The Avengers – Film Review

When Thor’s evil brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), gains access to the unlimited power of the energy cube called the Tesseract, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of S.H.I.E.L.D., initiates a superhero recruitment effort to defeat the unprecedented threat to Earth. Joining Fury’s “dream team” are Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).

“There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people. To see if we could become something more. So when they needed us, we could fight the battles that they never could.”

This is one of the greatest superhero quotes of all time in my humble opinion and perfectly embodies what the Avengers team is. It’s a group of superpowered individuals who group up to save the world from threats that only they can take on. They may argue and disagree on a number of things, but the one thing they agree on is that the world needs protecting.

The very first time I saw Joss Whedon‘s The Avengers was opening day at my local theatre with my two brothers, one of their girlfriends, and her friend. Never before had I gone to see a movie with so many people before but I was excited out of my mind to do so. My brother showed me the first Iron Man film on DVD back in 2008 and leading up to the release of The Avengers, I became a megafan of every single member on the team.

I brushed up on thousands of hours of Marvel content and everything just felt so perfect leading up to this film’s release. When all five of us got to the theatre, I immediately knew it was not going to be any regular moviegoing experience. There was a lineup that was literally going around the corner of the theatre and out the entrance doors. People were dressed as Iron Man and Captain America, and eager voices could be heard talking about their hopes and theories for the film they were about to see.

It was at that moment I knew watching The Avengers was going to be one of the best theatregoing experiences of my life, and, sure enough, it was. For two hours and twenty-five minutes, my twelve-year-old mind was absolutely bamboozled with joy and wonder. The previous Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) entries were amazing to me, but The Avengers truly did feel like the culmination of four years of buildup.

Finally seeing Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye teaming up to defeat the villainous Loki was one of the most deeply gratifying things I had ever seen in a film and that sentiment still rings true to me to this day. Now that I’m older though, I can really appreciate this movie a whole lot more other than being wildly entertaining popcorn fun. It has a legitimately great script with excellent direction, it boasts incredible cinematography, music from Alan Silvestri, and the cast brings their A-game here. To put it short, The Avengers is a masterpiece.

Some may not like that it essentially tells the classic superhero story – a superhero (or in this case a team of them) has to go off on a mission to save the world from a power-hungry villain that quite literally wants to rule the world. This admittedly does sound like such a tired concept, but the script and direction that’s featured in The Avengers finds clever and oftentimes hilarious ways to make things fresh and innovative.

The film moves at an absolutely relentless pace too, rendering every scene meaningful and having no room for filler – you’d think that a near two-and-a-half-hour movie would have a couple of scenes that drag, but alas, The Avengers proves otherwise.

The first act of the movie essentially serves as the setup act where Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury recruits the team. This also could have been boring and pointless, but just like always, Marvel finds unique and meaningful ways for these characters to become a part of something much bigger.

Seeing all the characters in a room together for the first time is the stuff of nerd dreams. As a kid, I never in a million years would’ve thought that there’d be a time when I would be able to see all these heroes teaming up to fight an army of villains together, but that’s exactly what we got.

And although I’m not a fan of him as a person or his other writing and directing work, I have to say that Joss Whedon wrote a marvelous script here – no pun intended. He understood each character so well, and it’s remarkable how well these characters bounce off one another.

Realistically, not every one of these heroes would agree with everything that the other suggests. There are going to be a couple of arguments and disagreements shared amongst the team, and I’m so glad that The Avengers depicts this. Usually, it’s Tony Stark that gets the whole team riled up, and seeing them all trying to defuse the situation is equal parts hilarious and intriguing.

Each of these heroes is quite different from one another, but as mentioned earlier, they do have a common goal – save the world. As the MCU progresses forward after this movie, the Avengers team really did become a family and because we went on so many journies with them, they also feel like our family.

This is a quality that honestly, no other superhero team-up series has managed to do thus far. Whenever one of our beloved heroes is even in a small bit of danger, we feel worried because it feels as though we are watching a loved one getting caught in a sticky situation. And we will always be there to root for them.

It’s so easy to pass The Avengers off as nothing more than dumb popcorn fun but it is absolutely so much more than that. Yes, the action sequences are a thing of glory and the film’s humor is great but it also tells a compelling story about family, and what it means to be a part of something massive. Although I do prefer the final two Avengers movies over this one, there’s no denying that the first Avengers is still a masterclass in superhero cinema.

Overall Grade: A+

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow

Directed by: Joss Whedon

Written by: Joss Whedon

Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Release Date: May 4, 2012

Running Time: 143 minutes