If you don't even remotely enjoy this movie, there's "some assembly required" on your brain

Rating: 10/10 (6 May 2012)

My inner child is something I value most, and that inner child remembers my days of being a little kid and playing with my Iron Man and Captain America toys, as well as wishing I was the Incredible Hulk. I also remember watching the Hulk cartoons and begging my parents to get me the latest issue of of the next Captain America comic books. So as you can tell, I'm a comic books have played a huge role in my childhood, and that being said, it was with great excitement that I awaited The Avengers. Having seen all the Avengers movies until then and owning them all on blu-ray, I remember even watching them all up until Thursday May 3rd, which was when the midnight premiere took place. My buddy and I even wore Iron Man masks to the screening.
I'm most happy to report, to say The Avengers did not disappoint is an unforgivable understatement. It may just be the best comic book movie I've ever seen. It shines dozens of lamps on The Dark Knight and it makes the previous Avengers movies (even Thor, which I loved despite not having been familiar with the Thor mythos before seeing it) look like the Fantastic Four movies.
Everything about this movie was pitch perfect. Starting with the script. Joss Whedon had penned the script and it's obvious he has done his homework on not just the mythos and everything else in the world of The Avengers, but also what the audience loves about the heroes and expects from a movie about The Avengers. Everyone was given a sense of humour and played their cards right- Tony Stark was his usual lovable jerk self, and had his typical attitude problems that were hard not to love. He was given a great amount of action as well and the scene near the end where he pushes the nuclear bomb into the portal was purely beautiful intensity. Captain America was his usual kickass self, and every one of his action scenes were hard to not love. Thor was hilarious as well and his scenes with Loki were just amazing. Particularly the scene near the end on Stark tower where he forces Loki to watch the mayhem going on in the city and asks "Is this what you want?". Aso, FINALLY the Hulk has had justice done. He's given a sense of humour, which the other movies absolutely failed on. I'm happy to report the movie did not fail there. And who can forget the dialogue? Classic Avengers dialogs, down to the last inch. "We need a plan of attack!" "I have a plan. Attack." and "WhTs the matter, not fond of thunder and lightning?" "I don't like what comes after."
The characterization is really what counts here too. Obviously if you're going to a movie called The Avengers for a character study you're going to the wrong movie (and you need to lay off the artsy movies too, as they're clearly doing serious stuff to your brain), but for the type of movie it is, it's done supremely well. Each character is unique in their own right- I've already mentioned the eponymous superheroes, but Black Widow is one sexy and fun character that's hard not to love. Her action scenes are just incredible and her backstory, while thankfully kept to a minimum is interesting as hell. Hawkeye is stone cold and scary in the first half when possessed by Loki, then is cool and badass near the end when he resides to kick some Loki butt.
The movie is also one of the funniest movies I've ever seen thanks to lots of clever, Whedonian humour and appropriately placed Comic book style exaggeration. The scene where Hulk smashes Loki around like a rag doll made me laugh harder than anything in 21 Jump Street and any other comedy this year. And the scene where Hulk sucker punches Thor!
The performances are amazing as well. Pure commitment from all involved, with Downey Jr., Evans and Hemsworth, as well as Johannson, Smulders, Jackson, Hiddleston and Renner giving amazing performances all, but Ruffalo is the real surprise here. He brought something new to the table here as Hulk- every line he spoke sounded like he was trying hard to hold back his inner monster and boy was it chilling. His monologue about how he tried committing suicide was delivered very chillingly beautifully. He was the biggest surprise and got everything about the Hulk perfect. Props to Ruffalo for FINALLY getting The Hulk exactly right!!!
I'm going to conclude my review with one more little piece of praise. Whedon is my favourite TV writer And he's managed to make me proud to be a comic book nerd. Justice was done to the best superheroes ever and I can tell superhero movies are going to not be the same ever again. A big thanks to Ll involved for the commitment and true dedication to making this movie possible, and the great success it was. I've seen this movie twice already and I can't wait to see it again and again. Now I've only got two more words to say: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!