Review of 'The Avengers (Avengers Assemble)'

avengers_assemble.jpg The long-awaited movie that brings together the members of the Avengers after having seen their individual stories - Iron Man (Tony Stark, played by, of course, Robert Downey Jr), Captain America (Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans), The Hulk (Bruce Banner, here played by Mark Ruffalo), and Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth). Additional members who have not been so lucky to have had their own movie (so far) are Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff, played by Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Clint Barton, played by Jeremy Renner). Of course, the “leader” of the group being S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury (played convincingly by Samuel L. Jackson) who calls the group together when Loki (from the Thor movie, Thor's childhood brother and not-so-nice “God”, played by Tom Hiddleston) steals the Tesseract (first seen, evidently, in the Thor movie) which gives him the power to open a portal to let no end of nasties to attack earth. Obviously, those that have seen the previous movies will be at an advantage in attempting to understand (if required) this latest outing with nods to pretty much all that has come before though new viewers should just be able to sit back and enjoy the ride…The group does not mesh all that well at first so battles ensure there then when the baddies arrive then the true mayhem starts as they tear up a large part of New York.

This really is the culmination of the rest of the films with the effects, characters and story arcs utterly at their peak. Utterly convincing looking film (though completely ludicrous, of course!). We saw the film in 3-D which subtle but effective.

For fans of this type of film will not be disappointed though a small minority may get impatient with the large amounts of dialogue - that, and the fact that this movie is longer than a typical action flic at just over 2 hours. I can't say I was disappointed though did find it confusing having only seen a few of the preceding outings (though I did pick it up as it went along). The action does not disappoint and is well coordinated. Impressive start to what appears to be a long-running franchise.

Oh, yes, Stan Lee, as always, makes an appearance.

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2012-04-29


Directed by: Joss Whedon

Studio: Marvel Studios

Year: 2012

Length: 142 minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/


Other reviewed films by Joss Whedon: