Review of The Avengers (1998) by Gail H — 11 Aug 2012

"The Avengers" is based on a classic British television programme (yes, that's what they call them over there) that I am largely unfamiliar with, so I cannot compare and contrast the two. That said, I found this celluloid adaptation to be, though not great and certainly not excellent, a somewhat amusing spy spoof in the vein of "Get Smart.".

Let's start with the positives: By far, the best thing about "The Avengers" are some of the crazy visuals. I don't want to give away too much, but I will say that they're things few denizens of this planet will ever see elsewhere, which is part of what makes movies in general fun and entertaining. Also, "The Avengers" may have been rated "PG-13," but it barely deserved it. The violence was largely bloodless and very much in the style of a "TV-Y7-FV" Saturday morning show; about as sexual as it got was seeing a man's backside; and, there was very little profanity. Even Uma Thurman ("Kill Bill") stayed fully clothed throughout the film. Speaking of her, she and her co-stars, Sean Connery (a former "James Bond") and Ralph Fiennes ("Harry Potter") did very well in the movie.

However, there were some significant issues that kept this one from being a winner: First off, despite posing as a spy spoof and having a smattering of humor, "The Avengers" wasn't as funny as it could have been. I really expected to laugh a lot more than I did. Additionally, despite the content being mostly clean, smoking was in overabundance in the film. The film's hour-and-a-half running time felt longer than it was, and that wasn't a good sign.

So, my thoughts? If you're an Anglophile and have yet to see this, you should at least rent it just to say that you have seen it. Those who couldn't care less about British media should just stay away; seriously, as insane as the visuals are in "The Avengers," it's not worth sitting through the rest of the film.