Isn't it great when a film not only lives up to the hype, but surpasses it!?!?!

Rating: 10/10 (6 May 2012)

Man, what a ride! And I am not just talking about this movie itself, but the entire journey it took getting here! Ever since Iron Man in 2008, The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a blast, with, addition to Iron Man, we also had The Incredible Hulk(2008),Iron Man 2(2010), and last year's two heavy hitters Thor and Captain America:The First Avenger. Now, it all comes to a head in Marvel's The Avengers, in what is, in short, the best comic book film since The Dark Knight!!!!!!!! The plot is mostly centered around Loki(Tom Hiddleston), who is, after being sucked into the black hole at the end of Thor,coming to Earth after finding a way into our realm. S.H.I.E.L.D has been using the tesseract(the weapon Red Skull used in Captain America)for experiments, and Loki uses this as a way to come to Earth. Using a staff that can cross dimensions, given to him by his new army,the Chitauri(an evil alien race),Loki has a master plan to unleash his army upon the world, and when all has settled, Loki will be declared humanity's new king.
In response to this act of war, Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D(Samuel L. Jackson), decides to restart the Avenger program. Recruiting Iron Man/Tony Stark(Robert Downey, Jr.), Steve Rogers/Captain America(Chris Evans) and Bruce Banner/The Hulk(Mark Ruffalo), along with Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow(Scarlett Johansson), they begin to put a stop to Loki's evil plan. Eventually,Loki's "brother" Thor(Chris Hemsworth)shows up, with an intent to take Loki back to Asgard.
Loki is not making it easy, however, as he has converted a number of S.H.I.E.L.D members to his side, including Dr. Eric Selvig(Stellan Skarsguard), a scientist who is designing the portal to let Loki's army through, and Clint Barton/Hawkeye(Jeremy Renner),a brilliant marksman and one of Black Widow's closest allies. In order to stop this grave threat, differences must be set aside, difficult choices must be made, and a team will have to come together in stop Loki and the Chitauri army.
Avengers Assemble, indeed! For anyone worrying that this wouldn't be the definitive payoff to four years and five films of anticipation can put those fears to rest, because this was..............INCREDIBLE! There are so many things to discuss and give praise for in this movie, so let's start at the beginning.
First off, the cast is brilliant,with everybody giving a incredible performance. Tony Stark is my favorite character in all of these films, and RDJ is as great as ever! So dry humored and sarcastic, yet so heroic and likable. Chris Evans builds on an already good performance, making Cap even better this time around. Always thought Hemsworth was terrific as Thor, and he still owned the role here! Can't wait to see him again. Scarlett was very good as Widow, and had great chemistry with the rest of the cast. Jeremy Renner is good as Haweye, but is easily the least fleshed out of the characters. Still, likable and has some good moments. Loki is back, and Hiddleston shines again. If he was heart-wrenching and tragic in Thor, he is scary and menacing here, yet still giving some insight into his pain.
The big surprise here is Ruffalo as Banner. I think he was the one that most were skeptical about, as he wasn't carried over for the previous films. However, color me impressed. Ruffalo is fantastic as Banner, having great chemistry with the cast, giving Banner enough a soul so we care for him, and when he is the Hulk(using motion capture and CGI), he has some great, audience cheering moments. All the rest of the cast give great performances,including Skarsguard, Gwnyeth Paltrow as Pepper from Iron Man 1 and 2, and of course Mr. Jackson as Fury.
The action scenes were phenomenal. Marvel's own movies aren't exactly known for the action scenes,and as much as I liked the action in those movies,particularly Iron Man 2,Thor, and Incredible Hulk,the action is fantastic,and easily the best action scenes in any superhero movie ever! The script is well-written and full of action. A lot of people have commented that the film looks like the action scenes from the Transformers movies. But I think something must be said here:the action is far better than in those movies. The characters are actually flesh and blood, which grounds it much more in reality, and puts far more at stake. They may have superhuman skills, but they are still human.Can't say that for the Transformers movies.Plus, the characters are played as intelligent, heroic and full of personality, unlike the characters in those films.
All in all, this deserves accolade upon accolade. Kudos to Joss Whedon,the cast and crew of this and the other five films,and Marvel for making this a reality! Can't wait to watch them all one day in one long marathon! In short(ironic,considering this was a LONG review)although Batman will still rule the summer,for now, MAKE MINE MARVEL!