The Avengers: The Best Film in the Marvel Series By Far!

Director Joss Whedon (Serenity) has successfully created with The Avengers a film that answers a much pondered question: could the quirky creative survive the tremendous pressure to build on the long-term Marvel cash cow? With several mega blockbusters in its history (Thor, Iron Man 1 & 2, Captain America: The First Avenger) and several more planned, it was essential that The Avengers succeed.  And with jam-packed action, an exciting plot and plenty of laughs, succeed this film does.

Premise: Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. initiatives the Avengers Initiative to help save the Earth from Loki and his army. Result: A thoroughly entertaining, smart, and funny action film that completely exceeds expectations.

Fearing that too much homework might be required for The Avengers is a legitimate concern considering that several comic series and several blockbusters precede it.  However, Whedon manages to make this film an entertaining, exciting film for any observer, whether they are Marvel neophyte or Stan Lee stalker.

While complex in its own way and certainly ripe with hidden meanings that will appease long-term fans, The Avengers boasts a fairly straight-forward premise allows anyone to follow.  The film begins with Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who defeated by his brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) after his attempt to conquer Asgard (see Thor), has returned to now take Earth, armed with a plan and an alliance with The Chitauri lead by a horror known simply as “The Other” (Alexis Denisof).

His plan is simple, steal the tesseract (See Captain America), a powerful and mysterious energy source, and use it to open a gateway to another dimension, thereby allowing the Chitauri to invade Earth and make hum ruler. Using this source he is transported to Earth, deep within one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s covert fortresses, and begins his slow assault.

His deadly attack nearly kills S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), and several thousand others; and by using his mysterious scepter, Loki manages to also enslave Professor Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), who had been studying the tesseract, and Clint Barton/ Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), who had been defending it.

It is at this assault, and the need to defend Earth from Loki’s villainous plan, that The Avenger Initiative is employed, thereby uniting Tony Stark/ Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rodgers/ Captain America (Chris Evans), Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and more reluctantly Thor and Bruce Banner/ The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).   The group of individuals fails to mesh instantaneously and great destruction and hilarity ensue. The rest of the film focuses on this concept: the slow, painful but deeply satisfying formation of The Avengers as the individuals set aside differences and unite for Good.

The film works on several important levels.  First, it is deeply exciting.  While the film is a terrifying 142 minutes long, the majority of this time will be spent watching the screen, not the clock.  Although not every single moment in the film smells of roses, there is much too much exhilaration to let anyone down for long. The battle scenes, in particular (of which there are plenty), are wonderfully executed, never confusing and deeply thrilling. In fact, the final battle is remarkably similar to the last Transformers film; however, unlike that travesty (See Transformers: Dark of the Moon), Whedon manages to prove that this type of battle is not only possible, but memorable when executed with confidence and competence.

Second, the character stories are wonderfully balanced; while several of these characters literally stood alone at the center of entire films, this film treats them all equally, appropriately favoring The Avengers over any one character or story. This is particularly remarkable since each of the stories and characters is so well crafted that favoring one over another is plausible, even if reproachable.

The film is also incredibly funny.  While an action film at heart, the comedic timing established in this script is spell-binding.  The majority of dialogue is hilariously spot on at exactly the right moments, and when not, there are sufficient visual moments to fill the void.  And speaking of visual, having seen this film in both Standard and 3D, The Avengers serves as an example where 3D actually works.

The casting in this film is perfect. Robert Downey Jr. continues to his streak as the snarky, playboy with the caustic wit but now somehow saved from certain decline into tedium (Iron Man 2 had a few eye-roll moments) by working with this cast.  His wit is challenged and forced to serve as a wedge rather than the whole pie, thereby allowing his arrogance to become endearing rather than obnoxious in the end. Evans, for his part, allows his Captain America alter ego to shine brighter in this film.  Proving impressively that his departure from low grade comedy (remember Fantastic Four 2?  Shiver) in Captain America was no fluke, Evans manages to make his character real, interesting and well-balanced, a quality we look for not only in a hero, but in a leading man.

Ruffalo is another standout.  Latest in a long line of Bruce Banners that fade into oblivion almost as quickly as they came, Ruffalo manages to deliver a new and more intriguing Hulk.  In the greatest surprise, Johansson somehow manages to make the Black Widow interesting, walking a tight-rope between cliché and intrigue and somehow coming out the great acrobat.  Additionally, Renner, Hemsworth, Jackson and Gregg all work wonderfully in this script and manage to keep the action and humor flowing.

Yummmmm! Shwaaarmaaa!

It should also be noted that audiences should stay through the full credits as there are TWO different post-credit scenes. Spoiler Alert (skip this paragraph if you have not seen the film but stay post-credits). The first reveals the true villain in the film in a very interesting scene as The Other talks to his true master.  Evidence clearly points to Thanos as the villain based on The Other’s comment that attacking Earth now would “Court Death” which is a double meaning for anyone who understands Thanos’ obsession with the female personification of Death. Additionally, after the full credits there is a really fun scene involving Shwarma!

Overall, this film is a must see.  Clearly the best Marvel film in the past decade, The Avengers is funny, exciting, energizing and most importantly re-watchable.  This re-watch-ability is essential as we wait eagerly for the sequel.

Rating: 9 – An expensive red wine and juicy steak that someone else is paying for and where you don’t have to put out