The Avengers Assemble - My Review
I wanted to watch The Avengers curious as to how they would make the Black Widow - a third-tier character in Marvel comics - into a leading figure of the "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" franchise. Scarlett Johansson did not disappoint and neither did Robert Downey Jr. with his always hilarious take on Tony Stark's Iron Man. But the real star of the movie was The Hulk.
After a slow start, as soon as Bruce Banner transformed into the Hulk for the first time on screen, the movie was off to the races and it did not stop until the very end (of the credits). This movie is highly recommended.
I watched a midnight showing of the movie, so understandably, there were a lot of fanboy-types in the audience. They applauded every trailer for the superhero movies coming up this summer like The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man. They were very enthusiastic about the scenes in the movie, so your mileage may vary depending on where you watch this.
(SPOILERS)
At any rate, the movie did start off a bit slow -- setting up the premise for forming the Avengers and introducing the villain: Loki. He didn't seem all that powerful and his motivation for his presence on Earth, to "remove freedom," was arbitrary summer movie plot. Thankfully, the writers allowed us to skip over this by injecting humor at every opportunity. The movie didn't allow us to take all of it too seriously, which we shouldn't. Everyone had a comedic line that worked including the ridiculously acted Thor by Chris Hemsworth. I didn't really have time to laugh at his every appearance on screen as there were many other things that distracted -- but his English accent and acting in general are hideous. (They actually made a movie starring only him? I'm sure that was abysmal).
(SPOILERS)
So basically, the Avengers initially do not get along with one another, but after a defining moment in the middle of the movie, they band together as a team and kick butt.
The first half gave us an opportunity to see some awesome battles between the Avengers: Iron Man vs. Thor vs. Captain America (guess who won?), Black Widow vs. Hawkeye, Black Widow vs. The Hulk and Thor vs. The Hulk. These scenes alone are enough reason to watch the movie. As I said, as soon as The Hulk appeared -- the action cranked up to ten. His presence on screen was electric.
The final battle with Loki and his army in the second half pretty much defined what a summer blockbuster should be: fun, fun, fun and even more fun. Seeing all the powers of the heroes come alive on screen via special effects is really a treat. Even though ultimately we knew that they would win (there wasn't really that much dramatic tension that they won't succeed), it was very hard not to root for the heroes on every turn around the Midtown Manhattan skyline. (Note: Watching this in New York, while the actual buildings around the theater you are watching in are destroyed in the movie was actually surrealistically fun. They leveled Grand Central Terminal for crying out loud.)
The final battle additionally sealed the deal that The Hulk is the most badass character in this movie. Captain America can have his shield, Iron Man his suit, Thor his hammer and even Black Widow her amazing skills at espionage -- but I will take berserker rage any day. There are times where you just want to Hulk Smash everything and we got to see a lot of that in this movie.
Finally, a new villain is introduced after the end credits, so you should stick around for a couple of minutes before the leaving the theater.
So yes: Watch The Avengers this weekend and enjoy yourself.
Summer Movie Rating: 5/5
Read: The Avengers – Josh’s Review
