The Avengers (2012)

When it’s over, The Avengers was low on substance, but high on thrills.  It was everything I expected it to be.  It was insanely over the top, but I expected nothing less than an overdose of CGI and egos as large as Hulk’s massive body.  The film joins Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the team of Shield led by Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) to battle against Loki and his army.  It merges the cast and storylines from four separate films without any hiccups.  Even if the film had been a complete disaster, the cast alone would be worth the viewing.  With all the big stars sharing the screen together, one of the pitfalls I feared for this film was too many characters vying for screen time, thereby suffering the fate of too much going on, sending the film in varying paths, like X-Men 3: The Last Stand did in 2006.  In the capable hands of Director/Writer Joss Whedon, the story stays on course and successfully develops each character equally, giving the film the balance it needed to make the film feel like a whole rather than broken up stories that lead nowhere.   The character developments are tid-bits, but are enough for the viewer to understand just a bit more about each character and their motivations, which is enough for a film like this, because the core of the film is essentially about a team fighting to protect earth, not individuals trying to define themselves.  The cast was great and seemed to blend well together, even in their “not-so-friendly” scenes.  Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., and Chris Hemsworth reprised their roles as Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor without any glitches as if they made this film back to back from their previous films.  Brit actor, Tom Hiddleston, returned as the power hungry Loki.  I had hoped Loki would be more menacing, but Whedon played it safe by keeping the character somewhat likable allowing a few jokes to slip by.  Originally, I wasn’t sure if Scarlett Johansson would pull off the Black Widow persona, but I think she did a terrific job.  She held her own in battle and served to be a neutral player amongst the explosive male egos that surrounded her.  Jeremy Renner was right on target as Hawkeye, and showed that a mortal man without super powers could still outwit evil with his archery skills.  Mark Ruffalo seemed an unlikely choice as The Hulk, but proved to be smashing as a man torn between two personalities.  And lastly, I was surprised and glad that Whedon developed Agent Phil’s character.  Actor Clark Gregg has portrayed Nick Fury’s right hand man for three of the previous films leading up to The Avengers, and it seemed only fitting for Agent Phil to have the biggest gun with the biggest blast. 

My rating: 4 out of 5