New film: "The Avengers"
新影片：《复仇者》
More, merrier
越多越开心
May 5th 2012, 13:13 by O.M.
PROMISING to be the first billion-dollar blockbuster of the summer season, "The Avengers" succeeds by turning a seemingly fatal flaw into a winning strength. The film brings together the heroes of a number of previous films based on Marvel comics―Iron Man, a wisecracking one-man military-industrial complex; Captain America, a warrior pure of heart; Thor, a god from Asgard; and the Hulk, a hulk―along with some established supporting characters who have not yet carried their own movies, but are still played by some big-name actors. Together they form a planetary defence team capable of fending off marauding aliens and giant flying space weevils unleashed on midtown Manhattan by a demi-god with daddy issues and an inter-dimensional portal. Its precursor films have all done well-enough at the box office―"Iron Man 2", the biggest hit, earned $624m at the box office in 2010―and despite being pricier to make than those earlier episodes, "The Avengers" was hardly likely to lose money. But fans and others worried that by cramming in so many characters the film would end up bitty, the whole less than the sum of its super parts.
《复仇者》将是今年夏季第一部十亿美元大片，该片的成功之处在于它将一个似乎致命的缺点转变成了一个致胜的优点。这部电影将之前根据Marvel漫画改编的几部大片中的主人公齐聚一堂。其中包括俏皮话连篇，集军工科技于一身的钢铁侠；内心纯真的战士美国队长；来自阿斯加尔德的雷神托尔；还有巨人浩克，此外还有一些有头有脸的配角英雄，他们虽然还没有属于自己的影片，但仍然由大牌影星担纲。这些英雄一起形成了一支地球保卫队，借助各自的能力来对抗在曼哈顿中心横行的外星人和巨型太空飞虫。这些侵略者背后的罪魁祸首是一位有着父亲情结和跨次元传送门的半神。该片的相关前作票房表现都很出色，其中最卖座的《钢铁侠2》更是在2010年拿下6.24亿美元的票房。虽然《复仇者》的制片成本比之前的相关电影都要高，它亏本的可能性并不太大。不过很多影迷和其他人都担心把这么多角色挤在一部电影中会让影片支离破碎，导致整体效果不如其各部分超级英雄之和。
In fact the multiplicity of characters makes the film work better than the earlier ones. This is largely thanks to the skill of Joss Whedon, the writer and director. But it is also because the superheroes are a bit dull. If you want to get a film's worth of fun from them, it helps to buy in bulk.
事实上角色众多恰恰使得该片比之前的相关电影更加出色。这很大程度上要归功于剧作家兼导演Joss Whedon的功力。另外一个原因在于超级英雄电影都有点沉闷无聊。如果你要想从中找到一整部电影的乐趣，大批量产英雄是一个很好的办法。
The typical superhero film has some sort of origin story; the introduction of a villain; a segment where the hero is either misunderstood, self-destructive or led astray; a bit of rapprochement and/or personal growth; and an inevitable and almost always overlong finale in which the superhero battles the aforementioned villain (who often shares the superhero's super-schtick―a powered suit, in the case of Iron Man; mutagenic berserker rage in the case of the Hulk). Acceptable variations include multiple villains and some level of love interest. Attempts to give the superhero a nuanced inner life may be made, but rarely to any great effect.
典型的超级英雄电影首先会有某种英雄起源的故事，再接下来是反派的出场，然后主角会有一段时期遭到人们误解，或是倾向于自我毁灭，或是误入歧途，在那之后就轮到洗心革面的桥段，其中也许会加入个人内心变得成熟的戏码，最后就会是那不可避免，而且永远都过于拖沓的决战情节，主人公将会大战之前提到的反派（反派还经常持有主人公本身的超能力，例如钢铁侠的对手也有一套强力装甲，浩克的对手则带有基因突变引发的狂野怒气）。这个公式可能会有一些适当的变动，例如多个反派角色，或者一定程度上的浪漫恋爱情节。也可能出现一些情节旨在让这些超级英雄拥有敏感的内心生活，但这样的处理很少会出彩。
"The Avengers" follows a similar pattern, but as a group. So the six Avengers come together, they fall apart, they get themselves back together, they win. And this time there is a rich and accessible "inner life"―not within one character, but among half a dozen of them. With an almost mathematical rigour, Mr Whedon runs through the combinations on offer to give almost every member of the team some sort of one-to-one interaction with each other, as well as with the antagonist, Loki (played with glee, menace and Chaucerian obscenity by Tom Hiddlestone). Because these numerous interactions ring true, for the most part, they give the film a richness that the tales of single superheroes lack, and which may even encourage multiple viewings. As an added bonus, most of them are often very funny, the one between the Hulk and Thor sublimely so.
