Monday Movie Review: The Avengers (2D)
So, this is my chance to weigh in on The Avengers, the moment that the past 4 years of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have been building towards. It’s also, of course, the moment that many comic book fans have been waiting their entire lives for; many no doubt sceptical about ever seeing Marvel’s all-star superhero squad together in a single film.
Now I’m not going to succumb to the fan frenzy knee-jerk reaction of calling the Avengers the greatest superhero movie ever made. It’s definitely not a 5-star film. However, The Avengers is still a masterful accomplishment – easily overcoming the odds of it becoming a rushed, overstuffed mess like many other multi-hero/villain movies (e.g. Batman and Robin, X-Men: The Last Stand, Spider-Man 3). More importantly though, The Avengers is also massively entertaining.
My gripes with the blockbuster are largely confined to its beginning. The film takes a little while to find its footing… mostly because the audience has to suffer through some nonsense plot establishment that sees puny, pistol-packing and easily defeated humans discussing the energy potential of the Tesseract (AKA the Cosmic Cube), and what exactly the film’s villain Loki (Tom Hiddleston) wants with the device. Fortunately it’s not long though before desperate SHIELD director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his agents are shaking the superheroes out of the woodwork – and, let’s face it, that’s why we’re in the cinema in the first place.
Given the climactic events of the Thor movie, the Asgardian’s (Chris Hemsworth) return is a bit too convenient and unconvincing, but it doesn’t really matter, given that a good chunk of pleasure in The Avengers comes, from this point onwards, from the assembly of this disparate, dysfunctional group – most of whom would evidently get along fine if it wasn’t for cocky, impertinent Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) continually needling them with his audience-pleasing one-liners.
It’s worth noting at this point that Captain America (Chris Evans) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) both really benefit from being part of an ensemble cast. In their own films, both are – to date anyway – rather bland characters: good soldier Cap constantly flinging himself into every fight, while the Hulk, as Bruce Banner follows the tired formula of run, Hulk out, smash and repeat. In a “squad” movie, however, the strengths of these characters become crystal clear. In a battle you need a clear-headed, courageous leader with tactical experience, just as you also need an unstoppable tank.
Speaking of the latter, Ruffalo and his motion-captured alter ego are, as many reviewers have already noted, the scene stealers of The Avengers. Gratifyingly, Ruffalo’s Banner actually looks dishevelled and worn down by the burden of his “curse,” as opposed to the actors who preceded him in the role: the trim, buff and vitality-radiating Eric Bana and Edward Norton. Also for the first time here, The Hulk actually comes across as a truly dangerous monster, as a heart-stopping sequence with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) establishes.
Writer-director Joss Whedon has always been praised for his writing of tough, sexy but still nuanced female characters, and Black Widow certainly benefits from the touch of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator. Natasha Romanoff may still have her amazing, leg-driven take-downs, but this time the babe comes with some interesting emotional baggage. One of the best scenes in the film is a Silence of the Lambs-style encounter between Black Widow and Loki. For the record, Hiddleston is once again a wonderful villain, skipping convincingly from coolly arrogant, to oddly insecure, to terrifyingly malicious, and back again.
The Avengers builds up to an expectedly epic battle in New York City, although personally my favourite action sequence is the biggie that precedes it – a lengthy airborne set-piece that sees the Avengers forced to work together for the first time.
Mr Destructive Blockbuster himself, Michael (Transformers, Pearl Harbor) Bay could really learn some lessons from The Avengers’ Whedon in regards to handling extended battles that leap between multiple characters and locations. The similar “when aliens attack” climax of last year’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon (my review) quickly became monotonous and disorientating to the point of putting the audience to sleep. By contrast, in The Avengers it’s always clear where everyone is, and what exactly they’re doing.
In the end, for colourful superhero escapism, it’s easy to recommended The Avengers… particularly in 2D instead of apparently unimpressive converted 3D. The film doesn’t strive for thought-provoking or emotional depth – although it does include one surprisingly touching event – but it IS a Marvel comic brought to credible, slick and highly satisfying life.
4 stars out of 5.
P.S. I don’t need to tell you by now to stay in your seat for an end credits sequence that hints where the next set of Marvel movies is heading.
