The Avengers
When an alien technology power source known as a tesseract, acquired by the U.S. government agency S.H.I.E.L.D. begins giving off an unusual radiation power signature, physicist professor Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) is on high alert. Concerned with the change he notifies his superior, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson); but, no sooner than he can do this, the tesseract magically opens a door to another universe allowing the scorned Norse god, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), to walk earth. With the intent of destroying earth and the power of mind control, Loki assembles a team of unlikely individuals to assist in creating an even bigger gateway to the universe—a gateway large enough to allow the entire Centauri army to reign terror upon humanity. Now it’s up to Fury to assemble his team of unlikely heroes, the Avengers, including: Iron Man Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bruce Banner the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Natasha Romanoff the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)– all big names and sometimes bigger egos in the world of crime fighting. Unfortunately, with Loki’s bag of tricks, intellect, and archer extraordinaire, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) at his beckon call it looks like earth’s fighting chance is slipping away by the minute. Can the Avengers set aside their differences long enough to come together and save the planet, will Tony Stark ever get a night alone with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and who will pay the ultimate price in battle?
Sounds exciting, right? We’ve been building to this crescendo for years as the pieces of Marvel’s superhero team were assembled one by one– the pressure is on to make this good. So, let me be brief and up front, the film is entertaining and fun; but, this praise comes with several reservations. Directed and partially written by Joss Whedon, fans of the previous Marvel flicks are in for a treat in that the humor, pace, and stylistic feel is consistent right into the Avengers. In a way it’s kind of like a buffet line of some of the more interesting superhero’s we’ve seen on the silver screen. You get the snark and cynicism of Tony Stark, the oafishness of Thor, The brains of Bruce Banner, and the sometimes nauseating patriotism of Captain America; plus, we get more insight on Hawkeye and Black Widow, not bad. The acting all feels spot on, which is expected since the actors have all had the chance to grow into their characters for several years, and, Hiddleston’s mean mugging Loki even works. But, when it comes to the rest of the villainous plot and the foes set on destroying earth, well, quite simply Whedon and crew just run out of steam. With dialogue equal to the caliber of the Power Rangers, artistic rip-offs of damn near every other action film we’ve seen, I’m thinking Transformers, Spiderman, and even Star Wars, the “evil†we’re supposed to be fearing just comes across as old hat and played out. By the time the film devolves into a giant sea of CGI battle, as per the norm now days, we still haven’t been given anything new or compelling to look forward to…Except the hulk. Even then, inconsistencies between the Hulk’s inability to control himself and then suddenly the appearance of a conscious awareness and sense of “good†makes me scratch my head a bit. Never the less, it’s still entertaining, the humor is well placed and you get what you pay for. The 3D here is a waste and does nothing to add to the film. Remember to go easy on your beverage, clocking in at 2 hours and 22 minutes in length this is a longer one. And, as always, stay in your seat well into the credits for the latest cliff hanger, fun. The Avengers is rated PG-13.