Despite Minor Setbacks, Avengers is Tons of Fun

Rating: 8/10 (13 May 2012)

The Avengers is the long awaited superhero blockbuster that has become a living wet dream for all the Marvel fanboys (and fangirls). Now basically Hollywood made this movie for two reasons which goes as follows: 1) To have a mesmerizing and memorable set piece at the end, capitalizing on the latest special effects and bring all the comic book characters to life And.. 2)To make a godly amount of money And they've succeeded on both levels, breaking box office records and creating a finale so engrossing and entertaining it was nothing short of awesome. To see Iron Man fighting alongside Captain America while the camera pans to The Hulk raising hell, I could feel the hair on my arms raising. On this level, the film worked really well. But the first half..ehhfelt a little shaky. Now I should note that I have not ready any of the comics, nor do I know much about the Marvel universe, so I'll try my best to not seem completely ignorant. The first half was decent enough, but it definitely could have been improved (or made more exciting). All the stuff about getting the team together maybe dragged on a bit too much, and the movie didn't explain itself very well from the get go. Now maybe that's because I haven't read any of the comics, but I really think that they should have explained things a little more clearer. But this is a superhero movie, so it honestly doesn't really matter. In fact, I predicted how this movie would end before I sat down in the theater. But that doesn't matter either, the only thing that does matter is that it has the comic book characters that everyone has grown to know (and possibly love?) and that it has a lot of incredibly cool action scenes. But more on that later. The film was really good on an acting level. Some of my favorite scenes in the movie were just the characters interacting with one another. Robert Downey Jr played Robert Downey Jr and plays it perfectly. Chris Evans did well as the patriotic, out of time Captain America. Mark Ruffalo was particularly good as Bruce Banner/Hulk, although he didn't get nearly as much screen time as I would have liked. Samuel L Jackson played Rick Fury, and he definitely wasn't as Samuel L Jackson as he should have been, with the exception being his line, "Well it's a stupid ass decision." Jeremy Renner played Hawkeye, and I'm pretty sure that the screenwriters forgot about this character completely, and wrote him in at the last minute because Hawkeye really doesn't do anything. I like Jeremey Renner, but I feel like his was awfully miscasted in this movie. Scarlett Johansson was there to look super sexy in that black leather, but I'm still wondering why a vulnerable, attractive Russian spy is doing in a superhero team, when she doesn't have superpowers. But once again, what do I know? Tom Hiddleston plays the main villain Loki, and is without a doubt the standout role, with an amazing performance and a memorable character design, he's an actor that I'm looking forward to see in the future. And then there's Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Now I don't like this actor. I don't like Thor's character. I have no interest to see his movie and I have so many questions that I won't even bother starting. So on to the next topic, which would be the script. It's a fine script. Joss Whedon is a fine screenwriter. But if there was one thing that I had to (and will) comment on, it would be that there were FAR too many corny one liners. Some of them were funny. Most of them were stupid. The end result is that I can't even bring up any examples of the good jokes because they were buried under all the bad ones. The only person who needs to be making snappy one liners is Tony Stark, because he's an arrogant smart ass. But that's just my opinion. The script did make me laugh more times that I would have thought. And then there's the music. It was..music. Nothing standout here. I guess the other thing that I'd have to mention is the way that it's shot and edited. Sometimes it was a little jarring, it felt like they took and mashed techniques from Iron Man and Thor and Captain America, and it just ends up looking a little wonky. It never took me out of my movie experience, but every now and then the camera would tilt or reverse or the dreaded shaky cam techniques would be used, and I feel (much like the story) that it could have been a little cleaner and fluid. And now I'm done complaining. None of these things matter. Like I said, the only thing that matters is the action. And the action looks great and it's a lot of fun to watch. I barely felt it's two and a half hour running time, it was enjoyable and entertaining and even made me laugh a few times. The reveal shot of Loki in the beginning was particularly funny (although I seemed to be the only person in the theater who laughed). It even has Stan Lee in a little guest appearance towards the end. So the movie wasn't perfect, but nowadays what is? If you expect it to live up to the hype then you're going to be disappointed. But if you're looking to watch some good special effects, good fighting evil, snappy one liners and something to just turn your brain off to and shovel popcorn into your face, then this is the perfect movie. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it highly.