Ok folks, it's time for some cool superhero news. First I'll start off with the... bad news or at least the possibility of 'bad news'. There was an AVENGERS screening in Arizona last week. They tried to keep it real real quiet. Did lots of 'scare techniques' to keep the audience 'hush hush' Problem is... well, it's hard to keep these screenings silent. So it was that I received a phone call from an audience member or two or three. They (yes, there were 'they') hated the film. One said when he went to the bathroom, the group of standing men, and sink men began doing that 'talk' thing that angry men in the bathroom do. It was 8 to 1 hatred. This same fellow said he loved the original Avengers series, but that he couldn't stand the out of left field mental problems that Emma Peel had, and that all the men wished she had been in her tight leather body suit more than in two brief sequences. Ummmm, this is kinda akin to Batman wearing his outfit just a couple of times. Hmmmm Warners did do this one too, didn't they?
Then the second fella, had never heard of the Avengers, and wasn't even familiar with the TV series, didn't know there was one. I asked him about 'cable' and he says he's an antennae kinda guy. He thought the effects were... odd. I said, "well it is a test print, I imagine there is still some effects work to go." "There is no amount of effects than can fix what's wrong with this film." That's a pretty bold statement. I asked that he clarify what he meant there, and he just went off on the film something fierce.
Then there was the lady. I figured with Ralph Fiennes and Sean Connery, she surely had to of loved the film. NOPE. She liked Ralph, but felt that Sean was playing a character beneath him. (All three mentioned that they felt bad for Connery, because his role was so bad) She thought it might be able to get a little better, but that it felt like a 'misguided film.'
Well, this is the first test screening I've heard of for this film. I really hope these three are wrong. If you saw THE AVENGERS in Arizona last week, and liked it. If you were that one guy at the urinal that liked it, while the other seven guys hated it... well I want to hear from you. When I told Hallenbeck of this news, he felt that he would be 'that one' as have several of my friends and allies that I have talked to. Please someone, tell us it ain't so....
