The following review was originally published in 2012 on Screen Highway.
Marvel Avengers Assemble/ The Avengers
(2012)
Director Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris
Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johanssen, Jeremy
Renner, Samuel L Jackson, Tom Hiddleston
Since the X-men and Spider-man
films hit it big and the box office in the early years of this young
century, super heroes have ruled the box-office. Sure there has been
a fair few misfires but they have been more than made up for by the
colossal success of the hits. It's no wonder that Marvel grew tired
of watching other companies make bank off their own creations and
decided to make a go of it as a movie studio in their own right. Even
with Spidey, Wolverine and chums tied up at Sony and Fox respectively
Marvel still has an impressive stable of characters to play with.
Starting with Iron Man in 2008 they have attempted to do something
never attempted in film before, and create and create multiple film
franchises that occur in a single on-screen universe. Avengers
is the culmination of this plan, bringing together characters
established in the previous five films released by the studio.
The action kicks off when the Asgardian
Loki (last seen as the villain in last summer's Thor) arrives
on Earth, looking for the mysterious Cosmic Cube. Nick Fury (Samuel L
Jackson) must call on the help of Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man),
Loki's adopted brother Thor, the newly defrosted Captain America and
the Incredible Hulk, when Loki threatens the earth.
Although such a team-up has never been
attempted before, the odds of this working did not look good.
Previously comic-book movies that have tried to cram too much in have
resulted in the likes of Batman and Robin and Spider-man 3.
Trying to introduce too many characters has resulted in the films
coming unstuck, so how on earth can a film with that many heroes
work? Luckily it seems Marvel knew what they were doing. Gradually
introducing the cast over several films has freed them for the need
for origin stories (the downfall of many super hero flicks), and able
to concentrate on the plot, and bringing the characters together. The
Marvel films and characters have all felt distinct and individual so
there was a big question mark over how well the characters would
mesh. Thanks to a number of smart decisions on Marvel's part, it all
comes together better than you could possibly have hoped.
The first right-step was in casting.
Setting the tone by casting Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark, they have
(ahem) assembled a line-up of strong actors who have had the time to
get comfortable in their roles. The cast is universally excellent,
without a weak link in the chain. It's not hard to see that everyone
involved is having the time of their lives. Downey Jr gives great
snark as Stark, with brilliant barbed one-liners aimed at his
cohorts. Chris Evans brings real heart to the stoic Captain America,
and Chris Hemsworth makes up in screen presence what he lacks in
convincing accent as the mighty Thor. Some of the other performances
are more surprising however- Tom Hiddleston brings gleeful menace to
the villainous Loki, becoming infinitely more memorable than he was
in last summer's Thor movie.
Scarlett Johanssen's Black Widow was underwhelming in Iron
Man 2, but
more than holds her own here. The stand-out here though is new-comer
Mark Ruffalo, who takes over the role of Bruce Banner (the Incredible
Hulk) and makes it his own. Both as Banner and (via performance
capture) as Hulk, he's responsible for several of the best
crowd-pleaser moments, and is an inspired addition to the cast.
The second master-stroke was in Hiring
geek-god Joss Whedon to direct. Whedon cut his teeth on TV cult-hits
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly and is comfortable
with ensembles. It also helps more than a little that he is a
lifetime comic-book aficionado who has written a few comics in his
time to boot. He clearly has a great deal of affection for these
characters and the universe that really shines through. The way the
characters react to each other (whether hitting it off or bickering)
is the film's greatest pleasure. The dialogue is typically smart (as
in any Whedeon production) and has more genuine laughs in than many
comedies.
Whedon is well known for his
intelligent writing, but this is a big summer blockbuster, so action
set pieces are a must. Having only directed one feature before,
doubts were raised if Whedon could handle the massive high-stakes
action that this film required. There's no need to worry though, as
Avengers boasts some of the most thrilling sequences seen in a
blockbuster to date. The action is as explosive and exciting as you'd
hope, and Michael Bay could learn a thing of two about creating
set-pieces where you can actually tell what's going on.
Negative reviews of the likes of
Transformers are often dismissed by fans as taking it too
seriously. After all, they argue, it's just 'check your brain at the
door' type entertainment. The
Avengers shows that it doesn't need to be that way,
popcorn entertainment and well written need not be mutually
exclusive. Whizz-bang action scenes are all well and good but when
it's involving characters you actually care about, it makes all the
difference.
Any problems with the film are only
really minor niggles. It takes a little while to get going,
concentrating on the non super-powered SHIELD agents first. While at
the time you may be itching to get the costumed heroes on screen as
quickly as possible, in retrospect you can understand why doing it
that way was necessary- and once it does get going it never lets up.
Some grumbles have been made about the beefy running time, but
there's an awful lot to fit in, and it actually leaves you hungry for
more.
This is very definitely aimed at fans
of the characters who will be familiar with their back-stories. As
a result if you have missed any (or all) of the preceding films (or
are otherwise not up to speed with your Marvel lore) then you won't
have quite the same experience. Yet it's not completely inaccessible
to newcomers, as you learn everything you need to know from what’s
shown in this film alone. Besides it works simply as a spectacular
summer movie in it's own right.
This is simply an astounding
achievement, and it works better than any fan could possibly have
hoped. Whether you grew up on the comics, or if you have just enjoyed
the movies over the past four years, this is the prefect culmination
of what Marvel studios set out to do. It stands out as easily one of
the best Super Hero movies to date, alongside The Dark Knight.
As the opening shot of the Summer movie season the bar has been set
incredibly high. Your move, Nolan.
*****
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