Movie Review: Marvel’s The Avengers

Finally, one of the big two gets their super team on the big screen. Marvel won the race, and may have set the bar so high, that no one (I’m looking at you DC) will be able to replicate the success. They managed to get (mostly) all their big names on board and then back it up with the a star director/writer. I guess it didn’t hurt them at all that the hype for an Avengers movie started about four years ago after the credits of the first Iron Man movie.

My experience with The Avengers movie was an interesting one. I am lucky enough to live near a theater that ran the all day Marvel Movie Marathon. I got to catch up on all the other Avengers’ origin movies, then see The Avengers at midnight. It was a fun social experiment if nothing else. I swear the theater didn’t turn on the air conditioning until half way through the 14.5 hour day. Imagine approximately 100 geeks, sitting around all day, eating pizza, nacho’s, popcorn and hamburgers. There was a certain odor. I noticed. No one else said anything, but I noticed. In between the movies we had 15 minutes to go empty bladders, refill extra-large collectible cups, inhale nicotine, and argue about all the things that people like us argue about when no one else is paying attention. I witnessed a heated discussion between people about whether vibranium was a completely inert element, and whether or not it would actually be a good material to make Captain America’s shield out of.

On to my opinion of the Avengers movie, don’t worry, it’s spoiler free. Basically it is everyone’s wet-dream of a summer blockbuster movie. The movie follows the tried and true three acts to perfection, it doesn’t take very long to jump into the action, and it doesn’t really stop until the end. We already knew that all the actor’s, besides Mark Ruffalo, could play their parts and Joss Whedon’s script let them(maybe even enhanced it). If you are a fan of Whedon’s previous stuff (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly/Serenity) then you know the kind of humor and depth he brings to his characters. He gives them the little human flaws that make you identify with them so strongly, that their struggles and victories become yours. Another thing that won’t come as a surprise to you, is how strongly he writes his female characters. Johansson’s Black Widow is clearly an equal to her male teammates. Finally (my last testament to how great Whedon did with this film), this is the best that the Incredible Hulk/Bruce Banner has ever been written. Sorry, Ed Norton, but instead of a love story (like your Hulk movie) this film’s Hulk was just dealing with “Hey, if I’m not careful, I change into a huge monster and destroy everything”. And, he did it right.

So yes, it may have literally had it all. Action, quotable lines, a little humor, and of course, the post credit teasers. Stay until the very end, it’s worth it.

I know I’m not the only one who went and saw it, so tell me what you think. If there is someone out there who saw it and was not completely enamored, please leave a comment, I’d be very interested to hear why… because I’m a fanboy, and I sometimes overlook things.