In 1978, one of the first and greatest comic book movies was released and kick-started a genre that has spanned hundreds of movies over the past 30 years. Superman: The Movie was released at a time when science fiction got a major boost from Star Wars. As a result, people were more likely to go see a science fiction film than ever before. Superman was the first big comic book movie to come out and it was a monumental success. No one had ever seen anything quite like it. Over the years, we’ve seen movies about Superman, Batman, X-Men, and Spider-Man. When Iron Man came out in 2008 by Marvel and Paramount Studios, it was the first movie to lead into a possible Avengers film. Iron Man was a major hit with audiences around the world, so Marvel decided to make movies about Thor and Captain America. The Hulk already had two movies, a sub-par movie in 2003 and another in 2008. Marvel had definitely started taking steps towards a kind of movie that nobody had done before. After multiple successful movies, production finally began on The Avengers. In 2012, The Avengers had finally assembled.
Written and directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers opens on a remote military installation where scientist Dr. Selvig(Stellan Skarsgaard)is researching a mysterious alien artifact known as the Tesseract. Losing control of the cube, a portal opens and Loki(Tom Hiddleston)appears. Loki is the adopted brother of Thor(Chris Hemsworth),and had attempted to seize control of Asgard. Confronted by Colonel Nick Fury(Samuel L. Jackson) and Agent Clint Barton/Hawkeye(Jeremy Renner), Loki casts a spell on Hawkeye and Selvig. He proceeds to steal the Tesseract leaving the installation in ruins. At this point, Fury gets Agent Coulson(Clark Gregg) to recruit Tony Stark/Iron Man(Robert Downey Jr), Dr. Bruce Banner/The Hulk(Mark Ruffalo), Steve Rogers/Captain America(Chris Evans), and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow(Scarlett Johansson).
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This picture of the titular group in action is why this movie exists. No one had ever brought together a group of heroes into a movie like this before. While movies are inherently risky, The Avengers is a movie that could have easily gone horribly wrong. Thankfully, due to the brilliant casting and direction by Joss Whedon, The Avengers is one of the most spectacular and successful comic book movies ever made. Why does it work so well? Oddly enough, it is the cast of characters that really make this movie as good as it is. Each of the heroes have had their own comics. The heavy hitters(Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America)had already been established in previous films. Robert Downey Jr simply owns the role as Tony Stark. Downey infuses the character with the trademark sarcasm and humor that defines Iron Man. Chris Hemsworth brings the hammer down on his role as Thor(see what I did there?), the only other-worldly superhero of the group. Chris Evans is fantastic as the patriotic and selfless star-spangled hero from the past. He gives the character the leadership quality that the group needs to succeed and really knocks it out of the park. The real interesting “hero” of the bunch is The Hulk. Mark Ruffalo is the third actor to play Bruce Banner in 11 years, yet he seems to be the perfect fit for not just the monster, but the man who hides the monster. Ruffalo allows the character a level of skepticism and intelligence that wouldn’t have worked with Edward Norton or Eric Bana. As a result, Mark Ruffalo is the best Hulk yet, hands down.
The two weak links on the hero side of things, unfortunately, are Black Widow and Hawkeye. Scarlett Johansson does a good job with the character, she’s not really given a chance to show how she can play the Russian spy. Her introduction in the film is fantastic, though. Jeremy Renner’s character really gets the short end of the stick, however. Right from the get-go he’s brainwashed into fighting for Loki. So, he’s basically a bad guy for most of the movie. Hawkeye has always been an interesting character, because he is deadly accurate with a bow and arrow. While that is definitely a big part of the character in the film, the way the character was treated seemed very underhanded. He gets to show off big time in New York, though. For the villain, we have Loki. The character is surprisingly fleshed out. He had lived in the shadow of his brother, Thor in the film…Thor. He was sympathetic in Thor, because when he found out about his heritage, he basically went nuts. In The Avengers he’s gone all out bad. Yet, he’s fun to watch because of Tom Hiddleston’s performance. Charismatic, yet cunning, manipulative, and ruthless, Loki is probably one of the most under-stated and undervalued comic book villains. The supporting characters are quite interesting as well. We have Agent Phil Coulson who’s played with a straight face by Clark Gregg. He’s probably one of the most interesting characters in Marvel’s films. He’s such an interesting character, that he even got the lead role on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D tv show. Samuel L. Jackson is great as Nick Fury. Sam Jackson is…..Sam Jackson. What else can I say?
For a movie of this scope, one would hope that the action is spectacular. Oh, yes. It delivers in spades. The movie starts off with a bang on S.H.I.E.L.D’s base when Loki first shows up. Black Widow’s introduction when she’s being interrogated by a Russian military officer gives us a glimpse at what she’s capable of. One of the coolest scenes is when Iron Man goes up against Thor in the middle of a forest:
As you can see, this is not a movie that takes itself seriously. Some of the bigger action sequences are epic in scale, but there’s definitely a lot humor involved here. Yes, the destruction and the explosions are extremely impressive. What really sells the action are the interactions between the characters. Hulk and Thor going at it? The way that ends is pretty damn funny. Also, this:
The Avengers is one of those movies that is more than just entertainment. It’s an experience. There has never been a superhero ensemble movie before. DC Comics is finally going to be doing Justice League, but honestly, they’ve been beaten to the punch. Marvel is releasing The Avengers: The Age of Ultron next year, so Warner Bros. has got a lot of catching up to do. The real big draw to Marvel’s universe is that all of these movies involving Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and The Hulk are all connected. Some are sequels, but they are all directly connected with each other. Marvel’s television show is also connected in many ways. This is a very unique set of comic book movies. Never before have so many movies been so interconnected. The Avengers is one of those movies that could have ruined the whole thing. Thanks to Joss Whedon and the cast of the film, that is not the case. This is one of the most impressive superhero movies ever made. If you like action movies, comic books or both, you owe it yourself to see this movie, if you haven’t already. Two years after it’s release, The Avengers is still one of my all-time favorite movies. Unfortunately, Black Widow and Hawkeye don’t really get the attention they deserve here. Black Widow is getting her own movie, but I hope that for the next Avengers film, Clint Barton gets a better role. My final assessment for The Avengers: 9.5/10.