Essentially 'Transformers:Dark of the Moon' if it were made competently...

Rating: 5/10 (29 May 2012)

'The Avengers' is a brilliant cartoon with tremendous flair, style, and more than it's share of silliness. Director Joss Whedon is allowed free reign to present a massive spectacle of action and destruction and it is often very visually spectacular and often more than fun. Is 'The Avengers' the comic book masterpiece awaited for years by geeks everywhere? No. It isn't even Marvel's best offering as an independent studio. The only level 'The Avengers' really succeeds on is being a huge cartoon. It offers nothing truly unique in realm of dealing with these characters or their mythology. If the modern day comic book is a romanticized colorful dissection of hero worship and good and evil as I and a great many comic book fans like to think it is than Joss Whedon has ultimately failed in respecting that and using it to give his audiences something to chew on. In a great many ways I found myself brought back to the horrendous experience last summer of watching another huge action spectacle, 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon'. 'The Avengers' is in many ways the same movie, neither have any sense of stakes other than to make sequels. Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor are here to sell toys and tickets.
Epicness is what is on the table in this film and Joss Whedon surely does deliver an epic action packed film. Delivering an action packed film isn't all that hard to do though. There are no stakes to 'The Avengers'. Missing is a sense of dread and threat. I wanted our heroes to really be tested by something bigger than themselves and they aren't. I sing the praises of Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' and you know what Jon Favreau's first 'Iron Man' film because they truly brought our characters to a point where they had to question what made them heroes and if being a hero was more than just paraphernalia. Both films created tremendously strong villains which served as representations of all that could be corrupted and made evil within the title heroes. The threat in 'The Avengers' comes in the form of a pretty lame mcguffin. We find out next to nothing about the tesseract cube other than it can blow stuff up in a Michael Bay-esque fashion. The threat to our heroes is pretty dull and lackluster. Often our heroes have to spend time reminding us they are saving the world because we forget. I wanted to be reminded that our heroes bleed and can die. Kill off a sacrificial lamb and keep me interested. (I know the retort here about Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson and he is a very fun character but he merely serves as a second rate sidekick)
I think every actor in here is having a blast in their roles and I love seeing it. I don't necessarily think they are all taking their roles seriously but I do think they are engaging all the great things that make these characters pulp icons. My favorite performance has to be Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Loki isn't all that rounded a villain or character but Hiddleston loves the comic book nature of the character. Saying you want to take over the world often is a silly empty threat and yet if someone says it the right way it is fun.
The final battle scene is grand as promised. Is it fun? Yes. That is something I do want to reiterate because the film is fun. There is something to be said about enjoying eye candy and things blowing up. 'The Avengers' is a masterpiece if that is what we are concerned with. Does the battle go on too long? I didn't check my watch nearly as much as I did during 'Dark of the Moon' but yes it is drawn out. I think I wouldn't feel this way though had the problems mentioned earlier been addressed. The chitauri are just plot pieces and even though we see our heroes take some hits never do we see any real toil this has on them. What is 'The Avengers'? A cartoon. The kid in me was satisfied with all the action but the adult in me wanted more.
I think with 'The Avengers' we have a cinematic Rorschach with everyone getting something they want out of it and rating it much higher than it truly deserves. I saw it opening weekend and have pondered over it amidst the fanfare. Is it a good film? Yes, if you hold it up as a summer blockbuster it is an exceptional fun filled ride. Is it a substantive film? No, if you want a substantive comic book film than see 'The Dark Knight' or 'Iron Man'.