The Avengers

Plot synopsis:
The Asgardian Loki encounters the Other, the leader of an extraterrestrial race known as the Chitauri. In exchange for retrieving the Tesseract,2 a powerful energy source of unknown potential, the Other promises Loki an army with which he can subjugate Earth. Nick Fury, director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., and his lieutenant Agent Maria Hill arrive at a remote research facility during an evacuation, where physicist Dr. Erik Selvig is leading a research team experimenting on the Tesseract. Agent Phil Coulson explains that the object has begun radiating an unusual form of energy. The Tesseract suddenly activates and opens a wormhole, allowing Loki to reach Earth. Loki takes the Tesseract and uses his scepter to enslave Selvig and a couple of other agents, including Clint Barton, to aid him in his getaway.
In response to the attack, Fury reactivates the "Avengers Initiative". Agent Natasha Romanoff is sent to Calcutta to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner to trace the Tesseract through its gamma radiation emissions. Coulson visits Tony Stark to have him review Selvig's research, and Fury approaches Steve Rogers with an assignment to retrieve the Tesseract.
In Stuttgart, Barton steals iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract's power while Loki causes a distraction, leading to a brief confrontation with Rogers, Stark, and Romanoff that ends with Loki's surrender. While Loki is being escorted to S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor, his adoptive brother, arrives and frees him, hoping to convince him to abandon his plan and return to Asgard. After a confrontation with Stark and Rogers, Thor agrees to take Loki to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying aircraft carrier, the Helicarrier. Upon arrival, Loki is imprisoned while Banner and Stark attempt to locate the Tesseract.
The Avengers become divided, both over how to approach Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. plans to harness the Tesseract to develop weapons as a deterrent against hostile extraterrestrials. As the group argues, Barton and Loki's other possessed agents attack the Helicarrier, disabling its engines in flight and causing Banner to transform into the Hulk. Stark and Rogers work to restart the damaged engine, and Thor attempts to stop the Hulk's rampage. Romanoff fights Barton, and knocks him unconscious, breaking Loki's mind control. Loki escapes after killing Coulson and ejecting Thor from the airship, while the Hulk falls to the ground after attacking a S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter jet. Fury uses Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers into working as a team. Stark and Rogers realize that for Loki, simply defeating them will not be enough; he needs to overpower them publicly to validate himself as ruler of Earth. Loki uses the Tesseract, in conjunction with a device Selvig built, to open a wormhole above Stark Tower to the Chitauri fleet in space, launching his invasion.
Rogers, Stark, Romanoff, Barton, and Thor rally in defense of New York City, the wormhole's location. Banner arrives and transforms into the Hulk, and together the Avengers battle the Chitauri while evacuating civilians. The Hulk finds Loki and beats him into submission. Romanoff makes her way to the wormhole generator, where Selvig, freed from Loki's mind control, reveals that Loki's scepter can be used to shut down the generator. Meanwhile, Fury's superiors attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Midtown Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile and takes it through the wormhole toward the Chitauri fleet. The missile detonates, destroying the Chitauri mothership and disabling their forces on Earth. Stark's suit runs out of power, and he falls back through the wormhole just as Romanoff closes it. Stark goes into freefall, but the Hulk saves him from crashing into the ground. In the aftermath, Thor returns Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard, while Fury expresses confidence that the Avengers will return if and when they are needed.
In a mid-credits scene, the Other confers with his master3 about the failed attack on Earth. In a post-credits scene, the Avengers eat in silence at a shawarma restaurant.

Tags: psychedelic, violence

Review:
No. I first saw the movie at the cinema upon its release and, at that time, I did think that it was one of the worst films I'd seen up to that point.
Ralph Fiennes was a real enigma in this film - there was nothing wrong in principle in casting him as Steed but he looks ill at ease throughout the movie as if he'd rather be elsewhere.
The retro-chic world of the original TV series is nicely recreated and there's no shortage of nice cars, costumes and locations but what's good about the film is easily drowned out by what's bad; The Avengers is ultimately a shallow, rushed and messy affair, severely hampered by the performances of its two leads.
In London, the agent of the Ministry John Steed (Ralph Fiennes) and Dr. Emma Peel (Uma Thurman) are summoned by the Mother (Jim Broadbent), who shows a footage where the Prospero Project that controls the weather is damaged by Dr. Peel.
Those who haven't seen the series have no grounds to assess it on--(see some of the above user comments which begin 'I never saw the original series...')and since I think this series is not exactly vividly-remembered by the majority of the population (particularly the 18 and under movie-goers, who don't have much grasp of the nuances The Avengers operated on).
