Directed by:
Joss WhedonScreenplay:
Joss WhedonCinematography:
Seamus McGarveyComposer:
Alan SilvestriCast:
Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Clark Gregg, Lou Ferrigno (more)VOD (3)
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Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel’s The Avengers is the superhero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. (Walt Disney US)
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This is war! Though the superheroes here are self-centred weirdos (like the Watchmen), they know what to do when the world needs them and they don’t spend a lot of time thinking it over (unlike Superman). The Nordic bruiser with a hammer and theatrical tendencies, the scientist who turns green from time to time, an action figure brought to life – perfect products of American war propaganda, otherwise known as heroes of the Marvel universe. In line with the target audience, all of them were placed in the nerdy world of Tony Stark (i.e. the protagonist of the franchise’s two commercially most successful titles). The exaggerated pop-culture lens through which Thor and Captain America are viewed protects the film from being too serious, without giving the impression that it’s actually about nothing. Getting the audience emotionally involved in the plot is the main objective of both Whedon, who needs to convince viewers, and Fury, who has to more firmly unite the heroes. This is actually a purely pragmatic goal, a work task, so to speak, so there is no needless sentimental blathering or crying. The death of one of the more important characters ends the self-destructive sizing-up of egos and the plot can then shift to the oft-mentioned war of “us” versus “them” (in the end, the Avengers are ultimately just more weapons of mass destruction, except for the emotions...). This doesn’t mean that the preceding hundred (or however many) minutes didn’t have anything to offer beyond the action scenes and Stark’s one-liners. It is a joy to see how consistently, and without annoying repetition for the thick-headed, the film’s creators use every piece of the provided information, thanks to which we don’t have to figure out for ourselves how any given character knows this and that. The first third of the film contains the gradual, cleverly connected introductions of the individual superheroes (or, more precisely, their introduction to the scene, as most of them were previously introduced in separate films). This is followed by the confrontational second third, where Whedon is clearly in his element – as he did in Firefly, here he conducts a group of individualists onboard one ship). Thanks to their abilities and the film’s budget, only the conflicts that arise between them are significantly weightier. The necessity of suppressing individual idiosyncrasies in favour of the team forms the core of the narrative, as is pointedly illustrated by the last shot with the emblematic A. This involves putting together money (Stark), science (Banner), idealism (Rogers) and moral ethos (Thor), and getting all of the heroes with their different performance styles and the slightly different style of directing of “their” scenes (the Captain with his old-fashioned patriotism; the Hulk, unpredictable like a horror-movie monster; Thor and his theatrical sense of grand tragedy; the conversationally comedic Iron Man) in the same boat (both literally and figuratively). The Avengers’ primary objective is to coordinate these various styles due to the necessity of close combat. I thought that roughly the first two-thirds of the film were very good entertainment, but nothing extraordinary. The final action-packed bacchanalia of the final third, and especially the two indescribable and, for such a massive mainstream film, boldly self-ironic scenes with a pissed-off Hulk prompted me to give not just a satisfactory rating, but an enthusiastic rating. These are pretty shallow reasons, I know – I’ll leave the more sophisticated ones for films that don’t offer attractions like a one-eyed Samuel L. Jackson with a bazooka. Next time, I would like to see less techno-fetishism and more Scarlett Johansson playing the first-ever superheroine who can be taken seriously, because she only feigns fragility and emotional weakness for “work” purposes and has to tame her partner in order to get him back. 90%
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I went to the 9:30 pm screening, after a very physically exhausting day, and I told myself that if this film manages to entertain me enough to keep me awake, I will give it five stars, and here they are. Now seriously: Avengers is a perfect blockbuster with great sense of humour, incredible chemistry between the characters and amazing action. If you are not looking for the brooding of Batman or the ambition of the Wachowskis (or anything “more”), and you only want good fun at the cinema, you can’t do better than this, it has no competition among the light summer blockbusters. And I’m saying this as someone who didn’t like too much the previous Marvel films and is also not a member of Whedon’s fan club. But there’s one little quibble: Next to the other superheroes, Black Widow and Hawkeye look so out of place and meek. And it’s also weird to see Auntie Robin in SHIELD’s control centre. Hulk/Banner rulez.
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Yes, the story is sterile and stale, the emotions non-existent and the pace of the narrative is rather erratic, inflated at the end into a charmless presentation of risk-free superhero action. But it doesn't matter, The Avengers is still the chosen one, a film that represents the most basic Marvel idea of colourful comic book characters quite perfectly and surgically accurate. All the clichés are deliberate, skilfully adapted to build an adequately simple plot that best suits this kind of team-ups and that doesn't unnecessarily distract from its primary intention: the entertaining interaction between the diverse heroes, the development of their relationship and the careful interplay with previous (and of course future) instalments of the Marvel Universe. It’s a great COMIC-BOOK movie, with utterly likeable archetypal characters, a charismatic villain, and effects like something out a fan's wildest wet dreams. It doesn't play on civility like Nolan, it plays only for the devoted fans of Tony Stark, Captain America, Thor or the Hulk, and in a perfectly balanced and precise way, as if all those legendary books suddenly came to life and took to the streets of Manhattan, without any questions or delays. The actors are without exception excellent, with the cherry on top in the form of the incredibly sexy Scarlett, before whom, as an enemy I would have knelt down on the spot and desperately cried "Capture me, Lord, capture me!" :)) 90%
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Next to Batman and Watchmen, probably the best comic book adaptation. A film full of fun, thrilling action, wit, polished dialogues, self-reflection, and a fantastic cast; everything a first-class blockbuster should have, and with an incredibly precise tuning of the individual ingredients. The last time something similarly perfect within its genre was seen in cinemas was 1996 when Ronald Emmerich directed Independence Day.
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The Avengers are getting better. The disappointment of the movie theatre is slowly but surely fading thanks to the DVD, and the only problems I really have are with the character of Hawkeye (or rather, his wooden performance) and the fact that the film wants to be endlessly breathtaking at times while making fun of itself, which is a strange game I haven't yet bought into.
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