At the Theater- The Avengers - Crowd pleasing and fun, kick-ass and cool, Co-Writer/Director Joss Whedon pulls off something of a Summer movie miracle here- a massively budgeted Action/Adventure/Super Hero film with a wealth of major players that manages to balance all of the characters and proceedings to damned-near perfection. It's excellently written (the dialogue is outstanding) and Directed grand entertainment that rarely feels bloated- the set pieces and FX work (for the overwhelming majority of the film) are so visually appealing that I could understand and appreciate where the money went (you know, as opposed to Green Lantern).
There's quite a few "inner-fist-pump-worthy" scenes to go along with a couple of truly heart-lifting moments- the nature of which I haven't felt since... well, since I last saw Christopher Reeve catch Margot Kidder with one hand... and a helicopter with the other. I must admit to missing this kind of emotion with Nolan's The Dark Knight- one could argue that his Batman films are a different kind of beast altogether, but I feel his heavy-handed, self-serious approach to the Caped Crusader (at least as far as TDK is concerned) has sucked the life (and fun) from the franchise. I would love to see Joss tackle the character (or Superman, for that matter) in the future, but that seems highly unlikely.
Many have claimed that the story unfolds through Captain America's eyes, but I didn't get that at all- Robert Downey Jr./Iron Man is clearly the central character anchoring the film. Downey has a host of stellar lines and the greater degree of established depth. Chris Evans once again makes a serviceable Cappy- he's likable enough, though I believe he's probably the weakest actor of the male Avengers. I also didn't care too much for his newly redesigned mask/headpiece- it just didn't seem to fit right. Hemsworth continues to make an excellent Thor, he has all the right ingredients to enjoy a lengthy career as a legitimate action star. Here's to hoping he works with a better Director and script than he did with the initial Thor film. Scarlett Johansson is as sexy as ever as Black Widow- I'm beginning to warm up to her as a red head. Jeremy Renner, an excellent actor who is featured here for the (relatively) shortest amount of screen-time, can definitely handle a stand-alone Hawkeye film, but I'm not so sure audiences will flock to one... Mark Ruffalo surprised me as the new Bruce Banner- he's made the role his own and has appeared to have gained Marvel's confidence as well. The new Hulk design is fantastic- they finally got it right! The Hulk's "Puny God" faceoff with Loki was my favorite part of the film- from the laughs it got from the audience, it would seem that most of them felt similarly. Sam Jackson has pretty much cemented himself as Nick Fury- he deserves it. Perhaps it was Tom Hiddleston's acting prowess as the villainous Loki that impressed me the most- he may not have the most presence in the film but the young man oozes evil with mere smiles. There will probably be a host of bad-guy roles in his future film career.
Gwyneth Paltrow returns as Pepper Potts- someone decided to show her off in a pair of cutoff shorts and it worked wonders... Clark Gregg is back again as Shield Agent Phil Coulson- let's just say there's a good reason he's been featured in other Marvel films. The sultry-eyed Cobie Smulders makes her first appearance in a Marvel film here- I get the feeling she'll be hooking up with Cappy in the future... Stellan Skaarsgard has a rather small role continuing a character established in Thor, while Powers Boothe and Jenny Agutter make small cameos. A certain, loveable old coot of a character actor shows up as a surprised Security Guard, but I won't spoil it for you.
Minor complaints and a few questions: The Chitauri army is made up of entirely CGI creatures- it would have been nice for a few closeups using old school, practical makeup effects, kind of like those Peter Jackson used so prominently (and so very well) in the LOTR films in regards to the Orcs. I believe it would have added more weight to the situation as well as to their collective character. I had hoped that the days of (way too) easily dispatched hordes of entirely CGI baddies had died with the last Star Wars prequel.
Whatever happened to a memorable original musical score, the kind that will stay with you for a lifetime? Did you hum this one as you left the theater?
Actress Amanda Righetti made a brief appearance as an Agent of Shield at the conclusion of Captain America- did Cobie Smulders simply replace her? I can't remember hearing what could have possibly kept James Rhodes/War Machine away from the fray... It would have been nice to have had some kind of quick cameos by Natalie Portman as Jane Porter or Liv Tyler/Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross. I believe Cappy deserved some kind of closure involving Peggy Carter's character as well- it was something that needed to be addressed and could have more thoroughly driven home that sense of loss that haunts his character.
Stay a few minutes into the credits for a very cool intro to a possible future Avengers villain, stay until the end of the credits for a hilarious little add-on. If you only see a small handful of films at the theater each year, make sure this is one of them. Highly Recommended
The Avengers - 9.0 out of 10
FWIW-
Iron Man - 8.5
Captain America - 8.5
Iron Man 2 - 8.0
Thor - 7.5
The Incredible Hulk - 6.5
Hulk - 5.0
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