Great fun, but let's not exaggerate

Rating: 6/10 (4 September 2012)

I have been a comic fan since the mid 90's. After a gap of almost 15 years a recently picked up my old hobby. Much has changed since I last read Spider-man, Wolverine and The Punisher. I never have been a fan of Fantastic Four or The Avengers. And after this movie, I won't change my mind about it.
Not that The Avengers is a bad film, it's really not. But it's not all that the hype pretends it is. Whedon makes a very enjoyable popcorn-movie that's true to it's comic book roots. You get a lot of bang for your buck: 6 superheroes in a 2+ hour movie. Whedon keeps all his movies light and with humor. I finally see what he intended with Alien Resurrection. Although I still think it would not have worked. Alien doesn't lend itself for humor. But this material does. And Whedon does it well. The story isn't too complicated. I'm glad all these movies use elements from the golden or silver age of the original comics. The story is a old-school kinda story. Not complicated and with little back story (because all of them had an individual one. Some even two!).
The effects are well done, although I think on a TV screen (even by today's standards), it's just too chaotic to really follow. I had the same feeling with the horrendous Transformer-films. Although the action in this film isn't half as confusing as those three turds.
All and all: it's a nice blockbuster with steady performances, good action and an old fashioned, humorous story. I could write half a page about it being a little too patriotic and militaristic, but hey, I'm European. I really don't get all the fascination with guns and jets and stuff.