What DOES happen when Tony Stark, Thor and Capt. America are in a room together?

Rating: 10/10 (2 May 2012)

There are four films this year I am banking on being at the top of my list and Avengers Assemble was the lesser. My god 2012 going to be a good year for movies!
Marvel Studios colossal gamble in combining four of their major comic brands into one film was subject to feeling clustered and failing, yet having gotten each hero's back story and characteristics out of the way in previous films, Avengers can go all out. No brakes. "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) is teamed up with Doctor Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk) Steve Rogers (the super soldier Captain America) and Thor, the god of thunder, to protect the world from a hostile invasion led by Thor's brother Loki. They have to learn to put their personal demons aside and work together if they are to succeed!
Avengers Assemble is another landmark in cinema after Harry Potter; keeping firm continuity on a franchise makes it stronger. The actors already know their characters, the film's first act dips wonderfully into "character moments", one minute it is a new Iron Man film, then it is Thor's movie, Avengers simply revels in their clashing personalities, a geeky "what if Thor, Tony Stark and Captain America were in a room together?". I cannot stress the credit due to Joss Whedon, co-writer and director, he brought is A-game here; the wit and stinging dialogue is here in abundance. The cinema I was in was roaring with laughter at all the right points. There are several short signature fights, giving each hero and villain a chance to fight another, though this does not feel forced. Instead each battle feels unique, memorable and is certainly eye catching.
The film's heart and soul is with the superheroes, and while their personal demons are less defined here (for obvious reasons, there are six of them!) the battles they wage show them struggling, Marvel's ethos of "human superheroes" is not completely lost here. By the end, the heroes are quite worse for wear. Loki is the signature villain, and one should watch Thor (and Captain America) to fully appreciate what's at stake. The villains are pushed aside overall, but only for the excellent team-building theme the film is about anyway.
Definitely worth seeing, for the great dialogue alone, never mind the frantic and characterful battle sequences on top of it!