Great

Rating: 8/10 (24 November 2012)

You're larger than life. You have abilities beyond that of most human beings on the planet. Then the world finds itself in peril and to save it, you'll need to join a group of people just as unique as you if not more so. What do you do?
S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) is overseeing a top secret project designed to study an energy source from another world known as the tesseract. The experiment soon goes awry and the tesseract appears to explode. In actuality, it has opened a portal allowing the malevolent being known as Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) to emerge. It's almost immediately clear that S.H.I.E.L.D. is outmatched and what's worse, the supervisor of the tesseract project Dr. Erik Selvig (played by Stellan Skarsgard) and experienced covert agent nicknamed Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner) became mindless drones under Loki's (Hiddleston's) command. Once the facility is destroyed and the invaders have moved on, Fury (Jackson) calls Agent Natasha Romanoff also known as the Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) to recruit one member of The Avengers. The Avengers Initiative was abandoned some time before the events depicted in this film, but is reactivated for the sake of mankind and for lack of a better alternative. Romanoff (Johansson) is next seen in India resorting to subterfuge to gain audience with Bruce Banner (played by Mark Ruffalo). Banner (Ruffalo) has gone into hiding to escape opportunists in the American government, to remain calm, to spare the world and those around him any damage he might inflict as The Hulk. Next to be approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. is Iron Man, Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr. in the character's third major film). The last member left to recruit is Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans), more commonly known as Captain America. When they're finally brought together, Banner and Stark are tasked with tracing the energy source and, in so doing, locating the enemy. When that's accomplished, they meet yet another traveler from worlds beyond, Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth), Loki's brother.
Now, I was not really a fan of Captain America: The First Avenger, nor was I altogether pleased after seeing Thor. As for Bruce Banner's larger half, perhaps it's impossible to make a film about the incredible hulk that I wouldn't like. First there was the Ang Lee/ Eric Bana film, then the Edward Norton film, both of which I enjoyed. Still, I did like Ruffalo. Also, Thor, Captain America, and the Black Widow made individual contributions to enrich the story. Hiddleston may not be as physically imposing as Chris Hemsworth, but as an egomaniacal extraterrestrial, he is truly terrifying. I can't comment on whether the 3-D effects added anything, as I saw it in 2-D, but regardless, The Avengers was incredible. The one thing I might say was lacking was Iron Man's best friend James Rhodes wearing an armored flight suit of his own and going by the name War Machine. We caught a glimpse of that suit in action in Iron Man 2 but it was nowhere to be seen here and I thought the film was worse off for it. Still, very exciting, highly entertaining, and one great ride. See it.