Good but inherently flawed

Rating: 7/10 (29 April 2012)

This is a good film but the current overall IMDb score of 8.9 is rather high.
Put simply its entertaining and fun. However the problem inherent in the film is how to fit so many larger than life characters into one story and give them equal screen time. Whedon manages to do it but as a result i feel the story had to fit the characters rather than the characters fit the story. There are a lot of new character relationships that have to be established. It gets a little bit convoluted trying to keep up with itself.
The threat facing the avengers, i.e Loki and his rather randomly sourced army, just seems a bit cobbled together. Especially the army! Where they came from or what they are doesn't seem properly explained. Just that Loki somehow has one. The threat the Avengers face seems more to do with sheer numbers of bad guys rather than any particularly interesting powerful individual villains. Loki on his own just doesn't seem that threatening. He is wonderfully without remorse though. Bitter and twisted by his quest for revenge. One of his scenes with black widow is almost like Hannibal Lector and Clarice in Silence of the Lambs.
Black widow for my money is the most entertaining and interesting character in the film. Maybe its because she doesn't actually have any super powers that makes her so. What she does have is an exceptional mind, attitude and rather scary hand to hand combat skills. Played wonderfully by Scarlet Johannson she is a pleasure in practically every scene.
One of the other pleasurable things about this film is the occasionally very funny dialogue and scenes. Whedon is a master of witty fast paced exchanges and he doesn't disappoint here. The cinema audience laughed hard many times. The Hulk having the two biggest laughs in the film.
This is a decent film which could have went horribly wrong. A lot of lead characters vying for screen time is a problem. Time spent establishing new relationships also. Perhaps the next one will be more compelling? The film isn't overly subtle but then what did i expect given the nature of its premise!?