...well it was okay I suppose

Rating: 5/10 (22 May 2012)

STORY: Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D assembles a group of Marvel superheroes to stop Loki from using a device he stole to inevitably destroy the world. This really isn't treading any new ground as far as storytelling goes (I don't know how close it is to the comic). Yes the superheroes are all pretty cool but that's why they each have their own film. I feel that having all of them there didn't really allow for any development of the characters who all seemed to be competing for screen time. It was fairly unoriginal considering the films out there, an invading alien army comes to take over the world (by which I mean an alien army comes and invades America; the only place aliens ever seem to attack). I feel they tried to fit so much in that the story in general was entertaining but also seemed a bit rushed and not very original, as far as I could see it was something straight out of Hollywood. 2.5/5
EXECUTION: The film was directed in the same way you would expect from this type of film. It had the epic explosive feel of a Michael Bay film (to be honest I thought he may have directed it until I saw the credits at the end). There were some pretty impressive action scenes which do enough to keep you watching right the way through, it was never boring for even a minute. However it was all very formulaic and the whole point of the film seemed to be to show off epic fights and to allow for cheesy lines from our heroes which come rapidly about every 5 minutes. The acting was actually pretty good. I'm not usually a fan of Robert Downey Jr. but he played his role very well. Samuel L Jackson did what he does best, playing the "badass" he's known for. The acting was definitely the best aspect of the film. 3.5/5
VERDICT: It was okay, I went to see it with friends and we all thought it was a fun, solid action film. I just don't see what all the fuss is about. Everyone seemed to think it was spectacular, I don't know if this was due to the hype or if it was people who read the comics. I just can't say I thought it was anything special, which was disappointing (although I seem to be against the world on this one so don't just take my opinion). See it if you enjoyed the second and third Transformers films or if you fancy unwinding with an above average action film. 2.5/5 + 3.5/5 = 6/10