The Avengers: "We have a Hulk"

"But let's do a head count here. your brother the demi-god, a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend, a man with breath-taking anger management issues, a couple of master assassins, and you big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

Two words: Tony Stark. What resembled Transformers: Dark of the Moon in terms of breath-taking cinematography, the action-packed thrill and the dark apocalyptic atmosphere became more than just what thirteen-year-old teenagers and Marvel fanatics lined up for; even their girlfriends and self-proclaimed geeks like me itched to watch Joss Whedon's block-buster hit and most-awaited movie of the year The Avengers.

And it's all because of the intellectual and witty humor--that Ironman has become overly famous for in his two movies--infused in the dim and end-of-the-world plot. And even though the laugh-off-the-seat punchlines were 90% Tony Stark, the other Avengers and even Loki had their own funny moments to contribute--they are a team after all--how Thor immediately denied that he and Loki are true brothers when Black Widow told him Loki has killed 80 people in two days; how Captain America, Thor and Ironman wrestled like real ten-year-old kids fighting over a precious in-demand action-figure doll (aka Loki) (Thor: Do not touch me again! Tony: Then don't touch my stuff.), and how Steve Rogers aka Captain America always boiled over Tony's witty sass-mouthing (Steve: Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you? Tony: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.)

As we witnessed how Tony Stark also idolized The Hulk very much he even invited him to visit Stark Tower (his candyland), we also witnessed the end of the world as it is when Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson, Ironman) activated the Tesseract at the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, a hypercube with a powerful energy source and opened a portal releasing exiled Norse god Loki (Tom Hiddleston, Thor). With plans of conquering Earth, he stole the Tesseract and manipulated  Hawkeye and astrophysicist Professor Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) to help him escape and collect Iridium for the Tesseract needed to stabilize it.

With The Avengers' Initiative (which served as epilogue scene for all Marvel Hero movies involved in this movie), Nick Fury assembled Black Widow ( Scarlett Johansson), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Ironman (Robert Downey Jr.) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) to stop Loki with his plan of wiping out the entire planet with the Tesseract. Complications immediately exploded with Thor interrupting the mission as he still had "unfinished business" with his brother, and all members--especially Tony and Steve--having "friendship" issues.

They managed to capture Loki but worse misunderstandings followed when Tony and Dr. Bruce Banner (aka Hulk) (friends as they immediately became mainly because they spoke the same "language") were able to breach Nick's security files and found out that The Avengers and the Tesseract were to be used by the government to create nuclear weapons, thus making them "not a team, but a time bomb".

Just as the heroes were caught off-guard, Loki's army attacked their ship led by Hawkeye, where Dr. Banner finally lost control, threatening and attacking not only the enemies but also Thor and Black Widow as well, and hard-core enemies Captain America and Ironman had to work together to keep the ship from crashing. Thor faced his brother Loki again, but fell into his trap and fell from the ship.

Tony's agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg, Ironman) tried to stop Loki but was killed in the process, and together with Nick's "dramatic" scheme  because the Avengers needed "a push in the right direction", the team reunited to finish the job and save the world.

Led by Captain America, the battle began as Loki, with Prof. Selvig's assistance assembled the Tesseract to open the portal that led to the world of the Chitauri, the alien race Loki recruited and released his army that all brought me back to the plot and the Decepticon aliens of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. In the end, Black Widow was able to close the portal using Loki's Tesseract staff just seconds before Ironman delivered his atomic bomb (which was released by the government to destroy Manhattan) to Chitauri portal.

5 reasons why Ironman drives me crazy

 
I know, I still haven't watched Ironman 2, and am not in the position to praise or criticize Jon Favreau's second Ironman movie whatsoever. But I'm still a fan (an ardent patriot indeed), and I promise I'll post my review after I catch up in the theaters this Saturday.

 I'll begin with the top 5 reasons why I am desperately saving money to watch Ironman 2, or why I am plain neurotic about the movie for that matter:

 1. Robert Downey Jr. himself. The movie's not just about Ironman as it is, but on how Robert Downey carried the "soul" of the film because of who he is as a marvelous actor. He was able to perfectly cart the portrayal of Ironman in such a hilarious and outrageously witty angle, that made the movie even comedy in the bigger approach than it is being a Marvel action.

And yet, he once said in his personal quotes: "I know very little about acting. I'm just an incredibly gifted faker."

 2. Justin Theroux's genuine script. He is just the perfect match in creating Ironman's screenplay (he also did in Downey's "Tropic Thunder"), as he flawlessly glued the art of the humorous language with the cast's stunning charisma and their natural expertise in acting.

 3. The impact of the "legacy" theme. After all, it is eveyone's superhero movie (with, of course, the tick of being a comedy film as well). Ironman carried the notion of not just being a hero, but also left a humane legacy that unfolded a greater purpose of being more than just the lifesaver of the day.

 4. The cast chemistry. I have watched the first Ironman almost a thousand times already, and aside from Ironman's interminable comedic style I would never cease to laugh at, I never got tired at everyone's "high-definition" performances (unlike other movies where the protagonist is only th highlight). Thanks to the awesome casting directors Sarah Finn and Randi Hiller, they were able to draw the perfect cast chemistry of Ironman that made the film even more surprising than ever.

 5. The breathtaking (and sometimes already unbelievable) technology. Who would not fall off their seats with Ironman's astounding machinery? "From a box of scraps" in the first movie, we already got our minds blown off by Tony Stark's ardent scientific know-how's in technology.

 And I also remembered my biology teacher who made us watch some parts of Ironman 1 for the first time, where Tony was experimenting with his flying theories (remember the flight stabilizer?). The movie did not only portray science and technology itself, but also the basic values of the scientifc attitudes.

I know I'm already outdated, but one thing remains as it is: I would never get tired of Ironman, as every other fan would not (and it's the reason why I'm saving money!). Hail Tony Stark!