CinemaNerdz

Movie Review: The Avengers

Dane Jackson

I’ve mentioned several times in the past that I was apprehensive regarding an Avengers movie. Logistically, teaming up all of those major superheroes would be something most people couldn’t do successfully. As the project grew closer though and all the ancillary films were released, I started to think that a team-up movie of this scope could work. Then, Marvel signed Joss Whedon to co-write and direct. From that point on, I was sold. Not only is Whedon a huge comic book fan (so much so that he wrote a very compelling X-Men story arc), but he’s also well-versed at writing and directing clever, engaging, and entertaining works involving groups with dynamic personalities and characteristics. While watching Firefly or Serenity, it was clear Whedon wanted to give all of his characters a chance to shine. It was with the belief that Whedon would have that same desire for a project of this scale that I walked into The Avengers (or Marvel’s The Avengers). To put it bluntly, he accomplished everything I could have ever wanted and more with this movie. With The Avengers, Whedon has effectively raised the bar for the entire superhero movie genre.

Before I continue with the love fest though, I must spend a minute on something I didn’t like: the 3-D. That’s right, if given the option, I would not have gone to a 3-D showing of The Avengers. It’s not that the 3-D was bad it’s just that the effects were added in post-production and the final 3-D product didn’t feel very three-dimensional at all. At times, I even thought the 3-D effects took away from some of the action sequences; almost making them blurry. Now that I’ve got that off my chest, let’s get to the good points of the movie.

From the opening credits, to the second Easter egg during the closing credits (yes, you read that right), Whedon had me in the palm of his hands. He jumps right into the story laid out by the previous Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Hulk films with a security breach and attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. While the movie works well as a standalone, to get the full experience, I highly recommend watching the entire set of expository flicks first. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson delivers his best performance of the franchise) realizes the severity of the implications of the attack and what’s in store for the future, so he revamps the disbanded Avengers program.

Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner in “The Avengers.” © 2012 – MVLFF LLC. All Rights Reserved.

From there, most of the movie’s fun is had by watching how all of the Avengers interact and get along with one another. Thankfully, Whedon gives every hero equal time. Not one character is ever allowed to really take over the scene, even though Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) tries. Every single character has at least one or two key moments in the film that not only add to the dynamic of their characters, but also showcases them as individuals who are reluctantly aware that they’re now part of a team. While super, each character has a flaw, and Whedon miraculously finds time to explore those flaws, along with humor and non-stop action without hurting the pacing or flow of the film.

In terms of acting, I think anyone who has seen the origin films, expected Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Hiddleston (as Thor’s adopted brother Loki) to be stellar in this film (they are). The one dark horse though has always been Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk. Rest at ease true believers, Ruffalo nails it. After two less than stellar Hulk films (I did enjoy Norton’s interpretation though and was looking forward to seeing him in The Avengers), most folks just didn’t know what to expect with the Hulk character. Well, the CGI work for Hulk in The Avengers is the character’s best silver screen incarnation. I actually found myself cheering when Hulk made an appearance. His fight scene with Thor was especially fun to watch. When the Hulk wasn’t rearing his angry green head, Ruffalo breathed new life into the Banner character. Under Whedon’s writing and direction, Ruffalo is a bit more humorous than I expected, but it worked. There were several scenes with Banner and Stark together that were just pure candy. In fact, the entire movie is a buffet of candy that just might turn out to not rot your teeth, but instead offers up one of the best movie-going experiences you’ll have all year. In Joss we trust!

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Dane Jackson

Dane Jackson has been writing about movies since high school when he had a monthly column in the school paper about cult movies. His cinematic tastes have matured (slightly) since then.
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