least I thought so. And I believe that atmosphere is more important than plot- after all, one can make a good film without any sort of plot whatsoever (see the works of Bunel), but without atmosphere a film is unbearable.
On to the leads. To read reviews of Ralph's performance, one would think that subtlety is a crime. But his Steed is not without a certain charm and presence. Uma Thurman completely redeems her work in B&R (though she already had done so with GATTACA)- her Mrs. Peel is convincingly sly, charming, and occassionally vulnerable in a most endearing way. Sean Connery is no ham, but he opts for a bit of scenery chewing here, and somehow it's fun to watch. As for Fiennes and Thurman's scenes together, they're filled with a palpable chemistry coupled with a certain tenderness that I loved. They're no Macnee and Rigg, but noone could be. They acquit themselves admirably.
The pace is rendered a tad off kilter by the studio's hacksaw re-edit, but one can still sense a pace steadily building up until the final act, by which the proceedings have become dreamlike in their intensity. There's also a fine score that makes good use of the classic theme.
On the whole, I found this to be a satisfying, exhilirating adventure film, the kind of outlandish fantasy that isn't made often enough. Too many of our blockbusters have a sort of psuedo-realism, in which reality is stretched but never satisfactorily bended. Why not a purely whimsical action film like this one? I fail to see.
Oh, and DIRECTOR'S CUT NOW!!! -
It in't that bad, I'm too young to have seen the original and I'm too lazy to catch it on reruns.
But anyways When I saw it I didn't mind it, a 5.5 out of 10 but I think nowadays with Dumb and Dumberer making dumb amounts of money you hae to appreciate this a LITTLE -
This is a message form the future!!! Uma thurman will Kill Bill
Out. -
it had nice visuals, but didn't make a God damned bit of sense, shit just randomly happened
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how many defenders for the movie this TB has, today this movie would get absolutely crucified on this site (and rightly so in this case)
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