Country:
USA
Starring:
Robert Downey Jr.
Chris Evans
Mark Ruffalo
Chris Hemsworth
Scarlett Johansson
Jeremy Renner
Tom Hiddleston
Samuel L. Jackson
Gwyneth Paltrow
Paul Bettany (Voice)
Directed By:
Joss Whedon
A curious kind of hype surrounded the release of THE AVENGERS. Fanboys and casual moviegoers expected Marvel's ultimate blockbuster to reward them for putting them through years of introductory films that would lead up to this very moment. It was the case for Thor and Captain America (who got dealt a particularly bad movie) and to a certain extent Hulk, who never found the right people to do him justice on film. The Iron Man franchise has already lifted off, but it's the exception that confirms the rule. So did it? Yes, the Marvel-Joss Whedon team delivered. Now, let's get things in perspective. It's a pertinent celebration of the Marvel Universe, but this is more entertainment than a piece of cinema that makes you drop to one knee. I'm happy it is what it is, though. THE AVENGERS knows what it can do well and what it can do. Joss Whedon took the right decisions to make it work. He created a clever blockbuster that plays the right cards to please everybody and managed to pack major surprises.
If you're not familiar with The Avengers comics, it's not very complicated. You don't really need have any background on superheroes to understand, not even to have seen the prior movies. It helps, but it's not mandatory. You just need to know that Nick Fury (Jackson) of governmental agency S.H.I.E.L.D deals with paranormal events. One of his projects was the Avengers Initiative, that had for goal to assemble a commando of individual with superhuman capacities (read superheroes) to deal with a variety of threats mankind doesn't have the firepower to deal with. While it first failed, Fury brings it back together in a hurry when alien substance called Tesseract opens a vortex from another dimension and Thor's bad boy little brother Loki (Hiddleston) comes in to steal the Tesseract cube and use it for nefarious plans. It's up to Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton to stop him.
There are two angles to THE AVENGERS, action and comedy. This philosophy is taken so literally, it's almost beautiful. The comedy segments will appear overbearing to certain viewers and have been the principal issue negative reviews put forward. I loved it. Joss Whedon spent enough time polishing the clever game of wits between his characters to make a statement - This will not be a mind numbing series of exploding things like TRANSFORMERS was. I thought this was a smart decision, since the Hasbro franchise has hurt the public's faith in action movie. There are great characters to root for and fun clashes of personality. Captain America is pushed into the cupboard a little bit, but I don't think fans will mind. He's kind of a dated superhero and clearly not a Joss Whedon favorite. Good thing, because Chris Evans is by far the less talented guy of the acting crew.
Speaking of acting, there is a come-from-nowhere surprise in THE AVENGERS. There was a general surprise when Mark Ruffalo was chosen over Edward Norton to play Bruce Banner. I thought it was an interesting risk as Ruffalo is a severely underrated talent. His face isn't yet a trademark and he tends to morph into his character in spectacular fashion. I'm a fan of Hulk. Along with Spiderman, he's my favorite Marvel hero (the two are probably my favorite superheroes, period). Ruffalo IS the right man to play Bruce Banner. He plays the variables of the character with a subtlety that maybe clashes with the movie, but the script gives him enough spotlight to pull it off. Watching Ruffalo, you will understand the omnipresent anger within the character, that stigmatizes the character. The fear, the sadness, the paranoia. Ruffalo can filter it through one look and a few works. This guy needs a standalone Hulk movie. He has enough game to do justice to this amazing character.
THE AVENGERS is half personality clashes and half fighting, using superpowers. That makes for a two hours and a half movie that passes by like fifteen minutes. I had to see it in 3D, because of the bad call of somebody I went to see it with * and just don't bother. The editing is a particularly bad fit for 3D. It's fast paced and before you can realize there's a 3D trick being pulled off, the shot is over. It's aggravating. There is no shaky cam tricks pulled off, so kudos to Joss Whedon for keeping it simple and enjoyable. Those are the two keywords here. Simple and enjoyable. THE AVENGERS will write itself in a long series of summer blockbusters, but it's a good one that's both entertaining and respectful towards its origins. It's a rarity in the Hollywood landscape. If you have one superhero movie to go see, this is the one you should choose.
SCORE: 85%
* "There's a screening at 7PM, let's go see this one."
At the cinema...
"Fuck, it's a 3D screening. Next 2D is at 8:20"
"Let's go see it in 3D man, how bad can it be?"