by Shaun

Jan 25, 2000

Well first let me start out by telling you that this is not The Saint, or anything like Batman, it is a well crafted action movie with lots of spice color and some laughs.

It stars the duo od Emma Peel and John Steed (Uma Thurman & Ralpf Fiennes) as british agents whom are experiencing weather difficulties, now Dr. peel worked in the operation prospero until the whole laboratory blew up by an exact clone of Dr. Peel (Ohh two Uma's). This operation was to protect the world from bad weather, like a huge umbrela covering the world, well Sir August Se Wynter (Sean Connery) had differant plans, people had to pay if they wanted normal temperature or the whole world would freeze. I know it sounds a little childish but trust me the dialouge is very intelligent, all London dialogue is.

The film opens with Steed walking down the street dressed in a suite, his black hat, and an umbrella ("you can never be too sure it won't rain"), he stops looks at his watch, moves aside as a plant drops from the sky and hits the spot where he was just standing. He continues walking and is attacked by the milkman, and numerous others, but after he sucesfully beats them all we reveal it was just a mear training operation.

In the next sequence we are introduced to Dr. Peel, the doorbell ring she gets a box opens it, it is a note that reads "pick up the phone", it rings she picks it up.

She goes to a sauna to meet steed, they hit it off and he takes her to the boss (Mother), their mission is to find the clone of Dr. Peel and capture her to free the real one from being sent to jail.

It turns out she is working for the madman Sir August and that's as far as I go, from there it takes off with plenty of action, and the end has amazing special effects with some enormous explosions.

Well if you want to have a good time at the movies to for once enjoy yourselfs (unlike in "The Saint" and "Batman & Robin") you will enjoy this hip and colorful film which is a remake of the 1960's series.

GRADE:B+

 

by Jason Whyte

Jan 25, 2000

The only scene worth mentioning in "The Avengers" is the mechanical bee scene. About halfway in to the movie, John Steed (Ralph Fiennes) and Emma Peel (Uma Thurman) are escaping in a car, and a nifty weapon is used to catch them: mechanical bees. They fly all over the place, using powerful machine guns to destroy their target. The scene is edited wonderfully, the score is pounding, even the sound is used well to create a thrilling sequence.

Sadly, this is the only good scene in an otherwise drab and meaningless movie, a far cry from the acid-flashback wonder of the 60's TV show. Poor that Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, and SEAN CONNERY (!) are wasted in an 89 minute adventure, which never really puts any imagination or spirit in what it is trying to do. This movie is too new.

I couldn't even care about the plot, which has Connery as the evil Weatherman, who plans to rule the world by manufacturing the weather. The plot is mishandled a lot, which features Special Agents Steed and Peel to use their "coolness" to stop Connery.

The film is mostly quiet and lazy, with only occasional blasts into action and special effects, which aren't even that well directed or edited. In the mechanical bee scene, we see marvelous special effects combined with dizzy camera angles, yet when we look inside the car it seems like it is ten miles away. Even in the climax, which takes place on an island inside Connery's lair, isn't that exciting, it seems like you could rearrange most of the scenes yourself and it still wouldn't make that much of a difference.

The performances are dull, right from Fiennes' Steed and Thurman's Peel to Connery, who has never been this bad. Most of the supporting characters are dull, except for the bosses, who have funny names: the male is named "mother", while the female is named "father".

The movie needs to be longer, with a more detailed story, and they have to make us feel that we are right inside the mind of this movie. In other words, we have to be addicted. There was hardly a time when I was "in" the movie, I was always sitting in the theater seat watching the events (although the audience was surprisingly quiet!). You know a movie is in trouble when you start rooting for the mechanical bees.

Grade: D+

Tech Review:

Picture: 4 A middling picture with lots of grain; colors and black level are very good. A satisfying picture

Sound: 4.5 The sound is very good in SDDS, with good split surrounds and a well recorded music score, which extends into the surround channels nicely. Only minor complaint is the quiet dialogue, which is natural sounding, but very quiet with the rest of the movie, which is loud and thunderous.

Photography: 2 While I give credit to the mechanical bee sequence, there is no reason for director Jeremiah Chechik to film in the matted to 1.85:1 ratio.

Length: 89 minutes. Rated PG for some violence. Warner Bros. jason_whyte@hotmail.com icq-4339199

 

by Bill M.

Jan 25, 2000

This movie follows the same theme as the old TV show did. It stars Ralph Fieenes as British agent Mr. Steed and Uma Thurman as Mrs. Peel, a scientist who worked on a weather control project. This project has fallen under the control of Sir August De Winter, played by Sean Connery. And being the villian that he is he decides to blackmail the world, starting with London, with his dominance of theweather. It is then up to Steed and Peel to save the planet.

