Much Ado About Nothing (2013)

Joss Whedon -– director of “Avengers,” creator of “Firefly” –- has adapted Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” into a light and airy, black-and-white big-screen trip. The result is less movie and more “you have been invited to a weekend theater party” at Whedon’s own house no less, with his TV friends (Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, and Clark “Agent Coulson” Gregg) performing off the cuff and in the kitchen where last night’s dishes sit unwashed. Adorable. See, this “Much Ado” -– you either know the famous comedy about sex, dirty war, and feminine politics, or you are a home-schooled lonely Bible freak -- reminds us that these plays were not high-brow work for snobs, but blasts of escapist fun for the masses. The cast riffs and experiments on the dialogue and gender-flips roles, and some of it works, and what sinks has the beauty mark of trying something different. Fillion’s “police force,” which in modern day would not dither over infidelity and womanly virtues, seem to be having more fun than any group of people onscreen all summer long. Now, about that “Avengers” sequel… A-

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Leave it to Joss Whedon, creator of the self-aware “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” film and TV series, to turn the horror genre on its bloody head, with a film inside a film that blasts apart the decades-old pattern of character types, predestined deaths, third-act disasters, and tired climaxes that can be graphed to the last “gotch’ya.” With “The Cabin in the Woods,” Whedon and co-screenwriter Drew Goddard (who directed) show us the masters behind the genre movie curtain as a subterranean set of directors, writers, and technicians punching buttons and giving orders to ensure that every horror cliché appears. That in itself provides more than half the laughs. Who knew every dumb college-age dope move in, say, “Friday the 13^th” was so essential? Is it scary? No. Should it be? Maybe. The skewering of other’s attempts at scary more than makes up for any lack of fright. Chris Hemsworth -– before “Thor” -- leads the college-age side as the “jock,” while Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins lead the control side, riffing as if they are in a serious Aaron Sorkin production by Tarantino. Beware Merman! B+

Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)

It all leads up to this, “The Avengers.” Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, assembled in one massive movie, based on the must-read comic book that tied together the vast Marvel Universe like the quickest game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, month after month for decades. And still going strong, print-wise. Cinema-wise, after “Iron Man” 1 and 2, two “Hulk” movies (one in 2003 now disowned, the other in 2008 grudgingly accepted), “Thor” and “Captain America,” we now have the comic book movie of the year. 

Sorry, “Dark Knight Rises.” (For now.)

The Avengers is an unlikely team of super heroes: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow, joined by SHIELD Agent Nick Fury in one massive film. (Classic B-side comic book characters such as Ant-Man and Wasp must wait for a sequel I guess.) The plot follows the book’s lead: The team fights intergalactic threats, a power-mad super villain, and/or more likely each other or another Marvel hero, Iron Man vs. Thor, Wolverine vs. Hulk, or everyone vs. Hulk. Those later fights were more exciting than any run-of-the-mill story of hero against villain, on the page. Who to root for? 

Does the “Avengers” movie live up to the years of hype? Never could. I dreamed about this movie all the childhood, and it’s a work of pop-art summer flick beauty for a boy who got himself happily lost inside three-color panels and myriad crossover cliffhangers for much of his childhood. It contains the single greatest ripped-from-a-comic-book-scene ever on film: The Hulk smashes a villain around as if he were a sock monkey, and drops a one-liner as he walks off, satisfied with his big, green, angry self. Cheer!

But that comes at the end, and I need to start at the beginning: We open in space – evil mumbling abound about the destruction of Earth, by a freakish, hooded alien of some sort. Loki – the villainous brother of Thor, both the hero and the namesake 2011 film, played by Tom Hiddleston – is to lead the charge. He zaps to Earth through a portal that opens at the headquarters of the super-secret spy group SHIELD, the latter tinkering with a glowing blue Cosmic Cube thingy that promises unlimited energy. (Confused? You have not watched the earlier films. Go back to start.) Loki wreaks havoc, taking prisoners and under-mining the Mo-Fo that is Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). 

The first 20 minutes is all SHIELD, an odd introduction, but director/ screenwriter Joss Whedon (TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly”) is easing us into this massive universe, bringing in his team one member at a time. We hop from America to Germany then to a massive floating aircraft carrier (straight out of the comic books) and then to New York City for a 40-odd minute battle finale, complete with massive creatures reminiscent of the sandworms in “Dune,” floating above the skyline. 

So, yes, it’s a Michael Bay “Transformers” finale with smashed buildings and fleeing extras, but Whedon whets our appetites (mine anyway) with long shots of the heroes, standing in a circle, backs to each other, ready to fight, and every hero -– even the relatively unexplored Hawkeye and Black Widow – gets a shining moment. Captain America, in the middle of the battle, takes charge of the team as the only man with real-war experience. Iron Man blasts his way through canyons of skyscrapers. 

Then there’s that beaut scene with Hulk and sock monkey Loki. It’s everything you want in a comic book, outlandish action with wit as Loki lays hyper-ventilating and thinks, “What am I doing?” It’s a stellar Whedon moment, and one of many surprises, including the strong touches of humor (Harry Dean Stanton as a security guard) and sad (a major character dies, but he’s not that major). 

The real Whedon coup, though, is fitting all these heroes and actors into one film and making it work – Chris Evans as Captain, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk. Major names mixed in with minor names, and of course Downey rules the roost with his Tony Stark strut and outsize ego, but Ruffalo uses nerdy charm to win scene after scene. When minor-league Evans -- he can’t compete with Oscar nominees -– steps up to the plate to take over the team, we’re cheering for the actor as much as we are the character. 

I never thought a live-action film of the Avengers could be pulled off, but Whedon has done it. It’s not perfect -- that plot is weak, in case you didn't notice, Loki’s lizard baddies are faceless and void of personality, but Downey’s Stark can drop a shawarma reference out of the blue, and make it sing. Comic book love. If “Dark Knight Rises” threatens to lean too far to tragic importance, “Avengers” is bright, bold fun, with the inner-fights of heroes, and their coming together against a world threat a reminder of the best of all humanity. So, in the sequel, Vision please! Confused? Go back to the comic books. And as Stan Lee always said, “Exclsior!” A-

Serenity (2005)

I saw the sci-fi film "Serenity" when it first came out in 2005, never having seen a minute of the American television show "Firefly" that preceded it. I caught onto the film, liked it well bunches, and three years later picked up the whole "Firefly" series on DVD figuring it'd be just as good. And it was far more brilliant than I ever hoped.

"Firefly" concerned a ragtag group of space traders (err, thieves) in a distant future with basic plot elements taken from several sci-fi and Western films, with post-Reconstruction America history weaved in. Its dialogue, stories, cinematography and even music are like nothing I'd ever seen on TV -- all outstanding.

So, now having seen the show, I'm miffed to return to "Serenity." It has the same cast (led by Nathan Fillion as a Han Solo type) and basically wraps up most of the show's central mysteries, but its soul has been stripped. Joss Whedon, creator and main writer of "Firefly" and this film, has made too many sacrifices for the big screen. Gone are the dialogue, music, cinematography and moral complexities that made the show standout.

It's not a bad film by any means; it's still highly entreating in its own right, but it feels woefully average now. "Firefly" blazed new trails in well worn genres; sadly "Serenity" is content to stay in line. Chiwetel Ejiofor joins the film as an assassin, and steals the film from his fellow cast. B-