Out of My Mind: The Avengers Is No The Dark Knight
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- Published on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 01:00
- Written by Kevin
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Having made $207.4 million in the United States and Canada alone, there is no doubt that The Avengers is a sure fire hit. Add in the international box office numbers and The Avengers has made over $600 million meaning both Disney and Marvel heads are laughing their way to the bank. Originally, I was going to write a whole review on The Avengers but I decided to do something different. Instead, what I will write about is the fact that The Avengers is no The Dark Knight. You read that right. More after the jump.
After talking about how awesome The Avengers is with various friends and family the one thing that I continuously found being asked by others is where I would rank The Avengers compared to The Dark Knight. To be sure, The Avengers is one of the best superhero movies we have ever had. What Joss Whedon, the cast and crew that worked on The Avengers was nothing short of magic. But the one thing it did not do was compare itself to what The Dark Knight did a few years back.
To compare both The Avengers and The Dark Knight, and in a few months The Dark Knight Rises, does a disservices to both movie franchises. At their cores they are two movies based on superhero comics with the heroes having to overcome a threat greater than themselves but that is where the comparisons stop.
More than being a superhero movie, The Dark Knight is a film about Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent and the Joker each making choices that affect the other and alter who they are as things progress during the time frame. In many ways, The Dark Knight is much more of a thriller drama in the vein of Departed that just so happens to have one of the characters running around in a cape and cowl while another paints his face to look like a sadistic clown.
And just like Departed, The Dark Knight is one of those movies that you just do not come out thinking “I got to watch that again.” What it does is make you think of what would you do in those situations. Would you make the same decisions as Batman does? As the people on the boat do? Would you go from being a White Knight to a Vengeful Knight after the death of the person you love? And so on.
It brings these questions up. Because of this it makes The Dark Knight become something different. Christopher Nolan just does not let the viewer come out of the theater thinking about how great it was but makes you wonder what you would do given these situations. The Dark Knight spurned these discussions that other superhero movies have not done before it. Later on I did want to watch it again but my initial thoughts are not about my favorite scenes but talking about “What if’s?”
Then there is The Avengers which gives the viewer a completely different reaction. Instead of thinking “What would happen if….?” The Avengers succeeds in giving you a roller coaster ride that once the ride is done you want to get back in line to relive the experience right away. It is the sort of movie that I came out of instantly talking about all of my favorite parts and even now thinking about them I have a smile on my face.
Not only that, but The Avengers also gives you a sense of a bigger world outside of just New York City. Where The Dark Knight contains its world within the confines of Gotham City, The Avengers gives us the scope of all these heroes being able to exist in one universe. Even with the most supernatural and sci-fi aspects of the movie you believe it can all exist as one where The Dark Knight is just Batman and his cast of characters.
Now would I say The Dark Knight and The Avengers are my two favorite superhero movies? Unquestionably, yes. To me they are 1a and 1b in best superhero movies. The one thing I cannot do is compare the two because they are two completely different animals in what they instill in me as a fan and viewer. Each one of these movies contains a unique experience that to compare the two would not give enough credit to how great they each are and what the minds behind them were able to succeed with each franchise.
With that said, where would you rank these two movies? What would you say is the best superhero movie? Be sure to comment below to let us know.
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Kevin started reading comics as a kid when he watched the first episodes of Batman: The Animated Series and Spider-Man: The Animated Series. After that his parents bought him a few random Spider-Man and Batman comics and he has been hooked ever since. When he is not reading and writing about comics you can find Kevin as the destroyer of worlds, champion of fighting tournaments and ace Madden player on the PS3. You can catch up with Kevin and all his thoughts at the following links:
Twitter: KevinL007
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