Directed by Joss Whedon
Or, to be fair to the UK and Ireland, this is a review for Marvel Avengers Assemble.
In 2008, the very few people that stayed beyond the credits of Iron Man for no reason were the first to find out about Marvel's plans in the bigger picture, and having Robert Downey Junior be in the post credits scene of The Incredible Hulk established the idea firmly, and The Avengers was announced for 2012, as the culminating movie for Marvel Studios' Phase One.
There were five films leading into The Avengers, of which one was great, two were good, one was mediocre, and one was utter garbage, so Joss Whedon really had a lot on his hands, not even counting the sheer scope of this movie. He had to balance seven main protagonists, and having to deal with a cast comprising of highly skilled and really popular actors.
Before I get to that, however, let me talk about Loki, who was handled well in this movie, albeit I wish that he went down in a better way. I do like how well thought out his character was, and that it was faithful to the 'God of mischief' moniker. much like it was in Thor. I also liked the mystery of how he was working for a higher power, who we saw in arguably the most popular post credits scene of them all. And of course I share the whole world's opinion that Tom Hiddleston is Loki.
Now, moving on to the good guys. I'm not going to talk about Iron Man because you knew he would be used well, and indeed he was. Everyone else though, the faith to their characters and the way they are used is genius.
Captain America is constantly coping in this whole movie, with the fact that he aged seventy years without even knowing it. And you can see how everything you see around him, much like for us, is a spectacle, and Joss Whedon even acknowledged that that was the strategy he used to sell to the audience how grand everything from the helicarrier to the portal for the Chitauri was. And you have to give him credit for that.
Bruce Banner is in a completely different place than he was in The Incredible Hulk, and I can't complain about the recast to Mark Ruffalo, because he's perfect. You get to see more of the genius side of his character, which is essentially what Bruce Banner is, and the way The Hulk is used isn't quite terrifying or depressing, it's a good mix of fear and comic relief. And his character has gone to some pretty dark places.
Thor is introduced pretty late in this movie, but he needed to be. His importance thanks to his personal relationship with Loki makes him a welcome addition to the movie, and he's fighting his own battle throughout with Loki, trying to convince him to stop what he's doing.
Black Widow could have been useless, but she absolutely was not. From the start to the end, she was something that nobody else could be - Human. And that's what made her perfect for recruiting The Hulk and interrogating Loki, and it isn't like she fights like a little girl either.
Hawkeye, although I though the next movie was loads better for him, was used in a way completely different to everyone else, and I think he doesn't receive enough credit for it. Only he knew completely what Loki was capable of, and you have to feel the weight on his shoulders considering he helped him for a while. And his relationship with Black Widow, although just friends, made this movie all the more better.
Nick Fury is Samuel L. Jackson. That's all I'll say.
All of these characters are so fleshed out and they all have their own thing going for them. What a great way to make everyone relevant.
Bruce Banner is in a completely different place than he was in The Incredible Hulk, and I can't complain about the recast to Mark Ruffalo, because he's perfect. You get to see more of the genius side of his character, which is essentially what Bruce Banner is, and the way The Hulk is used isn't quite terrifying or depressing, it's a good mix of fear and comic relief. And his character has gone to some pretty dark places.
Thor is introduced pretty late in this movie, but he needed to be. His importance thanks to his personal relationship with Loki makes him a welcome addition to the movie, and he's fighting his own battle throughout with Loki, trying to convince him to stop what he's doing.
Black Widow could have been useless, but she absolutely was not. From the start to the end, she was something that nobody else could be - Human. And that's what made her perfect for recruiting The Hulk and interrogating Loki, and it isn't like she fights like a little girl either.
Hawkeye, although I though the next movie was loads better for him, was used in a way completely different to everyone else, and I think he doesn't receive enough credit for it. Only he knew completely what Loki was capable of, and you have to feel the weight on his shoulders considering he helped him for a while. And his relationship with Black Widow, although just friends, made this movie all the more better.
Nick Fury is Samuel L. Jackson. That's all I'll say.
All of these characters are so fleshed out and they all have their own thing going for them. What a great way to make everyone relevant.
The story in The Avengers has a lot more acclaim than the one in the sequel, and I think (I'm not calling anyone stupid as such) that's because it's simple. The story in Age Of Ultron was great, in my opinion, but I can understand why people wouldn't have really understood it, considering it involved artificial intelligence, an infinity stone, and a city being turned into a meteor. But I'll still say that I liked that story better. That doesn't mean, however, that I think this is a bad story. It's a great story. And I'm thinking that if it was trying to complicate itself, some of the characters would have to lose out, so I'm glad they went the simple route.
And one final thing I'd like to point out is the tone. I'm very glad that Joss Whedon didn't go the dark and brooding way, because the fun and bright tone of this movie is so much better. It was a superhero(es) movie, but it was a feel-good film too. That's another reason why many people left this feeling happier than they did with the next movie, which I will cover in a later review before Captain America: Civil War.
So, because of a little thing called balance, which this movie absolutely perfected, I can't give it any other rating. On a scale where M is the lowest, and R is the highest possible rating, with the highlighted letter being the rating:
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