My expectations were incredibly high and THE AVENGERS went above and beyond what I was expecting

Rating: 9/10 (7 May 2012)

I should start this review by saying that I am a massive comic book fan and have been for as long as I can remember. Whenever a new comic book movie comes out I get very excited and am either satisfied, more than satisfied, disappointed or mildly annoyed when I actually see the damn thing. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999) has been building steadily since "Iron Man" (more than satisfied) and has been coming along nicely brick by brick with "The Incredible Hulk" (yet to see), "Iron Man 2" (satisfied), "Thor" (satisfied), "Captain America: The First Avenger" (more than satisfied) adding more and more detail and continuity to the mountain. We have now reached "The Avengers" (more than satisfied) which climbs to the peak of the mountain to take it's place as the epitome of an awesome movie. I went into "The Avengers" excited, disbelieving that this was actually happening and very, very scared about how much I would enjoy it due to the MASSIVE hype surrounding the film. I came out in a state of great pleasure and I thank the stars that Marvel Studios chose cult television genius Joss Whedon to direct and write it. Why did I love this movie so much?
1. Joss Whedon brought the spirit, skill, humour and knowledge that this film needed. His previous works that I have seen, "Dr. Horrible's Sing- A-Long Blog" and "Firefly" prove that he can create great drama and many memorable lines both meaningful and hilarious. His twenty-five issue run on "Astonishing X-Men" proves that he knows Marvel characters very well and can write great superheroes with very human flaws.
2. The actors were downright perfect for their roles and each one got an equal role to play. Robert Downey Jr.(Iron Man/Tony Stark),Chris Evans(Captain America/Steve Rogers), Chris Hemsworth (Thor, God of Thunder) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.) have already proved in previous films that they are great choices for Marvel's movies. Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow/Natasha Romanov) got just enough screen time in "Iron Man 2" to show she was a GOOD choice for the character, but in this she proves to be the best we could possibly ask for. Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye/Clint Barton) appeared for five seconds in "Thor" to shoot an arrow or two so he obviously proved nothing in that movie, but in this one he proves to be a superb choice for one of my long-time favourite Marvel characters. Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk/Bruce Banner) is the only main newcomer in this film due to Edward Norton and Marvel disagreeing with each other after "The Incredible Hulk" and proves to be a perfect choice for Bruce Banner, certainly better than Eric Bana in the horrible outing "The Hulk". Tom Hiddleston (Loki, God of Mischief) proved excellent in "Thor" and continues his excellence in this. Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson) plays the only character created specifically for these films and has become a fan favourite through his brief appearances in previous Marvel pictures. Agent Coulson really gets his chance to shine in this film and shine he does.
3. It set things up very nicely for future entries in the series.
4. The character interactions were incredible and all of the heroes and villains were smartly developed, something you can be guaranteed in a Joss Whedon production.
5. It looked great, the costumes, the fight scenes e.t.c were all very well designed.
6. It had heart, something you don't get in most blockbusters.
7. Stan Lee's cameo.
8. Post credits sequence.
9. Harry Dean Stanton's cameo.
10. The hilarious lines, such as "Puny God"
These are just a few of the many reasons "The Avengers" worked so well for me and all in all I have to say that my expectations were incredibly high and "The Avengers" went above and beyond what I was expecting.