Tons of fun

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2012)

This is it. This is what the nerd world has been waiting for for so long. Almost every Marvel movie since Iron Man has been alluding to this film and we've all been so anxiously awaiting the first assembly of the Avengers, Marvel's ultimate superhero alliance. The Avengers unites Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye, making them a superhero team of epic proportions all brought together by Nick Fury. The film tells the story of the forming of the Avengers as they are forced together in order to stop Loki, Thor's mischievous brother, from waging an intergalactic war on Earth. The ensuing battle is one that strives to be of epic proportions.
To say that The Avengers lived up to its hype would be giving it too much credit. To say it is a letdown would be too harsh. With the recent quality of superhero movies The Avengers was about as good as you could expect. It's a little simplistic, doesn't go too deep, yet it stands to be a hell of a lot of fun, and there's nothing wrong with that. After watching the slew of superhero movies that have come out in the last 3 or 4 years this is what we have been waiting for, and it essentially doesn't let us down. It's what we want to see when watching all these great superheroes come together to fight the forces of evil. The action is great and they dynamics between our diverse cast of heroes are excellent.
It is almost a requirement that you watch the previous Marvel movies to fully understand the relationships developing here, such as Loki's significance and why exactly he is after the Tesserac, an artifact that can open portals to different worlds. Yet, at the same time, there is a lot of undeveloped story for some of the other characters. Black Widow and Hawkeye are the two that most come to mind. Black Widow appeared multiple times in the Iron Man films and we got a feel for her there, but Hawkeye was only treated to about 30 seconds of screen time in Thor. Yet in The Avengers we have to assume a lot of information about his character, as we don't get to learn much about him. It almost feels as if there should have been a Hawkeye movie released before this one.
However, this Hawkeye dilemma highlights one aspect of the film that can be good for some and bad for others. There is a lot going on in this film and it has to move very fast, even for a two and a half hour film. This is the reason the story is kept fairly simple and the bulk of the film focuses on bringing together the film's ensemble and, of course, the action, which is nothing short of awesome. You can expect great explosions, awesome fights, and breathtaking CGI throughout the whole film and, while it is nothing exceptional, it makes The Avengers what it is, a summer blockbuster. The Avengers isn't the superhero film to end all superhero films, but it is certainly a lot of fun. There's no reason you shouldn't enjoy the film if you sit back and relax and watch the excitement unfold.