Avengers Assemble!

Rating: 9/10 (3 April 2014)

The Avengers has it all. And then some. Six superheroes for the price of one ticket: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Hulk. It's also the blockbuster I saw in my head when I imagined a movie that brought together the idols of the Marvel world in one shiny, stupendously exciting package. Joss Whedon, in his second film that he's directed, stages the most exultantly good-humored, head-on, rousing series, as well as some interesting character interactions and development between our heroes.
The plot works in a simple way. The world will end if Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the banished demigod, has his way. Loki hates his brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and lusts to destroy Earth with help from an alien army. As head of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has one recourse: bring in the Avengers, a group of paragons with a rep for not playing well with others.
Robert Downey Jr. still seems blissfully right as Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man (there's a disarming tickle in his portrayal). He mocks the costume of Captain America (a canny Chris Evans) and calls the World War II hero an "old man." The captain wonders what's under that iron suit, sparking a priceless Downey deadpan: "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."
But Downey doesn't hog the spotlight. Hemsworth's giant-size Thor gets big laughs dismissing his comrades in arms ("You're all so tiny"). And everyone gets to show their skill sets, including Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), the expert arch­er, and Natasha, a.k.a. the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), a killer in gymnastics and martial arts. Johansson has a terrific bit dispatching some Russian goons with her hands literally tied behind her back. Even Phil Coulson has a few moments here and there that really shine in the film.
Mark Ruffalo is the newcomer to the team, replacing Edward Norton and Eric Bana as Bruce Banner, the nuclear physicist with anger issues that turn him into a hulking green rage machine. While I did like Bana and Norton as Bruce Banner, in my opinion, Ruffalo is the best Hulk. The reason for that is because he really plays the character like someone who's gone to Hell and back again on a daily basis. And that is how the character should be played: as someone who is cursed with this power. The computerized unjolly green giant is a jumbo scene-stealer. And it's hard not to cheer when Hulk wipes up the floor with Loki.
Fanboys, here my roar: this film is awesome. The first two acts are built up for character interaction and revelations, while in the final third, when Whedon lets it rip and turns the battle intensity up to 11, all your senses will be blown. I have one word for The Avengers: AWESOMETACULAR!