《复仇者》使用的是同一个公式，不过这次是用在一群英雄身上。因此整个大剧情是六名复仇者集合，他们散伙，他们再次重新团结，最后他们胜利。这一次影片中有着丰富且易于理解的"内心生活"，这种"内心生活"并不局限于一名角色身上，而是在六个人之间共同营造。Whedon导演利用了几近数学般的精确度审视了每一种组合，让队中所有人员都有机会和其他队友及和反角洛基（这个由Tom Hiddlestone扮演的反派角色混合了幸灾乐祸、凶狠歹毒及乔叟式的道德败坏这些元素）进行某种程度上的一对一互动。因为这些众多的互动大多都很逼真自然，它们给片子加上了一层单个超级英雄影片所无法提供的丰富感，甚至可能会促使一些观众重看多遍。此外，这些互动还有一个额外的优点――它们大多很幽默，浩克和托尔之间的交流尤为滑稽。
Bringing the funny is crucial. In accounting for the success of "The Avengers" much has been made of the fact that the talented Mr Whedon has a deep understanding of comic books (he has written excellent ones); of how to choreograph an ensemble (the passengers and crew of the spaceship Serenity in his lamentably short-lived science-fiction-western Firefly were a fully believable team from the show's first moments); and of what makes a great heroine (the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" gives Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow not just one of the best action scenes in the film but also the best dramatic scene, making her as central as the boys who've had films of their own).
幽默是很关键的。在列举《复仇者》一片为什么会成功时，有几点被各路评论反复提到。这包括Whedon导演对于漫画书有着非常深刻的理解（他曾写过几本一流的漫画书），他非常清楚怎样编排全体人员在镜头前的行动（在他那部很可惜只播了一季的科幻西部剧《萤火虫》里，从最开始的几个镜头起，"宁静号"上面的船员和乘客就是一个逼真的团体），以及他完全了解怎么才能创作出一个优秀的女主角（这位《吸血鬼猎人巴菲 》的制片人在此片中不仅将最好的几个动作场面之一交给由Scarlett Johansson扮演的黑寡妇，还把最好的剧情场面也托付给她，这让她在片中和那些拥有自己影片的男演员们平起平坐）。
But just as crucial is his early experience in the writers' room of the sitcom "Roseanne". Like "The Avengers", "Roseanne" found its humour in the relationships between six clearly drawn family members; it then polished that humour into great barbs and one liners. The vibe of a quasi-functional family held together by loyalty, compassion and comic timing unites the two works. (One can even see parallels at the character level; Mark Ruffalo's Hulk is not a million miles from bright, moody Darlene Conner, and Robert Downey junior could totally deliver as the loud-mouthed manager of a loose-meat restaurant―in "The Avengers"' final post-credits sequence he sort-of-almost does.)
但同样重要的是Whedon早期担任情景喜剧《罗斯安家庭生活》剧作团队成员时所得到的经验。和《复仇者》一样，《罗斯安家庭生活》的幽默植根于六个性格鲜明的家庭成员之间的关系，这种幽默再进一步被加工成经典的挖苦打趣台词。一个勉强运作的团队被忠诚、怜悯和时机恰好的幽默团结在一起，这种氛围把这两部作品联系起来。（你也可以发现剧中角色间的相似，Mark Ruffalo扮演的浩克其实和聪明忧郁的Darlene Conner相差不远，而小Robert Downey扮演一间肉碎三明治餐馆里口无遮拦的经理完全没有问题――在《复仇者》片尾演员表字幕之后的隐藏片段中，他差不多就已经这么做了。）
It is by seeing (and realising) the possibility of a sit-com aesthetic at the heart of the blockbuster action film that Mr Whedon delivers an entertainment that works. It is not flawless. While "Transformers 3" was loutish in its humours, devoid of wit or subtlety, its trashing of Chicago was visually more compelling. Loki's belief that humans are craven could have bore a bit more scrutiny (but then the question of whether people are really worth saving is one Mr Whedon has already addressed elsewhere). And it's not necessarily an approach that others can or should follow. Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises", later this summer will hardly be a laugh-fest. But it does make one hope that Marvel, already committed to more Iron Man, Thor and Captain America films, ploughs some of its profits into a film about the lesser-known Ant Man. Edgar Wright, who was one of the creators of a terrific sit-com himself (as well as the director of the inspired, if commercially disappointing, "Scott Pilgrim vs The World"), has been planning such a film for some time. If it found an audience it might have the welcome effect of making a married couple of superheroes, Ant Man and Wasp, available for an eventual Avengers sequel. This would give Mr Whedon, should he return, yet more possibilities for the barbs, bickering and not-always-comforting emotion he does so well.
