Review of The Avengers (2012) by Matthew K — 03 Aug 2016

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM....

"One of the funnest times I've had in a theater, in a long time.".

With all origin stories done and out of the way, we now have plenty of time to sit back and watch as Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk do their thing by looking cool, kicking ass and saving the world from power-mongering Loki, the (adopted) brother of Thor, who once before threatened the people of Earth(Tom Hiddleston-who plays Loki is more playful and menacing this time around than he was in 'Thor', which is perfect). Loki uses a glowing energy cube known as the Tesseract to teleport himself back to Earth. Carrying a powerful staff, he uses it to mind control a few individuals along the way(including one of the Avengers agents-Hawkeye) to help him prepare his alien invasion, that will take place later on in the film. The mind controlling scene is part of a bigger scene that opens up the film, almost immediately with a BANG. Much like the opening scene, each and every other action scene that follows(and there are plenty of them) is big in itself. That was one of the things this film never lacked of. It was heavy on action... One of the first Avengers brought in to track Loki down and bring him in is Captain America. Captain(still feeling the slight shock of waking up after 70 years, and leaving behind the women he fell in love with), begins fighting Loki in a small battle, only until Iron Man shows up to help capture him. Iron Man was previously busy with his old assistant(and new love) Pepper Potts working on a clean-energy skyscraper, when he was pulled into action. Just as they leave, another familiar face, Thor, storms down and takes Loki away, intending to bring him back home, but Iron Man and Captain America intend on bringing him back to base. Chasing after him, the three get into a fight, before realizing they're on the same team---with similar intentions... As this goes on, S.H.I.E.L.D.(known as 'Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate), the organization that brings everyone together, is working on bringing in Bruce Banner(the Hulk), who was living off the grid, or so he had hoped, to try and keep from turning back into the green machine and causing destruction once again. Mark Ruffalo's portrayal of Bruce may not be the best in some fans eyes, compared to the previous man who played him-Edward Norton, but for me it proved to be the best yet. He plays Banner so calm-like, always trying to make sure nothing sets him off(it's almost like the character Monk, whenever someone tries to touch him, he would resist and back away). It isn't until much later, that we see Banner's alter ego, and from there is where the party(that's already started) really gets going... At first, no one seems to like one another, but over time, and through situation after situation, they all begin to work together and become close. They eventually become 'The Avengers', all huddled together, and ready to take on any evil that rushes towards them(the camera does a very-necessary 360 degree shot around them, showing off their greatness). It's a moment that fans of the comic(s) have been waiting for. For me, who never followed the comics(but rather learned about the characters as each individual's film came out), I felt it was just as exciting. They each had already been through a lot(like I said, there's plenty of action in this film), but to have them finally together, taking turns in kicking ass, it was a treat... The fun began when the movie started, but the fun truly began when Captain America spoke the words "Hulk...SMASH!" The smashing-of-things is very co-existent with the character of Hulk himself. There's a special moment towards the end that I enjoyed very much(as did the rest of the audience), where Hulk uses his 'smashing' abilities to shut up a certain someone by grabbing them by the leg and slamming them down on the ground a few times, until that person just lay there in total shock. It made me laugh so hard. The moment was sudden, but it showed off just how awesome and powerful the Hulk can be. It was the best part of the film. One thing is for sure, the Hulk-as the green machine-and not as Bruce Banner, was in the film for only a short time, but when he was present, he stole the show. Joss Whedon's design for the Hulk was the most believable by far(over Ang Lee and Louis Leterrier). The visual effects overall, of not just the Hulk, but of the Helicarrier(a naval ship that can hover up into the sky---and is the main base for S.H.I.E.L.D), the alien spacecrafts, along with its alien army and just about everything else that was CG, all looked great. A good portion of the film takes place in, on and around the helicarrier. One of the funnest scenes found Iron Man having to fix one of the turbines that got jammed by debris. He uses his rocket power to spin it around and try and jump start it(if he didn't, it would mean the helicarrier falling out of the sky and crashing down on the ground below and killing everyone on it)... I had my doubts going in. At first I thought bringing all these characters together in a single film wouldn't work, as there wouldn't be a good balance between everyone. I was so relieved to find out that not only was everyone's time on screen balanced to near-perfection(with the exception of Black Widow), but we were given a bonus, and that was having just enough time devoted to learning a little more about each character. Every line of dialogue, every bit of action, felt exactly what was needed to tell this story. It's like no time was wasted(even with a running time of 2hrs. 20mins). The fact of the matter is, everything Captain America did was exciting and fun in itself. The same can be said about each character(besides Black Widow). How can she keep up with Iron Man(who can fly around), Captain America(who can run fast and jump high), Thor(who can also fly with the help of his hammer), and Hulk(who can leap great distances)? Even Hawkeye, who I thought would also be a spoil, proved himself by moving around just enough to stay out of the way, plus he has a special arrow that's attached to a rope that can allow him to drop from a high building down to a lower level. Black Widow doesn't have anything to help her. She has to get help from others in order to do something. She just seems like she can beat up drunks in a bar compared to everyone else... However, this was one of the funnest times I've had in a theater, in a long time. It is in my opinion, the best superhero movie ever made(mostly because of how well everyone was balanced story wise). Joss Whedon(the writer-director), you're now on my radar. I will look forward to anything you do from here on out. You have my attention. You have my trust. My wallet's open, take what you need. You've earned it. You helped bring together a series of films, that were all do-or-die in getting this film brought to life. If any one of the prior films had failed, it could have meant disaster for what Marvel spent all this time trying to give us. Marvel, as a studio, has done an amazing job in getting all of these origin stories off the ground, and having each of them turn out as good as they did. As a fan in general of superheroes, I can only hope that one day DC comics will do the same and make a collection of well made films, thus leading us to The Justice League movie.