Loud fun

Rating: 7/10 (18 May 2012)

Big, bombastic comic book movie about a bunch of Marvel Comics characters teaming up to defeat alien invaders. Four of the original Avengers are joined by two other Marvel heroes, Hawkeye (Renner) and Black Widow (Johanssen). For the most part, all are properly costumed (unlike X-MEN) and fit their roles admirably. Hulk continues to stand out like a sore thumb as he remains strictly a CGI creation, but mercifully we see little of him until well into the second half. The actor playing the hunted, tortured Bruce Banner (Ruffalo) easily turns in the film's strongest performance.The two additions to the original roster, the Widow and Hawkeye,are without superpowers, but are just as effective when push comes to shove. Director Whedon of SERENITY fame paces the film extremely well, so that we're not overdosed with video game-like CGI until the big finale. There's plenty of character development for a two-hour comic book movie. There's also plenty of humor, and the punchlines come and go faster than Thor (Hemsworth) can twirl his hammer. The film also boasts a villain worthy of the gang: Thor's half-brother Loki (Hiddleston). That actor has by far the silliest lines to deliver, mainly to do with he conquest of Earth and the subjugation of the human race, yet manages to make them sound convincing enough. He also knows when to play it for laughs courtesy of Whedon's sharp direction. While Downey as Iron Man may be out-acted by Ruffalo, his character is the glue that binds, even though Capt. America (Evans) is the Avengers' leader. Without Downey's quirky Tony Stark, there would be no AVENGERS movie. Sam Jackson makes his third film appearance as Nick Fury, agent of SHIELD, although I'm not clear on why he was dressed for a MATRIX movie. AVENGERS is worth a look, even if you're not a comic book fan. You can always skip the big battle at the end, which is straight out of a video game. Funny thing: Whedon reveals the villain who will appear in the sequel, following the credits. This villain makes Loki look like a circus clown.