Movie Review: The Avengers

Hey everyone, welcome to another movie review courtesy of Old School Lane. Today we're going to cover one of the most critically acclaimed summer blockbusters of this year: The Avengers. 

After 4 years of hard work and preparation, this movie has finally been released in theaters around May 4th. Ever since its release, many people and critics have praised this movie so well saying that it was not only the #1 movie of the summer, but maybe one of the greatest superhero movies ever! Is that true? Well, let's see. Is this movie an instant masterpiece of amazing teamwork or is it an overrated collaborated mess? Let's soar to the skies withThe Avengers. 

The movie starts with Loki, the evil brother of Thor. He's discussing to the Other, the leader of an alien race called the Chitauri, about the Tessaract, a powerful energy source that could be used for unlimited power. In exchange for retreving the Tessaract, the Other will allow Loki to lead his alien army to they can take over the Earth. 

Meanwhile, Nick Fury, the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. have the Tessaract in testing to find out its real capabilities. However, they opened up a portal that allowed Loki to enter into Earth. He steals the Tessaract and uses his scepter to control a few of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents and scientists. He even controls Hawkeye, one of the superheroes who was with Nick discussing about the Tessaract. Seeing the seriousness of the situation, Nick decides to call the most capable superheroes and call the group The Avengers. 

The first one is Natasha Romanov, otherwise known as Black Widow. After getting herself free from an interegation, she's told to find Dr. Bruce Banner, whose residing in India, and bring him to join The Avengers. Bruce refuses at first because he doesn't want to lose his temper and become the Incredible Hulk. However when Natasha convinces him that his assignment will be stress-free, he accepts. 

The second one is Tony Stark, otherwise known as Iron Man. Phil Coulson, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., went to Stark Industries to convince him to join. As first, he refuses. But then, after much convincing, he accepts. 

Next is Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America. After being frozen for almost 70 years, he's slowly trying to catch up on everything. Nick locates Steve and gave him his assignment about Loki and the Tessaract. Despite Steve feeling out of place due to him being in a different time period, he accepts.

With a few members together, they decide to locate where Loki would be next. They find that he is currently in Germany. Loki decides to test out his power with the Tessaract and uses his sceptor to make duplicates of himself in front of a large crowd and demands that they bow down to him. He claims that freedom is a terrible thing for humans; being ruled is the way to go.

But the day is saved when the Avengers come and take down Loki. They arrest him and place him on their jet back to S.H.I.E.L.D. But then Thor comes and sets him free. Iron Man and Captain America goes after them to retreive Loki again. Thor confronts Loki saying to come home with him in Asgard, but Loki refuses. Iron Man confronts Thor and they have a hilariously epic fight, but it's been interrupted by Captain America. They had decided to work together, despite Thor and Iron Man not liking each other very much. They take in Loki to S.H.I.E.L.D. to interrogate him on where the Tessaract is. 

Meanwhile, while Loki was still imprisoned, Hawkeye attacks the S.H.I.E.L.D. main base and blows up one of the main engines. Loki escapes, Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk and attacks Black Widow, Phil Coulson dies, Hawkeys is free from Loki's control, everything goes to major chaos when Loki retrieves the Tessaract and his sceptor again, and the Avengers lose their confidence. After Nick uses Phil's death as a confidence booster saying that he still believed in them, they suit up again and go after Loki.

At New York, Loki uses the Tessaract to create a portal to unlease the alien army and they started on desecrating Manhattan. Slowly, the other teammates find one another, and together, they take down Loki, destroy the portal, and take down the alien army. There are so many epic fights in this, so I won't list them. You just have to see it to believe it! It's just amazing! 

They defeat Loki, destroy the portal, and the alien army. Thor takes Loki and the Tessaract with him to Asgard where they belong. Meanwhile, at S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick tells the ambassadors that whenever the world gets into a similar chaos, the Avengers will always be there. 

But wait, if you sit down for a few moments after the credits, you'll see an alternate ending showing that there will be a sequel. It looks like that the fight has just begun.

Overall, this movie soared my expectations through the roof! It has a great story, fantastic characters that have been developed very well, and epic battles and explosions. This was a movie done by geeks for geeks. Joss Whedon did an incredible job with this movie and he should be applauded for his hard work leading it in the right direction. Those 4 years of waiting were well worth it. For any future superhero movies, they better take notes on how to make a good superhero movie because everything that was accomplished in The Avengers, they did it right! Do you agree or disagree? Post it in the comments and let us know. 

As for the upcoming superhero movies Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman,well, they have a stiff competition to try to top The Avengers. We'll see how it goes when they're released. 

That's all for today. Hope to see you around Old School Lane real soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

P.S. The Nickelodeon summer tribute will begin in less than 2 weeks. I'm excited. Kevin's excited. Are you? 

My most anticipated movies and video games of 2012

Almost a month has passed since 2012 has graced us in our everyday lives and so far, it hasn't felt any different for me than if it was 2011. However, as I wandered into the vast world of cyberspace, I found out that a lot of really cool things are coming out entertainment wise. When it came to movies and video games, they're really coming out with some really interesting things that I'm actually looking forward to. I don't know whether it has to do with the so-called "It's the end of the world so let's celebrate the time we have left with a bang" scenario, but whatever. Here are some movies that I'm excited about for 2012.

