Movie Monday: The Avengers
May 14th, 2012
You know, sometimes an action movie is just an action movie. I tend to take my movie recommendations from the liberty community, partially because a strong liberty theme makes it a more enjoyable experience for me, but also because at this point in my life I just can’t stomach very much state worship and I certainly don’t want to pay to see it. So, when Mark Edge from Free Talk Live (an admitted Captain-Amerophile) endorsed the film, and Ernie Hancock from Declare Your Independence basically called it military propaganda I knew I’d have to see it for myself.
Just in general I’ve been much more impressed with the Avengers movie franchise than the X-Men franchise, which is disappointing because I was always more impressed with the X-Men comic. But Avengers seems to have mastered the film adaptation of comic crossover, which is very exciting for the future of comic movies. Avid comic readers already know that often in the Marvel Universe to follow an entire story thread you’ll have to read a few issues from multiple titles, and with the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, Daredevil and Spider Man all present on the big screen many fans wanted to see a crossover, but unfortunately intellectual property made it impossible. Hopefully the success of Avengers will motivate the owners of these characters to share the spotlight, and we’ll see more crossovers in the future. So, I walked into the movie excited just as a comic fan.
I wonder if people expected libertarian themes in Avengers on account of being written by Joss Whedon, who also wrote Firefly and Serenity. But I gotta tell you, other than a rant from Loki about the natural state of mankind being in subjugation, and the bad guys finally admitting that humans are “unruly and therefore unfit to be ruled” I didn’t see much in the way of liberty themes. But I didn’t see the military propaganda either. The Avengers are cast as heroes, but other than a few select individuals in the ranks the military is more of less just the lesser of evils between two great powers. So slimy are the shadowy government leaders that Captain America questions his blind just-following-orders mentality. The State is just as obsessed with control as the villain, and ultimately the Avengers insist on remaining rogue agents.
What I did see in the film was an awesome action flick punctuated by great comedic dialog, and for my dollar that’s enough. But for those out there in the liberty movement who want to see movies that explicitly espouse the philosophy of liberty, I suggest you support those of us trying to make them.
One last tip. At the end of the credits there are two secret clips, so don’t leave the theater after the first one.
And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com