Whedon导演正是看出了在这部大片的表面之下潜藏着情景喜剧美感的可能性（并成功让这种可能性成真），从而拍出了一部成功的娱乐电影。该片并不是完美无瑕的。《变形金刚3》中的幽默非常糟糕，既不风趣也不微妙，但是那部电影里芝加哥被摧毁的场景在视觉上要比《复仇者》更具有震撼力。洛基认为人类是懦弱的种族这一观点本可以在片中进行更深一步的探讨（话说回来，Whedon在他其它作品中已经讨论过人类到底值不值得救赎这个问题了）。Whedon这种利用喜剧元素的方法并不一定值得其他人借鉴，别人也不一定有能力借鉴这个方法。Christopher Nolan的第三部也是最后一部蝙蝠侠电影《黑暗骑士崛起》将会于今年夏天晚些时候公映，那部电影就几乎完全不含喜感。但是《复仇者》确实让人们不禁希望Marvel在已经确定将会拍摄的钢铁侠、托尔和美国队长电影之外，可以把一部分利润拿来拍摄一部较少人知道的"蚂蚁侠"电影。本身也曾创作过一流情景喜剧（外加执导过那部虽然票房不佳但发人深思的《歪小子斯科特》）的Edgar Wright已经计划拍摄这么一部电影有一段时间了。如果"蚂蚁侠"电影受观众欢迎的话，该片可能会最终将超级英雄夫妻――蚂蚁侠和黄蜂侠――引入《复仇者》的续集，这将会是一大喜事。这么一来，如果Whedon会来继续执导续集，他将会有更多机会展示最擅长的挖苦、争执和偶尔没那么愉快的情绪。
Indeed, Mr Whedon will surely be showing off these talents in his next venture―a very low budget adaptation of "Much Ado About Nothing", which might seem remarkably far removed from the cosmic tag-wrestling of "The Avengers" were it not for the sensibility that will unite them.
确实，Whedon一定会在他的下一部片子――莎翁《无事生非》的改编――中显露他这方面的特长。那部片子的预算极小，可能看上去和《复仇者》中那震天动地的多人战队戏码相差甚远，但是它们透露出的感性将会把这两部片子联系起来。
新影片：《复仇者》
More, merrier
越多越开心
May 5th 2012, 13:13 by O.M.
PROMISING to be the first billion-dollar blockbuster of the summer season, "The Avengers" succeeds by turning a seemingly fatal flaw into a winning strength. The film brings together the heroes of a number of previous films based on Marvel comics―Iron Man, a wisecracking one-man military-industrial complex; Captain America, a warrior pure of heart; Thor, a god from Asgard; and the Hulk, a hulk―along with some established supporting characters who have not yet carried their own movies, but are still played by some big-name actors. Together they form a planetary defence team capable of fending off marauding aliens and giant flying space weevils unleashed on midtown Manhattan by a demi-god with daddy issues and an inter-dimensional portal. Its precursor films have all done well-enough at the box office―"Iron Man 2", the biggest hit, earned $624m at the box office in 2010―and despite being pricier to make than those earlier episodes, "The Avengers" was hardly likely to lose money. But fans and others worried that by cramming in so many characters the film would end up bitty, the whole less than the sum of its super parts.
《复仇者》将是今年夏季第一部十亿美元大片，该片的成功之处在于它将一个似乎致命的缺点转变成了一个致胜的优点。这部电影将之前根据Marvel漫画改编的几部大片中的主人公齐聚一堂。其中包括俏皮话连篇，集军工科技于一身的钢铁侠；内心纯真的战士美国队长；来自阿斯加尔德的雷神托尔；还有巨人浩克，此外还有一些有头有脸的配角英雄，他们虽然还没有属于自己的影片，但仍然由大牌影星担纲。这些英雄一起形成了一支地球保卫队，借助各自的能力来对抗在曼哈顿中心横行的外星人和巨型太空飞虫。这些侵略者背后的罪魁祸首是一位有着父亲情结和跨次元传送门的半神。该片的相关前作票房表现都很出色，其中最卖座的《钢铁侠2》更是在2010年拿下6.24亿美元的票房。虽然《复仇者》的制片成本比之前的相关电影都要高，它亏本的可能性并不太大。不过很多影迷和其他人都担心把这么多角色挤在一部电影中会让影片支离破碎，导致整体效果不如其各部分超级英雄之和。
In fact the multiplicity of characters makes the film work better than the earlier ones. This is largely thanks to the skill of Joss Whedon, the writer and director. But it is also because the superheroes are a bit dull. If you want to get a film's worth of fun from them, it helps to buy in bulk.
