The Avengers Reviews

I got to go see this lovely action packed movie today with my brothers and mom, at first I was a little self-conscious, because all my schoolmates have been bragging about how cool this film was, but now I'm one of those proud braggers.

We saw the movie in 2D though, but that's OK, because we sat real close anyways..
I'm a big, big fan of Joss Whedon, so I was a little excited, I also just now started getting interested in Jeremy Renner aka Hawkeye; so I was excited to see him too.

I also was ready for The Hulk to show up.

Anyways, during the fight scenes (in my head) I kept repeating "FIGHT", only because the way they battled was epic. The camera angles and all that action just made me giddy. The acting; of course wasn't bad, clearly they all were perfect...

But viewers think about this....
Chris Evans may be Captain America... (a Marvel character) but he was also The Human Torch (also a Marvel character).. silly right, there goes a chance to gather all the Marvel characters and make an epic movie... -____-

Honestly, Loki; you got what you deserved with The Hulk scene, I LOL-ed, when he got his ass whooped, woot.

I really enjoyed this movie, I adore Superhero movies (if there good enough), I encourage that more movie directors start doing this, because superhero fans (like me and a load of others) enjoy that stuff.

Totally, looking forward to the sequel and hey, who knows maybe they'll eventually make a DC Universe movie... It could and should happen. :)

This is the best comic book movie ever!! Joss Whedon did an excellent job giving each character their due...it felt like a live comic book. I have to see it again!

What can I possibly say about The Avengers that you haven't already read somewhere else? Probably nothing. But I'll throw my two cents in anyway...

Over the years Marvel Studios has captured the imagination of both comic-book nerds and normal people alike (I kid, I kid) to an insanely impressive degree. How? Well by spending a shit-load of money, acquiring many top-notch talents, and taking a few well-calculated risks -basically all of which have paid off incredibly. (Only ONE film cost more than it grossed, and it was a co-production that suffered a mere 25-million dollar loss. Bonus points to whomever can name that movie.) By now Marvel has created a movie-making empire that knows no bounds. I predict that summer block-buster super-hero movies will NEVER GO AWAY. Ever. Great news to some. And honestly I don't particularly mind.



So, how did the latest entry into the spandex-hype Olympics go over for me? Just fine. Er, no, I mean it was fine, but that's about it. And really, that's okay.

What I mean to say is that The Avengers is not my new favorite movie and I won't be purchasing a copy on Blu-ray. But it was a mostly enjoyable time at the theater and a pretty good popcorn movie. I still think Thor was a better film and I always will, but I consider The Avengers to be a good deal more impressive than Captain America. Putting it on a par with the Iron Man films might be a stretch, but even as I write this I'm beginning to suspect that possibly none of them would have more or less "staying power" with me than the other. So yeah, you know The Avengers, for all its hype, ranks somewhere in the middle for me.



I will say that, on the whole, the film did a rather impressive job of providing ample screen-time to all its heroes and not short-changing anyone in particular. It needed all of its 142 minutes to do it, but even so, the pacing was never a real issue and I didn't check my watch once. That may sound like modest praise, but I do mean this as a noteworthy achievement. That said, the film felt a bit stale at times in its scene transitions and in terms of tone and content. I'll go ahead and assign some of my trouble with this to Joss Wheedon, whom I simply don't ever foresee becoming one of my personal favorite director/writers. For one thing, I don't find his humor as clever or as... well, funny as most seem to. I did laugh a number of times throughout the film, but generally not with any real amount of mirth. The quips eventually feel showy and bland at the same time, and if even one of you knows what I mean by this then consider me thrilled.



Also, while the final third of the film does deliver some excitement, the action sequences eventually over-stay their welcome by nearly an entire reel and began to feel silly and slightly redundant. I can only watch so many giant flying prehistoric fish robots tear open the sides of Manhattan skyscrapers without a single observable casualty for so long. But again, I'm nit-picking. More exciting were certain instances of in-fighting and smart-ass-ery between our heroes. The way some of our characters' reputations proceed them made for genuinely interesting fare. And the idea of our superheroes questioning one another's abilities and usefulness provided some very entertaining and captivating exchanges. It was often these moments that the film was at its strongest.

