Marvel Universe so utterly a dull place

Rating: 3/10 (19 August 2012)

As a 1960s Marvel and DC comics fan I have watched the film adaptations with interest over the years and frankly have been rather disappointed. Poorest of all is the Marvel Universe of comic characters. A bunch of dullards dressed up as something interesting and worst of all is when they get together as in this the first outing of The Avengers. Tony Stark's Iron Man is the worst of an utterly boring bunch but only just as he has some serious competition from the less than one dimensional Black Widow, Hawkeye and Captain America. The plot what there was of it was lamentable and the hopeless friction between the super heroes seemed nothing more than a way to pan out two hours rather than adding anything to the actual movie. Nick Fury added a bit of interest but was underused and SHIELD looked more like the Men From UNCLE with a bit of Captain Scarlet thrown in but less interesting. Loki was a very poor villain and the alien invasion was one of the worst ever conceived.
This type of film is made for a very intellectually challenged American audience and had all the ingredients to satisfy them. Lots of explosions and plenty of American flags to cheer at. But I always thought Marvel's characters were a lot more interesting than this bunch of costumed bores. Maybe I saw it through rose tinted shades back then but what I remember was a lot better than this tripe. I will admit Thor, Captain America and the new Hulk film were reasonably well done but Iron Man I and II left me cold and I was a big fan of him as a kid. But the Avengers was a mess.
The DC side (Green Lantern aside) has for me been done a lot better especially the Batman adaptations. Marvel not so, sadly.
One of the worst bits was the sentimentality card played via a rather sad and pathetic Agent Coulson who up till thn had been a rather interesting character. This device used to galvanise the fractured super force into an unstoppable storm of red white and blue and some green.
The witty one liners become tired and overused as the film drags itself to an inevitable conclusion and the final battle in Manhattan was done better in Cloverfield. It's a shame as these guys were my heroes as a kid in the 60s but now as an old man all I see are a bunch of prats in Halloween costumes. Luckily I have the final Batman movie still to watch so it's not all doom and gloom in the costume hero stakes but this lot should be retired as they are nothing but frauds.