I liked this movie I found it entertaining with a subtle offbeat sense of humor. I also liked the contrast between the characters of Steed & Peel and the sexual tension between them. The supporting characters are also odd adding to my enjoyment of the movie.

 

by Bear Neef

Jan 25, 2000

This movie had its moments, but does not live up to the original "Avengers".

 

by Bob

Jan 25, 2000

'The Avengers' is a non-stop dissapointment. From the previews, 'The Avengers' looks action-packed. But the movie is boring. There are a few good scenes. Like the big bug scene and the invisible man scene. 'The Avengers' was confusing and slow. But it did have good special effects and some neat spy gadgets. I'm not saying never see the movie, just don't rush out and see it, rent it, because it's not worth $5. Because of some good scenes, I would recommend seeing the movie. But see it on video, so you can fast forward to the good parts. (the few that there are)

Grade: D

Stars out of four: **

 

by Kris nicholas

Jan 25, 2000

Two Words,..... Don't bother!

This film was packed with bad acting and a very weak plot. As one who never saw the origional series. this looks like a james bond spoof that completly missed.

And as a fan of british comedy i can honestly say that i laughed a total of once during the entire movie!(so what does that tell you?)

 

by Michael Ennis

Jan 25, 2000

If movie theaters charged only $2 for admission and supplied you with a remote control equipped with a fast forward button then by all means go see Avengers.

I am amazed how they wasted so much acting talent! All I can say is I was bored to tears. There are a few redeeming scenes but overall I was disappointed.

 

by Rich Vertz

Jan 25, 2000

All in all not a bad flick, but there are better movies to spend your money on.

 

by Paula Maciolek

Jan 25, 2000

This movie was very lame! The two main characters were snotty and arrogant, and I wish they would have died. I am sorry I did not bring a book to read. I couldn't wait until it was over!!!

 

by Paul Downing

Jan 25, 2000

For a 'fan' of 'The Avengers' TV series the prospect of the film may disappoint. I am one such 'fan' and i went to see the film with low expectations. The reason for writing this review is to encourage others with the same hesitation to 'go and see'. I enjoyed the movie. The 'plot' and 'look/feel' of the movie matches well the series episodes that were broadcast in color in the UK with Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. Although the UmaT 'Peel' has elements of the 'Tara King' era. The 'Peel' costumes are great and the 'style/panash' of the cast do justice to the TV series.

The movie has plenty of negative points as seen by the various reviews.

I do not want to refer to any content of the film here but i hope the movie does well enough to prompt a sequel.

Perhaps an American 'pair' of agents or even an american girl and a Russian Guy join our heros in a world ranging plot.

 

by Bryan

Jan 25, 2000

The previews for this movie looked action packed but it was really a lame 80 min piece of crap!!!! The Avengers was totally boring an was a waste of time for me. The movie looked like it was aimed toward kids and teenagers but I'm 13 and I thought it was one of the worst movies I've seen in years!! Do yourself a huge favor and don't see this movie unless you enjoy the type of movie that bores you to death.

* out of **********

 

by Mark Welch

Jan 25, 2000

Someone please give the person who assembled the trailer to The Avengers a raise. (S)he actually made this movie look like it was going to be good. Ack! There’s absolutely no chemistry between Ralph "The English Patient" Fiennes and Uma "Poison Ivy" Thurman (yes, it’s that bad). Sean Connery wastes his time as a pathetic stereotype of a villain that has a goofy plan to control the weather. But I’ve often said there’s no such thing as a bad character (The Weather Wizard in the Flash comics was actually quite cool), only bad writing. And that’s the bane of The Avengers. The three big names were cast (Elizabeth Hurley was rumored to be in the running for the role of Peel but the filmmakers wanted a bigger name, thus the miscast Thurman). The rest of the budget was spent on FX and promotion. And that was it. To Hell with the screenplay. The entire picture ends up a bloody boring mess (bloody not referring to blood, but a British reference...oh, never mind). What’s with the clone subplot? I can only think of two very small parts I liked (and I was stretching to think of these): The teddy bears are actually funny. And the Jaguar E-Type is very cool, but like the rest of The Avengers, it’s eventually ruined.

10-point scale rating: 2

 

by djwakkysteve

Jan 25, 2000

guys in bear suits! guys in bear suits! uma! uma! uma! stupid and pseudo-british, but who cares! guys in bear suits!

 

by Tim Kretschmann

Jan 25, 2000

Did you ever wonder what makes for a bad movie? This film actually attempts to do so with top-notch actors taking a beating from an undercooked plot and ungodly set and costume design. I'm a arms length fan of the old program, but this movie just doesn't get what was cool about the show. The first scene with Fiennes was as close as they get to an interesting movie as they get.

The villain, played by Sean Connery in a giant teddy bear costume and a kilt (in different scenes, has the ridiculous notion of taking over Britain by altering its weather. As if any change in British weather wouldn't be a welcome change.

Stay away.