The Avengers like someone on Twitter said, is the 'Star wars V (or was it VI?) of our generation'

Rating: 9/10 (11 June 2012)

Two weeks after everyone else saw 'The Avengers', I finally got around to watching the film last week. A lot has already been told about it by the gazillions of reviews on the internet today. This review will get lost among all that noise so I chose to keep it short and simple.
Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) brings together a group of superheroes i.e. Iron Man () and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) along with SHIELD agents Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) to have a face off with a global threat posed by Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his army of Chitauri.
A run-off-the-mill story about the bad guy revealing himself in the first half by stealing something powerful; then the good guys get defeated in the first round to perform the knockout punch in the finale, with a post-credits scene promising a sequel. Where it stands apart is the brilliant execution on the part of director/writer Joss Whedon who not only manages to balance all the power packed characters into a dynamic package but creates what possibly could be the best adaption of a comic book into a superhero movie. He keeps the audience on the edge of the seat with intense action ranging from 'in your face' hand to hand combat and 'zipping around Manhattan' flying exploits.
Robert Downey Jr. when not suited up plays Tony Stark with immense amount of ease and charisma. Chris Evans seems out of place, which goes well with his lost in time character while Chris Hemsworth seemed a little underwhelming in comparison to his solo film act. Samuel L. Jackson had more breathing space with a lengthier role which was good to see while Tom Hiddleston as Loki was impressive as the outnumbered villain.
Mark Ruffalo was a refreshing change after the previous actors who played Bruce Banner, while the interpretation of Hulk was the perfect hurrah for this amazing comic character that's been long overdue. The respect it deserves on the big screen was a long time coming.
Scarlett Johansson sheds her 'Iron Man 2' eye candy role for something more in line with what you'd expect from the savvy spy - Black Widow. Unlike the trailers, Jeremy Renner had more to do than I expected which was pleasing and it would be great to see a film about the back story of Hawkeye and Scarlett Johansson's character.
Background score, screenplay, cinematography, costumes, CGI were all top notch. Not a chink in the armor. Support from Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders and Stellan Skarsgård was more than adequate without turning into cliché ridden monosyllabic characters that have plagued recent big budget films.
The Avengers like someone on Twitter said, is the 'Star wars V (or was it VI?) of our generation'. A must-watch in the theatre though you can skip the 3D glasses if you want because I doubt it would reduce the awesomeness that is the film.