An Epic Letdown

Rating: 7/10 (4 June 2013)

Before I say everything that was wrong with the movie, I will first say that I am familiar with the comics and source material, and have thought all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies so far were decent. My personal favorite is Ironman 1, one of my favorite movies overall, because of the way it told the story and how it maintained more realism than the other movies in the franchise series of Marvel movies. Physics, engineering, and basic foundations of life were followed while telling the story of Tony Stark. Everything, while elaborate, seemed possible. Possible is the key word.
I grew up watching Bill Bixby be the Incredible Hulk with Lou and thought the show was awesome. I do know, though, that technology wasn't around the make Hulk be what the comic wanted him to be. The Hulk movie therefore was decent but nothing I am dying to watch again. Captain America and Thor were decent too.
So what was I expecting when I saw Avengers? I was expecting the 1992 Dream Team. I was expecting a movie that would be epic in every way where each character was maximized to their fullest while trying to solve a deep plot similar to The Watchmen or even the recent Dark Knight Trilogy. I got neither. The plot, in my opinion, was way too simplified and even worse, all the characters seemed to be more forgettable.
I will say some of the casting was quite poor and didn't flow with the original intent of the characters and some were just annoying in their roles. Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner, in particular, were very unwatchable even though like Lost in Translation and The Hurt Locker.
Overall, I can see how this movie made so much money. It is the perfect movie to take younger kids and comic book fans. It is actually even better for those that don't know the source material because they are coming into the movie fresh. However, this is no Dark Knight type of movie with the depth of plot, real-world story lines, or the perfect casting. I give it 7/10 and hope Avengers 2 is a lot better executed.