Holuntron

This is exactly what I was thinking. Like TDKR except, you know, good.

Francavilla does look pretty good but I still just cannot stand it when anyone but Williams does the art. I know that it is a ridiculous expectation to assume only he can do it but it just never seems like Batwoman without him. He really fleshes out the story and no other artist so far has even come close to what he can do with the character in my opinion. It's probably because he did the original Batwoman Detective Comics run. Ha I know I'm just weird that way. The art does look like the best non-Williams so far. Really I am excited.

Ms. Marvel would probably get my vote out of those. The other two are great, too, though. I really just do not want to see the films become like the comics where there are too many characters entering and exiting for any of it to matter. Eventually we will get to the point of three different Avengers movies with three different teams all coming out in one summer along with a few dozen standalone character films. This is the current problem I see with Marvel's film "Phases". The standalone movies were supposed to be the build and the Avengers to be the payoff. Of course, since The Avengers made so much money it is now only the "beginning" of more movies, meaning there will continually be build and build and build with no foreseeable payoff thanks to Marvel's need for even MORE money. It recalls to me just a few too many scary visions of the Comic Book Crash of the 90's, only in Comic Book Movie form...

True, but Joss was correct in his interview on Fallon when he said too many of the Avengers just have "punchy powers." I am usually against any mutant being involved with the Avengers but if I were to pick an exception I would definitely go with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. They were a staple with the Avengers long enough for them to matter just as much there as on the X-Men. Additionally, this introduces the possibility of characters such as Ultron and Vision to appear in future films. As of right now, the only real problem I see is that it would be entirely illogical and probably confusing to have two different screen portrayals of Quicksilver simultaneously, especially considering they will almost certainly need different back stories.

Actually I do not appear to be the minority. I have read countless fans' reviews so far in agreement, though of course there is always room for debate. Here is how I see it: in the Original Series and its subsequent movies, the plots did there best to incorporate messages or morals directly tied to real world current events of the time (Vietnam, the whales) and Gene Roddenberry even admitted to doing this. Into Darkness was another example of such an attempt: its plot involved obvious references to 9/11 and the War on Terror, and the ending dedication even promptly stated as much. Thus, the theme was very Trekkian. As for the spirit, the franchise has always seemed to be about intelligent science fiction written around lovable characters in a well-written plot (harking back to the whole social commentary but) while creating a whole universe and mythology for fans to enjoy and experience. In my opinion, this film did exactly that. The writing and science was smart, the characters were engaging (I will admit, not all of them proved to be as interesting as their original incarnations, and the ones that did achieved this due to the momentum established by the previous movie, yet it was still effective for me), the story was on par (an in some cases, even surpassing) that of any episode (definitely any move, save for maybe the classics such as the original Khan), and it did reach further into the extensively infinite mythology Star Trek culminates within its fiction. Even if every reference did not directly align with one form the Original Series, re-imagining details and ideas is what keeps reboots fresh. If only the same bits were ever used, the stories would be boring and go nowhere. I do not believe nitpicking, such as feeling annoyance over the mention of a Tribble, is a valid use of criticism. If the movie has disrespected and denied the tone and spirit of the franchise (such as the last Batman or Spider-Man movies), I would have much more negative views to share. Since I do not believe it did, I found the piece quite entertaining and fantastic.

Actually this film heavily resonates the spirit and themes of the original series. There is social commentary galore and plenty of great character action. The story and scifi are just as smart as anything from the Shatner days. From a Trekkie's perspective, it was pretty fantastic.

@mrfuzzynutz: You mean hypothetically if the Scarecrow was just working for Ra's al Ghul, who in turn was not really immortal but just a title bestowed on whoever happened to be the leader of the League of Assassins, only they were called the League of Shadows?

Or if Two-Face was just created as a foil by the Joker to destroy Batman's will?

Or if Bane was just a pawn in Talia al Ghul's trap to kill Bruce Wayne?

Hmmm...

@the_mast: The Mandarin was not supposed to be menacing; he was cliched and over the top, and that was exactly the point. He was a parody of ridiculously larger than life villains that have no place in reality. It was like Marvel was taking a direct shot at Bane and The Dark Knight Rises and nailed it. Personally I thought it was pretty clever and did enjoy the movie, though yes I do understand why the change to the character could be viewed as offensive from a diehard fan's perspective.

I can entirely understand why some fans hated the change, but personally I did not mind. It was not my most pressing complaint with the film. Within the context of the story, I actually thought it made sense and to be honest, the character of the Mandarin in the comics IS a sort of Chinese stereotype. I could see why Disney was hesitant to allow such a portrayal, considering that character could be viewed as racist in today's world from China's perspective. I did enjoy the film and the twist was both interesting and unexpected in my opinion.

Is it bad that when I look at the Academy's list for Best Picture nominations this year, all I see is a list of movies that were not as good as The Avengers?