Now I’m not going to succumb to the fan frenzy knee-jerk reaction of calling the Avengers the greatest superhero movie ever made. It’s definitely not a 5-star film. However, The Avengers is still a masterful accomplishment – easily overcoming the odds of it becoming a rushed, overstuffed mess like many other multi-hero/villain movies (e.g. Batman and Robin, X-Men: The Last Stand, Spider-Man 3). More importantly though, The Avengers is also massively entertaining.
My gripes with the blockbuster are largely confined to its beginning. The film takes a little while to find its footing… mostly because the audience has to suffer through some nonsense plot establishment that sees puny, pistol-packing and easily defeated humans discussing the energy potential of the Tesseract (AKA the Cosmic Cube), and what exactly the film’s villain Loki (Tom Hiddleston) wants with the device. Fortunately it’s not long though before desperate SHIELD director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his agents are shaking the superheroes out of the woodwork – and, let’s face it, that’s why we’re in the cinema in the first place.
Given the climactic events of the Thor movie, the Asgardian’s (Chris Hemsworth) return is a bit too convenient and unconvincing, but it doesn’t really matter, given that a good chunk of pleasure in The Avengers comes, from this point onwards, from the assembly of this disparate, dysfunctional group – most of whom would evidently get along fine if it wasn’t for cocky, impertinent Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) continually needling them with his audience-pleasing one-liners.
It’s worth noting at this point that Captain America (Chris Evans) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) both really benefit from being part of an ensemble cast. In their own films, both are – to date anyway – rather bland characters: good soldier Cap constantly flinging himself into every fight, while the Hulk, as Bruce Banner follows the tired formula of run, Hulk out, smash and repeat. In a “squad” movie, however, the strengths of these characters become crystal clear. In a battle you need a clear-headed, courageous leader with tactical experience, just as you also need an unstoppable tank.
Speaking of the latter, Ruffalo and his motion-captured alter ego are, as many reviewers have already noted, the scene stealers of The Avengers. Gratifyingly, Ruffalo’s Banner actually looks dishevelled and worn down by the burden of his “curse,” as opposed to the actors who preceded him in the role: the trim, buff and vitality-radiating Eric Bana and Edward Norton. Also for the first time here, The Hulk actually comes across as a truly dangerous monster, as a heart-stopping sequence with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) establishes.
Writer-director Joss Whedon has always been praised for his writing of tough, sexy but still nuanced female characters, and Black Widow certainly benefits from the touch of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator. Natasha Romanoff may still have her amazing, leg-driven take-downs, but this time the babe comes with some interesting emotional baggage. One of the best scenes in the film is a Silence of the Lambs-style encounter between Black Widow and Loki. For the record, Hiddleston is once again a wonderful villain, skipping convincingly from coolly arrogant, to oddly insecure, to terrifyingly malicious, and back again.
The Avengers builds up to an expectedly epic battle in New York City, although personally my favourite action sequence is the biggie that precedes it – a lengthy airborne set-piece that sees the Avengers forced to work together for the first time.
Mr Destructive Blockbuster himself, Michael (Transformers, Pearl Harbor) Bay could really learn some lessons from The Avengers’ Whedon in regards to handling extended battles that leap between multiple characters and locations. The similar “when aliens attack” climax of last year’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon (my review) quickly became monotonous and disorientating to the point of putting the audience to sleep. By contrast, in The Avengers it’s always clear where everyone is, and what exactly they’re doing.
In the end, for colourful superhero escapism, it’s easy to recommended The Avengers… particularly in 2D instead of apparently unimpressive converted 3D. The film doesn’t strive for thought-provoking or emotional depth – although it does include one surprisingly touching event – but it IS a Marvel comic brought to credible, slick and highly satisfying life.
4 stars out of 5.
P.S. I don’t need to tell you by now to stay in your seat for an end credits sequence that hints where the next set of Marvel movies is heading.
Comments
I love your review approuch, your 'whole movie and feel' approuch, it is refreshing, I say this because I, myself am a certain "other type" of reviewer.
I look at the the individual actors performances and how they bring out the movie's "Character",(crazy, i know). But hey, your review, in my perspective anyway, did the movie justice...maybe even more than it deserves.
dE.sam