How does one approach "The Avengers"? As a movie critic, I could break down the movie intellectually and make correlations to the action epics that have come before it. As a cinephile, I could expound on how inevitable this movie was, and break down what you can and should expect. As a comic book fan and all-around geek, I could just simply exclaim two simple words...."HELL YES!!!!"
This movie has been a long-time coming. Starting with 2008's "Iron Man", which not only jump-started Robert Downey Jr's career, but got the ball rolling to illustrate the explicit trail "The Avengers" -- from the references to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Super Soldier program (and Tony Stark's brief appearance) in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk" to the final piece of the puzzle with last year's "Captain America: The First Avenger". Now that it's finally here, it's hard to say the wait was easy...but it is completely easy to say it was worth it.
Loki (Tom Hiddleston from "Thor") has made a dicey deal with the Chitauri to unleash the end-game war on Earth, using the fabled Tesseract -- a supernatural cube that holds the key to unspeakable energy. With his hands tied, Nick Fury (once again played by Samuel L. Jackson) gives the go on The Avengers Initiative, assembling Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Steve Rogers (aka Captain America, played by Chris Evans), Tony Stark (aka Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr), and Bruce Banner (aka The Hulk, now played by Mark Ruffalo) to defend the Earth, along with S.H.I.E.L.D agents Natasha "Black Widow" Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint "Hawkeye" Barton (Jeremy Renner, who made a brief uncredited cameo in "Thor") to assist "Earth's greatest heroes" in doing the impossible: save the world.
Joss Whedon (most famous for TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", and cult favorite "Firefly", which spawned the movie "Serenity" in 2005), who took the reigns as writer and director, knocks it out of the park. Combining adrenaline-pumping action, razor-sharp wit, dark humor, and beautiful imagery makes this movie bang on all cylinders. Given a budget of $220 million, the biggest budget he has ever worked with as a director, Whedon, who is no stranger to Marvel Comics, having written for many titles, including a critically acclaimed run on "The Astonishing X-Men", was able to follow up the devilishly clever "The Cabin in the Woods" (which he served as producer and screenwriter) earlier this year to 2012's top grossing film of the year. And, for once, the honor means something.
Performance-wise, the film couldn't be better. As always, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth (who also starred in Whedon's "Cabin in the Woods"), Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Renner shine brightly in their respective roles. However, anyone familiar with the previous Marvel movies (or 2010's "The Town") would know this is no surprise. The biggest surprises are Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo. Evans, who comes back as Captain America (who, back in 2005 and 2007, played Johnny Storm, The Human Torch, in both "Fantastic Four" movies) has come a long way since lampooning Freddie Prinze Jr in "Not Another Teen Movie", and has become quite the actor, leading vastly more seasoned actors in the ensemble dream movie to end all ensemble movies. And Ruffalo does the unthinkable...surpasses Edward Norton's brilliant turn as Banner. While Norton has exhibited his dark side in previous movies, like "Primal Fear", "American History X" and "Red Dragon", Mark Ruffalo has nearly always played the assuming every-man, like in roles such as "Just Like Heaven" and "You Can Count On Me" (sure, he had a dark turn in "In The Cut", but do you remember that movie? Yeah, neither do I). It's this assuming nature of Ruffalo's demeanor that makes him the perfect Bruce Banner...so when he "Hulks out", you REALLY feel it.
Seeing the movie is a treat all on its own, but seeing it in 3D is the best way to experience this film (if you can find a way to see this in IMAX 3D, DO IT!!!!!!). Unlike "Thor" and "Captain America", where the 3D conversions were fairly bad and nearly unnecessary, this film utilizes the best 3D technology out there, making the film shine like diamonds.
Is there anything left to say here that hasn't been said here? By the time of this posting, the film has made over $524 million in domestic box office, over $1.3 BILLION worldwide, and has won critics and audiences many times over. This isn't just an action film. This is an action masterpiece. Whedon's flair for magnificent storytelling combined with a dream cast and Disney's willingness to do it right the first time, and you have the film that will forever change the comic book movie game forever.
FINAL VERDICT: "The Avengers" is the movie that is every bit worth the hype. Whether you've seen all the Marvel movies or simply just love action movies, it matters not. This movie will satisfy all tastes.
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