The Best Superhero Movie of All Time

Rating: 10/10 (30 September 2012)

The theatre in the town where I live isn't exactly pleasant, so I decided to wait until the Avengers came out on DVD to buy it. Now, understand, I am a huge Marvel fan - I've seen all the "Avengers preludes", I've read comics, I've watched cartoons, I had the action figures as a kid. This movie meant a ton to me, and I was hoping it would be great. And as I pressed play, and the villain, Loki, appeared, I knew I was in for an event.
The Avengers exceeded my expectations by far, cementing it as one of my favourite movies of all time instantly. You could say that I'm shallow - that the Avengers is nothing more than a CG extravaganza that pales against the likes of the Dark Knight. But you're wrong.
The Avengers has a heart that other superhero movies, or, even, other movies don't. It's funnier than most comedies I've seen. It succeeds in not taking itself so deathly seriously that it loses what makes a superhero movie a superhero movie - it relishes the implausibility of what's happening. At the same time, however, it's technically fantastic. It's well-acted. The characters are well-fleshed out, likable, and receive a lot of development, and Joss Whedon expertly juggles every single hero Marvel threw at him. Everyone feels like they belong on the team, even Black Widow - who I was worried was going to be 'the female character', ended up being a standout in the movie. The dialogue is fantastic, and I was very impressed with the pace. Even when the team was on the Helicarrier for quite a while, I was completely engrossed.
At one point, I 'stepped back' from the extreme battle going on, and I realized that I was smiling during the entire movie up until then.
Absolutely fantastic. 10/10.