Flaw City

Rating: 3/10 (5 November 2013)

Despite the ridiculous overrating of 8.2 out of 10 stars on this site at the time of this review, there are some pretty good negative reviews on here. A number of people seem confused why this film is considered good or even outstanding, and they should be confused. Generally, I'm confused why people are so impressed by this type of film over and over. It is simple-minded, predictable, boiling over with clichés, ugly to look at, lacking character development, and overblown in just about every way. It really isn't worth the time for a full review, particularly in light of some good ones here already. I'll just list some flaws that I think most people are not acknowledging.
--This film is overly long. It's 2 hours and 22 minutes. A popcorn comic book movie shouldn't make your butt and bladder hurt this much.
--The pacing of this film is uneven. You expect this type of film to be packed with mindless action, but it had a lot of inexplicable lulls. I thought the dull section of the film on the floating ship would never end. The set up also took way too long and was uninteresting.
--This movie spends a lot of time on the pop psychology of its heroes as well as the psychology of their group dynamic. This becomes dull and tiresome, yet for the time spent on it we still get cardboard cutouts.
--Why is the story fueled by the Thor story line, the most outlandish and inane of the Marvel tales (close second for Captain America)? Loki is a silly, petty villain. It is hard to relate to any of these heroes, as they all seem inexplicably immortal, but the whole Norse God/Space Alien thing with Thor and Loki perhaps should have been swept under the rug. Maybe there is some sort of comic book tradition reason for this choice?
--This movie looks bad. It is ugly and fake looking. There is way too much CGI that isn't even required by the special effects demands of a scene. The action scenes have a numbing effect after a little while and it becomes easy to forget you aren't watching a video game.
--This film is fueled by clichés of every kind. It feels like a used, third hand piece of writing.
--There are some good actors in this film (and some not so good) but they aren't given enough space to spread their wings. The script is also a heavy yoke these actors must try to preform under the restriction of.
--I felt nothing watching this film other than mild irritation. I don't expect a huge emotional impact watching this type of film. That's not why I see this type of movie. Still, I found it strangely empty. It is basically as if the filmmakers have put their focus on all the wrong aspects of their craft. The film quickly ceases to be fun for me, in part because it is so empty.
--I think it also feels empty because it has a 'going through the motions' type feel to it. The plot is one of unsubtle inevitability. 2 hours and 22 minutes is a long film, but it feels much longer if there are few if any surprises, and the basic arc of the plot is so polished that it feels like a one hump roller coaster.
--A blockbuster superhero action film isn't really about subtlety, nor should it be. But this film lacks any moral gray, or tense emotion fueled by uncertainty. It replaces any emotion with bald faced sentiment. And while it is filled with tiny details and references, its themes are mind numbing, characters thin (even if you've seen all the Marvel films) and storytelling cluttered, but full of unimaginative sequences.
--This film is slick. It is a formula that is well greased and polished to a blinding shine. And it is tough to make a film that is presented in this smooth, flashy, yet non-stylistic sort of way. But this confidence of the filmmakers wears on me. It feels like the polish of the film makes it feel more plastic than it needs to, and guts any chance of the film having a soul. And the immense machine that is this film and this series has become so smooth and over confidant that it really does not feel the need to be interesting in any way... like in a way a lot of cheap, low budget and unambitious movies are. It is a plague of our age of filmmaking.
--Remember when a blockbuster used to be something like Jaws?