A true landmark in both the history of the superhero genre and film in general

Rating: 10/10 (12 September 2016)

Back in 2008, before Nick Fury told Tony Stark that he wanted to talk about the 'Avengers Initiative' during the post-credits scene in 'Iron Man', no one had ever expected that Marvel Studios would be able to do a film adaptation of 'The Avengers'. Nothing like it had ever been done before... and yet, they made it work. They took their time, establishing its heroes in solo films in order for them to become endearing characters. And then, they came together for a superhero epic unlike any other at the time... Joss Whedon's 'The Avengers'.
Whedon, known for his snappy dialogue and credibility in geek culture, gives this film so much in terms of humor and epic character moments that feel like they came straight out of the comics. It may be a large cast but Whedon gives each member of the main team (yes, even Hawkeye) enough to do within the context of the story. They work off each other extremely well, which results in some truly epic and in some cases hilarious moments (e.g. when Hulk completely decimates Loki).
Now sure, admittedly the plot for this film is pretty darn basic; a bad guy tries to take over the world and the Avengers team up to stop him. It really isn't much more than that. And yet in this case, that's not that big of an issue. 'The Avengers' still stands as one of the most important films in the superhero genre. Not only was it a film that very much lived up to the hype that came from all of the build-up in previous films but it was pretty much the one that truly established Marvel Studios as the kings of the superhero genre.