Theater Thoughts: The Avengers and Dark Shadows

It's really sad that I rarely go to the movie theater anymore, but ticket prices are just so expensive these days!  Plus, with things like Redbox, Netflix, and local dollar theaters, I don't really see the point in spending $12 anymore when I can just wait a couple months and spend $1.

Photo from here.

Anyway, this weekend there was a $6 Groupon which included a movie ticket and free drink at Studio Movie Grill.  David and I decided to purchase two to see The Avengers over the weekend.  Unfortunately, everyone in Atlanta had the same idea, so we had to wait until Monday night to finally see the film and experience the "dinner & a movie"- style theater.  Before I get to my thoughts on the film, I must say that the theater was really neat.  I've been to a "dinner & a movie"-style theater before in college, but not like this!  The menu had a ton of delicious options from Greek yogurt with fruit to BBQ pizzas to frozen desserts!  Also, our table had a button to push when you were ready to order which I've never experienced.  Overall, it was just a well run business.  In addition, I thought it was awesome they let us use our Groupon deal during the opening week of a film.  Some theaters won't even let you use giftcards until two weeks after a film is released!

Photo from here.

Now on to my review:  I thought The Avengers was a pretty good movie overall.  It had cool action scenes and even better jokes throughout the entire film.  I loved the interactions between all of the superheros; that was probably my favorite part of the film!  While I'm not a fan of Scarlett Johansson, I must admit that all of the actors played/fit their roles really well.  The only casting I couldn't get over though - Cobie Smulders will always be Robin from How I Met Your Mother to me.  I think she would do great in a nice rom-com before breaking out into action flicks.  Maybe that's just me though?

I read an article about how this movie has been six years in the making with films like Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, etc.  It was great strategic planning on the part of the movie studio.  I think they should have waited though because two of the main characters - Black Widow and Hawkeye - had no background story that I knew of (obviously readers of the comic books would know their stories, but the rest of us don't...).  One more pre-The Avengers film wouldn't have killed the studio especially since I hear they are already planning on making an Iron Man 3 and a Thor 2.

I give The Avengers a solid B-.  There was a part during the movie where I was ready for it to be wrapping up.  Plus, as I mentioned before, the background of two of the main characters was completely missing.  The B- might also be due to the fact that I'm more into realistic action movies - even the Batman movies are more realistic than un-jolly green giants and gods with powerful hammers.  Plus, the "bad guys" in this movie were machines yet aliens.  It was slightly confusing to me.  David and everyone else I've talked to has really enjoyed it though so definitely give it a shot!

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Photo from here.

If you read this post then you know I won tickets to see Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp last night.  I will say that this isn't a movie I would normally spend my money on, but it did look pretty clever from the previews.  Johnny Depp plays Barnabas Collins, a man cursed to be a vampire because he fails to fall in love with a witch.  Barnabas ends up escaping his tomb 200 years later in 1972 where he must take on the witch from his past in present day. 

I thought the movie was pretty funny overall.  I've never seen a Tim Burton film all the way through, but they all seem to be dark with twisted humor though.  This movie was no exception.  Johnny Depp did a great job - his character reminded me of a mix between Willy Wanka and Edward Scissorhands.  But, I definitely think Atlanta-born Chloe Grace Moretz was the scene stealer in this film (as in Kick-Ass) - although she had an annoying pout on her face the entire movie!  It was almost as annoying as Eva Green's awful blond wig.  

As I mentioned in my previous post, my mom told me this movie was an adaption of a television show from when she was growing up.  She said she never watched it, but that it was kind of like a spooky soap opera in the 1960s and 1970s.  While I think the overall concept of the movie was very interesting, I think the writers could have formed a better storyline.  Maybe they were trying to stick to the original show as much as possible?  I don't know because I've never seen it.  The movie just seemed to leave out a lot of background information which all came out at the very end of the film leaving me extremely confused - like they were trying to jam a bunch of stuff into a 2 hour movie and could not leave anything out. 

Overall I rate this movie a D.  While the film was funny and the actors did an amazing job, I just didn't love the film.  I'd probably watch it as a television show though since it would have more time to develop the stories and characters!  It's just not one of those movies I would ever need to see again and I especially would not pay $12 to watch it a first or second time. 

Do you plan to see these movies or have you seen them already?  Let me know your opinions in the comments below!

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