Loki for an Academy Award please

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2012)

I read a few of the other reviews, and while some mention the incredible performance Loki gives, none capture the true brilliance. I expect Tom Hidelston to win an Academy Award for his role in this story. Loki is not evil. Not purely sickeningly evil. Heath Ledger takes top honors for that portrayal as the Joker. Loki is different. He has goals, motives, desires, and pride. He is above all else mischievous, cunning, and calculating, as he attempts to and temporarily succeeds in turning the world's greatest heroes against each other. He truly delivers one of if not the best performance of the movie, and in particular shines a little after an hour into the movie, when Black Widow confronts him on the carrier: "Your ledger is dripping, its gushing red, and you think saving a man no less virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer— pathetic. You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors; but they are a part of you, and they will never go away. " All other main characters give stellar performances as well. The Samuel Jackson (an actor I usually despise) brings back all the greatness of Pulp Fiction, except this time bald and with an eye patch. Captain America dominates every moral issue, and though one of the weakest of the team, is the greatest unifier and leader among them. Thor brings back the elegance and civility of a bygone age, combining with Iron Man's sarcasm and cocky swagger in just the right ways to leave everyone grinning. And Bruce Banner finally gets a chance to shine as a brilliant yet conflicted man more than as a raging green beast. Even Black Widow and Agent Caulson have their moments. The only slightly disappointing acting was by Hawkeye, but most of the time he's not fighting, he's brainwashed, so you expect him to be acting a little strangely anyways. And the ACTION. Incredible. Once the final battle starts, there is no letting up. It is brilliant flash after brilliant flash, punch by punch, hit by deafening, glorious, hit. It never lets up, and it is almost impossible not to cry out in excitement. I felt like a little kid all over again. Each team member gets their cameo time fighting off hordes against all odds, and then comes scene after scene of team work. At one point, you follow Iron Man as he blazes a trail, literally, through the oncoming horde, pausing briefly to help each hero as he rushes by. Captain America leads the ground assault, Thor dominates the skies, and Hulk smashes with such agile speed and deadly efficiency you are left squirming in your seat. I am an action junkie, and while I found the opening salvos somewhat dull, especially the car chase, I loved every mini hero battle and almost cried in delight through out the finale. The only Marvell movie I think that stands up to The Avengers as best comic based movie is Woverine: Origins. While Avengers did have better and more exciting action, including the finale, Origins had a more heart wrenching and slightly better told story. The end of Origins, when Wolverine's love dies in his arms, I have a hard time not choking up. That gut wrenching, heart tearing, happy-and-dying-inside-all-at-the-same-time feeling, that make movies like Spartacus and Romeo and Juliet so great, that helped make Origins great, never once came to me in Avengeres. For that reason, I think Avengers did not appeal to me as much as it could have. I just did not feel it inside like I have other stories. Overall, an excellent movie. It started a little slow for me, probably because I was so anxious to see the heroes fighting an alien army. And while I did find the movie very funny at times, I think the trailer kind of ruined it for me: there were lines I remembered loving from the trailers that, in context, were much more serious, and hearing all the laughing in the theater, even though they were lines I laughed at when I watched the trailers, seemed somewhat inappropriate. I rarely give out 10 stars, but I'm still riding the adrenaline from the finale, even without which, I'm not sure I'd lower my score to a 9. Out of 100, this movie definitely scores somewhere in the 90's.