Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Runtime: 143 minutes
Format: Regular and 3D
Rating: PG–13
Studio: Marvel Studios
Country: USA
Language: English
Official Website: http://marvel.com/avengers_movie/
Director: Joss Whedon
Producer: Kevin Feige
Writer: Joss Whedon
Music: Alan Silvestri
Based on: The Avengers by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson
Release Date: May 4, 2012
Find it: In a theater and Imax theater near you
Scores:
Did you saw Thor? If you did, know this, Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) is back and with a thirst for vengeance. If you didn’t saw that movie, Loki is Thor’s adopted little brother, who believes he is the only one fit enough to be king.
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So Loki is back searching to get revenge on Thor by taking over Earth and subjugating every last human being, whom he compares to ants. Yup, according to Loki, we are ants and he is the boot. His weapon of choice to take over worlds? The Tesseract, known in the comic universe as The Cosmic Cube; it’s a self-sustained source of immeasurable power. Humans (world leaders) want to use it and uncover its secrets to solve the worldwide energy crisis –or so they say– while Loki has other plans for it. So naturally, humans are scrambling in order to avoid succumbing to Loki’s reign of terror. In comes Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) closely follow by Agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) with a plan, a last hope that will prove either the perfect solution or the biggest mistake ever; The Avengers Initiative.
The Avengers Initiative is a special ops group composed by none other than Earth’s own set of phenomenal people. It is Fury and Coulson’s job to gather the greatest and strongest minds together to find, retrieve and contain both the tesseract and Loki. If you’ve seen the posters or the promos (which I doubt anyone has missed) you’ll know that the Avengers is composed by –in order of appearance– Natasha Romanoff also known as the Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson), Bruce Banner and his alter ego The Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo), Tony Starks bringing in his charm and his Iron Man suit (played by Robert Downey Jr.) with his trusted Jarvis (voiced by Paul Bettany), Steve Rogers –best known as Captain America (played by Chris Evans), Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth), and Clint Barton, code name: Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner).
So what makes this movie so great? The multitude of personalities; which also makes the group’s chemistry highly volatile. We have an incredible cast of completely different personalities trying to work together but not truly managing to do so, in order to save our beloved planet. The first half of the movie is taken over by the introduction of the problem (Loki) and the Avengers interactions amongst each other. This leads to some pretty awesome battle sequences between our heroes.
All the Avengers did an amazing job on this movie; then again, most of the characters are played by returning actors. To me, the biggest surprised of the movie is Mark Ruffalo’s alter ego, He has vindicated Hulk completely. I didn’t liked either of the previous incarnations of The Hulk, but this one is believable enough, while Ruffalo’s performance shines. The one on one between the Hulk and Loki is, in my honest opinion, the best and possibly the funniest part of the entire movie and let me tell you, this movie has many great moments.
For a film with such a big ensemble, the pace was perfect for both the action and the comedy. The movie managed to touch base with all the major characters often without losing sight of the minor ones or even the big problem. The weaving of the storyline felt seamless, which in turn kept me glued to my seat for a little over 2 hours. That it’s probably the best description of the movie I can give you, by the end of it 2 hours had gone by and I hadn’t even realized, yet I felt completely satisfied with the film. The only thing that was missing was Natalie Portman's character, Jane Foster. Black Widow is strong enough to hold her own in between all the men in the film and the Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders) is no push over, but the movie needed more strong female characters.
Should you see it? I think that if for no other reason, at least for its comedic factor everyone should give this movie a try. Don’t want to pay the theater fees? That is fine, wait until it comes out on DVD/Blu-Ray. Keep this in mind though, if you do make it to the cinema, stick around a little after the credits start to roll, there is an extra scene that will probably set the stage for another Marvel movie (if not for another Avengers movie). SPOILER ALERT: (highlight to reveal) That shadowy figure that you see Loki’s ally speaking to in this extra scene, that face that comes out a few sentences into the dialog, that, ladies and gentlemen, is none other than the infamous, war thirsty Thanos, the Mad Titan. END OF SPOILER. If you are anywhere else other than the USA, that is the only extra scene that the movie packs. But if you happen to be in the USA know this, there is a second extra scene at the very end of the credits. Now, the movie version I saw, I’m assuming was the international version since I only got one extra scene; and researching about the USA second extra scene shows that it doesn’t really adds anything to this movie, any previous movie, or a future one. It appears to be as if it was just thrown in for kicks, up to you if you if you wish to stay until the very, very end.
