A Perfectly Crafted Super Hero Movie

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 2012)

So they all come together to fight a battle they cannot fight on their own. They don't exactly get along or have much appreciation for each other to begin with, but this is what makes this film work. This has been a long time lead up, starting back in 2008 with Iron Man and then ever so slightly linking each of these individual films together. It has been a hugely lucrative series for Marvel, sometimes good and other times not so good, it has all been leading to this point.
For me, the picks out of these previous films are Iron Man and Thor, with The Hulk behind that and then right at the bottom, Captain America. Iron Man was fantastically fun with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr.), the larger than life character who has it all. He is smart, witty, funny and extremely like able and loves what most boys do, his toys. With a great visionary director in Jon Favreau at the helm both the Iron Man films were extremely enjoyable. Thor, had a great cast in Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hiddleston. Kenneth Branagh really captured the fun and excitement of the story. The second attempt at The Hulk was quite good, but Norton, as much as I love him was not quite the right choice. The CGI Hulk was never really there yet and always felt very animated and never part of the furniture. Captain American, as a movie didn't work for me. There was not enough about him to keep me interested, not enough fun had. I love Chris Evans and thought he was the right choice, but with a fairly dull script and a much too serious approach, I was quite bored by the end.
Now the question was always going to be, can they work as a group? With the much needed change of Bruce Bana to Mark Rufallo, and a few additional characters thrown in, the answer is a gigantic yes! Joss Wheddon does an amazing job of keeping a huge number of characters in tune. It is always the toughest element in story telling and here it really had a huge potential of being jumbled and disjointed. It is none of the above and on the contrary it is, in its entirety, exceptionally well balanced. The banter between the characters is priceless and gives the film a consistent flow and usually arises in what would normally be fairly dull background scenes. Everyone is extremely good, but the newcomer Mark Rufallo shines as Bruce Bana and 'the other guy'. The special effects for The Hulk are incredible and they have finally got him pretty much perfectly moulded into his surroundings. With the CGI sorted and the right actor behind the green monster, he seriously works and almost steels the show. Not quite, but he certainly steels any scenes he is in. Downey Jnr. as Stark is his usual witty, charming self and sets the banter off with great timing and finesse. Newcomers to the series in Black Widow played by the luscious Scarlett Johansson and Hawkeye played by the always solid Jeremy Renner are both commendable additions and both fit in marvelously. Tom Hiddleston as Loku, the villain of this story, plays his part impeccably well and deserves much praise and respect for this outing.
The special effects are superb and the fight scenes are tremendous. Joss Whedon has definitely shown he is an avid comic book fan himself. He shows that he is not afraid to have fun with his material, and this really is the whole point. Where Chistopher Nolan has brilliantly turned Batman into a dark knight, Whedon constantly lightens the mood, which really is the only way this type of ensemble film could work. There is never a dull moment as the pace of the film is constant and this makes for a hugely entertaining film in ever way. This really is a perfectly made comic book adaptation.
Smart, witty, funny, and hugely entertaining! This action packed joyride is brimming with different personalities, huge egos and awesome super powers. They work together perfectly in this marvel from Marvel! Go Joss!! filmnotion.com