Unprecedented piece of cinematography. Made my inner geek very happy.

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2013)

The Avengers (Avengers Assemble in UK and Ireland) pits together the protagonists of Marvel's properties Iron Man (Downey Jr.), Captain America (Evans), Thor (Hemsworth) and The Hulk (Ruffalo) in an optimistic, never-before-seen (or attempted) ensemble. The reasoning behind this get together? The god of mischief (Hiddleston) has set his sights on Earth with an extraterrestrial army at his disposal and Earth's peacekeeping organisation S.H.I.E.L.D simply can't contain the situation without major help. Why did it take 50 years for this film to be made?
The film starts with the threat, Loki gathering his army from an unknown benefactor and readying himself to once and for all take his brother down, oh and to conquer our little blue planet. Nick Fury (Jackson) doesn't like this, not one bit. *Important side note* The interesting thing about The Avengers, and part of the reason it's so successful, is that it's part of a much bigger story, this is correctly referred to as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It has five (yes five!) prequels that lead up to The Avengers. This has made us love the characters before we've even seen the in a group dynamic. *Back on track* Being the director of the world's most secretive and powerful organisation, he has contacts. Each of these being super-powered (well not all of them) heroes that come in all shapes and sizes. Being a huge comic book fan, just seeing these guys in the same room gave me goose bumps. S.H.I.E.L.D's top agents Black Widow (Johansson) and Hawkeye (Renner)come along to join the fight to (only for one of them to be turned into a bad guy, kill loads of his colleagues and give the bad guy the object he was earlier hiding from the forces of evil).
Delaying the 'assembley' Stark's selfishness and arrogance annoys and pushes apart everyone, maybe even more than Loki does? Cap's goody goody old-fashioned-ness doesn't impress anyone except Coulson (Gregg). Thor's sleeveless, point-break appearance is nowhere near as impressive as it is in his own film. Black Widow and Hawkeye's vague yet uninteresting relationship bores the hell out of you. And The Hulk? The Hulk is the best thing about this film. When I heard that Mark Ruffalo was cast as Bruce Banner I was a little skeptical to say the least. The Incredible Hulk was okay and I do quite like Edward Norton however I seemed to like Norton a lot more when I heard Ruffalo got the hand-me-down part. Let's just say I was prepared for the worst, another re-casting. However, his performance was absolutely perfect as the nervous (as for a good reason) brilliant scientist, Bruce Banner. You can see that the Hulk has turned him into a ever so slightly bitter man, especially when you have Tony Stark poking you with sharp objects, trying to get you to hulk-out! As Banner you can't help but feel for him but as the Hulk you can't help but laugh at his humour. Other actors whose performance deserves a mention: Tom Hiddleston, a cold, calculating and interesting villain, Clark Gregg, fan favourite Coulson, Robert Downey Jr. oh, he does play well with others! Who knew?
The chemistry of these fine actors is bliss to watch when they finally come together. The story is great. The vision of geek-favourite director Joss Whedon is a pleasure to witness. This is what I say to those who said this film is too overcrowded..it's not crowded enough.
With 6 future films announced and well under-way, this optimistic yet fascinating story is no where near ending and being a comic book fan, I'm hugely proud to be a part of it. The Avengers is a brilliant flick for everyone. Now, I'm off to watch it again.
Pros The Tony/Bruce bromance The natural feel of the group dynamic The little easter eggs for those who were really watching 'Hulk...smash'
Cons Not once did anyone say 'Avengers Assemble!'!!!!!! Thor's helmet looked awesome in his solo movie, where is it?! Same for Cap's uniform. The First Avenger's combat-influenced outfit is miles better The way all the Chitauri died Phantom Menace style Banner's sudden control over his anger (although it was a sweet scene)
Recommendations for further enjoyment Watch all of the MCU films in order, research all of their easter eggs if you can't find the all. And then finally, watch Avengers again, I guarantee you'll enjoy it even more the second time.