Based on: The Avengers by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson
Release Date: May 4, 2012
Find it: In a theater and Imax theater near you
Scores:
- Metacritic: 69/100 (critics); 8.6/10 (users)
- Rotten Tomatoes: Fresh: 93% (critics); 96% (users)
- My rating: ★★★★★
Did you saw Thor? If you did, know this, Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) is back and with a thirst for vengeance. If you didn’t saw that movie, Loki is Thor’s adopted little brother, who believes he is the only one fit enough to be king.
.JPG)
The Avengers Initiative is a special ops group composed by none other than Earth’s own set of phenomenal people. It is Fury and Coulson’s job to gather the greatest and strongest minds together to find, retrieve and contain both the tesseract and Loki. If you’ve seen the posters or the promos (which I doubt anyone has missed) you’ll know that the Avengers is composed by –in order of appearance– Natasha Romanoff also known as the Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson), Bruce Banner and his alter ego The Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo), Tony Starks bringing in his charm and his Iron Man suit (played by Robert Downey Jr.) with his trusted Jarvis (voiced by Paul Bettany), Steve Rogers –best known as Captain America (played by Chris Evans), Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth), and Clint Barton, code name: Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner).
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All the Avengers did an amazing job on this movie; then again, most of the characters are played by returning actors. To me, the biggest surprised of the movie is Mark Ruffalo’s alter ego, He has vindicated Hulk completely. I didn’t liked either of the previous incarnations of The Hulk, but this one is believable enough, while Ruffalo’s performance shines. The one on one between the Hulk and Loki is, in my honest opinion, the best and possibly the funniest part of the entire movie and let me tell you, this movie has many great moments.
For a film with such a big ensemble, the pace was perfect for both the action and the comedy. The movie managed to touch base with all the major characters often without losing sight of the minor ones or even the big problem. The weaving of the storyline felt seamless, which in turn kept me glued to my seat for a little over 2 hours. That it’s probably the best description of the movie I can give you, by the end of it 2 hours had gone by and I hadn’t even realized, yet I felt completely satisfied with the film. The only thing that was missing was Natalie Portman's character, Jane Foster. Black Widow is strong enough to hold her own in between all the men in the film and the Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders) is no push over, but the movie needed more strong female characters.
Should you see it? I think that if for no other reason, at least for its comedic factor everyone should give this movie a try. Don’t want to pay the theater fees? That is fine, wait until it comes out on DVD/Blu-Ray. Keep this in mind though, if you do make it to the cinema, stick around a little after the credits start to roll, there is an extra scene that will probably set the stage for another Marvel movie (if not for another Avengers movie). SPOILER ALERT: (highlight to reveal) That shadowy figure that you see Loki’s ally speaking to in this extra scene, that face that comes out a few sentences into the dialog, that, ladies and gentlemen, is none other than the infamous, war thirsty Thanos, the Mad Titan. END OF SPOILER. If you are anywhere else other than the USA, that is the only extra scene that the movie packs. But if you happen to be in the USA know this, there is a second extra scene at the very end of the credits. Now, the movie version I saw, I’m assuming was the international version since I only got one extra scene; and researching about the USA second extra scene shows that it doesn’t really adds anything to this movie, any previous movie, or a future one. It appears to be as if it was just thrown in for kicks, up to you if you if you wish to stay until the very, very end.
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Good review Mel. Definitely one of the best Summer blockbusters to come out in recent time and I just hope that when, and if this sequel does end up happening, that they don't screw it up and not bring back Joss Whedon. Because in all honesty, he's the main reason this film worked as well as it did.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and I agree, Joss Whedon is one of the main reasons this movie works so well. But I read that he is not sure if he should do the sequel. To me that sounds like fishing for a raise but I hope the studio finds a way to keep him. Often, when series changes the production team the quality of the film changes as well; sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
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