The Avengers Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man
Chris Evans as Captain America
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk
Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye

Plot: With the world in danger of being taken over by Norse god Loki, Nick Fury must assemble Earth's mightiest heroes to stop Loki.

Review: 4 years in the making, The Avengers has finally hit theaters. I can't tell you how great that first statement makes me feel, really makes me think back to the first Iron Man movie back in 2008 and watching the end credits with Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Fury, talking about the "Avengers initiative". Over the years watching all the other Marvel films, preparing for this eventual massive release, it's somewhat surreal to watch. 

With all that nostalgia out the way, let's get down to business. As a fanboy (yes a fanboy, those still exist) of Marvel, i'm going to biased in pretty much everything I say. Doesn't mean i'm not going to present any factual evidence, i'm just saying, i'm a fanboy. Allow me to put all my cards on the table: The Avengers is the best Marvel movie created, and is arguably the best superhero movie made. It's up there with Superman (1978), X2: X-Men United and The Dark Knight.

There are a lot of things that makes this movie so great, but most notably is the casting. As I was watching the film I constantly thought to myself, there really is anyone out of place, each character could not have been played better. Robert Downey JR. and Chris Hemsworth are the perfect Iron Man and Thor. Ruffalo, Evans, Johansson, Jackson and Renner play their parts very well and honestly, Tom Hiddleston is the perfect Loki. The banter created amongst the group is done naturally and doesn't seem too artificial.

One thing this movie does not lack is action. It's as action packed as anything I've honestly seen. The movie being 2 hours and 23 minutes long, the action to "regular" scene ratio certainly tilts more towards action. Some may call it mindless action, but honestly every action scene has a purpose. You get to see each famous character in battle, in both good and bad situations, explosions, hand to hand combat, shooting, the whole arsenal really.

On top of all that action, we also see a lot of humor. Obviously (if you know anything about certain characters within the Marvel Universe) Iron Man is always throwing witty, ingenious comments around at others and even The Hulk gets in on a lot of the humorous parts. In fact, he probably has the 2 funniest moments in the film.

The 2nd to last thing i'd like to touch on is the character progression. There are lot of personalities clashing in The Avengers. Captain America and Iron Man clash a lot due to very obvious different ways of life. Thor clashes with Cap and Iron Man for the exact same reason. Hulk (or really Bruce Banner) clashes with Nick Fury and Black Widow for espionage-like ways. A lot of this takes up the first half of the film and leads to some badass fights. Of course, once they get down to business, you get to see some more badass fights against the actual enemy, Loki. In fact, if i'm not mistaken, each character has his own sequence fighting Loki, which makes everything 10x as badass.

I guess the only knock on Avengers is story wise it's not Marvels strongest outing. Everything clicks and makes sense, and has a heartfelt moment, but there isn't much depth to it. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not a strong point for the film.

Lastly, if you can, go see the movie in IMAX. Everything is enhanced in IMAX and it holds true here. 3D isn't necessary, though I don't think it completely hurts the film.

All in all, The Avengers was the best experience i've had watching a movie. Fanboy/girl or not, it can be enjoyed by all ages. Marvel has truly provided a great Avengers film. With a definite sequel on the way (and that's not a spoiler) and many solo films from most of the Avenger characters coming, there is so much to look forward to.

Please stay for the credits. Don't leave until the very, very, very end.

Rating: 5 out of 5