事实上角色众多恰恰使得该片比之前的相关电影更加出色。这很大程度上要归功于剧作家兼导演Joss Whedon的功力。另外一个原因在于超级英雄电影都有点沉闷无聊。如果你要想从中找到一整部电影的乐趣，大批量产英雄是一个很好的办法。
The typical superhero film has some sort of origin story; the introduction of a villain; a segment where the hero is either misunderstood, self-destructive or led astray; a bit of rapprochement and/or personal growth; and an inevitable and almost always overlong finale in which the superhero battles the aforementioned villain (who often shares the superhero's super-schtick―a powered suit, in the case of Iron Man; mutagenic berserker rage in the case of the Hulk). Acceptable variations include multiple villains and some level of love interest. Attempts to give the superhero a nuanced inner life may be made, but rarely to any great effect.
典型的超级英雄电影首先会有某种英雄起源的故事，再接下来是反派的出场，然后主角会有一段时期遭到人们误解，或是倾向于自我毁灭，或是误入歧途，在那之后就轮到洗心革面的桥段，其中也许会加入个人内心变得成熟的戏码，最后就会是那不可避免，而且永远都过于拖沓的决战情节，主人公将会大战之前提到的反派（反派还经常持有主人公本身的超能力，例如钢铁侠的对手也有一套强力装甲，浩克的对手则带有基因突变引发的狂野怒气）。这个公式可能会有一些适当的变动，例如多个反派角色，或者一定程度上的浪漫恋爱情节。也可能出现一些情节旨在让这些超级英雄拥有敏感的内心生活，但这样的处理很少会出彩。
"The Avengers" follows a similar pattern, but as a group. So the six Avengers come together, they fall apart, they get themselves back together, they win. And this time there is a rich and accessible "inner life"―not within one character, but among half a dozen of them. With an almost mathematical rigour, Mr Whedon runs through the combinations on offer to give almost every member of the team some sort of one-to-one interaction with each other, as well as with the antagonist, Loki (played with glee, menace and Chaucerian obscenity by Tom Hiddlestone). Because these numerous interactions ring true, for the most part, they give the film a richness that the tales of single superheroes lack, and which may even encourage multiple viewings. As an added bonus, most of them are often very funny, the one between the Hulk and Thor sublimely so.
《复仇者》使用的是同一个公式，不过这次是用在一群英雄身上。因此整个大剧情是六名复仇者集合，他们散伙，他们再次重新团结，最后他们胜利。这一次影片中有着丰富且易于理解的"内心生活"，这种"内心生活"并不局限于一名角色身上，而是在六个人之间共同营造。Whedon导演利用了几近数学般的精确度审视了每一种组合，让队中所有人员都有机会和其他队友及和反角洛基（这个由Tom Hiddlestone扮演的反派角色混合了幸灾乐祸、凶狠歹毒及乔叟式的道德败坏这些元素）进行某种程度上的一对一互动。因为这些众多的互动大多都很逼真自然，它们给片子加上了一层单个超级英雄影片所无法提供的丰富感，甚至可能会促使一些观众重看多遍。此外，这些互动还有一个额外的优点――它们大多很幽默，浩克和托尔之间的交流尤为滑稽。
Bringing the funny is crucial. In accounting for the success of "The Avengers" much has been made of the fact that the talented Mr Whedon has a deep understanding of comic books (he has written excellent ones); of how to choreograph an ensemble (the passengers and crew of the spaceship Serenity in his lamentably short-lived science-fiction-western Firefly were a fully believable team from the show's first moments); and of what makes a great heroine (the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" gives Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow not just one of the best action scenes in the film but also the best dramatic scene, making her as central as the boys who've had films of their own).
幽默是很关键的。在列举《复仇者》一片为什么会成功时，有几点被各路评论反复提到。这包括Whedon导演对于漫画书有着非常深刻的理解（他曾写过几本一流的漫画书），他非常清楚怎样编排全体人员在镜头前的行动（在他那部很可惜只播了一季的科幻西部剧《萤火虫》里，从最开始的几个镜头起，"宁静号"上面的船员和乘客就是一个逼真的团体），以及他完全了解怎么才能创作出一个优秀的女主角（这位《吸血鬼猎人巴菲 》的制片人在此片中不仅将最好的几个动作场面之一交给由Scarlett Johansson扮演的黑寡妇，还把最好的剧情场面也托付给她，这让她在片中和那些拥有自己影片的男演员们平起平坐）。
But just as crucial is his early experience in the writers' room of the sitcom "Roseanne". Like "The Avengers", "Roseanne" found its humour in the relationships between six clearly drawn family members; it then polished that humour into great barbs and one liners. The vibe of a quasi-functional family held together by loyalty, compassion and comic timing unites the two works. (One can even see parallels at the character level; Mark Ruffalo's Hulk is not a million miles from bright, moody Darlene Conner, and Robert Downey junior could totally deliver as the loud-mouthed manager of a loose-meat restaurant―in "The Avengers"' final post-credits sequence he sort-of-almost does.)
