The Avengers Movie Review

The Avengers Movie Review 

Heather Hardison, Ph.D. 

6 Super heroes = One Badass SUPER Movie!!

The Avengers flew in and slayed the boxoffice this weekend. It’s not hard to see why this Marvel creation now has the record for the biggest movie opening EVER! With rising ticket prices and the inconvenience of going to a loud, crowded theater, there are very few films that will draw me out of my fabulous home theater into a less comfortable local theater. BUT this movie is definitely the exception as I’ve been waiting to see this film for at least 4 years since Iron Man first flew into my life. With a star studded cast of all of our favorite super heroes and the witty one liners penned by the brilliant Joss Whedon (Writer/Director), it was the perfect combination for everyone, not just geeks and comic book lovers!! 

Robert Downey, Jr. got the most laughs and has perfect delivery of quick comebacks and sarcastic jabs at the other heroes. Iron Man just soars above the rest in my opinion. Every time he came on screen the audience seemed to perk up and was more engaged. 

Some of the most impressive scenes included those where Tony enters or leaves the Stark tower and his suit magically assembles or detaches from his body as he is moving forward in one seamless motion. The intricate detail that they put into each piece of the moving suit is astounding and mesmerizing. The suit appears as if it is alive. My husband and I just kept shaking our heads at these mind blowing scenes. The formula of RDJ as Iron Man and Joss Whedon behind the camera can't make being a super hero look any cooler than this. Downey just has a magnetism about him that equals box office gold these days. I'm eagerly awaiting Iron Man 3 which is due out in 2013. Here's to hoping that RDJ never takes off the suit! No one else could ever step into those metal boots of his. 

The best casting choice was the decision to include Black Widow in this epic flick. A little estrogen was the perfect touch with this testosterone heavy power team. Joss Whedon is a master when it comes to writing for a group of strong characters and especially for strong female leads like Buffy the Vampire Slayer; so he is no stranger to girl power. He has a way of balancing all of the character’s strengths, and he highlighted each in a way that felt unique and powerful. He gave each hero his or her due and explored enough of their back story to make them all interesting and familiar even with Hawkeye and Black Widow who have not had their own Marvel installment. Although after this movie they should seriously think about honoring Black Widow with her very own film. 

Scarlett Johansen wove a “web” that could easily spinoff in to her own franchise. She was incredible and held her own with the other heavy hitters on screen. She was the most impressive as a standout star for this adaptation. Her fight scenes were flawless! It was very reminiscent of Buffy scenes except that Whedon has come along way from the old Buffy episodes where he wasn’t hiding the fact that stunt doubles were used in the battle scenes, which is a pet peeve of mine. Here, the fight scenes were stellar, and you had to keep your eyes glued to the screen in hopes of not missing a single second as a lot was going on all at the same time. 

One of the opening scenes with Black Widow being summoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) while in the middle of an “interrogation” was priceless. That scene let me know early on that we were in for a wild ride with this film and it didn’t disappoint. Scene after scene and fight after fight led up to one mighty battle in the end. Let's just say that you want Black Widow on your side as she is a serious force to be reckoned with. I'll never see Scarlett again without thinking of her in this role, and I hope that the rumors are true that she will be suiting up once again in Iron Man 3. The banter between her and Stark is always amusing. 

I was skeptical about Mark Ruffalo taking over the role of the Hulk, but he was SMASHING! His quiet demeanor as Bruce Banner played to his own strengths as an actor as he adopted a very zen-like approach to this role. But his most exciting scenes came when his overcontrolled anger was finally unleashed with fervor which comes in handy when you are fighting an army of alien villians. As Stark says, “Well, we have a Hulk!” Once Banner transformed into the Hulk, the character just came alive and had the theater in stitches as he tossed aliens aside and even knocked Thor over like a bowling pin. That was a nice touch by Joss! Whedon's sense of humor definitely came across in numerous aspects of this film. His touch is always noticeable. My hope is that he will sign on to continue to work with the Avengers franchise as there will surely be sequels to come.

