Expectations usually lead to disappointment. Far too often a movie promises the world, but feels like a stale bag of popcorn. The Avenger is the collimation of five superhero movies and years of development. Where there’s anticipation this high usually it can’t be met. Director Joss Whedon had other plans in mind. He never forgot that these superheros have to be humanized to be relatable. There’s a lot that could’ve gone wrong with The Avengers, luckily they assembled correctly.
While the cast has changed a little (Mark Ruffalo as Hulk) not much has changed since the last meeting with the heroes. Captain America (Chris Evans) is adjusting to life after having been frozen for seventy years. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) continues his journey towards renewable energy and protecting the peace. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) remains destitute to the world of Asgard and Hulk is busy controlling his zen. While also including the head of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), The Avengers features two other cast members. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are also part of the team, but their abilities seem lost in this crowed field of superheroes.
The Avengers movie starts with the appearance of Thor’s brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who has found a way to Earth in order to conquer it for his own. He plans to use the Tesseract (A cube filled with unlimited power) and an alien army to achieve his goals. Using the cube to open a portal to the other world, Loki proves to be a force too powerful for civilian armies to handle. Nick Fury decides that he has no other choice but begin the Avengers Initiative. This initiative would bring the worlds strongest and brightest individuals together to fight for the Earth’s survival.
Characters that have never resonated…have now seen redemption in a big way.
Let’s get this out-of-the-way first, The Avengers has a typical comic book plot. While the plot is thin, the writing is fantastic. The characters have tons of material to work with and every other line seems to make reference to earlier films in the franchise or the characters history. While it must be argued that commercially Joss Whedon has never been really successful, his direction and writing with The Avengers goes a long way towards it being successful. Characters that have never resonated with audiences (Hulk) have now seen redemption in a big way.
While there has been plenty of trailers and hype surrounding The Avengers, there’s a lot to see in the movie. There’s an incredible amount of homage to the comic books that long time fans will adore. The only other dilemma with the film would be the consistent use of in-jokes. The Avengers spends at least forty minutes introducing the audience to the characters in some fashion and that’s enough for some of the jokes in the film, new comers won’t likely take as much away from the movie as someone who has stuck around for all five earlier films.
The Avengers exceeded my expectations. The insurmountable hype surrounding the film made it impossible to believe the positive reviews coming out of early screenings. The Avengers is a true summer spectacle featuring fantastic special effects and superheroes that have had whole films to develop their characters. Marvel has proven that their plans have become fruitful and The Avengers is everything a comic book fan could wish for in an adaptation.
Editor’s Note: New scene was added at the end of the credits. Just a comedy bit not vital to the storyline, but fun nonetheless.
