Hate it or love it, The Avengers is a huge box office success. Here is a film which juggles six super heroes in such a way that many people thought not possible. I really don't understand why people thought this wasn't possible, as X-Men movies have been managing just fine but I suppose it is because the heroes in The Avengers are each grand enough for their own films; which besides Black Widow and Hawkeye, they each have.The real reason the film works lies in Joss Whedon's fantastic script which balances each super hero so well that the film actually feels like an Avengers film, and not just a movie with one or two super heroes dominating the film. In the X-Men franchise, for the most part Wolverine took center stage.
At 2 hours 22 minutes the film may seem long but the film goes by quickly. I can hardly remember there being a boring moment throughout the films duration. The film is action packed from start to finish. There is no disputing that this is pure Hollywood entertainment at its best. Sure some critics have criticized the film for not being The Dark Knight in terms of groundbreaking story, but does every film need to be; I think not.
The Avengers starts off with none of the super heroes united under one banner. They all seem to be aware of each others presence, but they want nothing to do with one another. That is until Loki(Tom Hiddleston) enters the picture. Loki travels to Germany to unleash all hell and successfully does so, until Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers(Chris Evans) show up and crash Loki's party. It is moments like this that all the fanboys have been waiting for. Iron Man and Captain America together fighting against Loki. There are plenty moments like this throughout the film. Directly after the duo aprehend Loki, Thor(Chris Hemsworth) appears and attempts to take Loki away from Iron Man and Captain America. His goal is to try and convince Loki away from his plans of world domination. What follows is an amazing display of action and special effects involving Thor, Iron Man and Captain America. Joss Whedon does a wonderful job at directing the action sequences. There are moments of shaky cam, but I always knew where the action was taking place in the film space. There is a moment in the above scene when Thor uses his control of Earth's electrical current against Iron Man. As a result of the force, Iron Man becomes super-charged and he is able to blast Thor off of him with a large blast. Small nuances like this are what separate a well written script from a mediocre one. A mediocre script might have simply had Iron Man blast Thor off of him. There are plenty of small moments like this throughout the entire duration.
The most exciting moment for me came when Bruce Banner(Mark Ruffalo) transforms into the Hulk for the first time. The Hulk finally emerges after he comes into line with Loki's master plan of turning all of the Avengers against one another. He is able to suppress his anger throughout all of the arguments, but the Hulk finally emerges when Loki's strike team damages the helicarrier, and begins to raid the ship. One of the blasts prompts Banner to become enraged and turn into the Hulk. At this point the film shifts into a horror film where the Hulk is the killer and Black Widow is the innocent girl in the woods. The tension is built nicely, but is released quickly. Here we proceed to watch as Hulk begins to terrorize the interior of the helicarrier, fighting everyone in his path, including Thor. The Thor battle is yet again another display of how well Joss knows these characters. As Hulk and Thor battle, Thor's hammer is dropped and the Hulk tries to pick it up, because no one can pick it up but Thor. Again as I've said before moments like this separate this film from a mediocre one. The entire Hulk sequence culminates in my absolute favorite moment in the entire film. The Hulk and Thor lead there battle to an area on the ship in which Hulk is exposed. A fighter jet flies alongside the helicarrier and begins to open fire on the Hulk. The bullets do nothing but irritate the Hulk. Finally the Hulk jumps on the jet and the jet begins to spin out of control. In a quick haste the pilot ejects, but the Hulk quickly grabs him before he is able to get away. He throws the pilot away,who still manages to parachute to safety, and the Hulk falls to the Earth below. In one of the best comical moments in the film, Bruce Banner is found by a janitor and asked if he is an alien. I'll save the punchline for the film.
The film resolves in the last 30 minutes or so in an all out war action set piece over, and in, the streets of Manhattan. If the damage caused in the film were to have happened in real life, the cost would be around 160 billion dollars, almost double Hurricane Katrina. The amount of devastation is truly unnerving. I wondered how many innocents died during this battle that we never see. The buildings that receive countless blasts and explosions could not all have been empty. I immediately think of something The Dark Knight where people are saved, but at what cost. When Gordon and Batman decide that Batman should take the blame for Dent's murders, the people of Gotham question the relevance of Batman. Maybe The Avengers 2 will address this. To be honest though, I could not have seen this film ending any other way. It was necessary, and gave everyone in the audience a real treat. It's great to sit back and watch some of your favorite super heroes do what they do best; Defeat evil.
The Avengers is the end of Phase One of Marvel's Cinematic Universe. Phase Two starts with Iron Man 3 and will climate with The Avengers 2. Here's to you Marvel, we wish you the best of luck. Keep making great comic book films.
4/4 Muffins
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