Review of The Avengers (1998) by Kai82 — 07 Apr 2020

This has nothing do do with Marvels Avengers. It is based on the superb and entertaining British TV series from the 1961-1969 with a revival from 1976-77. Adaptation wise this is in the top position for the worst adaptations of source material and comparable with The last Airbender.

Both are slightly more than an in name only adaptation and the hearth, soul and humour from the original is gone. Also it is usually high ranked in worst of all time movie lists. It is simply poorly written, the story is unimpressive, the characters fail to entertain or are hilarious out of place.

I want to mention that fans and non fans of the original are on a common ground here. They fail to grasp the concept of the series and entertaining movies. The show and characters deserved a better adaptation.

John Steed is up there in style, intelligence and capability with the best agents in fiction (has also great humour). Emma Peel was an icon. A strong, capable and independent women (not seen often at the time).

It was nominated for nearly all worst awards and won two (unfair for me because it earned more;-). I will stop bashing here and will say you should watch the TV series instead. The seasons with John Steed and Emma Peel are regarded as best.

Remark: The tone from the first season is different. Also John Steeds companions change from time to time. There are (later) some fantasy or science fiction elements in some episodes and other take a more grounded approach.

The mixture of action, good stories, humour and characters made this show great.