A simple, fun, well-made summer movie

Rating: 6/10 (7 June 2012)

Here's a simple, fun, well-made summer movie. It's not great by any measure, nor does it ever try to be. What it does have is a director who understands that the source material is essentially comic book fluff. None of these characters have the depth that Batman or the X-Men do, but they do have cool powers and cool personalities that make for a decent story and some great action set pieces.
The most epic of these sequences takes place in – you'll never guess, never, not in a milllion years – New York City! While the scene lacks originality in location, it does make up for it in sheer excitement. Iron Man goes rocketing around town in spectacular aerial battles with the Chitauri, who are as disposable as the Foot Soldiers from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hawkeye sits on a perch on top of a building and casually snipes more Chitauri out of the air with his bow and arrow. The Hulk, well, he smashes. His chaotic leaping and random crushing of the puny aliens is spectacular to watch. Oh, and, a few of our good guys end up battling Loki at random points as well.
Go to http://thethreeacts.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/the-avengers/ to read the complete review!