"The Avengers" Movie Review
Marvel kicked off the summer blockbuster season this weekend with the release of "The Avengers", a film several years in the making. The Avengers are basically the comic book version of the Van Halen, a collection of solo fan favorites who work together despite their often petty squables. One of Marvel's best work to date has been the job they did marketing this film, wetting our appetite with teasers after the credits of every major Marvel flick like they were giving a shirtless meth addict their daily fix. Slowly, with the appearance of Samuel L. Jackson as the Jules Winnfield-esque Nick Fury, it became apparent that a "Avengers" movie was on the way and Marvel somehow perfectly synced the storylines to converge in one of the most anticipated comic book films of all time. It's already scored the biggest domestic opening weekend debut in box-office history. But is it worth seeing? Let's dive right in.
I didn't get overly excited for "The Avengers" before I plopped down in the theater. Thor, Hulk, and the gang were never any of my favorites growing up. The film starts kind of slow and really lacked any sort of action for the first hour or so. Ever sit around with your friends and rehash the drunken details of the night before? The stories are interesting but not as fun when you heard them the first time right? That's how I felt during the first half of "The Avengers". Once the characters were established things got better though. The storyline flows pretty well once all the characters get their screen time. Loki isn't the most intimidating villian but they did a good job making it believable (as believable as an evil demi God from outer space can be). The final 15 minutes are an amazing experience in 3D. The special effects are unbelievable and never do you wonder when it's going to end. In fact you kinda hope it never does.
The cast overall was really good. Obviously Robert Downey Jr. is the comedic relief and though it felt like there was almost too much humor at times it was still well received. Chris Evans plays up the whole Captain America "Gee Willikers/Boy Scout" routine very well. Mark Ruffalo was almost unwatchable as always but luckily he was CGI'ed for a majority of the film. My favorite cast member by far however is Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Coulson. Coulson is basically a glorified gopher for Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. His dry sense of humor was hilarious and I like how his role was slightly expanded since he was one of the characters that has appeared in all the Marvel films leading up to "The Avengers". As for the eye candy, Scarlett Johansson looks smushable as always and we even get an appearance from How I Met Your Mother's Cobie Smulders. Remember when that show was funny??? With this many different characters in a two hour movie you would think things would get muddled but director Joss Wheldon does a great job of helping each character stand out from the next without overshadowing the previous.
SPOILER ALERT.....I liked how they left the story open to a sequel. From my short lived phase as a comic book nerd (Note: I've always been a nerd but my comic reading nerd phase last only a couple years) I remember Thanos being a complete badass. He's basically a huge, purple faced monster who loves the idea of death and destruction. Should be a great villian for the sequel.
"The Avengers" is a very fun movie and I highly recommend it to anyone reading this, whether you're a comic book fan or not. I do however recommend seeing Thor, Ironman, and Captain America before seeing "The Avengers". Notice I didn't mention either of the horrible "Hulk" films. This film will more than likely lead to solo sequels of all the main characters, leading up to an eventual Avengers sequel sometime soon. These movies don't have the edgy look and grity storyline as the "Dark Knight" trilogies but they are still visually amazing and . As long as you don't expect an Oscar worthy movie and take "The Avengers" for what it is, it's a great way to sit on your ass and enjoy watching things explode for two hours. One of our followers on Twitter said it best; basically comparing "The Avengers" to a plate of nachos. Ehh nothing earth shattering and you know what you're going to get but that doesn't stop it from being pretty damn enjoyable. And there's nothing wrong with that.
