Mostly entertaining popcorn-flick with amazing action; not much else

Rating: 7/10 (2 August 2012)

'The Avengers', first of all, is a good movie. While sometimes overlong, it's entertaining, and the action scenes are amazing. However, it doesn't have enough depth to be another one of those "classic superhero films". The reputation instead should be "enjoyable superhero flick". First off, if an effort is made to assemble all of MARVEL's Avengers, that effort must be made with a little more success than this.
'The Avengers' ends up feeling like more sequel than spin-off, instead of studying and developing each character. If we're supposed to care about all these superheroes...give them noticeable differences, more display of emotions, and a distinctive background. Just because they're superheroes who have some funny one-liners doesn't mean the viewers will automatically think they're the best people who ever lived. In other words, the characters have too little depth. Something that bugs me is that a few people have been saying this is better than Christopher Nolan's "Batman" trilogy, yet the latter is a perfect example of a series of films that have greatly influenced (and perhaps even transcended) the superhero genre.
In 'The Dark Knight' there wasn't a single character who was "just there for nothing". Meanwhile, Loki is an uninteresting villain and doesn't hold a candle to Heath Ledger's disturbing, brilliant portrayal of The Joker (who, on the other hand, actually seems like a villain even when he's just not doing anything). How come 'The Avengers' all have to work to defeat Loki and his army, while Hulk can simply toss him around like a plastic spoon? That said, the long action sequence where the assembled Avengers all defeat Loki's army is quite outstanding, and many detractors of this film admit that this is also the best part.
It contains amazing cinematography, like a minute-long shot that steadily observes each Avenger and sees how they're doing with the aliens. Of course, the rest of the action scenes are also top-notch, considering there's fighting for most of the movie. The sequence with Black Widow running away from The Hulk is especially memorable, and displays arguably the most likable Avenger here, along with Iron Man. The two that we care the most about.
Overall, I'd say that 'The Avengers' could have been cut about 20-30 minutes short to flow more as a superhero film. I had hoped for more character development, since there were so many characters to pay attention to. I loved the action, and was pleased with the clever action scenes, especially the last 40 minutes and the parts with Black Widow. It's undeniably entertaining, and while it's not transcendent and genius, it's a great popcorn-flick. Would I see it again? Yes, but not my #1 priority.