Personally, I can only aspire to beta-male status. Nonetheless, I enjoyed watching this, fondly anticipating the wailing and whining of Whittle’s targets:
Clearly, there’s still a place for square-jawed heroism in modern American culture, if the astonishing success of The Avengers is any indication. Sure, the flick has the requisite liberal sops to “clean energy” (oh, if only the real world had Asgardian-powered magictech!) and one-world government (who does S.H.I.E.L.D. work for, anyway?). But in the end, it’s about a group of individuals stepping up to an intimidating challenge, overcoming the odds, and saving the world without expecting its obeisance. The whole thing is messy and often dysfunctional, there’s a lot of bickering and personality clashes, but they’re able to put all that aside and just get on with it. They learn how to work together without giving up who they are and what they believe. The bad guys don’t stand a chance.
Remind you of anybody? (Hint: The guy with the shield named himself after you.)