The Avengers. It’s what we call ourselves. One of the better superhero films, that type of thing.
The highly anticipated Avengers movie has blasted its way onto the big screen, in even bigger fashion. Helmed by Director Joss Whedon, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble is the first comic book superhero film to attempt to create mass multiple storyline continuity. The film sees the director of peace organisation S.H.I.E.L.D; Nick Fury forming a team of earth mightiest heroes. The team consisting of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye set out to retrieve the ultimate power source; the Tesseract and stop Thor’s brother Loki from destroying Earth in the process.
The plot is pretty straight forward, easy to follow and for the majority entertaining. Although it works to a good degree, various scenes have a tendency to drag and bore. It’s a real shame as a film full with such interesting characters really should be able to maintain a steady level of enjoyable watching. With that being said once the third act gets going the audience are thrust into a whirlwind of explosions and lavish team work that make up for any perhaps wasted time. Furthermore it’s refreshing to finally get a superhero film that doesn’t take itself too seriously but stills hit’s all the right notes in terms of being believable as can be. The film provides numerous jokes and laughable moments that really do have the audience laughing. Unfortunately the repetitively used joke formula eventually grows stale.
When you’re putting together a team of earths mightiest heroes you could expect for some characters to get left behind, that really isn’t the case here. Every character gets their fair share of screen time by giving them all a chance to shine through character development and a chance to showcase what they’re capable of. Furthermore it really is impressive how the likes of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America’s continue to grow as characters even after their individual outings.
‘Avengers Assemble offers action, explosions, comedy and spandex.’
Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man is the same genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist everyone loves him for. He thankfully doesn’t hog the spotlight and serves as the groups ‘funny guy’. Chris Evans reprises his role as Captain America whose patriotic good guy routine may bore some, but those familiar with the character will know that Evans portrays him superbly. Chris Hemsworth returns as Thunder God; Thor who is regrettably less entertaining than in his previous showing in Thor. This is due to Thor being given very little screen time considering what the character is capable of. The always beautiful Scarlet Johansson finally gets the chance to show what it is her Black Widow heroine is made of. With an arsenal of devastating moves and the talk to go with it Black Widow’s inclusion is a real treat. Jeremy Renner turns up as arrow shooting Hawkeye who some may have forgotten from his brief appearance in Thor. The trailers really did make it seem like he would have a lacklustre appearance but thankfully that isn’t the case. Renner is great in the role so let’s hope he gets his own spin off after a good showing in Avengers Assemble. However it’s the Hulk that really steals the show. With Mark Ruffalo being the first actor to motion capture the Hulk gets another dimension to his character, finally getting the attention he deserves. Tom Hiddleston also turns up as the films antagonist Loki. Hiddleston is far more entertaining this time around than he was in Thor. Brilliantly cast and defiantly the right enemy for the Avengers first outing. Avengers Assemble also features Samuel L Jackson reprising his role as Nick Fury, Cobie Smulders stepping in as S.H.E.I.L.D agent Maria Hill, Clark Clegg as Phil Coulson and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Pots, all too good standards. While there are certainly no standout performances by any of the actors, they all portray their characters with great conviction and ease. An all around stellar performance by all involved.
When you get right down to it Avengers Assemble is a really good film, the CGI is pure triumph and near flawless. The big payoff is that fans finally get to see the team all together. Although it isn’t the greatest superhero film ever made (The Dark Knight) it is perhaps the best Marvel film to date (going toe to toe with X-Men First Class). It certainly does the comic books justice as Avengers Assemble offers action, explosions, comedy and spandex. It’s definitely a must see movie, that won’t have audience members leaving disappointed.
Popcorn & Soda Rating: 4/5
Did Avengers Assemble meet your expectations?
