First, I feel like this is the perfect, quintessential comic book movie. It encapsulates perfectly what makes comic books so fun and popular. The sense of wonder, the bold, soundbyte-ready dialogue, the high stakes, the epic personalities, if you're wondering why comic books have continued to be so beloved and popular over decades, look no further than what Marvel's managed to do here. This flick could have been an absolute mess. Take a look at the middle third of Iron Man 2, all of Spider Man 3, or any number of crappy DC adaptions over the years to see how superhero movies end up when they drift too far into campy silliness or neglect character in favor of action. Marvel has done something truly remarkable here.. they've made something that successfully builds on every single one of the prior films while also working effectively as a stand-alone film. That is no small feat. Of the 5 prior Marvel films (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton version), Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America) I would say that watching at the very least "Captain America" and "Thor" will greatly aid in your enjoyment of this one. Of course, I watched and nerded out over every single one and have grown up as a total Marvel nerd, so the richness of the world created by Whedon for this film is just rewarding on multiple levels. You can get as into this one as you'd like.
Thor's brother Loki, Norse "God" of mischief, returns to earth seeking to harness a source of great power in order to conquer the earth. Top secret intelligence division, S.H.I.E.L.D., finds themselves overwhelmed, and in response to this great threat to the planet, seeks to "assemble" "Earth's mightiest heroes". Introductions ensue, and the group seeks to gain some common ground in order to counter Loki's threat.
What makes this movie great is the characterization. Something that could easily have felt stuffed, confusing and crowded instead feels rich and full, with very little fluff and wasted time even despite a runtime nearing 2 and a half hours. Every single character gets at least one moment to shine and they almost all get more characterization than many comic book characters receive in entire movies. As is to be expected with Whedon, the film is very, very funny. There were several moments where the crowd was laughing so hard that I actually missed bits of dialogue.
Iron Man is the star of this one. Tony Stark is given the strongest material to work with, and his arc actually seems richer than Stark's did in either one of the Iron Man flicks. We may have just seen the definitive Bruce Banner as well. Ruffalo knocks Banner out of the park, and this version of the Hulk is by far the best of the three we've seen in the last decade. Captain America's arc is extremely effective as well, and he emerges to take his proper place among the group. If I have knocks, they are thus: Thor wasn't given as meaty an arc as the rest of the super-powered Avengers, and ScarJo simply played the Black Widow too flat. But these are minor, minor criticisms.
Whedon directs a hell of an action scene and writes incredible dialogue. The effects are pitch-perfect, and the interplay between characters is everything you could possibly want from an Avengers movie. As should be expected, Robert Downey Jr is simply great. His version of Tony Stark is so damn smart, witty and charming that it's simply not possible to find yourself glued to him when he's on screen. Ruffalo and Chris Evans are right there with him. Hemsworth, Renner and Sam L. all are very effective and hold their own. As Loki, Tom Hiddleston had a crucial part, interacting with virtually every other major character, and if he had fallen flat, the movie would suffer hugely. Rest assured that he does not. ScarJo had some strong scenes.. I think the problem may be that Black Widow is simply not as interesting as Joss Whedon thinks she is. But that's seriously my only criticism. That Thor's part isn't as meaty as Cap's, Iron Man's or Hulk's, and that ScarJo seems to be comparatively distant, considering how all-in everyone else seemingly is. When we're talking about a 145 minute movie with at least 8 major characters, massive effects and the seemingly impossible task of balancing characters that each are beloved and designated franchises in their own right, the fact that those are seriously the extent of my criticisms is down right incredible.
Make no mistake, this isn't "The Dark Knight". It's not a dark, metaphorical look at philosophical ideas.. it's a comic book story written and developed for the screen. The stakes are high, characters are given moments in the sun, and there's a whole lot of fun to be had. This may well be the most entertaining movie I've ever seen. I saw it at midnight in a theater full of dressed up nerds. We laughed, we cheered, we enjoyed the hell out of it.
9/10. We now have the definitive Summer Blockbuster. Couldn't have happened to a better group of people. Oh, and more than half of the flick was filmed in Ohio.
