It has long been believed that a superhero team movie would never work. The movie could not give enough face time to the movie stars. It would be too confusing. It would be just too unbelievable. Will the Avengers movie prove these sentiments or will this movie prove these wrong?
(This review will have spoilers.)
Plot:
Loki, evil brother of Thor and the god of Mischief, steals the Tesseract (cosmic cube) from a hidden Shield base and out of the hands of Nick Fury. Loki gains control the minds of Dr. Erik Selvig and Agent Clint Barton (AKA Hawkeye) and causes them to work for Loki.
Director Nick Fury pulls in several heroes into the Avengers Initiative. This goes against the wishes of the Shield Board of directors. Fury brings in Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and Bruce Banner (AKA- The Hulk). Bruce Banner is brought in as an expert on Gamma Radiation.
Loki is working with the Chitauri, an alien race he met during his exile. The Chitauri desire to conquer the universe. The want to the Tesseract to help them. They will help Loki dominate the Earth and then rule it in exchange for the Tesseract .
The Avengers attempt to stop the Invading army and reclaim the Tsseract from Loki. This leds to a mammoth fight through New York city.
What I liked:
They were able bring together this group of heroes successfully for a great movie. The individual heroes had plenty of screen time and were able to keep and project their separate personalities. The interaction of the different characters and personalities was a highlight of this movie.
I love the way Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor all fought each other. It is a typical Marvel Comics team up plot but I still love it. The three of them have a misunderstanding that leads to the a fight but they quickly reconcile and discover they are on the same team. The fight scene was was tremendously KOOL.
I loved this portrayal of Bruce Banner and the Hulk. Bruce was very sarcastic and brilliant. The Hulk demonstrated he was not just a mindless brute that Bruce thought he was. The Hulk does things intentionally to not to harm innocents. The Hulk was very playful and extremely helpful to the rest of the Avengers by the end of the movie.
The Black Widow has a good role in this movie and on the team. She does not quite get as much face time as Thor, Cap, or Iron Man, but she does get a lot of the focus. She kicked butt and took names throughout this movie even though she has no real super abilities. My daughter (also named Natasha) loved how Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow, was portrayed in this movie.
The special effects were really special. I viewed Avengers in 3D in the IMAX and it was worth the extra cost. Normally I find 3D to be a waste of my money but I am happy I spent the extra to see it in its full glory.
What I not Like:
I love Hawkeye in the comics. I understand not using his purple costume for the movie. They used a costume closer to the Ultimate Hawkeye costume. What I really did not like was the fact he was a bad guy for most of the movie. Yes, he was being mind controlled by Loki. I want to see a heroic but obstinate Clint Barton and not a mind controlled Hawkeye.
(Major Spoiler Alert) Agent Coulson was killed and I hated this. I have grown to really like Coulson throughout the Marvel movies. They used Coulson fantastically in this film until they killed him. Yes, this did give the Avengers something to Avenge but still I did not like it.
Review:
I loved this movie. It was the best Superhero movie I have ever viewed. It was a great action movie. The plot was not deep but well written. I played as a classic Marvel comic storyline.
My Daughter reviewed the Avengers simply as “EPIC!”
My Grade: A+
Other Reviews
IMDB: 8.8
Rotten Tomatoes/Critics: 93% Fresh
Rotten Tomatoes/Audience: 96% Fresh
