Marvel's The Avengers

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Marvel's The Avengers
Released 5/4/12, now in theaters

It's finally here!  The kickoff of the 2012 summer movie season starts with one of the most anticipated movies of the last decade.  For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, The Avengers is an ambitious project that started in 2008 with the release of  Iron Man.  With the success of that film, Marvel Studios began the dream of bringing the comic book company's premier super hero team to the big screen by linking several movies to its final project.  After Iron Man came The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America:  The First Avenger, respectively.  Each film has ties linking them to one another which ultimately leads to the formation of the team in The Avengers.  The usual suspects are back reprising their roles including Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man/Tony Stark), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Scarlett Johannson (Black Widow/Natasha Romanov), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America/Steve Rogers), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye/Clint Barton), Stellan Skarsgard (Erik Selvig), and Tom Hiddleston (Loki).  Mark Ruffalo replaces Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/Hulk.

The international peacekeeping agency, S.H.I.E.L.D, is in possession of a powerful energy cube called the Tesseract (seen in Thor and Captain America).  They have renowned scientist, Dr. Erik Selvig, working to unlock its secrets.  During one of his experiments, Loki the Asgardian God of Mischief/Evil, emerges from exile in a dimensional portal the cube creates.  Loki destroys the lab, takes the Tesseract, and places several personnel under his mental command including Dr. Selvig and Agent Barton (Hawkeye).  While in exile from his Asgardian home, Loki struck a deal with an alien conqueror.  The conqueror offers Loki his army, the Chitauri, to aid him in the subjugation of Earth in exchange for the Tesseract.  The director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury, scrambles to assemble a response team of "special" individuals with the resistance of the mysterious council to which he reports.  Thus begins the formation of Fury's "Avengers Initiative" dream that started in Iron Man. 

Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fame took on the monumental task of directing this would be blockbuster.  This could be scary for him.  If he succeeds, he becomes a legend worldwide.  If he fails, it's a huge failure greater than Joel Schumaker "Batman and Robin" proportions.  In this critic's opinion, The Avengers is a resounding...SUCCESS!!!!!!

Whedon makes the greatest juggling act in the history of film by giving each of the six Avengers his/her day in the sun in a two hour movie.  In the beginning, the Avengers ain't a happy family!  No one trusts anyone else on the team.  There are differing opinions on how situations should be handled which leads to more than one physical confrontation.  The greatest conflicts belong to Thor and Bruce Banner.  Thor because Loki is family.  He knows his adopted brother must be stopped, but despite his treachery in Thor and The Avengers, Thor loves him and thinks he can reason with him.  Banner's greatest conflict?  Keeping the big green rage monster inside him at bay.  When Big Green comes out, chaos happens.  He has kept the Hulk bottled up for a year because the last time he got out, he destroyed Harlem.

Anyone who has followed Joss Whedon knows he always adds a wry, absurd sense of humor in his projects.  That's one of the things I enjoyed most about Buffy and Angel.  The absurdist humor is abundant in The Avengers.  When you save the world, you have to do it laughing I suppose.  What is great about Whedon is the absurdity catches you suddenly.  You never see it coming, but it has you doubled over before you know it.  The two funniest scenes in the movie both involve the Hulk, one with Thor and one with Loki.  Trust me, you'll know them when you see them. 

I did mention the Avengers have physical confrontations with each other.  You have Thor vs. Iron Man/Captain America, Hawkeye vs. Black Widow, and what everyone came to see, Thor vs. Hulk.  Each character seems a little more formidable here than in the previous movies.  Iron Man's armor has several new armaments.  Thor shows a little more why he is the God of Thunder.  Captain America is a whirling dervish of punches and kicks.  Hawkeye is the deadly archer who never misses.  Black Widow has more mad fighting skills.  The Hulk is more unstoppable than ever. 

Joss Whedon has done what I think few directors could have done.  Super hero movies that have multiple characters needing screen time sometimes do not work well.  He has melded six volatile personalities into a cohesive unit seamlessly.  No character gives up who they are what they are for the sake of the other characters.  From Tony Stark's snarkiness to Captain America's heroism, no personality is compromised.

As with the other movies, you should stay through the end credits because you will learn who is pulling Loki's strings and who will plague the team in the sequel.  Comic book fans will recognize him right away.  I'll give everyone a hint.  He could be the death of the Avengers in the sequel.

I leave this review with one question.  We've had the X-Men on the big screen and now the Avengers.  Since we live in such a copycat society, could the Justice League be far behind?  Just asking.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

wait for it...

***** stars (first one)

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.