Yawn

Rating: 3/10 (4 November 2018)

Sometimes I think that the MCU is the worst thing to happen to comic book films. That's not to say that a majority of their films are bad, but the MCU as a franchise has turned comic book movies into something more corporate as a whole. Something more cynical and bland. That's not to say that the DCEU is any better (Though, they arguably were up until Justice League ruined everything), but the MCU as a whole has grown to represent the reinvention of superhero films as a product. Joss Whedon's The Avengers is perhaps one of its more hollow examples.
Perhaps I'm missing the point. Maybe Joss Whedon's Avengers as a concept is more about the novelty, the extravaganza and the size of the event than it is about the filmmaking. Many defenders of the film will assert this and they aren't necessarily wrong. There is an undeniable appeal to watching such a massive scale crossover event between our favorite Marvel superheroes after years of solo outings. The first shot of The Avengers back to back as a Chiutari invasion closes in on them is quite a memorable one and touched me in all the right fanboy spots. That being said, with The Avengers being such a hyped up and ambitious film, I had my expectations set rather high. I wanted this film to be great more than anything, but in the end, it just let me feeling empty and unsatisfied.
The musical score is certainly a major highlight. Alan Silvestri's score is one of the most rousing, uplifting and exciting in Hollywood blockbuster history and if anything comes close to delivering the epic feel that this movie is so obviously going for, it's his music. It's catchy, it's triumphant and it stands head and shoulders above more than half of the forgettable orchestral scores used in these kinds of films.
The performances are fine. There isn't a single miscast here, as these actors have more than proven in their solo outings. The problem is that the film gives them absolutely nothing memorable to do. There are no small acting choices that really stuck with me, no moments that really challenge their skills as performers...There are quotable lines, sure (Most of which extend to trailer talk), but very few genuine character moments apart from some new quips. Some characters get far more focus than others (Thor and Captain America have no purpose here) and the only one who gets anything in the way of any real character development is Iron Man. Nobody else goes through any kind of genuine arc in this film at all. Nobody has grown or changed throughout the course of the film outside of Stark, who grows to become more of a team player. Everyone else on the team merely comes together out of necessity to save the world.
This brings me to another massive problem with the film; specifically, the chemistry between the team's heroes. There is none. The Avengers spend over 2 thirds of the entire movie arguing amongst themselves like children over the most childish reasons imaginable. Of course, because that's what I've waited 4 years and 5 movies to see; the world's greatest superheroes engaged in a perpetual pissing contest because they don't like each other's attitudes. God forbid we actually try and develop any kind of bond of chemistry between the team members. Many may point to Coulson's death as a justifiable rallying cry to bring the team together, but Coulson's relationship with the heroes isn't nearly as strong or developed enough to make me invested in their change of heart. So most of the film is just The World's Mightiest Heroes Fighting Like 12 Year Olds. How epic.
Loki is a joke in this film. While there have definitely been worse villains in the MCU, Loki is still a nonsensical, inconsistent and poorly written character. We follow him after the events of Thor where he's trying to take over the Earth as fascist dictator, with the help of a Chiutari army granted to him by Thanos. His motivations had nothing to do with fascism or personal ambition in Thor, but apparently, touching on his personal need for validation and unconditional love that was established in that film was too difficult a task for Whedon to deliver on. Instead, he's a generic, one dimensional bad guy who says nasty sexist things to cheaply make the audience hate him easier. Do I really need to mention the cringeworthy and emotionally manipulative scene in Germany where a Nazi regime survivor stands up to Loki in order to make a hamfisted and boneheaded allegory to Hitler? If you're going to reference that dark, horrifying period in world history, you need to earn that moment tonally, narratively and emotionally. The Avengers doesn't even attempt to earn such a scene and Loki's similarities to Hitler pretty much start and stop at "He's a dictator who thinks others are lesser than him."
I'm really not trying to rain on anyone's parade. Most of my friends love this film and I can definitely see why. The ambition of the concept and grandness of the production definitely lend itself to some praise. For me, however, as someone who was deeply excited for this film, it really falls short. Furthermore, I think that it's had a very negative affect on the more streamlined style of Hollywood blockbusters today. Nearly every insufferable and boring cliche I've found in them can be traced back to this one. The film went for a circus show when it should have gone for an epic and that really saddens me.