Be ready for a HULK sized experience.

Rating: 10/10 (25 April 2012)

I've waited with baited breathe to see this movie for 4 years, ever since Sam Jackson turned up at the end of Iron Man in 2008 and uttered those words that made Marvel fans around the world weep happy tears: "I'm here to talk about the Avengers initiative". After 5 films I can happily report that my incredibly high expectations were not even close to high enough.
The movie starts off with an introduction to each of our heroes and their antagonist: Loki. It's all pretty usual stuff from here. But once the heroes come together, the movie becomes something more. There are a lot of big egos flying around and each one is more used to being the centre of attention, especially Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark. It's in these heated rows and witty banter that The Avengers becomes something that I really wasn't expecting: a family comedy. All these characters are so different and come from such different backgrounds that there is a lot of fun to be had by bouncing them off each other. The fish out of water gags at Captain America's and Thor's expense are great ("Easy there Point Break") with Tony getting to roll off line after line of witty insults. And in the film's climax, Hulk gets most of the laughs as he smashes everything around him. The Hulk could easily have been the film's main weakness, Marvel had already tried bringing him to the screen twice with little success (Ang Lee's 2003 version being one of the most underrated superhero movies ever) but he ends up being one of the film's biggest strengths. Mark Ruffalo makes a great Bruce Banner as he actually gets to play both Banner and the Hulk through motion/performance capture (the first time ever that an actor has played both Banner and his massive alter-ego) and it works SUPER well. There was a huge cheer and applause when Chris Evans delivered the line: "Hulk, SMASH!" and Hulk proceeded to do so with much gusto.
A few of the new characters and ones that were limited to cameos in previous films get their chance to shine here. Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow gets to do more kicking (looking good doing it) and is given a love interest in Jeremy Renner's unbelievably bad-ass Hawkeye. Samuel L Jackson finally gets to spend more than 5 minutes on screen after showing up in 4 Marvel movies prior to this one as a part of his massive 9 picture deal with Marvel. Cobie Smulders (one can not measure her sex appeal) of How I Met Your Mother fame gets to show off her action chops as S.H.I.E.L.D agent Maria Hill and the Stan Lee cameo is present of course.
Which brings us to the film's action sequences. They are astounding.Like Transformers 3 astounding. Each one better than the last. An early 3 player bout involving Iron Man and Captain America try to take down Thor is great, but an aerial fight between Thor and the Hulk is better. But then there's the climactic "glorious war!" which really shows the potential of bringing this group together as they get to fight as a team. The problem with them on their own as demonstrated in previous movies, is that the film makers are limited to the adversaries to give their hero. Iron Man has just been fighting other men in suits, Thor monsters, etc. But now you can throw any enemies you want at The Avengers.
The plot is relatively tight and clever, but the screenplay is the real hero; brilliantly written with some cracking dialog. Joss Whedon's directorial style translates perfectly into the blockbuster mold. The perfectly cast actors are all 100% comfortable in their roles and have great fun both bouncing off each other and uniting to fight as a team. The action sequences are breathtaking and the whole movie is terrific fun without being dumb or "kiddy" (Richie). In terms of where it stands in the pantheon of great comic book movies is strictly down to personal preference. But in my opinion this is the second best comic book movie ever (The Dark Knight wins out due to it's better story and villain) but is still one of the best action movies ever made.
My one BIG problem with the film was the untimely murder of Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) at the hands of a rampaging Loki. I felt like this was merely a tool to evoke an emotional response (adding to his character arc) from Tony Stark, whom throughout the film mentions numerous times he wasn't even aware that Agent Coulson had a first name, but all of a sudden feels as though he had some kind of relationship with this character? I have LOVED every scene Agent Coulson has ever been involved in and I feel it was a large mistake to kill off one of the only genuinely relatable and funny human characters in the entire Marvel Universe. Perhaps in further films he will make a reappearance to collect his vintage Captain America collectible cards. One can only hope.
Make sure you stay after the credits also, for those of you not in the know... be ready to google "Thanos" and the "Infinity Gauntlet" when you get home.
All in all it was GREAT fun & I honestly can not wait for Whedon's Directors's Cut. A fun fact i read this afternoon involves Kevin Feige (Producer of every MARVEL film) already having plans to incorporate Spiderman and the X-men into future Avengers films, once they regain the film rights to these characters.
REALLY looking forward to more Avengers. Fingers crossed Joss Whedon keeps his diary empty for many, many years to come.
9/10 Well and truly Assembled.