Mega-blockbuster featuring Marvel's superheros - Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) - who unite to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Directed by fanboy favourite Joss Whedon (Serenity, Firefly).
Thor's nemesis, nefarious demigod Loki (Tom Hiddleston) brings the Chitauri alien race and the stolen Tesseract – a powerful energy source – to destroy Earth. In response, SHIELD boss Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) calls in the big guns to try and force the supervillain into submission. Also joining the team are Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).
Based on Marvel's comic book series The Avengers, first published in 1963, this is the culmination of four movie sagas: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America.
After years of setup in the form of individual hero-centric films, The Avengers had a hell of a lot to live up to. Not because the films that precede it are all awesome (they’re a mix of the good, the bad and the okay), but because this ambitious effort needed to transcend what preceded it and move beyond origin stories to immerse the audience completely in the Marvel Universe. Whilst visual flair may not be Joss Whedon’s strongest suit, the decision to offer him the director’s chair proves inspired as he goes about demonstrating the innate understanding of how to make an ensemble tick that we’ve seen in his TV work (Buffy, Firefly, Dollhouse), depicting a believable world populated by larger-than-life superheroes and striking a balance in the screen time they’re given that doesn’t diminish their individual stature.
The Avengers suffers from some of the plausibility problems that plague the genre, but when it’s doing either of the two things it does best (making its farfetched characters as believable as you can without going down the gritty Dark Knight route, and breaking into some great action sequences), it lives up to its immense potential. It’s also the first Marvel film to capture the epic scale, excitement and humour of its source material, best captured in the Rampage-style carnage of the film’s huge final conflagration in which the audience is dazzled rather than bewildered by the way Whedon stages his action and uses CGI and alternately teased into bouts of laughter and applause. Superhero fan or not, The Avengers dares you to not leave delighted.
By Steve Newall, Flicks.co.nz
So... I hadn't watched some of the films leading up to this, (I missed Thor and Captain America), but was still able to follow the story. Fantastic effects, good story, funny one-liners - enjoyable film!
In 2008, Marvel began their journey to creating a film universe where the stories we have been watching were taking place in one continuity. They began that year with the films "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk", each providing a minute amount of detail and background to something called "The Avengers Initiative". These little easter egg's carried on through "Iron Man 2", "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger" and now come to fruition as the ensemble film "The Avengers". The job was always going to seem large for any director. It is a team film, which already complicates matters, as each character needs to shine rather than one or two leading the way. But it is also a superhero team film. This is a world filled with things beyond our own, exaggerated characters of man that with the current audience still need to feel "real". And who better to take the reins on this than Joss Whedon, beloved by fanboys of many mediums, particularly that of the comic book world. If you look back through his profile, this is a man who has wanted to produce a great comic book adaptation, charged by the vision he has had for many of these (At one stage, he was attatched to a "Wonder Woman" film of which he wanted Cobie Smulders in the lead role). Joss Whedon brings the majority of the previous actor's back for this film; Chris Evans returns as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Mark Ruffalo steps in this time as the Hulk, being joined by Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, carrying on from his small cameo in "Thor" and Cobie Smulders joins as Nick Fury's right hand Agent, Maria Hill. One other character also returns, a small role, but one that has been key to binding the universe together and that is Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, who first joined us in "Iron Man". As previously said, the scope of this film is large and while the story does as best it can to make these larger than life things seem real, it is the action and set pieces where this film shines. The battles, the fights, the locations are all glorious, superheroic things brought to life. It is impressive to see, and at no time does it feel too over the top or forced on us in the sense of "LOOK! WE HAVE AWESOME CGI!" Overall, it does a great job at bringing a team of super powered beings together in a world similar to ours, but the strength of it lies in the way it portrays these individuals and the epic set pieces that really show how super this team is. Avengers Assemble, indeed.
We knew he could. We hoped he would. And Joss Whedon did - he delivered a fun, action-packed popcorn-fest with a heart. A script full of zingers, well-thought out action that enables each character a wee bit of development whilst retaining continuity with their individual Marvel movie franchises. Building on 'Captain America', 'Thor,' 'Iron Man,' and 'The Incredible Hulk,' Whedon brings it all together in a movie as funny as it is action-packed (delights include Iron Man telling Hawkeye: "Hop on, Legolas!" and, well I won't spoil it - but a wonderful retort from Hulk to Loki's posturing!) Solid acting (the cast are clearly having a ball), great special effects (although forget the 3D - see it as it was shot - in good ol' fashioned no-nonsense 2D), and the type of scripting and direction we've come to expect of the man who brought us the brilliant 'Firefly' on TV and the superb 'Serenity' on the big screen. Imagine for a moment if the same care went into the character and script development of the headache-inducing dullness that was 'Transformers' 2 and 3, 'John Carter,' 'Battleship,' or 'Clash of the Sh*tans' movies. Whereas those monolithic monstrosities had great CGI and art direction, but precious little else, 'The Avengers' starts from the place where all solid entertainment should begin - the page. CGI alone does not a decent movie make. You need characters to care about, a decent plot and at least a modicum of dramatic tension. Add a sprinkling of humour to offset the ridiculous premise of any superhero movie and you have fun family entertainment (it is a Disney movie after all!) Black Widow has a surprising amount to do and Scarlett Johansson kicks butt as pleasingly as Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), Chris Evans (Captain America), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor.) Samuel Jackson owns the role of Nick Fury (a character modelled on the actor, so as a comics loving fanboy, it's great to see things go full-circle) and Tom Hiddleston plays the baddie Loki with great relish and a gleeful twinkle in his eye. But for me? The standout part was Dr, Bruce Banner. The CGI is a perfect match of raging Hulk and Mark Ruffalo's features, and Hulk steals the last act of the movie as soon as Cap' gives him the, er, green light to: "Smash." Great fun. Highly entertaining. But only four out of five stars because, let's face it, that fifth star I'm reserving for another comic-book movie; one concerning a certain 'Dark Knight'...
Finally seeing the damned thing is a bit like standing around a cuckoo clock waiting for noon: you know what to expect, yet you're thrilled into smiling.
A joyous blend of heroism and humour that raises the stakes even as it maintains a firm grip on what makes the individual heroes tick.
It's fun to watch Whedon pitch his heroes against each other. Child's play, maybe, but entertaining all the same.
Whedon and his cohorts have managed to stir all the personalities and ingredients together so that the resulting dish, however familiar, is irresistibly tasty again.
Big, brash and very funny, Joss Whedon’s Avengers Assemble is equal to the sum of its parts – and for once, that’s no faint praise. Suit up.
