Great Movie

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2012)

Since Iron Man and the post-credits scene of The Incredible Hulk, we were infatuated with the idea of Earth's Mightiest Hero's assembling onto the big screen. As more Marvel movies featuring the members of The Avengers as main characters in their own self-titled movies were released, more hints towards an Avengers movie came out. Foreshadowing events such as Agent Phil Coulsen talking to Pepper Potts about S.H.I.E.L.D., or Captain America being found in the ice after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger. Such hints kept people in suspense until it was finally announced that there would be a Marvel's The Avengers movie.
The choice of Joss Whedon as director could not have been a better fit. Half of this movie is centered on the character interaction, and anybody who has followed shows such as Firefly or Buffy the Vampire Slayer knows that Whedon can exploit the dynamics of a team, as well as the volatile components that come with putting a group of people together with different attitudes and viewpoints. Scenes such as the arguments that members of The Avengers get into aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier are just as entertaining as when they are on the streets of New York fighting Loki and the Chitauri.
Part of the reason I feel that this movie was so successful is that Joss Whedon did not try and tie a stupid love story into it. Other than the established relationship between Black Widow and Hawkeye, there is no mushy love dynamic to the plot. This helps give more screen-time for things such as inter-colleague fighting, like that of Thor vs. The Hulk. The only flaws with this movie is the inevitable under use of a character, in this case, it is Hawkeye. With a film like this, the only way to keep it from being four hours long is to cut out some scenes with some characters. Looks like Jeremy Renner drew the short straw on this one, after only making a cameo appearance in Thor. Also, the plot of the movie is pretty cut-and-dry. Loki wants to take over Earth and The Avengers must stop him. There isn't really much else to it.
However, I find that the amount of awesomeness packed into the battle scenes of this movie more than make up for this. From the two on one fight of Captain America and Iron Man vs. Thor, which levels part of a forest, to the Hulk thrashing Loki around the room, the action in this movie keeps a grin on your face. Whedon knew which fights could be epic, and he made them epic. He also demonstrates some of the more subtle abilities of The Avengers such as Hulk catching the pilot trying to bail out of his jet (a nod to the Hulk's super reflexes) or Captain America using his gymnastic skills to move across the damaged helicarrier.
Joss Whedon has set the standard for the following Marvel movies, and the sequel hinted to at post-credits with Thanos and his evil grin. The bar is set high, and with movies such as Ant-Man and Captain America 2 coming out, it will be interesting to see where they take each members stories and set them up for the following Avengers movie.