This movie based on the popular British TV series is such a flop it doesn't really deserve comment, but here are a few nonetheless.This is the kind of movie making that really has you wonder if you should ever visit a theater again, when you consider the waste of millions of dollars on sets, special effects and high-powered actors that could have been used for such better causes (such as, oh, say a big-screen version of "My Mother the Car").At any rate, the film got what it deserved by being universally panned by critics and bombing at the box office.
It was then rushed out of theaters with the bad-film strategy that relative obscurity would result in more bread at the video stores.Considering that Ralph Fiennes (Schindler's List, Englsh Patient) and Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction, etc.) were at the top of their box-office draw potential, and with the addition of the always popular Sean Connery in a unique role as a villain, one would think that this movie would have been a sure hit.
The two appear to be sleepwalking through their respective roles, with visions of fat paychecks dancing in their heads.Ironically, an imprudent element of the TV series that was indicative of its downhill slide after the departure of Diana Rigg (the original Mrs. Peel), namely, the introduction of the silly character of "Mother," IS included in the film.
Like Fiennes and Thurman, he appears to be going through the motions of a script he has no faith in.Quirky aspects of the original series that were cute and amusing have been replaced with gimmicks that are just unfunny strange and head-scratchingly bizarre.
Uma Thurman's catsuits aside, "The Avengers" is one of the flattest movies to come down the pike in a long time.The failing Sean Connery isn't really the villain in this movie, the true villains are a director who thought he could "improve" on the original, and an editor who really shouldn't have been let out of film school.Fiennes and Thurman do an adquate job with what they were given, which wasn't much, and then the editor took half of that away.Connery got one half-choked off rant, (all of which you see in the trailer) and then hid in the leftover set for the power supply from the floating city in "The Empire Strikes Out" (Er -- "Back").
No good can come of these prophecies."The Avengers", which, at best, is a second rate version of the original "Batman" has all the features of your top blockbuster: A Big name or two, a plethora of explosions, and enough special-effects to put "Godzilla" to shame.
The Plot follows the exploits of the legendary secret agents John Steed (Ralph Fiennes) and Emma Peel (Uma Thurman), as they do battle with a maniacal meteorologist (Sean Connery) who has intentions on controlling the world's weather.
Perhaps the last half hour will provide enough enjoyable action (and it does, believe me!) to distract them, but up until then the film consists of awkward dialogue, inane action (Gigantic teddy bears, anyone?), and an uncomfortable overdose of strangeness.The cast, at one time, might have been game, but only once in a while does Ralph Fiennes even crack a smile.
This puts them head and shoulders above, say, the makers of The Wild Wild West movie, who had only the most rudimentary (and faulty) knowledge of what made that series an icon of popular American culture.They might not have been successful in the execution, but they did understand what made The Avengers tick, and if the studio heads hadn't ordered extreme and desperate editing, we might have been able to see more of what the filmmakers imagined.Two scenes stand out as perfect examples of this understanding:  When Mrs. Peel tries to escape by running endlessly down an Escher-like staircase, and when Steed and Mrs. Peel walk on water in giant bubbles.
Sean Connery's eccentric megalomaniac (so much more interesting than a serious, conservative megalomaniac) fit right in with the The Avenger's roster of enemies.Whatever sense of fun the movie had (and The Avengers tv series never seemed to take itself too seriously; does anyone remember Steed being shrunk to the size of a mouse and jabbing a villain in the ankle with a fountain pen?) was destroyed when the nut jobs at the studio fell for the old "edit out what the test audience didn't like" trick, and put a botched film on the screen.
Understatement and tongue-in-cheek humour have never been a premium on the other side of the pond, and I imagine that in Blighty the TV series is seen through such thick lensed rose-coloured spectacles that any movie version was bound to be heretical.Which is funny - granted that Diana Rigg played the sexiest TV character in history and that Patrick McNee was perfect as John Steed, but anyone who actually watches these old episodes will be aware of their surrealness and complete inability to take themselves seriously (hats off to the writers).
Up till this point I had felt that the film was developing a nice little sense of humour that spoofs the idea of the typically English gentleman spy; however tongue-in-cheek humour is hard to do right and it is very easy to turn the film into a very silly affair that is not so much funny as it is embarrassing.And so it was with The Avengers, a film that has some reasonable moments but is generally an unengaging and rather silly mess that can only be enjoyed as such.