但同样重要的是Whedon早期担任情景喜剧《罗斯安家庭生活》剧作团队成员时所得到的经验。和《复仇者》一样，《罗斯安家庭生活》的幽默植根于六个性格鲜明的家庭成员之间的关系，这种幽默再进一步被加工成经典的挖苦打趣台词。一个勉强运作的团队被忠诚、怜悯和时机恰好的幽默团结在一起，这种氛围把这两部作品联系起来。（你也可以发现剧中角色间的相似，Mark Ruffalo扮演的浩克其实和聪明忧郁的Darlene Conner相差不远，而小Robert Downey扮演一间肉碎三明治餐馆里口无遮拦的经理完全没有问题――在《复仇者》片尾演员表字幕之后的隐藏片段中，他差不多就已经这么做了。）
It is by seeing (and realising) the possibility of a sit-com aesthetic at the heart of the blockbuster action film that Mr Whedon delivers an entertainment that works. It is not flawless. While "Transformers 3" was loutish in its humours, devoid of wit or subtlety, its trashing of Chicago was visually more compelling. Loki's belief that humans are craven could have bore a bit more scrutiny (but then the question of whether people are really worth saving is one Mr Whedon has already addressed elsewhere). And it's not necessarily an approach that others can or should follow. Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises", later this summer will hardly be a laugh-fest. But it does make one hope that Marvel, already committed to more Iron Man, Thor and Captain America films, ploughs some of its profits into a film about the lesser-known Ant Man. Edgar Wright, who was one of the creators of a terrific sit-com himself (as well as the director of the inspired, if commercially disappointing, "Scott Pilgrim vs The World"), has been planning such a film for some time. If it found an audience it might have the welcome effect of making a married couple of superheroes, Ant Man and Wasp, available for an eventual Avengers sequel. This would give Mr Whedon, should he return, yet more possibilities for the barbs, bickering and not-always-comforting emotion he does so well.
Whedon导演正是看出了在这部大片的表面之下潜藏着情景喜剧美感的可能性（并成功让这种可能性成真），从而拍出了一部成功的娱乐电影。该片并不是完美无瑕的。《变形金刚3》中的幽默非常糟糕，既不风趣也不微妙，但是那部电影里芝加哥被摧毁的场景在视觉上要比《复仇者》更具有震撼力。洛基认为人类是懦弱的种族这一观点本可以在片中进行更深一步的探讨（话说回来，Whedon在他其它作品中已经讨论过人类到底值不值得救赎这个问题了）。Whedon这种利用喜剧元素的方法并不一定值得其他人借鉴，别人也不一定有能力借鉴这个方法。Christopher Nolan的第三部也是最后一部蝙蝠侠电影《黑暗骑士崛起》将会于今年夏天晚些时候公映，那部电影就几乎完全不含喜感。但是《复仇者》确实让人们不禁希望Marvel在已经确定将会拍摄的钢铁侠、托尔和美国队长电影之外，可以把一部分利润拿来拍摄一部较少人知道的"蚂蚁侠"电影。本身也曾创作过一流情景喜剧（外加执导过那部虽然票房不佳但发人深思的《歪小子斯科特》）的Edgar Wright已经计划拍摄这么一部电影有一段时间了。如果"蚂蚁侠"电影受观众欢迎的话，该片可能会最终将超级英雄夫妻――蚂蚁侠和黄蜂侠――引入《复仇者》的续集，这将会是一大喜事。这么一来，如果Whedon会来继续执导续集，他将会有更多机会展示最擅长的挖苦、争执和偶尔没那么愉快的情绪。
Indeed, Mr Whedon will surely be showing off these talents in his next venture―a very low budget adaptation of "Much Ado About Nothing", which might seem remarkably far removed from the cosmic tag-wrestling of "The Avengers" were it not for the sensibility that will unite them.
确实，Whedon一定会在他的下一部片子――莎翁《无事生非》的改编――中显露他这方面的特长。那部片子的预算极小，可能看上去和《复仇者》中那震天动地的多人战队戏码相差甚远，但是它们透露出的感性将会把这两部片子联系起来。
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