Whedon's explosive comic-com' smashes the bullseye...

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2012)

Consider the wit, brawn and pulse-pounding balls of both Iron Man movies and the spectacular Thor. Now consider the flaws and failings of Captain America, Fury and two incredibly average Hulk flicks. What are you left with? A question: where exactly was in-form writer/director Joss Whedon's Avengers Assemble actually going to go? Down the pan? Or through the roof? Well, guess what? He's only gone and pulled it off.
Ever since that teasing Nick Fury advent at the end of the first Iron Man, fans and filmgoers alike have been seeing-out the end credits of all subsequent Marvel flicks in hope of something (anything). What they got was everything. All signs pointed to an assemble, all roads lead to an Avengers movie. 5 years in the making? Try 50 for any Marvel mogul worth their salt will tell you a film's been coming since the early 1960's.
And here it is: 4 big-buck franchises rolled into one: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk. Robert Downey-Junior, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans and...Mark Ruffolo?! Ed Norton obviously didn't fancy this one but fear not, Hulk nuts, Ruffolo's twitchy turn makes for the best Banner yet. Anyway, throw these four in a room together and you're guaranteed two things; friction and fun. Our heroes square up, square off but in the end...well you can guess where it goes. The story? SHIELD head Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) enlists the fickle four along with Black Widow (Scarlet Johanson) to help save the world from Thor's bad brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Zero points for innovation, then. But if you thought Tony Stark suiting-up for the first-time was the coolest thing you've ever seen. Think again.
Skilled sci-fi pen-cum-director Joss Whedon has well and truly arrived with this dizzyingly brilliant blockbuster that's more than the sum of it's fluctuating parts. Believe the hype, Avengers Assemble is a cast-iron hit. It's incredible. It's thunderous. It's furious, beaming, biting and marvellous. But enough puns, let's get down to business.
Whedon has approached this four-way fusion in the right way: a strong and balanced emphasis on plot, dialogue and visuals, character development and chemistry. Too many cooks? Hell no. The big-name players work so well with one another it's actually surprising. The sheer sum and sense of one-liners and put-downs are just as memorable as the brutal, in-house beat-downs. Which is saying something when you consider scenes pitting Iron Man and Hulk against Thor are enough to send an entire generation of comic-book geeks into cardiac arrest.
Downey-Junior's effortlessly cool turn on the sarci' Stark was always going to be the main lure, here, but to say he outshines his peers would be wrong. It's not all about the billionaire ball-buster. Everyone gets their 15 minutes. Both Hemsworth and Ruffolo (in particular) are bang on. Even the out-of-touch Cap' chips in with a few big, cheesy shots and Hiddleston's creepy demigod makes for a sharp villain.
Granted, Whedon's tongue-in-cheek ethos and slapstick-like approach means the Avengers was never going to measure up to any of Nolan's Batman films. How many comic-book films (or films, in general) do!? Which is why there's not much point even trying to compare this breath-snatching Marvel muster to Nolan's Dark Knight rebirth. It's a kick-ass popcorn movie for young and old. Nothing more.
That said, this hulking 142 minute feature is a stimulating affair with a freehold on the brash and the flash and the down-right hilarious. It's an absolute blast. Wildly entertaining, ridiculously awesome, the Avengers' is everything it should be: over-the-top, funny, cool, funny, loud, exciting, electric and did I mention funny!?
Best comic book movie ever? No. Best Marvel production ever? Yeeeeee...no. X-Men: First Class still has that one tied-up but for such a question to prompt a pause for thought says an awful lot. Whedon's Assemble may not be the best superhero film out there but it is the funniest and probably the most entertaining. Definitely the coolest.
Sure, there may be a limit to how many times you can watch superheroes kick the crap out of one and all. But you won't mind too much. Popcorn cinema doesn't get much better than this. Joss Whedon and co. have kicked this year's comic-book-busters off with a bang. Expect sequels.