I am pretty sure that THE AVENGERS is the worst movie of the decade and one of my least favorite movies of all time.John Steed (Ralph Fiennes) and Emma Peel (Uma Thurman) team up to stop Sir August de Wynter (Sean Connery) from destroying the planet with a weather-changing machine.
I am absolutely in love with Uma Thurman, and I don't think she belonged in this film, but I am pretty sure seeing her wearing those catsuits were the only thing that kept me from having to eat my own legs and drink my own urine to survive this movie.Maybe you'll think I'm exaggerating a bit, but I found this movie to be boring and annoying.
I'm not the world's biggest Uma fan (I understand he's into making bad Sonny Chiba knock-offs at present), and while I admit a weakness for Fiennes and Connery, it alone wouldn't save this mess.And a mess it is, with unexplained ventures into the absurd and a less-than-steady plot pace.
I'm not going to spend a great deal of time trying to argue the point, but I like this film.I'm too young to remember the original series all that well, but I do recall watching it in reruns when I was a little guy.
And let me ask you, what young kid, on the cusp of manhood, wouldn't have dropped their jaws at the original Emma Peel?Unfortunaly, I don't think that many other people my age feel the same way I do about the series, so I can understand why this bombed in theatrical release.
Well, I thought the campy tone fit the silly feel of the original series quite well; Also, the idea of an unbrella as a weapon of destruction just seems cool to me; Plus, Uma Thurman certinaly isin't Diana Rigg, but she's not exactly hard on the eyes either.Please don't listen to the critics on this one.
First, the good news: screenwriter Don MacPherson does draw on a wealth of wacky plot points from the series; like that show, the movie does have stylish fashions and sets; it doesn't take itself too seriously.
It's the cinematic adaptation from the most popular show(produced by Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell)series in England during the 60s what spread its success to United States and all the world.The film concerns about John Steed(Ralph Fiennes),a brilliant agent secret,he isn't the James Bond type, a sexist macho man but a kind spy with wide culture working for the British Intelligence and of course a charm,attractive Emma Peel(Umma Thurman),she's an elegant leather-garbed British spy with great toughness and strength.Both join forces facing dangerous and mysterious situations to save the world ,just on the edge of the sci-fi .They team up to confront against a nasty Scottish ,Sir August of Winter(Sean Connery with skirt included),a megalomaniac who wishes to rule the world by means a weather changing machine.The picture follows the series plot by the writing credits Sidney Newman but with quite flaws .The wonderful relationship TV series among John Steed(Patick McNee) and his female partners(the gorgeous Diana Rigg,Honor Blackman,Linda Thorson,Joanna Lumney) who was subliminally funny and romantic here malfunctions and there aren't the enjoyable chemistry between Fiennes and Thurman .Appear usual character series as Mother(incarnated by Jim Broadbent and in the episodes by Patrick Newell) and strange ,odds baddies,besides a character named Father(Fiona Lewis).The classic Steed ,Patrick Mcnee, plays an invisible agent in a bemusing voice-cameo.
This film has great music, great cars, good acting from Sean Connery, uma Thurman's and Raulph Fiennes.
(There is every sign that Eddie Izzard's character was originally intended to satirize mega-buck entertainment and mega-buck villains as being really just spoiled brats with their expensive toys.) The genteel quirks of the English-inspired concept of 'The Avengers' are - in their essence, and however silly - just too irritatingly grown-up for such hyperactive youth ever to endure sitting still for!A pity the film was not left alone upon release to find its own friends - like a stray cat, that will carefully choose whom it will exercise it's feline charm upon.
The Avengers is based on the classic 60's TV series of the same name, which starred Patrick Macnee as well-dressed gentleman secret agent John Steed, and Diana Rigg as his cool, athletic and deadly partner (Mrs.) Emma Peel.
Original TV series star Patrick Macnee makes an inventive cameo appearance.If the film falls short in any way it is with Sean Connery.
I can usually find something interesting...something funny in every movie...And the fact that Sean Connery was in this movie, and not even HE was any good just adds to the confusion.The screenplay is more incoherent than "Freddy Got Fingered"--a horrible movie also, but at least it made me laugh a few times.The characters are less interesting than those in "From Justin to Kelly"This movie is almost like a "Plan 9 from Outer Space" but with modern special effects.This movie wins my personal award for the "most unwatchable." Meaning, although I advise people to watch movies I might consider "bad" for themselves....PLEASE trust me...don't even bother.
Hated by critics, audiences, and even fans of the TV show it was based on, 'The Avengers' is great, as long as you're looking for a spy movie that's more than a little weird.
Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes are quite convincing, and Sean Connery is fun to watch.
It was simply too infamously bad for me to resist it!The plot is a confusing mess involving a duplicate Emma Peel (Uma Thurman) and a guy who can apparently control the weather (Sean Connery).
Instead the film focuses heavily on overly mannered dialog (to the point of being incredibly annoying), lots of expensive stunts (something never seen in the original TV show) and gadgets (such as giant robotic wasps, an invisible agent as well as a board meeting where EVERYONE is inexplicably dressed like the Grateful Dead bears...also the sorts of thing not seen in the TV show, thank God).
I believe that mixing a British spy movie with a movie involving super villains is just an absolutely terrible movie, the audience would rather watch James Bond or Spider-Man. I also do not like the idea of having a British super villain (no wonder the villain could only control the weather).In conclusion, The Avengers is boring, lame, pointless, what ever you want to call it but just don't hire it..
One would think that combining Ralph Finnes, Uma Thurman, and Sean Connery, you could get a pretty decent movie out of it.
What a waste of a good cast as well (Sean Connery, Uma Thurman, Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent).
If you have ever seen the 1960's series "The Avengers" after which this movie is fabricated, you will note that the original had charm, charisma, and a touch of mysticism.The Avengers(1998)has not even a moment of fortunate nuance.A lot of guys are ga-ga about Uma Thurman.
When I workout now, I just think of how mad I was that I spent 10 bucks on this film and suddenly the weight feels much lighter.Get the point, this is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, cheesy movie that belongs right up there with Plan 9 From Outer Space..
It's always a great pleasure to see Sean Connery, Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes, but here in this "The Avengers", all three are inappropriate for their respective roles.
Three decades later with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman taking on the original TV series roles along with Sean Connery portraying a rather unusual villain, the idea just doesn't seem fresh anymore.
Thurman and Fiennes look like they filmed their lines on separate days and then dialogue scenes were pasted together later by a hermit who hadn't heard a human conversation in years.
Neither Fiennes or Thurman capture their characters like MacNee and Rigg did in the original series.
I personally can't give a 1 to a movie with great special effects and sets, it deserves at least other 4 points for the effects.As for the acting, even though the movie it's bland Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman are good in their roles.
Several people were in the cast at one time or other, but the years of Patrick MacNee as John Steed and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel are what is remembered best.Playing those parts and totally failing to channel the charm of the dialog of the charming Steed and the beautiful martial arts expert Mrs. Peel are Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman.
It is so mind-numbingly terrible that I have only one word of advice for anyone thinking of watching it, especially if they were a big fan of the old TV series - DON'T!Nothing about this movie makes sense - apparently due to bad test screenings a lot of scenes were cut, so perhaps this explains why the plot is so choppy and impossible to follow.
I really have no idea what Sean Connery, Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman were thinking when they agreed to appear in this film.
Under normal circumstances, casting Uma Thurman, Ralph Fiennes or Sean Connery should indicate that a film is likely to be good.Putting 2 of them together should be better.Casting all three should pretty much guarantee a cracking film.The Avengers, however, does not fit into "normal circumstances".The main problem with The Avengers is that the three main characters are all horribly overplayed, in what end up to appear extremely hammed up performances.This may have been the intention, but it just comes across as being badly acted- Fiennes' portrayal of Steed is just a little too "stiff upper lip" to buy into.Aside from the main characters, there's also the rather worrying inclusion of Eddie Izzard to consider.
Granted, in this film, there probably isn't much of a difference between an evil henchman and a moron, but it still showed.Still, the film does have a couple of (minor) saving graces- although I don't think it was a particularly good scene (even compared with the rest of the film), Sean Connery does look rather funny dressed as a giant teddy bear.Also, as with Batman & Robin, Uma Thurman proved that she does indeed look rather fetching in a cat suit.Over all, this film is only really worth watching if you happen to enjoy really bad films.It's one of those films which are useful when you're tired, but you don't want to go to sleep "just yet", and so pop in a video of something which you won't mind falling asleep through..
the only things that I liked about this movie was that Uma, Ralph, and Sean.
Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman are assigned to rescue England from bad guy whether fetishist Sean Connery.The acting is poor.
It had the surreal touches I remember from the original, the script actually wasn't bad and in Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman - not to mention Sean Connery - a suitably stellar cast.
I have a feeling post production ruined much of the movie as I understand the original running time was almost 2.5 hours and it was edited down heavily to just 90 minutes.It is unfortunte that such a talented cast-Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, and Sean Connery was wasted on this mess.