The most anticipated superhero movie of all time doesn't disappoint.

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2012)

The Avengers is quite possibly the most anticipated superhero movie in history, but does it quite live up to the hype?
I know that this is the Marvel movie we have all been waiting for. This is the movie that all the others made by Marvel Studios has been leading up to. This is what they have been aching to show us.
I was pleased to learn that I would be given the chance to see the movie before its May release date in the United States, but despite my privileged opportunity, I went in with relatively low expectations. (It's just another superhero movie, but with a bunch of them at one time, right?)
Wrong...
If you are a fan of Marvel, superheroes, great CGI or just all-around intense action films, you MUST see Marvel's The Avengers.
The CGI was the best I've seen in a long time, the fighting as intense as ever, and the plot is top-notch. But these things aren't the only aspects of the movie that make The Avengers great. For me, it was the characters.
Yes, we've seen all these characters before. We've enjoyed their specific movies, but having them on screen together worked better than I could have imagined.
In fact, that was why I was apprehensive at first. I had been afraid that perhaps one hero would take away more screen time than another. (We all have our favorites.) But this wasn't the case.
Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr.), provided his much expected wit and humor for the film, causing the crowd to laugh on many occasions. The banter between Stark and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) flowed well and added a lot to the character depth.
I wasn't sure how Thor (Chris Hemsworth) would be playing his part either. I thought he actually might be taking too much screen time from the others since his brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), was the main antagonist, but this wasn't the case.
I found myself most excited in the movie when Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) came on screen. His character was done so well for this movie. I found myself thrilled and even scared in some of his scenes.
I must also mention here that Ruffalo did a superb job of taking Edward Norton's place as Bruce Banner/ The Hulk. If there's one thing that annoys me about sequels, it's when they change actors, but I actually enjoyed Ruffalo better in this role.
Of course you can't forget about Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Each of them played their part of the story wonderfully, though I found Sam Jackson's acting to be a little stale.
I would say that if you haven't watched the other movies made by Marvel Studios that you might want to watch them. Most references will be lost on you if you don't.
As far as screen time, it felt like every character got their time in the light. No one person stole the show, and just as Marvel intended, they ALL stole the show.
There is one particular scene that I enjoyed where the camera panned to each hero, doing their own special moves, though it's hard to explain further than that without giving anything away. However, there were moments in the movie where I had to lean over to my wife and ask what someone was talking about, but these instances were minor.
Obviously, if you care anything about Marvel movies, you're already planning to see The Avengers. If you haven't seen any of the other Marvel Studios films, take a weekend, watch them. Then go see The Avengers. I don't think you'll be sorry you did.