The all-time-classic super hero movie.

Rating: 9/10 (4 May 2012)

Being a kid that grew up with comics eventually does come down to some basic questions that must be answered: Who would win in a fight between Thor and Hulk? Between Hulk and Iron-Man? Does Captain America stand a chance against a God of Asgard? All these answers have been partially answered through the comic medium; however, seeing this childhood memory play in front of your eyes (and in 3D) is quite the eye opener.
The Avengers is not an origins movie. Which means, a story must be told! Mr. Whedon did the super hero genre an immense favor by achieving what almost no one else managed in the last 12 years: he filmed a comic book! The "Avengers" is a typical MARVEL story, its recipe being the one that kept comics popular for the last 60 years or so: Bad guy makes move; good guys make a stand but fail because they are divided; through their loss they understand they must unite, and united they win.
MARVEL delivers on all levels: It knows that Robert Downey Jr is the movie's super star, so not only he gets the longest screen time, but he also has the funniest lines AND proves to be a better man that he believes. Chris Hemsworth is a better Thor than last time. Mark Ruffalo steals the show as Bruce Banner/Hulk, making this the only worthwhile appearance of the character on celluloid. Captain America does not quite live up to the challenge, but Mr. Whedon knows how to use the character in a valuable way. As a result, all the scenes between the movie's big heroes (with big egos) are smart, funny, and keep getting better and better.
The film's visual/sound effects are magnificent and 3D make this movie an unforgettable experience, so do yourself a favor and watch it in a cinema. The action scenes are a wonderful cocktail of action&humor that comes across very successfully, as over-dramatization in this kind of films usually proves ridiculous.
MARVEL was very lucky in making a fantastic Iron-Man movie out of the blue (mostly thanks to the talent of Robert Downey Jr), while the other three films that introduced the Avengers characters were rather average (Captain America, Thor, Hulk 2). This made a lot of people, including myself, very uncertain about whether the Avengers movie would not be the biggest flop of them all.
I was extremely surprised to see a film that delivers on all levels and is, in my opinion, the best super hero movie MARVEL has ever made. This is a personal triumph for Mr. Whedon, who scripted and directed (rather modestly) a film that could had failed in so many different ways. It is also a great achievement for the production team, the all-star cast and the crew, who cooperated successfully to manage a very fine balance between action, comedy and special effects.
If you like comic books, this is single-handedly the best super hero movie since X-Men2. And if you like super hero movies, it doesn't get better than this.