The Avengers Review

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The Avengers Review
By Darrin Jones / May 4

Ingredients:  If you liked the impressive special effects of Iron Man 2, the genuineness of Captain America, the action of Thor, and the characters of all three, then you will love this movie.

If there was only a one word review for The Avengers blockbuster smash, it would be “awesome.” A two word review? “Awesome, awesome.” And I don’t mean “awesome” in the overblown ‘bro’ mentality, this move really does inspire awe. The action is intense, the characters deep, the writing is superb, and this is some of the best damn acting I’ve seen in years. All the hype that’s surrounded the movie so far is much deserved. And the simple plot helps to weave the exposition into the narrative seamlessly. Loki (as played by Tom Hiddleston), has returned from his exile after the Thor movie and is wreaking havoc on Earth with the goal of conquering our puny planet using a hidden alien force floating in the deep recesses of space. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) must call upon the Marvel franchise’s most incredible super-powered heroes to create The Avengers Initiative to stop Loki’s evil plan. 

The cast is stunning and really give it their all. Chris Evans is still delightfully plucky and good-spirited as Captain America. Chris Hemsworth’s commanding presence and earnest nature does a fantastic job showing Thor’s growth as a character and transfers perfectly from his movie to this one. Mark Ruffalo gives a strikingly deep performance as first time Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Hulk. And, of course, Robert Downey Jr. steals the show as the Tony Stark/Iron Man we’ve all come to know and love. But what really makes The Avengers shine is that it’s so open and accessible to an audience not familiar with the comics or the previous movies. Everything that’s happened before is woven in and touched on enough that no one should feel left out. Joss Whedon’s direction is a great boost to the film as he’s a master at working in fantastic eye-candy and deep character development. For the hardcore comic book fans among us, the Avengers as a whole are flawlessly written characters that are true to their comic book origins, showing that the the Avengers can save the world in more ways then one; bringing back hope to people that felt abandoned.

The Avengers emphasis the true comic book heroic ideals. Not only do they work together to defeat the invading alien forces but they also devote their strengths to protecting as many people as possible during the big climatic battles. Something that’s been lost on a few superhero movies nowadays is the importance of protecting the innocent even while battling the supervillians. Nick Fury and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. play a huge part this go around, especially Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner as Black Widow and Hawkeye. While the other movies set up the heroes’ backstories and motivations, The Avengers really dives into the importance of the everyman, even in apocalyptic times. 

The few complaints I can muster over the film are very small in comparison with all it’s successes. While Captain America’s boy-scout charms and Thor’s ye olden viking traditions work off each other fairly well, Tony Stark’s snarkiness and Bruce Banner’s depressive portrayal can come off a little bit annoying in comparison. Although, the conflicting personalities and ideals are an integral part of the over all Avengers mythos and, as this is the first time the Avengers have officially assembled on the big screen, the character conflicts add to the adversity the team has to overcome in order to stop Loki’s reign of terror. All in all, a terrific movie that does the Avengers justice and hopefully raises the bar for all other superhero movies to come. Oh, and in true Marvel movie fashion, stay until the end of the credits for a few extra scenes and maybe a sneak peek of things to come.