What I Watched -- The Avengers

I'm sort of hit or miss with superhero movies.  I've really liked the latest installments in the Batman series (anyone else excited for The Dark Knight Rises?), but I can't say the same for the X-Men films. I did, however, see The Avengers (or, as it is properly titled, Marvel's The Avengers, since it's based on their comic book series).

Aaaaannnnd, it was awesome.  There were of course the obligatory action scenes and things blowing up, but it was also really funny!  The timing was great, like when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) identifies himself as "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," or when Hulk crushes Loki (MINOR SPOILER ALERT - this is late in the movie, but it doesn't really give anything away).  There were several points when the audience erupted in laughter and spontaneous applause.

Strictly speaking, I guess all the Avengers aren't really superheroes at all.  Iron Man is a regular dude (albeit a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist) with a really cool high-tech suit.  Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is a super spy with mad acrobatic skills, but no super powers per say.  Captain America (Chris Evans) is a tough guy and a fighter, and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) has wicked skills with a bow and arrow, but no magical skills to speak of.  So that leaves us with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) as our bona fide supers.  And I guess Loki (Tom Hiddleston, recently of War Horse and Midnight in Paris fame), though he's a bad guy.  But why quibble about the details about who's super when it all comes together so nicely?

Bottom line: hooray for superheroes!