Beauty and the Beast 3D



I can't believe that in last November, Beauty and the Beast celebrated its 20th anniversary of its release. It seems like only yesterday that I saw this movie in the theater with my mom and sister and loving every moment of it. Man, I'm really getting old. This movie is a classic and it's one of my absolute favorite Disney movies. I'm not really into the whole princess thing, but I have to admit that I love Belle . She's odd, intelligent, a bookworm, pretty, and assertive, unlike a lot of the other Disney princesses that are pretty much damsels in distress. (If I had to choose my second favorite princess, it would be Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.)

I love the story, the side characters, the animation is beautiful, the songs are memorable, and the pacing of the relationship between Belle and the Beast. Next week, the movie will be released again in theaters in 3D. While I'm not big into the whole 3D epidemic, I will definitely be one of the first people on line to watch this movie.

The Hunger Games



Based on the dark, grim trilogy written by Susanne Collins, the story of Katniss Everdeen competing in a game show involving with killing the other contestants to survive will arrive in theaters this March. I've read the trilogy a year ago and I've loved it, unlike the Twilight trilogy. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this movie holds up with the book.

Dark Shadows


Based on the ABC TV soap opera from 1966-1971, it involves with vampires, monsters, witches, ghosts, zombies, Johnny Depp, and Tim Burton. Being a huge Tim Burton fan, I will be expecting a lot of great art, a intriguing story line, and a lot of dark undertones and goofy scenes.

The Avengers



A movie that has Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and many other superheroes all at once? Holy crap, where do I buy my ticket? As a big fan of superheroes, this looks like it's shaping up to be an awesome flick.

Brave



Pixar's first ever princess movie looks and sounds awesome. The story of a rebellious archer princess name Merida whose against going against the traditions of royalty. Her actions causes chaos throughout the whole kingdom and she has to restore it before it's too late. That sounds like the most kick ass Disney princess movie ever! I hope that this puts Pixar back on the map after that disappointing piece of crap that was Cars 2.

There are a lot of video games I'm looking forward to. With last year being called one of the greatest years in gaming ever, it's going to take a lot of top notch games to be released. Here's a list of some of the games I can't wait to play:


BioShock Infinite


The original Bioshock was one of the greatest FPS ever. The creepy atmosphere of Rapture, the fresh storyline with a lot of twists, surprises, and multiple endings, complex characters and interesting weapons is what makes this game great. The sequel was okay. BioShock Infinite takes place in a air city called Columbia in 1912 where a former Pinkerton agent named Booker DeWitt rescues a woman named Elizabeth from being held hostage for 12 years. The graphics look awesome and the concept sounds really cool.

Kid Icarus: Uprising



The original Kid Icarus is a classic NES game that unfortunately didn't go very far compared to Mario,
Zelda, and Metroid. But when he appeared as a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, people were excited that Pit was in the game and they were looking forward to another Kid Icarus game. Years later, after many rumors and speculations, Kid Icarus: Uprising was announced for the 3DS. The gameplay looks very different compared to the previous games, but it looks pretty good. So far, the 3DS hasn't really been selling like hotcakes and the 3D hurts my eyes after a few minutes. Maybe this game will pick up the popularity of the 3DS.

The Last Guardian



The same company that released awesome PS2 games like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus announced in 2008 that they were going to release a game involving a boy and a griffin-like creature named Trico trying to escape a castle and focusing on the friendship between the two. Unfortunately, the game had been delayed year after year and was almost cancelled a few times. Finally, the game will be released this year and I think will be one of the last great games of the PS3 before the PS4 will be announced. I can't wait to check it out.

Mass Effect 3



The final game in the trilogy promises to be the biggest story in the series. Every decision that was made in the previous two games is carried on with the new game and is just as important as ever with the storyline. Commander Shepard travels to new planets and recruits new soldiers to finish the war against the Reapers once and for all. While I'm not a huge fan of this series compared to my cousin, I'm still looking forward to it.

Twisted Metal



In the late 90's and early 2000's, over-the-top racing games were all the rage and Twisted Metal was one of the best. Not really much to say about it, but there will be new cars, online gameplay, and the same characters from the previous games will be there. I haven't played a crazy over-the-top racing game since Jak X: Combat Racing and the trailers and pictures make it look like a lot of fun.

Overstrike



One of my all time favorite video game developers is Insomniac Games. They created one of my all time favorite video game series, Ratchet and Clank. When I saw Overstrike at E3 2011, it kinda reminded me of Pixar's The Incredibles with the creative weapons and funny dialogue. Not a lot of information about what the plot has been revealed, but it's from Insomniac Games, which means it'll be creative, funny, unique, and fun.

Tomb Raider



When I first heard that a new Tomb Raider was coming out, I was excited. Over the years, the series took a turn for the worse and the games became awful. However, similar to the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the Tomb Raider series changed for the better when Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light came out in August 2010. Even though it was very different from the previous games, it was a great comeback for the series. In E3 2011, a new trailer of the game came out and it looks like it took the best from the earlier Tomb Raider games and improved on it.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time



During the PS2 days, my favorite platformers series were Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Sly Cooper. When the PS3 came out, only the Ratchet and Clank series continued while the other series ended. However, Sucker Punch Productions, the company who created the Sly Cooper series, teased about a Sly Cooper 4 in their other game Infamous. In E3 2011, the announcement of Sly Cooper 4 got people excited. The plot takes place years after Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves in which the main characters Sly, Bentley, and Murray reunite and their main mission is to retrieve the stolen Thievus Racconus, the book that belonged to the Cooper family for generations. Although Sucker Punch is not getting involved with the game, it looks just like the previous games.

That's my list of my most anticipated movies and video games of 2012. I have a really strong feeling that I'll be seeing more movies and games that would look just as awesome. Thanks for chilling out with us at the Old School Lane. Catch you later.

-Patricia