The Avengers Review

Reaching the end of The Avengers (or Marvel’s Avengers Assemble for us apparently easily confused brits), it finally dawned on me why Josh Whedon was put at the helm rather than say; a director with more summer blockbuster experience than the guy who directed Serenity.

Heck, someone who directed one of the five movies that have led us to this huge team-up would have been the logical choice. But, like the medium this film is adapted from; logic goes out the window or, so it seemed, because there is method in the studio’s madness and that is;

It’s the movie equivalent of a season finale.

And honestly; who better to deliver something that can build upon five build-up “episodes” than the guy behind cult favourite Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

So here we are, the unprecedented position of having five huge movies detailing our characters backstory’s (minus The Incredible Hulk, which was used as the rug and broom to Ang Lee’s preceding art house project), ready to explain, in the bluntest of terms; how so many clashing egos can possibly work together, in a threat bigger than all of them?

What works with The Avengers is, although at its core, it’s your stereotypical summer blockbusters, filled to the brim with explosions and huge set-pieces, there’s an undercurrent of drama and character development. 

The film plot sees Loki (the main villain and brother to Thor) attempt to take over the world with a McGuffin introduced also in Thor and a alien race (who’s motivation is that they’ll receive the McGuffin after their victory). Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury rallies his available resources in the form of several superheroes to fight off the invasion and save the world. 

So yeah, you’re not the first person to be slightly terrified of the prospect of a film sacrificing pace for over saturation. But, surprisingly, for a film with six superheroes vying for your attention, the film touches upon each of them, although not equally.

Scarlet Johannson’s Black Widow is once again relegated to the movie’s eye candy with two very memorable scenes but otherwise spends the movie pouting. Although her role is no where near as useless as that in Iron Man 2, it’s surprising that Whedon, given his pendant for writing strong female characters, didn’t do more with her.

Arguably the biggest injustice in the film in terms of missed opportunities however is Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk. Although I had reservations after Edward Norton’s excellent portrayal in The Incredible Hulk, Ruffalo is fantastic as the sympathetic scientist and his motion-capture turn of the Hulk makes him the most visually interesting character of the film.

With the other Avengers, you know what you’re getting from the film’s that have led us here. It’s worth noting again that, given the medium these characters are adapted from, it’s pretty impressive that there aren’t any unnecessary, off-putting character changes to throw the audience off.

Tony Stark/Iron Man is still a charismatic yet arrogant playboy. Steve Rogers/Captain America is still the selfless, patriotic and believable leader (although the obvious “fish out of water” scenario is surprisingly never touched upon in the movie). Thor/…Thor is still a very otherworldly creation and, whilst bold and fearless, is still conflicted with his brother being the main villain and the internal conflict it creates.

And Hawkeye shoots arrows and has a very briefly touched upon relationship with Black Widow, but at least it’s something!

By the end, although you don’t get the impression that the characters have really grown in terms of individual character, they *OBVIOUS SPOILERS* learn to work as a cohesive unit, despite their differences and, if a second INEVITABLE threat rears it’s CGI face towards the screen, you know they have a fighting chance. 

A final note has to be concerning Tom Hiddleston return to play the main villain Loki and, much like the Hulk, it’s a pleasure watching him. Although his motivation is a tad muddled, he plays the arrogant trickster god perfectly and again, like the Hulk, he’s only utilised in a few scenes.

But when the focus is on him, there’s very little to stop him being the most entertaining thing on the screen. Think a slightly less insane Jeremy Irons and you’re in for a blast.

Speaking of blasts; let’s talk about explosions!

Or in better technical terms; the film itself.

By now, you know the traits of a summer blockbuster. The set-pieces have to be gigantic, unbelievable events, preferably in 3D and there has to be explosions.

The Avengers inevitably does deliver this experience, but, to throwback to the pesky subject of character development, you will have a lot of fun with this one.

Although third act of the movie is set around an alien invasion in New York City and yes, a lot of the action sequences involving spiralling crashes between skyscrapers and alien hover boards look similar to other films (namely Transformers 3), you do care about the heroes involved and hope they come out of the skirmish relatively unscathed.

Which brings me back to my earlier point; with The Avengers, you get a sense that a major chapter is closing, that the preceding movies had a purpose and weren’t simply there to make a quick buck (except The Incredible Hulk, but that was still a good movie).

After three years and five movies of build-up, for those who invested in it, The Avengers is a satisfying conclusion to an over-arcing story that was briefly touched upon in preceding movies.

It’s not perfect though. One of its biggest flaws is that first and second act have no where near as many memorable moments as the third. Bare in mind that there are memorable moments sprinkled throughout first ninety minutes, but compared to the Invasion, it does feel a bit padded out and even slow at times.

The other is the lack on emphasis on the villains. For those who saw Thor; we get Loki’s modus operandi. To simply put, he wants to take over the world and prove he can be legendary god and that’s fine.

What isn’t revealed is the drive behind the race of red shirts; the Chitauri. In a brief piece of dialogue, we’re told Loki has promised to give them the Tesseract (or the aforementioned McGuffin), but why they need the Tesseract is never revealed.

Of course the obvious answer is “Sequel” and sure, in three-four years, we’ll laugh back at how foolish we were to think that everything wasn’t planned in advance and that the Chitauri’s revelations seemed so obvious now.

As the movie currently stands however, it’s an underdeveloped plot point that deserved some sort of explanation. Even a single line saying “We want cube to take over universe” would have done, but alas, we’re stuck with the waiting game. 

Finally, for those keeping track with Marvel movies and 3D, you can already guess where this is going. In short; the 3D is ok but there has been better. For those who want to fully immerse yourself in the film and not wonder why a few of the quieter moments have that distracting, pop-up book feel or not risk the headache afterwards; watch it in 2D, you lose nothing.

Overall; The Avengers is an entertaining rollercoaster ride and an excellent conclusion for those who have followed this expanding universe since 2008. It has some great (if slightly familiar) set-pieces, memorable characters and never loses momentum (even if in retrospect, it’s only the final third of the movie that really kicks it up a notch).

Entering the franchise now is utterly pointless as it will simply stand as your stereotypical blockbuster with more spandex, but for fans of comics, those who have enjoyed Marvel’s movie-verse and for those who want a superhero movie with a touch of substance beneath the debris flying around, you can’t really go wrong.

8/10

H