A Mighty Addition to the Superhero Genre

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2012)

Greetings all.
As an avid comic books fan I have mine reservations about such material, thanks to some previous experiences with this difficult to work genre, and essentially knowing the characters and their abilities etc.
I wish not to burden you with uber-geekiness and so I shall strive to keep it simple and to the point, as just as possible.
I was, however, greeted with an array of performances, effects and credible references which absolutely satiated a void that longs for successful live action pieces of this nature.
And we commence with what is so often incorrectly executed with films of this category; casting. For me the stars of this is the Asgardians, specifically Thor and Loki/Hemsworth and Hiddleston who radiate such charisma and fitting for the purpose it is uncanny, this partially gives thanks to the script. Robert Downy Jr. is arguably too old to portray Tony Stark now, and I concur that he is better suited as Sherlock Holmes and not the so-called talisman of this franchise, but nonetheless he delivers an enjoyable portrayal. Chris Evans really isn't my idea of Captain America at all, he better fits the wise cracking Johnny Storm/Human torch, but he is not bad, and in no way impacts in detrimental fashion upon this masterpiece. Hawkeye and Black Widow are not my ideal choices from what is a veritable smörgåsbord of possible heroes, and neither their counterparts. I was pleasantly surprised by Jeremy Renner though. Still not convinced by any means with Johannson, she lacks a certain commanding presence expected of a strong female. I also have little to say about what I feel to be the shoe-horned Samuel Jackson (my ideas of Nick Fury differ greatly) and the oh so human Phil Coulson, even though he delivers decent comic relief sporadically.
This film excels, where so many predecessors have failed, to present characters from both a comic book perspective and one which the general public can understand. Their capabilities usually fall short, but not in this case, Thor engaging the Hulk in an almost even battle is a perfect example of what this movie does right. The action sequences are mouth watering in some cases, and everyone gets their deserved screen time, with only Cobie Smulders/Maria Hill falling short.
A few minor foibles of mine in particular are some of the comedic scenes which apparently went down very well with most, they're a bit too silly for my taste. Black Widow in the team is another. The slightly slow beginning. But as said previously these are hardly film destroying.
If you wish for great action and cast chemistry, with some very memorable action scenes, and plenty of them. This is a solid choice.
Marvel has set the very high standard for superhero team films. And consequently spawned a sequel. Over to you DC....