"There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

Rating: 8/10 (1 October 2015)

Earth's mightiest heroes gather together to fight Loki and an invading alien horde in the payoff to one of the most ambitious cinematic concepts ever, that of a shared universe between multiple films with different characters and stories. My initial reaction when I first saw Avengers three years ago was that I liked it a lot but thought it didn't quite live up to the hype. I saw it again a month later and had an even less favorable opinion, focusing more on the flaws that time around and strictly comparing it to what I considered the truly classic comic book movies. Now that I've seen it with fresh eyes after a few years and several more Marvel films (including the sequel to this one), I can say that all of the hype did influence my first opinion of it. It's hard to dispute now that it is a terrific movie that was probably the best Marvel had put out at that point.
Joss Whedon does a fantastic job directing and handling the grand scope of it all. His script is smart, funny, and impressively services all the different characters well. He even improves upon some of them from their previous characterizations, particularly Black Widow. Here we get a vast improvement over her depiction in Iron Man 2. Whedon really gives Scarlett Johansson a chance to shine and prove her character deserves to stand alongside the 'big leaguers' in the group. Mark Ruffalo replaces Ed Norton as Bruce Banner and, at the time, I wasn't crazy about this. I liked Norton in his Hulk movie but I think it turned out to be a good change. Ruffalo brings something different to the role. I'm not sure how Norton could have fit in with this cast or especially how his interactions with Johansson would have been different. Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Robert Downey, Jr. are all perfect. Jeremy Renner is arguably the weakest link in the cast but that's largely because he isn't given as much to work with as the others. The special effects are great, except for a couple of iffy spots in the climactic battle against the Chitauri. Also, Captain America's costume was clearly still a work in progress. The blank back where a star should be just makes it seem like incomplete. That's a minor quibble, though.
It's not flawless but it's damned entertaining. The action scenes, particularly the fights, are exciting and spectacular. I can't imagine any fan of the comics or the movies being disappointed by them. There's something electric about seeing the characters from the prior movies come together and interact. The little kid in me who was once satisfied to see a shoddy version of Thor appear on TV with Lou Ferrigno's Hulk would never have thought he'd see something like this on the big screen in his lifetime. Seeing these characters hanging out and fighting with and alongside each other is a dream come true for any longtime Marvel fan. Whatever else happens with this shared universe, whether Marvel ever tops this film or not, I'll always cherish the movie just for that.