Category: Shows

Release date:  5/4/12

Walt Disney Pictures

Directed by

• Joss Whedon

Produced by

• Kevin Feige

Screenplay by

• Joss Whedon

Story by

• Zak Penn
• Joss Whedon

Based on “The Avengers”

• Stan Lee
• Jack Kirby

Cast

Robert Downey, Jr.

• Tony Stark/Iron Man

Chris Evans

• Steve Rogers/Captain America

Mark Ruffalo

• Bruce Banner/The Hulk

Chris Hemsworth

• Thor

Scarlett Johansson

• Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow

Jeremy Renner

• Clint Barton/Hawkeye

Tom Hiddleston

• Loki

Samuel L. Jackson

• Nick Fury

This is also the first BSP to be broadcast through Google Hangout and You Tube.

David kicks the discussion off by asking if The Avengers lived up to the hype.  All around, the answer was YES.

Now he turns to the component movies and asks for a quick Yay/Nay on each:

Iron Man I & II – Yay all around, especially Iron Man I.

The Incredible Hulk – David and Sam gave it a Yay, Tony gave it a Yay for the start of the movie and Darrell gave it a Nay.

Thor – David and Sam gave it a Nay, Tony and Darrell gave it a Yay.

Captain America – All-around Yay for this one.

Tony questioned the hosts as to which of the previous movies was the most necessary to watch (if any), leading up to The Avengers?

Dissention creeps in as David, Sam and Darrell all chose Captain American because Captain America was so underpowered, compared to the rest of the team, and therefore needed to be developed into the heart of the team, so his character needed more of a build-up.  Tony chose Thor as it established the relationship between Thor and Loki and introduced Loki’s background.

Darrell initially brought up why Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) were part of the Avengers team, but understood that each of them had specific skills that only they could bring to the table.  David could not disagree more, as far as Black Widow was concerned.  David would only concede that the scene where Black Widow “plays” Loki is her only worthwhile scene.  He also added that the movie did a disservice to women, Johansson and Cobie Smulders (Agent Maria Hill) being the examples.  Tony countered that Hill was an establishing character, as Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) second-in-command in future movies.

Sam felt that the reason this movie was so successful is that when you usually have a large ensemble of important characters, inevitably certain characters will be lessened or left out.  In The Avengers, everyone had something significant or pivotal to do with the story.

Going back to Captain America, David and Sam brought up the fact that he came from a different time and he was a different kind of superhero, which is why David thought that Captain America should be the movie to be watched before The Avengers, to give that backstory to understand where he’s coming from.  The other superheroes don’t need that kind of introduction/background.

Discussion turned to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and how Stark was the only person who treated Bruce Banner/Hulk the way he wished to be treated… just as a man, not as someone to be feared.  Stark was more interested in Banner’s scientific mind than in The Hulk’s brute strength.

Tony and David felt as if there was something missing with The Hulk between the first and second half of the movie.  There was a sense that Stark poked and prodded at Banner in an attempt to find out what triggers his control of The Hulk.  It’s as if there was a missing scene in which Stark gave Banner the tools to control himself… and they all hope that perhaps something will show up in the director’s cut.

David’s next topic of discussion:  Scarlett Johansson is not as hot as Cobie Smulders.

Tony disagrees with how they look now, adding that Smulders was more attractive a few years ago.  She’s lost weight and curves in the past few years.  The same was also said about Johansson.  Sam agrees with Tony on all counts.  They also thought that Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) was sexy, and decided that they would like to see an Avengers B-Team movie with Paltrow, Natalie Portman (Thor) and Jennifer Connelly (Hulk).

All of the hosts were highly impressed with the action sequences in the movie and how each superhero’s powers were put into play.  They liked how Captain America took the lead of the group and Hawkeye was used as a sniper and a strategist.  They also liked the inside jokes that were funny even if you didn’t know the origin of the joke, as some of them came from the original comic stories.

Sam’s favorite line from the movie was poorly placed, from a cinematic point of view.  After Hulk beat down Loki, it was almost impossible to hear him say “Puny god.”

There were a few things from the movie that didn’t pan out at the time, which the hosts appreciated because they could be utilized in future movies: Thor releasing his hammer and The Hulk not being able to pick it up, Thor’s lightning and the Iron Man suit not being used too much in the movie.  These things, the hosts agreed, can be used against Thanos in the next movie.  And, of course, they all LOVED that Thanos was introduced in the final (not counting the schwarma) scene.

Trivial bits ‘n pieces:

Lou Ferrigno voice The Hulk in this film, and he has played The Hulk in almost every live-action version since 1978 (The Incredible Hulk series and three TV-movies, he voiced Hulk in the big-screen version of The Incredible Hulk and had a cameo in Hulk as a security guard).

The Science and Entertainment Exchange provided a science consultation for the film.

The film was converted to 3-D during post-production for the theatrical release.

Although the battle cry of “Avengers Assemble” was never spoken during the film, Chris Evans would use text that to the rest of the cast when they would hang out off of the set.

BONUS: After the music, keep listening for a special Booster Seat Producers review of The Avengers!

Your Producers for this episode were:

• Tony
• Darrell
• David
• Sam

This episode was recorded: 5/17/2012

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