Way back in 2008, fans of Marvel would have probably been forgiven for not exactly getting excited about the release of Iron Man that year. The simple reason for this is two-fold: The Hulk (2003) and Spider-Man 3 were both unspeakably awful. And yet it was probably the release of those two films which seemed to kick super-sci-fi-genius Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, Toy Story etc.) to bring back the good name of the Marvel Universe. A departure from Marvel Enterprises and Universal (The Incredible Hulk aside) and into Marvel Production and a distribution of Paramount and Disney seemed to add a new sense of direct purpose to the project. Both Iron Man films were fantastic, particularly thanks to a career-changing performance from Robert Downey Jnr.. The second attempt at the Hulk was extremely impressive. Add to that the totally solid releases of Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger and pretty much everyone who enjoys films is excited for this culmination of parts, regardless of whether you really knew the respective comics.
Therefore, most people watching The Avengers will already be familiar with what's going on here, as we've been introduced to each of the characters back stories in their own films. However, we are given a subtle reminder right from the off, with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) finally getting a scene before the end credits tampering with the Tesseract (source of all power and all-round scary artefact), leading to the arrival of arch-villain, and half-brother of Thor, Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Cue a pleasing tie-in to a few of the "hidden" scenes from the end of each of the previous films and hey-ho, we're right up to date and ready for some serious fun.
The story that has been laid out for The Avengers is a big one, but a very well thought out one at that. In a nutshell: Loki steals the tesseract and is using it to summon an alien army he plans on using to enslave the Earth in order to seek revenge upon his half-brother for being de-throned in his home world, and it's up to our heroes to unite against him to save us. Simple enough sounding, I guess, but keep in mind that this has been set up over five films that have all linked in and you begin to realise that details from a few years ago are actually much more relevant to the end product. What's particularly impressive about the film is that you just sort of go with it, you know that what you're seeing is ridiculous - it's fantastic, but ridiculous - but you have to apply what's known as "Superhero Physics" to do so. For example, the laws of physics and probability are the same in the film as they are in reality, with the exception of each of the heroes and villains has altered the rules slightly - totally accepted in the film, therefore totally accepted by us. And what's more, even though you know it's a film about six superheroes, most of whom are not going to be killed off, you can't help but get immersed in the situation whenever Captain America is put in a tight spot.
The underlying theme of the film is a goodun too; the Avengers don't start out all happy-clappy with each other, they have to fight to be become a working team. This makes for some cinematic gold, with the tensions between Tony Stark (Downey Jnr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans), and almost everything that comes out of Bruce Banner's (Mark Ruffalo) mouth being prime examples of how to add a sense of humour to a superhero film that could easily tip over the edge into the over-the-top. The additional attention to the stories of assassins Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) adds something of a darker tone in the background too. The confrontation scenes, particularly the battle between Iron Man, Captain America and Thor makes for particularly exciting viewing, not to mention probably one of the best choreographed combat scenes I've ever seen between the two aforementioned assassins. The climax of all this tension means that when the team finally get their act together, you go all goose-bumpy with nerd joy.
The performances of all involved are pretty much flawless too, which is surprising for a movie as big as this. Downey Jnr. simply is Tony Stark again, as mesmerising as he was the first two times. Evans' Captain America is played with a humorous honesty (cue the jokes about what he's missed all these years he's been asleep), and Chris Hemsworth's Thor is exactly what you got from the last time; big, booming Nordic fighting, joking machine. Johansson's performance is again full of dark humour whilst convincing you that there's more to uncover between her character and Hawkeye (hopefully we find out more next time). And Ruffalo's take on Banner is reassuringly excellent. A lot of people were worried by the news of Edward Norton not wishing to reprise the role he played so well in the Hulk's last outing, but Ruffalo adds a surprising amount of genuinely great humour to the part, whilst giving an air of zen master, adding a lot of depth to the character - some of the best scenes of the film all centre around Banner or his giant green rage monster equivalent. Arguably the best performance of the lot though, is Tom Hiddleston as Loki. He's clearly gone a little deranged due to his experience of falling into the void at the end of Thor, and as such, we now have a near maniacal level of villain. Mixed together with a truly sinister smirk and pompous arrogance is also (and I feel like I'm repeating myself now) an honest sense of humour, which seems to underline the fact that he's gone a little mad. You'll end up liking almost all of the characters, and they all get time to show off what they can do; that even goes for Agent Coulson, another who cameoed in the previous films, again reprised by the impressive Clark Gregg.
What's more, the film is visually spectacular. Not only are the scenes involving just our heroes seriously cool (not really another word that works so well for it), but they don't go too far to make us lose touch with the end product. Furthermore, the climactic battle scene will most likely leave your jaw somewhere on the popcorn-splattered floor, and it almost certainly only gets better in the 3D version.
Yep, The Avengers was great, I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute of it, particularly as it would seem the film has restored the reputation of Marvel. The only negative thing? I already wanted the sequel by the time the final fade-to-black had kicked in.
5/5 - You won't see a more fun superhero film. Probably ever. I don't have a single bad thing say about it. Off you go, go on, stop reading, buy tickets.
P.S.
In true Avengers film fashion, stick around for the credits...
Nice review Stephen. Everybody here is on their top of their A-game, especially the writing and direction from Joss Whedon. Perfect way to start off what's supposed to be a jam-packed Summer.
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