But with so much happening on screen, I think the usefulness of a typical review is limited. So from here I'll run through the characters and offer my observations. (Below, from left to right)



Black Widow: The most pleasant surprise of the film. Scarlett Johansson's character wasn't given much to do in Iron Man 2 so hers was the returning character with the most to gain. And indeed it was nice to see Black Widow fleshed out here. (No, I don't mean to suggest a semi-nude Scarlett scene.) I enjoyed her back-story well enough and I believed her character (which actually becomes key and even more fun in a couple of "interrogation" scenes) Johansson looks about as beautiful as I've seen her and she does a very good job with her material.

Thor: Thor remained agreeably dorky in that Norse god way of his, though with fewer "fish out of water" jokes, as this marks his second visit to Earth. Actor Chris Hemsworth once again gives off a charming, good-natured, semi-dullard, but decidedly likeable vibe without sacrificing anything in the way of badassness. This comes as some relief when positioned alongside Tony Stark's -nah, let's face it- Robert Downey Jr's douche-baggery.

Captain America: Still boring, still kind of a tool, still overwhelmingly dull at his core and bland around the edges. If planet Earth could be saved by good-looks alone, Chris Evans would probably be your guy. Hell, he'd likely have his own monument in every major city. Just don't ever ask him to save a movie. In fact, if he begins to show up on screens all over the place, why hell, just give Loki the damn planet. Anyway, the film tries to give Skippy DoRight stuff to do, but as often as not it seems a bit forced. "Sure Captain, your shield can boomerang back to you the way Thor's hammer does. Fine, whatever."

Hawkeye: I'll admit to not knowing shit about Hawkeye going into the film. And guess what? I still don't know the first damn thing about him. Except for he's a master marks-man with a bow and that what looks like two dozen arrows are in fact two thousand. I've enjoyed Jeremy Renner in previous roles. Nothing about his performance really stood out here.

Iron Man: Tony Stark naturally remains the smug, overly-pleased with himself, given most of the "best" lines in the movie, douche-bag that we've all grown to love/hate. Frankly this persona has worn thin with me and I find it increasingly difficult to find much amusement in Downey's portrayal. I understand that he's probably no better or worse here, but I've just grown tired of the character. (Similarly I've never seen Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I'm only slightly more inclined to see Iron Man 3. What? There's 4 Pirate movies? Get outta here.) That said, watching Iron Man fly around and blow stuff up is still really fucking cool looking.

The Hulk: I actually haven't seen either of the Hulk films. So yes, I suck. But if you asked me who my favorite character in The Avengers is, I'd have to say Mark Ruffalo's Dr. Bruce Banner, no contest. Given the somewhat limited screen-time given him, Ruffalo absolutely owns this role as the tortured and emotionally repressed super-genius (who holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics). Ruffalo possesses a certain easy world-weariness that lends itself perfectly to the role, as well as suggestion of emotional depth and mystery that one can never quite perceive but is nonetheless always aware of. And the raging green Hulk monster looked really impressive, whether in frantic action moments or standing still. Nice job all around with this character.



This brings us to Nick Fury who I won't say much about other than that from beginning to end I was mostly conscious of Samuel L. cashing a paycheck. Hate me if you must, but nothing really excited me about his character. The fact that he often shares his scenes with Cobie Smulders (how's that for a name?) helped. She plays Agent Maria Hill -essentially the ship's first-mate for all intents and purposes. Looking really, really pretty accounts for any remaining purpose and she excels at it.



Finally we have Loki, our primary villain. Loki still exudes some of that bitter, trench-coat wearing (c'mon, look at his costume-design) high school outcast turned high school shooter persona that we met in last year's Thor. Understand I'm not making light of such atrocities. It's literally one of the major things that come to mind -or mine, anyway- when observing his character. Played by Tom Hiddleston he remains something of a lackluster villain here. Not sure what it is, just lacking that certain something. But he's crazy and jealous and power-hungry, and a little pathetic and that adds up to dangerous. Or just dangerous enough to make the film get by. And certain camera treatments of his character (particularly high-angle shots) helped with any convincing that still needed doing. But I don't think there's much mileage left in his character.



Ah, but that brings me to the mid-credit scene and I wouldn't dare spoil it here. Let's just say I immediately recognized the character in question -which, more than anything else, reveals a certain level of dork in me that I wasn't fully aware of. You know, just in case my uncharacteristically long treatment of this film left any doubt.