In this film the Hulk does what he does best which is to smash anything and everything in sight until there is nothing left. Thor tries to ease the Hulk’s rage at one point by asking him to stop and try to think and reason before smashing them all to smithereens. As if that's possible for him to think rationally when in a rage. That’s what makes his character so fun to watch. He’s like an overgrown two year old who has the strength of all the giants in the world. His best line was at the very end when he revealed, “That’s my secret, I’m angry all the time,” and then he morphed into the Hulk in order to take down the biggest alien I’ve ever seen. Ruffalo won me over in the end, and I find him to be the best of the 3 hulks. I was even amazed how much they made the Hulk resemble Ruffalo’s facial features. CGI has really come a long way. Back in the day you didn’t need CGI. All we needed was Lou Ferrigno in a pair of cutoff shorts spray painted from head to toe in green paint. Of course, we didn’t know any better. We thought that was the greatest at the time.

I wasn’t impressed with the individual Captain America film that was released in 2011, but Chris Evans delivered in this installment. He was the voice of reason against Stark’s impulsive and narcissistic nature. “Captain” as they refer to him was the one who held the group together, led with a calm head, and stayed true to the mission even when the villain, Loki, tried to pit the heroes against each other as a distraction. Captain also represents the most appealing aspect of a superhero which is a sense of self sacrifice for humanity. He even chastises Stark for his self involvement and lack of empathy, which plays out in an interesting twist in the end that had me on the edge of my seat.

The chemistry between the heroes took this film to a new level. Stark and Captain butt heads at first as polar opposites but come together when it counts. Stark aligns himself with Bruce early on as he takes it upon himself to try to unleash the impulsive beast who is similar and appealing to him in many ways. Black Widow and Hawkeye share a history related to previous missions with S.H.I.E.L.D. and that connection adds more interest to their particular storylines.

Loki, the supervillian, unknowingly pulls the heroes together by eliminating someone connected to all of the heroes, and this action motivates them to unite to take on the self proclaimed demi-God. Thor’s compassion for his adopted brother, Loki, throws him off course a few times as he tries to give his “brother” every chance to redeem himself and come home to his family. However, the draw to the dark side is too powerful for Loki to resist. His resentment towards Thor is ever present as he grew up in the shadow of his infamous brother.  

I felt Thor’s presence in this film was not as powerful as his own installment that was released in 2011, but his fight scene with Captain America and Iron Man in the forest was a stand out moment for him as well as the scene with the Hulk in the airplane after the Hulk had attacked Black Widow. By the way, if you are looking for a drinking game to go along with The Avengers, just take a drink/shot every time someone says “Loki.” You would be plastered a fourth of the way in. I chuckled to myself every time his name was mentioned because it seemed to be in every scene.

Cobie Smulders from How I Met Your Mother was a very surprising choice for Agent Maria Hill as she usually doesn’t play serious or dramatic roles, but she fit right in with the cast. It appears as if they are setting her up to be a major player in later film depictions of the comics where she was a more prominent character. Samuel L. Jackson assembled and led this team of misfits against the dark forces that threatened earth’s safety, and he even got to throw some punches in this one thanks to Whedon. 

This is a must see film for anyone who is a movie lover. Another really positive draw for this film is that it was immensely entertaining without any gore and very minimal cursing. I only recall Tony Stark using a curse word once throughout the entire movie which is very rare these days. They didn’t have to stoop to using sex scenes or relying on potty humor. Joss Whedon wrote a masterful screenplay that stands out for its humor and the quality of the writing. If only more films these days would follow the same formula! The Avengers is a very family friendly film for all ages. There will no doubt be a sequel, and hopefully several will follow. With the massive opening they just had, it would be astonishing if there wasn’t a follow up already planned. This super team could rival the XMEN franchise and could really branch out into a new long lived franchise. The Avengers soared to the heavens with a record 207.4 million opening weekend domestically. It superceded even the high expectations that experts had predicted. There seems to be no limit to the success of this film. As word of mouth continues to spread, that number will continue to skyrocket. This Marvel masterpiece smashed the previous record of $169.2 million set by last year's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It lived up to every expectation I had and even exceeded quite a few of my expectations!! I can’t wait to see it again and again.

This film was perfect in everyway. It’s very rare that I don’t have any criticisms but this is one exception! It's definitely the biggest blockbuster of the summer and most likely the biggest of the year. No doubt it will stay atop the record books for many years to come as no movie has ever broken 200 million in one weekend. It grossed over 40 million more than the previous record; so it wasn't even close. If you haven't seen it yet, fly to a theater stat! You won't be disappointed in this film I promise. 

5 stars out of 5! Smashing! Amazing! One Super Wild Ride!!!!