Charles the 1st tells Father Geek that fans of the series in England "luv" the Avengers. Well I don't know, I'll be seeing it at 1pm today and will file my report later, but for now....
Harry - hope you're having a cool time in Swinging London (TM)...
Saw The Avengers last night (Thursday) and I just have to reassure you: if you loved the series, you'll love the movie. Plain and simple. It's twisted, it's bizarre, it's surreal, it's fucking warped, it's obsessed with sunshine, tea, waistcoats, boots, bobbies, double-entendres, London buses, landmarks, and has some of the most bizarre imagery I've ever seen. And it's hilarious too, on purpose. The audience I saw it with loved it, we were all cracking up every few minutes. It was completely true to the spirit of the tv series - too often movie remakes just seem to be action movies with the heroes given the same names as the tv characters, but this WAS The Avengers. It is a gigantic piss-take, and I loved it.
It's not an action movie - it has some good action sequences, but it could survive with or without them. Responding to criticisms of Ralph Fiennes' performance: Steed never got bothered by anything. The most dangerous, world-threatening situations were, to him, simply minor inconveniences delaying the arrival of tea and cakes. In the tv show they never seemed to be too worried by anything, as long as they were dressed properly and behaved correctly, and this is carried over. They don't take it seriously, and neither should we.
I was actually surprised quite how much I loved this movie - I knew I'd love it, but didn't have any idea that it would rock this much. Having said that, it is going to die painfully in America - it's very British, very surreal, very true to the tv series, and the tv series is not loved by every man, woman and child over there. But those of us who get it, will love it. Even the opening 5 minutes are quintessential Avengers scenes, and worth my ticket price alone.
Have a good time while you're here, and come back soon, y'hear...
Charles The First