This was the best super hero movie I've ever seen. Everything fit, all the characters were important and it didn't seem forced. Epic battle, epic origin story for the Avengers. Ready for the sequel!

easily the best movie ive seen in atleast 2 years, everything clicked, the story was great, loved the special effects and the action scenes were absolutely amazing.

Finally, a Marvel movie that comes close to matching 'Iron Man'. It follows the disasters that were 'Thor' and 'Captain America' and the semi-disappointments that were 'The Incredible Hulk' and 'Iron Man 2'.

With such a large number of lead characters I was expecting a total mess, but somehow it all just works. In fact, the characters play off each other so well, that it really surprised me. I personally give credit to Joss Whedon, who write and directed this movie. He's always been exceptional good at writing sci-fi material.

I have been anxiously waiting for this movie since seeing Captain America last year. It is well worth the wait! A truly epic comic book based film. All of the heroes get their chance to show what they are capable of. An exciting and gripping film which is also wonderfully paced. Be sure to stay through all the credits. This movie has two of the traditional tag scenes.

The story in Avengers is basic - Loki wants to rule over Earth and a disparate bunch of superheroes (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, The Hulk and Hawkeye) must band together to fight him and his army.

Joss Whedon works his magic to maintain the balance amongst all the characters (with nods to their respective movies) while blending action, humor and drama in a way that didn't feel false or forced.

The climactic action sequence is one of the most breath taking rollercoaster rides I've seen in a number of years.

I have no complaints over the acting though I must give special praise to Tom Hiddleston - he was electric as Loki - arrogant, petulant and vulnerable at times as well.

Everyone in the cinema had a great time - Joss Whedon should be pleased with the spontaneous cheer that erupted at a vital moment.

"There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, so when we needed them, they could fight the battles that we never could..."

At long last, Marvel Studios has successfully pulled it off. Four years after Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk signalled the beginning of an interconnected cinematic superhero universe, 2012's The Avengers - Marvel's ultimate endpoint thus far - is finally here. Arriving with the intimidating burden of expectations following five interconnected Marvel superhero films, not to mention the decades of comic book history preceding it, The Avengers is in safe hands with self-professed geek Joss Whedon (2005's Serenity) serving as writer-director. Harnessing his unparalleled talent for witty dialogue and character dynamics, Whedon defies the odds to deliver the ultimate summer blockbuster spectacle. With more intelligence and dramatic heft than the Transformers franchise, and boasting many breathtaking action sequences, fanboys can rest assured that The Avengers is worth both the wait and the hype.

When Asgardian prince Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the mischievous brother of demigod Thor (Chris Hemsworth), arrives on Earth, he steals a powerful cosmic cube known as the Tesseract. Loki plans to put Earth under his submission and enslave humanity with the aid of the Chitauri. Faced with an unprecedented threat, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) works to unite the only beings capable of saving the planet from total annihilation: genius billionaire Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), WWII super-soldier Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), brilliant scientist Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor, as well as master assassins Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Although initially only recruited to find the Tesseract, it fast becomes apparent that large-scale combat is inevitable to defend the Earth.

Whedon had ample baggage to handle when going into The Avengers. On top of formulating a self-contained story, Whedon also needed to advance the individual stories of each character and balance the large congregation of iconic heroes...and all without making the flick seem bloated. Against all the odds, Whedon pulls it off. Indeed, The Avengers feels like a complete and cohesive motion picture, as opposed to a "greatest hits" montage of CGI-laden action sequences. Admittedly, the first half occasionally keeps us at arm's length due to the narrative's complex machinations, but the second half is pitch-perfect beat-by-beat. Everything works perfectly from the midpoint onwards - the drama, the one-liners, the ensemble dynamics, the narrative goings-on, and the action sequences are all spot-on. Furthermore, Whedon does not short-change any of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, as they all play meaningful roles in the story, and receive adequate screen-time for their respective arcs to grow and percolate. Additionally, Whedon leaves logical room for both another Avengers movie as well as solo adventures for the central characters. However, one should not watch The Avengers without viewing the previous films (though The Incredible Hulk is wholly optional and inessential). Whedon does briefly reintroduce each character to bring the audience back up to speed, but the experience is more richly rewarding and cathartic for established Marvel Cinematic Universe viewers.

