A movie feverishly
anticipated by comic book geeks, action freaks and superhero devotees, it’s
almost impossible to fault The Avengers, now that it’s finally, actually
here. The Avengers is truly a movie event on a spectacular scale and
this adds an almost impossible level of expectation on Marvel, writer-director
Joss Whedon and the cast to make all those fan boy fantasies come true.
Be assured, The Avengers is all that and a whole heap of fun to boot. We’ve all
come to be familiar with the individual characters over the course of a few
years, with two Iron Man movies, Thor and Captain
America having been introduced in their own film franchises. All are
present to reprise their roles, except Edward Norton who played Dr Bruce Banner
in The Incredible Hulk and opted out of The Avengers to make way
for Mark Ruffalo as the hot-headed green giant. (A sorely disappointing choice
for me.)
As the film opens, the Avengers are scattered: Tony Stark is developing a new power source while living in bliss with Pepper Potts. Bruce Banner has exiled himself to India where he’s figured a way to keep "the other guy" at bay. Captain Steve Rogers is a super-soldier without a war to fight. Scarlet Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow) gets a particularly great intro, while her fellow SHIELD agent Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is compromised early on when Loki makes his entrance.
When the gang finally comes together on SHIELD’s impressive aircraft carrier-cum-stealth flyer, it’s an incredibly thrilling moment, even though there is some serious doubt amongst them that it’s probably not the best idea, since one of them could explode into a destructive rage monster at any moment. Much in-fighting ensues, especially once Loki is captured and Thor crash-lands from Asgard to claim Loki as his prisoner to be dealt Asgardian justice. It’s pretty exciting just seeing all these larger than life characters all in a room together, sizing each other up and bickering like old friends.
That it all feels so natural and lived in is, of course, thanks to the wizardry of Joss Whedon himself, a true and devoted believer in the power of fantasy and science fiction as a means to explore real human relationships. The truly magical thing about The Avengers is how well-compartmentalised it all is, allowing each and every one of our heroes an almost equal amount of screen time to flesh out their character arcs and deal with a wealth of back-story and essentially build relationships as the franchise thunders along for who knows how many more years and spin-off films. This could so easily have been a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, and in fact turns out to be the complete opposite. The Avengers works because each character’s voice and presence matters.
The cast
The cast is as close perfection as possible. I challenge anyone to suggest another actor who could infect Tony Stark with as much cockiness as Robert Downey Jr, or convey the inner turmoil of Captain America – a man out of time – with the kind of affecting strength Chris Evans has brought to the character. They may wear impressive (and skin-tight) costumes, but the actors’ performances give weight to the characters rather than shift the focus to their heroic alter egos.
Though it’s bad boy Loki (played by a dangerously magnetic Tom Hiddleston) who steals most of the scenes, torturing the Avengers with his withering wit and steely gaze as his plot to overtake Earth and make subjects of the human race is slowly revealed. That he is Thor’s brother complicates matters even further and together with Chris Hemsworth (as the Norse god of thunder...yummy!!!) Hiddleston’s Loki is always on the cusp of redemption (even though he’s crazier than an old lady with a bag of cats) and ever more lethal because of his sensitivity where Thor is concerned.
As expected, the chaos of the thrilling action scenes as Midtown Manhattan is being obliterated by Loki’s army is a head-spinning prospect as one superhero more powerful than the next gets a turn to shine. Joss Whedon’s distinctive voice can be heard throughout all of the characters’ attempts at one-upmanship. It’s there in Agent Phil Coulson’s barely concealed and very sweet Captain America fandom, in the unspoken competitiveness between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, and the roguish fun that is promised around every corner.
The Avengers is exactly what it needed to be: Over the top but
awe-inspiring, faithful to the characters and the comics, whip-smart and funny
and, above all, an insanely good-looking.
Criticism
The plot surrounds Thor
and Loki and takes off as a sequel to Thor almost. I believe, due to the
Norse/Asgard influences/ themes, there should have been more substance to the
characters of the aforementioned men. The film is also made to influence us
into believing that Loki has some secret diabolic plan concerning Bruce Banner,
but that also lies very weak in its plot. There is also a scene in the movie
where our heroes bicker like little girls in the sandbox and suddenly we see
Bruce with Loki’s staff in hand – that also does not tie up at all.
The Avengers smashes box office record
The Avengers launched
the summer movie season with a $200.3m opening weekend domestically, by far the
biggest debut ever. If distributor Disney's revenue estimate on Sunday holds
when the final weekend count is released on Monday, The
Avengers would be the first movie ever to haul in $200m in a single
weekend. A $200m total for every movie in release is considered a great weekend
for the business as a whole, so The Avengers redefines the standards
for a blockbuster debut.
The Avengers shot
past the previous record of $169.2m for the debut of last year's Harry Potter finale.
With $441.5m overseas
since last week, The Avengers worldwide total climbed to $641.8m.
Overview
All in all, a
brilliant watch for the young and old at heart. Action for all you fanatics out
there, brilliant vocabulary for the nerdy folk, eye candy for us gals....and
Chris Hemsworth for me. Enjoy!!
-S
-S
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