A Mega-Blockbuster Conglomeration of Marvel Superheroes!

Rating: 10/10 (21 April 2015)

The Avengers is a clean-burning, six-cylinder entertainment - a wall-to-wall action bonanza, executed with a fluid coherence. It laughs in the face of expectation and instead sets its own bar that all blockbusters need to follow.
Following on from the first Thor flick, the demi-god's evil brother Loki (a deliciously fiendish Tom Hiddleston) is intent on subjugating humanity with the help of an all-powerful energy cube that'll allow him to bring his alien armies to Earth. Trouble starts when this glowing cube of untold power called the Tesseract is appropriated by Loki, who with a nudge from his magic assegai brain-zaps a snap marksman Hawkeye (a competent Jeremy Renner) and a top scientist into his evil scheme of world domination. All that stands in his way is Nick Fury (the ever reliable Samuel Jackson), the head of the covert peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D. who sets about uniting the world's superheroes to avert the threat, rounding up our titular team - Iron Man (a hilarious Robert Downey Jr.), The Hulk (a subversively charming Mark Ruffalo), Thor (the charismatic Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (a sincere turn by Chris Evans) and Black Widow (the sexy but earnest Scarlett Johansson) – hoping they will be greater than the sum of their parts. Problem is, they're a dysfunctional outfit, with differences of opinion and troubled pasts, and one of them is a gigantic, green loose cannon. Now, with a global catastrophe looming, they must subsume individual will to the collective good. But Loki isn't called 'the god of mischief' for nothing! Before Fury's new super team can find its balance, Loki is in their heads sowing seeds of doubt, distrust, anger and conflict. Can earth's mightiest heroes put their differences aside in time to protect the planet – or is their coming together an even bigger threat than Loki himself?
The Avengers doesn't buckle under the weight of its gargantuan expectations and overflowing cast, largely because of Joss Whedon. He weaves all of the powder-keg moments into a story that is meaningful and always makes sense. The point in The Avengers is to bring six separate characters together as a team without sacrificing their individuality and by extension their value as solo franchises and Whedon does an excellent job of keeping the disparate personalities of his protagonists in play. Whedon's script sparks up the exposition with some sparkling dialogue, high stakes and balls- to-the-wall action spectacle. If you don't believe me, check out the thrilling alien-bashing finale on the streets of Manhattan - it is a pure fan boy wet-dream.
Smart, funny, pulsating and surprisingly cathartic, Joss Whedon succeeds in appeasing its core fanbase. From ambition to scale to the way it justly balances each remarkable character, The Avengers is utterly stimulating, satisfyingly scripted and damn right faultless big screen entertainment. The Avengers make us do something increasingly rare in these over-franchised times - root for a sequel. Go smash!