Unlike less skilful blockbusters, no plot holes or bewildering story elements blemish The Avengers, and, despite a narrative involving intergalactic flights of fantasy and extraordinary advances in technology, the story's internal logic never collapses in on itself. Plus, unlike The Dark Knight, this is not a joyless superhero experience - instead, a fun atmosphere (similar to films like The Dirty Dozen) enlivens The Avengers, with fun derived from both snappy banter as well as the action set-pieces. Anyone familiar with Whedon's writing (Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) should not find it surprising that the dialogue sparkles as vibrantly as the digital effects, with several genuine laugh-out-loud moments scattered throughout the picture. Luckily, though, the story's dramatic elements are still taken seriously, and there is always the sense that a lot is at stake. Although Whedon abides by the established formula of the heroes coming back together to save the Earth after utterly failing, this story development carries genuine weight after the events of the second act.

21st Century blockbuster filmmakers too often rely on disorientating rapid-fire editing and shaky cinematography to generate the faux illusion of excitement. On the other hand, Joss Whedon eschews lazy shortcuts like this, instead staging enthralling large-scale action sequences which benefit from elegant, sturdy cinematography. Most audacious is a single tracking shot which moves through the climactic devastation, shifting from one Avenger to the next, showing us awe-inspiring capabilities of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Moreover, during the climax, Whedon focuses more on the interactions between the heroes as they banter and plan strategies, in addition to observing the innocents caught up in the mayhem. This approach generates a crucial sense of humanity, again elevating The Avengers above Michael Bay's regular output. Indeed, Whedon (working with editors Jeffrey Ford and Lisa Lassek) favours rhythm, suspense and dramatic payoffs as opposed to empty, frenetic bombast. Additionally, the special effects and production values consistently impress, thanks to the gargantuan $220 million budget. The Avengers delivers the goods time and time again, leaving you in utter awe. The definitive touch is Alan Silvestri's stimulating original score, which bursts with flavour and majesty, giving The Avengers a distinctive cinematic identity. In particular, the main Avengers theme is brilliantly memorable.

The Avengers boasts a cast of staggering enormity, yet the ensemble shares fantastic chemistry and works exceptionally well together. Leading the pack is Downey, who retains the razor-sharp comedic timing and irresistible charm which originally rendered him the perfect cinematic Tony Stark/Iron Man. Downey provides the lion's share of the comic relief, particularly while interacting with the supporting cast as personalities clash. Alongside him, Evans remains note-perfect as Captain America, once again showing an innate sense of boy scout goodness and morality while also advancing his character maturation. In addition, Hemsworth is still a fine Thor, and Renner makes a strong impression as Hawkeye despite limited screen-time (something he resentfully spoke about in interviews). Reprising her role from Iron Man 2, meanwhile, Johansson is a complete delight as Black Widow - she's sexy and believable, and kicks some serious butt. The last Avenger is the Hulk, who confidently steals the show. After two Hulk movies of mediocre quality, Whedon finally does the character justice. Taking over the role from Edward Norton, Ruffalo is an appealing Bruce Banner, while the digital effects that bring the Hulk to life are spectacular. Plus, yes, the Hulk smashes stuff real good and, yes, it's fucking awesome.

Luckily, the supporting players equally assured. Jackson was born to play Nick Fury, as he oozes cool and charisma, and looks intrinsically badass with an eye-patch. Similarly excellent is Hiddleston, who here reprises his role from 2011's Thor. Hiddleston is both charming and sinister as the Norse God of Mischief, making for one of the best villains in recent memory. Rounding out the cast are a few more robust carryovers from prior MCU films, including Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Selvig, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Tony Stark's loyal companion, Pepper Potts.

An exhilarating victory lap for Marvel Studios, The Avengers is simultaneously a superlative Marvel blockbuster and an outstanding Joss Whedon film. It's refreshing to see a summer movie which provides popcorn-munching delights without insulting one's intelligence, and it's equally refreshing to see a superhero movie which avoids the "dark, gloomy and gritty" approach. The benefits of Whedon's involvement cannot be overstated; without his talent for handling ensembles or writing snappy dialogue, The Avengers could have been a messy letdown. Thus, let's be thankful that the end result is an extraordinary success with infinite replay value. It will inspire absolute ecstasy in comic book enthusiasts, and, thankfully, casual viewers should also find The Avengers to be a deliriously enjoyable, crowd-pleasing blockbuster. Be sure to stick around for additional scenes during and after the credits.

