Everything that worked in The Avengers...

...because I finally saw it last night and am still geeking out.

When I say "everything that worked," I mean besides the obvious: acting, story, and fight scenes, because duh, everyone knows those are great already.

* Captain America. It's so easy for a character like Cap to go the way of Cyclops in the X-Movies; boring and forgotten. But here, it's cool to be the good boy--and good wasn't limited to following rules (see: breaking into SHIELD's weapon's vault).

* Loki was scary as fuck. The scene where he swears he'll have Hawkeye rape Black Widow to death is tattooed on my brain.

* Hawkeye: "Nat, what are you doing?"

* Hulk punching Thor out. 'Nuff said.

* It was an ensemble movie. It made economic sense to push Iron Man in the ads, but it wouldn't have worked as a story if he'd been the main character. Nope! Everyone got their time, both fighting and being human.

* Nick Fury saying "stupid-ass decision" and firing a bazooka. Or missile launcher. Or whatever the hell that huge thing was. Long live Samuel L. :D

* "Hulk? Smash."

* Cap's fish-out-of-water jokes actually worked. "It appears to run on some type of electricity!" "Ooh, I got that reference."

* Cap and Tony bitching at each other. It made them both petty--and thus, more human.

* "Huh. This usually works."

To be edited, maybe, as I have future geek moments. We've got another typhoon sitting on Okinawa, so I ain't goin' anywhere today.

-Elizabeth Reuter
Author, The Demon of Renaissance Drive