The Avengers is a home run........

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2012)

First and foremost I must confess that I am not an authority on Marvel comics nor can I tell you whether or not Joss Whedon's adaptation holds true to the history behind each character. What I can tell you is that I am a super hero movie junkie. I am a sucker for enticing action sequences and if things get blown up along the way even better. In The Avengers you get that and so much more. The whit and humor behind each of these characters is spot on and I had no idea I would laugh so much in a movie such as this.
If each of the lead in movies such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America are base hits then The Avengers is a home run. While you don't necessarily need to have seen each of these movies to understand the basis behind The Avengers it certainly helps. You not only get an understanding as to the characters themselves but you already have a feel for the tension and teamwork to come. The only Avenger who does not have a plausible movie franchise built behind them is The Hulk. (I am in no way taking into account the deplorable 2003 and 2008 attempts at taking on the franchise).
One of my favorite roles in the previous movies as well as The Avengers was that of Agent Phil Coulson. To me he was the heart of the team. He unabashedly believed in "The Avenger Initiative" and with a straight face delivered some of the best lines in the movie. While mocked at times its Agents Coulson's death that ultimately brings the unwillingly Avengers together.
The first twenty to twenty five minutes of the movie are used as a set up letting us know that the Tesseract (an energy source) has been stolen by Loki (brother of Thor). Nick Fury, Agent Coulson and the Black Widow all disseminate to pull together the main players, Tony Stark, Captain America and Bruce Banner. With that the Avenger initiative is an initiative no more. In the remaining 114 minutes Thor joins the action as well as Hawkeye returns just as we and the team witness the afore mentioned death of Agent Coulson.
It's been noted that Paramount spent around $260 million dollars to make The Avengers. I have no idea what percentage of that went towards the salaries of the cast but it was worth every penny. Thanks to Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth we already have a connection to the respective characters that they embody. Add to that illustrious mix of Mark Ruffalo, Scarlet Johansson, Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Renner and you can see why I unabashedly love this movie. No amount of special effects can make up for a bad cast and thankfully in The Avengers we never have to worry about that.
Pulling together all of the essential elements from the cast, action sequences, movie score, and last but not least the writing Joss Whedon gives you the ultimate movie experience. I have watched this movie at least fifteen times and never bore of it. One would think that after a while the scenes would get methodical but I still get excited. (it helps that the score by Alan Silvestri sets the pace perfectly). Do yourself a favor and set aside a couple of hours and prepare to be amazed and entertained.