If you can’t find something enjoyable to take away from Marvel’s The Avengers, then things like “watching good movies” and “entertainment” maybe aren’t for you. Joss Whedon, the mind behind Serenity and Cabin in the Woods, teams up with a cast of A-listers to make a stellar blockbuster flick that returns legitimacy to the comic book movie realm.
The setup for our superheroes to come together begins when Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor’s brother banished from Asgard, comes in possession of a powerful object called the tesseract. (It’s basically a shiny blue cube that emits energy). The tesseract creates a portal to travel through to earth from just about wherever in the universe. Loki plans on using the energy source to unleash fellow villains on the human race.
Going against his superiors’ wishes, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency takes a chance by calling upon various superheroes whose personalities will most definitely clash. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) have trouble remaining civil with one another, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) would rather deal with his brother on his own and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo, dare I say portraying the part better than the great Edward Norton did?) is just trying to manage not going green. Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are in the mix as well, though they are more the secondary characters of the bunch.
Bad guy with global (or universal) dominance in mind steals an object of potential mass destruction—nothing new with that story, but Avengers features such impressive acting, dialogue, direction and action that the setup feels rather unimportant. Just as long as our characters have distinct motivations, act and speak accordingly based on those motivations, the story will come together nicely.
In a room full of well-established stars, Downey Jr. manages to remain the focal point. His on screen presence is awe-inspiring (that’s not an overstatement), and he hasn’t lost a step portraying Tony Stark/Ironman/himself in real life. It was once difficult for me to buy Chris Evans in any role other than the goofy jock from Not Another Teen Movie; now at this point in his career, I have to remind myself that he was even in that movie. Johansson and Renner hold their own with the others, despite the former having an underdeveloped back story and the latter being stuck in Loki’s trance for half the film.
Loki is the mental kind of villain, an evil genius who gets into the opposition’s mind. Hiddleston’s confident performance gives us reason to be convinced that this one character is capable of quite competently taking on several good guys. Loki knows where each superhero’s weakness lies, and uses that to his advantage.
Comic book loyalists may disagree, but my favorite part of the film happened to be the way Banner’s character was handled. With an unsettling calm demeanor, Ruffalo coupled with the movie’s pacing makes for a great build to Banner hulking up. When he finally morphs into the Hulk, the payoff is played for both an injection of intensity and humor.
Afforded with already established and beloved characters, a tremendous cast and hefty budget, there’s a lot of things that could either go very well or very badly for Avengers depending on who is helming the film. A bulk of the credit must go to Whedon (who directed and co-wrote) for putting all the pieces together to make a superhero flick with little flaw.
Even at 142 minutes, The Avengers is tightly packed with action and entertainment to spare. I’d mark it as one of the best superhero movies in recent memory, perhaps the top save for The Dark Knight. And while you’re at the theater doling out money to see it, you might as well go for the IMAX 3D version to have your mind blown at the amazing visuals.
Critic’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Daniel Feingold can be reached at dfeingold91@gmail.com.