9.2/10

After many years of waiting and witnessing the five installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which lead to The Avengers, Marvel Studios have finally unleashed what is perhaps their biggest film thus far. As comic books, The Avengers is pure gold for avid fans of comics and the science-fiction genre. With this in mind, there were the typical expectations of how intense, explosive and exciting the film was going to be and how firm the storyline will be able to use each character involved equally. However, not every Avenger in the comic books is in the feature film, but just the majority. Nevertheless, The Avengers delivers exactly what one could possibly expect as it is a mind-blowing, intense and explosive thrill-ride that will make your jaws drop and leave you off the edge of your seat.


Anybody who is selected as either the director or as screenwriter will have plenty on their shoulders with making film like The Avengers due to its overwhelmingly popular comic books and the extremely high build-up from Iron Man, its sequel, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Joss Whedon, the creator of various science fiction TV shows, takes the duty of penning and directing The Avengers. To be able to pull off a single story but featuring all of those characters is a very difficult task, but Whedon succeeds magnificently. He made the audience feel so close to the screen and, therefore, manages to avoid the mindless, boring and unrealistic action that we have seen time and time again. It was also the creative use of technology that made it dazzling to see too. Furthermore, The Avengers involved a tremendous amount of jokes and gags that would give the audience a few laughs.


Due to the number of characters in The Avengers and they are all introduced very similarly, there is not a particular leading actor or protagonist. In addition, a few original Avengers are not part of this film at all. Nevertheless, that didn’t jeapodise the film as a whole. Robert Downey Jr. already achieved his re-booting breakthrough as Tony Stark in Iron Man and its sequel with his charismatic, smug but comical performance. The same can be said yet again for The Avengers and possibly for Iron Man 3 too in 2013. Chris Evans reprises his role as Captain America/Steve Rogers. Evans had already been part of Marvel films Fantastic Four, but he has found his place in Marvel Studios as he gives another grand performance. In addition, Dr. Bruce Banner/The Hulk has been portrayed by two different actors in two film adaptations. Mark Ruffalo is now the third candidate to take on the role. Although, he gives a slightly different approach to the character than Edward Norton and Eric Bana, Ruffalo adds a higher sense of reality to Banner/Hulk as he illustrated the nerdy scientist approach better than his predecessors. In addition, The Hulk is portrayed by Ruffalo himself through use of motion-capture effects when previously using full CGI. He displays the monstrous transformation and the violence brilliantly and doesn’t have the constantly angry or frustrated look, which made him a victim to The Hulk. Thus, Ruffalo’s Hulk has become the closest representation of the character compared to the comics.


Elsewhere among the cast is Scarlett Johansson, the only key female character in The Avengers, who reprises her bad girl but dazzlingly beautiful role as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow. She does not become just the piece of eye-candy like she was in Iron Man 2, but she flies around and becomes a badass woman to be reckoned with. In addition, Chris Hemsworth stars in his second role as the manliest of the group - Thor, whose background story is the essential key of The Avengers plot, and gives another good performance. After a cameo appearance in Thor, Jeremy Renner introduced his unbelievably badass role as Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Samuel L. Jackson gives his most badass and coolest performance as a character in a long time as group director Nick Fury! Furthermore, Tom Hiddleston gives the strongest performance in The Avengers as antagonist and Thor’s adoptive brother, Loki. Hiddleston expresses a very sinister, evil but well-spoken approach to Loki like we saw in Thor and should hope to see again in the sequel. Finally, Clark Gregg, Stellan Skarsgård and Gwyneth Paltrow reprise their roles from previous films.


Overall, The Avengers is literally everything that one could possibly expect from it. It is not only Marvel’s biggest film to date but it is perhaps their strongest too in terms of character development and the connection it has with the audience. It is a very colourful, exciting and intense thrill-ride that does not under-use any of the characters and amazingly manages to stick close to the original comics. Therefore, every comic book nerd will get the utmost enjoyment out of this and will lead to more excitement for Thor 2, Captain America 2, Iron Man 3 and a possible Avengers sequel.