Directed by: Joss Whedon
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth
Certificate: 12A
Plot: The crafty and downright nasty Loki makes his way down to Earth and takes over the minds of some of S.H.I.E.L.D Agents, forcing Nick Fury to call upon the help of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Black Widow to put a stop to them. Will the team be able to see past their differences and work together, or will Loki succeed with his plan to unleash a monstrous alien army?
Initial Thoughts: I admit it, I'm being stubborn and refusing to call this film it's "official" title. Why? Because I much prefer "Marvel's Avengers" to "Avengers Assemble", it's a personal choice, but heh, sue me, the replacement title is a bit pants, it's true.
Creating a group of films that revolved around a set of characters who would each (mostly) get their own films, that would eventually be pulled coyly together, by the appearance of regular characters (Nick Fury, Agent Coulson etc), and finally culminating in one film where each of these strong, and independent characters must work together, was always going to be a tough challenge. Not only did Marvel need to create five separate films in The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Captain America (2011) and Thor (2011), all written and directed by completely different people. They also needed to ensure that they had a strong cast on board, that would be able to a. pull off a film on their own, b. work as part of an underlying team-based unit and c. be reliable enough not to drop out half way through the sequence of making the series of films. Would they be able to do it? It was never really certain, because circumstances change, actors/directors etc fall out, and almost anything can happen on the journey from A to B.
Casting: The majority of the casting, for Avengers, was pretty easy to come to conclusions about, even before entering the cinema, having already been introduced to so many of the characters in previous films. I had huge, existing confidence in both Chris Evans' Captain America and Robert Downey Jnr's Iron Man, for example, and I certainly didn't feel let down by any of the lead actors, that I'd had previous experience watching. Chris Hemsworth did a much better job as Thor, in this, than in his own film, in which I personally felt he'd come across as a little of a brainless muscle-man (even though I know from seeing him in other things, that Hemsworth is certainly neither of those things).However, the re-casting of The Hulk was the only character that was going to be a surprise, as previous castings haven't gone too well, for the films or with the public. I can't really comment on either Eric Bana or Edward Norton, since I haven't seen their films, respectively and I will never deny that I've never seen any attraction in watching The Hulk films. And all I can say is that Mark Ruffalo has piqued my interest in a previous uninteresting character, and if any of the characters get a film off the back of this, I honestly hope that it'll be Mark Ruffalo's Hulk.
I think a huge mention has to go to Tom Hiddleston as Loki, who completely blew me away with his creepy bad guy-ness. I think a lot of it came down to that huge creepy smile that he was always pulling. However, I can't help but compare him to actor Michael Fassbender, and I feel that the two actors are very alike (in a good way!)
The only casting that left me umming and ahing, wasn't really a dig at their acting ability, but more to do with the fact that I struggled to take her away from the one thing I know her from. That was of course Cobie Smulders' Agent Hill, who of course plays Robin, in How I Met Your Mother. All of the time, that Agent Hill was being all kick ass and shouty, I couldn't help thinking, "whoa, when did Robin get all bad ass"....!!
Characters: My biggest fear for this film, was the fact that all of the characters are quite strong-willed and independent, and I questioned if it would be possible to create a film where each of them could remain independent and yet "mould" together well into a team. Ultimately, personalities clashed, in exactly the way that you'd expect them to and it worked perfectly. Whedon managed to successfully weave all of the characters equally into his story, without excluding anyone or seeming to place any ahead of others.It sometimes felt that Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, and Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye were a little "out of their league" in terms of ability, since neither of them had any form of special power, however they both still manage to hold their own, just in very different ways to the other superheroes.
Pacing: Action-wise the film was very fast-faced pretty much from beginning to end, and I really loved that about this film, because at no point did it feel boring, or did I want it to hurry up. The pacing was near-on perfection, for me, personally.
Overall: Avengers Assemble was a fantastic action-adventure film, featuring an amazing all-star cast, of big and rising talents, that worked so beautifully together. If I had the money, I would definitely go see this again. However, scoring this film has been a complete nightmare, because part of me doesn't want to rate it higher than Hunger Games, but another part of me enjoyed this more, purely because I got a bit bored during the first half of Hunger Games, whilst this never let-up in holding my attention. It's tricky, because with Hunger Games, I was dealing with a story that I already knew, and already cherished, so it's easy to score it higher. Nevertheless, in terms of overall enjoyment, I did feel that they are very close, however, for the point I just made about holding attention, I just have to go a little bit higher with this one.Score: 8.7/10
