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REVIEWED: Avengers (2012)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. | Chris Evans | Mark Ruffalo | Chris Hemsworth| Scarlett Johansson | Tom Hiddleston Genres: Action | Adventure | Science Fiction IMDB Synopsis: Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity. |
Here be spoilers.
Outside of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, has there ever been a more highly anticipated science fiction / fantasy film than The Avengers? Let's face it, we've all been carefully primed for this film for years by both our internal nerdiness and the brilliant marketing strategy of Marvel, Disney and Paramount. And it worked. The Avengers is smashing box office records like The Hulk would smash a car. But the big question is: does the long-anticipated film live up to the hype?
Yup. Sure does.
The plot of The Avengers is fairly straight-forward. It needs to be. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle, assembled over previous films like The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor. What was needed here was the cinematic version of D-Day, the big battle that changes everything. And a successful battle requires a good general, or director in this case. Fortunately, we got Joss Whedon.
A lesser director might've taken the easy way out and relied on the previous films to provide the characterizations — then made The Avengers into a shock-and-awe Transformers-like mess. But Whedon has a well-deserved reputation for producing smartly-written, character-driven movies (see my recent review of Cabin in the Woods) and this is certainly the case in The Avengers. Mindful of the divergent back stories, he does an admirable job of fleshing out even those who didn't have an origin film, namely Hawkeye and the Black Widow. These two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents play a central role in The Avengers and hold their own alongside their more supernatural counterparts.
When Loki, the villain heir apparent introduced in Thor, returns to Earth with war and subjegation on his mind, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury knows it's time to launch his "Avenger Initiative." The mothballed program was intended to bring together these remarkable people and create a formidable fighting force.
Well, that was the plan...
But as you might guess, the team is little more than a collection of individuals who are physically powerful and emotionally frail.
Steve Rogers (Captain America) is still the lost yet bespangled Boy Scout he was in the 1940s. His sense of unquestioning patriotism is viewed as both quaint and somewhat dangerous by other members of the team.
Tony Stark (Iron Man), always looking for the spotlight, finds an intellectually kindred spirit in Dr. Bruce Banner (The Hulk), although he's flummoxed as to why the mild-mannered scientist is hiding rather than exploiting the monster inside.
Banner, who's played by Mark Ruffalo this time round, is a borderline-suicidal genius who indulges in moments of cruelty. The Hulk character has been the hardest one for this franchise to get right, both in the actor playing Banner and the CGI rendering of the monster. I'm happy to say that The Avengers nailed it on both counts.
And then there's Thor. Poor Thor. The demigod is easily the most powerful of all the team members, but he carries a very heavy burden. He's guilt-ridden that the brother he still loves is laying waste to the Earth and anguished by the realization that Loki doesn't love him back. And maybe never did? The chemistry we saw between these characters in Thor is still there as the elder brother (Chris Hemsworth) pleads, threatens and conjoles the younger (Tom Hiddleston) to stop his insane quest for power and return home. All will be forgiven. But Loki's having none of it.
It's Dr. Banner who rightly points out the team is just a concoction of volatile chemicals destined to explode. And that's exactly where Joss Whedon takes us. Egos, power trips, deceptions and betrayals all combine to make The Avengers the least-effective fighting force Planet Earth has ever known.
That is, until their asses are handed to them by Loki and his minions.
The culminating battle is probably one of the best superhero action sequences ever filmed. Each Avenger finds ways to enhance their strengths and overcome their differences. They might not be exactly what Nick Fury hoped for — but they're a step closer. The result is an exciting, engaging and unexpectedly funny film.
Go see it. Several times if necessary.
Outside of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, has there ever been a more highly anticipated science fiction / fantasy film than The Avengers? Let's face it, we've all been carefully primed for this film for years by both our internal nerdiness and the brilliant marketing strategy of Marvel, Disney and Paramount. And it worked. The Avengers is smashing box office records like The Hulk would smash a car. But the big question is: does the long-anticipated film live up to the hype?
Yup. Sure does.
The plot of The Avengers is fairly straight-forward. It needs to be. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle, assembled over previous films like The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor. What was needed here was the cinematic version of D-Day, the big battle that changes everything. And a successful battle requires a good general, or director in this case. Fortunately, we got Joss Whedon.
A lesser director might've taken the easy way out and relied on the previous films to provide the characterizations — then made The Avengers into a shock-and-awe Transformers-like mess. But Whedon has a well-deserved reputation for producing smartly-written, character-driven movies (see my recent review of Cabin in the Woods) and this is certainly the case in The Avengers. Mindful of the divergent back stories, he does an admirable job of fleshing out even those who didn't have an origin film, namely Hawkeye and the Black Widow. These two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents play a central role in The Avengers and hold their own alongside their more supernatural counterparts.
When Loki, the villain heir apparent introduced in Thor, returns to Earth with war and subjegation on his mind, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury knows it's time to launch his "Avenger Initiative." The mothballed program was intended to bring together these remarkable people and create a formidable fighting force.
Well, that was the plan...
But as you might guess, the team is little more than a collection of individuals who are physically powerful and emotionally frail.
Steve Rogers (Captain America) is still the lost yet bespangled Boy Scout he was in the 1940s. His sense of unquestioning patriotism is viewed as both quaint and somewhat dangerous by other members of the team.
Tony Stark (Iron Man), always looking for the spotlight, finds an intellectually kindred spirit in Dr. Bruce Banner (The Hulk), although he's flummoxed as to why the mild-mannered scientist is hiding rather than exploiting the monster inside.
Banner, who's played by Mark Ruffalo this time round, is a borderline-suicidal genius who indulges in moments of cruelty. The Hulk character has been the hardest one for this franchise to get right, both in the actor playing Banner and the CGI rendering of the monster. I'm happy to say that The Avengers nailed it on both counts.
And then there's Thor. Poor Thor. The demigod is easily the most powerful of all the team members, but he carries a very heavy burden. He's guilt-ridden that the brother he still loves is laying waste to the Earth and anguished by the realization that Loki doesn't love him back. And maybe never did? The chemistry we saw between these characters in Thor is still there as the elder brother (Chris Hemsworth) pleads, threatens and conjoles the younger (Tom Hiddleston) to stop his insane quest for power and return home. All will be forgiven. But Loki's having none of it.
It's Dr. Banner who rightly points out the team is just a concoction of volatile chemicals destined to explode. And that's exactly where Joss Whedon takes us. Egos, power trips, deceptions and betrayals all combine to make The Avengers the least-effective fighting force Planet Earth has ever known.
That is, until their asses are handed to them by Loki and his minions.
The culminating battle is probably one of the best superhero action sequences ever filmed. Each Avenger finds ways to enhance their strengths and overcome their differences. They might not be exactly what Nick Fury hoped for — but they're a step closer. The result is an exciting, engaging and unexpectedly funny film.
Go see it. Several times if necessary.
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