So, finally after years of uncertainty, The Avengers has arrived - and arrived in style, it most definitely has. With Marvel Studios managing to get the rights to all of the principle characters, it was always just a matter of time before Captain America, Thor, Iron-Man and the Hulk came together under one roof. Throw The Black Widow and Hawkeye into the mix and you have a possible great film. The big question from most cynics, and even the biggest fans, was the old adage of whether too many cooks would indeed spoil the broth. I can happily say that all of the main players got a pretty equal amount of screen time and action sequences. Nobody was shown as the main attraction and each hero had their humanity exposed and their dirty laundry aired. It wasn't just a case of all the good guys getting together, clicking and saving the world - they don't always get on, they do fight with each other, they have to work at being a team.
Right from the opening scene you get a massive sense of action. The opening scene basically reintroduces Loki and from there on in there's a good old fashioned escape. The action moves that fast that I had actually forgotten that this was just the opening scene, the lead in to the opening credits. It was only when the credits hit that I realised it was just the opening scene. From there on out we slowly get reintroduced to all of the heroes one by one, with them being opted in to the as yet unnamed Avengers by Nick Fury.
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| "I've had it with these mortherfucking Avengers in my motherfucking film!" |
The film has such a frantic pace that the time flies by. One minute you're seeing the Black Widow being held hostage and being interrogated by some criminals, then you're seeing Captain America trying to come to terms with the modern world. Or one minute you're seeing Bruce Banner trying to live the quiet life in Brazil, whilst Tony Stark is trying to have a romantic night in with Pepper Potts. Then when all the dust settles and all of the principle players are in a room together, then you have the ego clashes. And clash they do. Tony Stark has his sarcasm in full flow, which irks Captain America and Thor. Thor clashes with Cap as Thor wants to take Loki to Asgard to be punished for his crimes. Cap rips on Stark for only being out for himself. Stark stirs things up with how much information Nick Fury has but isn't making public. The Black Widow by nature never has the full trust of anyone. Hawkeye isn't around (let's just leave it at that). Then there's the volatile, possible explosion of Bruce Banner into the Hulk. There's the verbal sparring amongst the group and then there's moments where members of the team go head to head and fight each other. For spoiler purposes I'm not going to go into that in any more detail just yet. All I can say is that the fight sequences are brilliant. The tension between the characters is fantastically done, with each hero having a perfectly valid reason to back up the gripe they have. With the tension being so well done, it gives more importance to the situation when the team actually put their egos and opinions to one side and work together for the greater good.
The main antagonist, as touched upon, is Loki, brother of sorts of Thor. He's in control of an alien army, the Chitauri, as he looks to basically conquer the world. Obviously, in true comic book form, there's a lot more to it and let's just say he's got a partner in crime. Loki's set up early on as a very strong villain, a lot more so than in the Thor film, so much so that you actually feel that it would take the teaming up of Earth's mightiest heroes to stop him.
The film itself just has an epic feel to it, along the lines of a certain space opera at times. It feels that big. Everything is done perfectly, surprisingly so. I really did not expect to come out of this film with such a positive vibe. I thought that characters such as Hawkeye and Black Widow would be overlooked, but those two play as much of a part in the film and the climactic battle as Captain America and Iron Man. Similarly, I had reservations about the Hulk after his last two cinema outings. This is definitely the best incarnation of the Hulk. He's a lot more primal, almost ape like at times in his movement. There's also a lot more Hulk Smash - that's what we've all been waiting for years to see. The Hulk isn't shown for a large portion of the film, with the story being that Banner hasn't had an 'incident' in a year or so. If Nick Fury is to believed, Banner was brought into the group merely for his ability as one of the world's leading experts in the field of gamma rays. There's several funny scenes where Stark spends his time trying to get Banner to Hulk up, unsuccessfully. Speaking of funny scenes, there were several scenes where I was actually chuckling out loud in the cinema (I guess that'd be what the kids call a LOL). Most of these tend to involve Hulk in some form, including a great scene with Thor and also a nice "Hulk... Smash!" line from Cap.
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| Ho ho ho, Green Giant... |
The film really shouldn't work in my head, not in this era. The idea of a team of superheroes running around in bright colours, saving the world from an alien race, just seems a bit 'out there' in the days when most people are accustomed to the grimey, real world feel of the last few Batman films. It does work though. It works very well. Sure, some of the dialogue may be cheesy at times to those unaware of the Marvel comics over the years, but that's in fitting with the books and the history. Marvel's famous for being a little cringeworthy with their dialogue at times. There's so much more that I want to say but I feel I can't at this time for fear of spoilers for people. It's not like the usual bog standard horror films that I've been watching lately, where spoilers are irrelevant as people will likely never see the films I've discussed. With The Avengers, I want as many people to go and see this with an open mind, so no spoilers from me. It's a great, great superhero film. Every character is played out brilliantly. Cap is all about integrity and leadership, Downey Jnr picks up exactly where he left off in terms of Stark's sarcastic hero, Thor's affinity to Earth is further elaborated on from his solo outing, Black Widow gets fleshed out a lot more than in Iron Man 2, Hawkeye is simply the master marksman who has a massive role to play in the film, and then there's Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk. In Ang Lee's Hulk I was a massive fan of Eric Bana in the role of Banner. Then it got even better for me with Ed Norton doing his best Bill Bixby impression in Leterrier's 2008 Hulk. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Ruffalo is better than both of the previous incarnations. He brings a mild sense of humour to Bruce Banner, as in he is now more at peace with himself and his situation. His relationship with Stark is great too, two scientists bantering with each other. Also, Scarlett Johansson is worth a big mention. I'm going to go out on another limb and say that I'm a massive fan of Scarlett. She's absolutely stunning. Simple. That said, this film is the absolute, clear cut most stunning she has ever looked on film. You just cannot take your eyes off her - that is if you're a hot blooded male with a thing for pouty women with curves in all the right places.
So yes, go and see the film. Now. I went on opening day, Thursday, and will be going again on Tuesday, possibly on Friday too. It just really blew me away. Is it the best superhero film ever? That's hard to say. On a first viewing, the gut reaction is it's up there. It all depends on how it plays upon multiple viewings. It's also worth noting that it's taken a ton of money at the box office so far and it hasn't even come out in North America yet. It hits North America on May 4th - my birthday - and it'll surely take another truck load of money over there.
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| Stop! ... Hammer Time! |
A slight negative is no Ant Man or Wasp, two founding members of The Avengers, but that was expected going in. It's also a shame that Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are currently out of the reach of Marvel Studios due to their rights being with the X-Men franchise. You never know, I'm sure somewhere down the line they may make an appearance in a sequel, hopefully The Vision too. There's a nice nod to Avengers Tower at the end of the film, as well as a load of other subtle and not-so-subtle nods to suggest future films.
One last thing, as per all Marvel films, make sure to stick around for an after credits scene. You should know that by now though, right?
Also, one last, last thing... for all those with a love of Nick Fury, be sure to tick The Hoff 's version of Nick Fury off your bucket list.
