Movie does not live up to hype,wasted opportunity

Rating: 2/10 (3 May 2012)

I think this movie was made for 16-year-olds who've never heard of the word "hegemony". Who just want Hulk to rescue Iron Man without understanding what motivates his change of heart towards Tony Stark or who see nothing wrong with shots concentrating on Scarlett Johansson's butt and don't understand the inner conflict of the characters.
The film tries to use humour and action sequences to gloss over poor story development, poor character choices and action sequences that really don't propel the story or characters forward but that seem to happen for their own sake.
On the plus side, there are some very clever, witty lines especially from Tony Stark but they're a wasted opportunity to explore Thor and Loki's relationship more, which was set up so well in the Thor movie.
Unfortunately the movie is full of so many clichés that you see them coming a mile away. There's also a lot of cringeworthy dialogue trying to sound profound - if that's not bad enough, the film has no heart. Something that the 1st Iron Man and Thor movie had in spades.
There was a clear arch with the characters - we knew what their pain is and what they needed to get by the end of the film. The Avengers in this movie are paper cut-outs with no depth.
They're almost parodies of themselves and this is very obvious with Hulk vs Bruce Banner, which is a pity because the animated series on SABC 3 currently shows how interesting the character dynamics can be without sacrificing what makes each character tick.
Here I didn't feel anything for the characters, I didn't care whether they live or die or get anything new that we haven't seen in their past incarnation. Instead I was bombarded by dumb 1980's drivel about how we need big brother America and "Right is might mentality" ... ja nee ... actually the film is more about how America sees itself and what it thinks. A not-so-subtle indoctrination into why we need "Team America World Police" this time in form of the Avengers.
It's a pity that a movie with no proper character development, a story with no build (it's actually a throwback to a time were escapist films were far removed to anything resembling peoples lives, values or a smart comment on our times) will make millions until people realize that the emperor is naked like they did with Spiderman 3.
Well, if you want a movie where you will check out your brain at the door and watch things explode, then this movie is for you. If you want to laugh in short bursts in between, then this movie is for you but if you want an action movie that will move you, I suggest your rent Iron Man 1 and Thor instead.