Marvel's The Avengers Movie Review

Every since the announcement of Joss Whedon were writing (co-wrote with Zak Penn) and directing The Averngers. The anticipation, anxiety as well as concerns of finally seeing The Avengers coming to life were welcoming and problematic to say the least. Like can the previous stars of Iron Man & Iron Man 2 (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), etc side characters work together? How's Mark Ruffalo performance after replacing Edward Norton (fans favorite after he replaced Eric Bana) as Bruce Banner? So the concern was definitely there. But just like Batman's films are in good hands with Christopher Nolan at the helm. Now you can add Joss Whedon (The Cabin in the Woods) to that lists. Whedon's ability to take such grand super heroes with strength, complexity, egos, outrageous costumes, different dimensions and make them seem so relatable, believable as well as thrilling to watch. Exceeded all my exceptions after finally seeing The Avengers (2012)!  

So without any spoilers, you can feel comfortable, continuing reading. Joss Whedon has done a incredible job of balancing all of the characters, giving them equal amount of time to shine throughout the movie. 

Not by just focusing on the "villain", which was played masterfully by Tom Hiddleston as Loki. His performance makes you believe Hiddleston was destined to play this role. But by being a fly on the wall, showing what happens when powerful individuals with super strength, wealth and God's like complex get together. That's quite eager to show there dominance and position with in the group. Isn't only a wonderful way of showing their wiliness to put their differences aside to unity for the bigger cause. While Joss Whedon makes it one heck of a roller coaster ride worth waiting in line repeatedly for our amusement.

Like most moviegoers I also had a few reservations of my own. Like how is Whedon going to make Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) relevant amongst the viewers? Since both made uninteresting cameos and didn't receive their own solo movies (like Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America). By smartly weaving their past with present danger. Revealing enough to make them equally important as the rest of the team. 

Which brings me to my other concern Mark Ruffalo who replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. I admit that I wasn't a big fan of the switch up since I felt that they found the perfect Dr. Banner with Norton. But after seeing Ruffalo's spin on Dr. Bruce Banner all my doubts have been silenced!

As for the plot it's quite James Bond-ish: Person (Loki) wants to rule the world, do anything to accomplish this task (using the Tesseract and help from Chitauri) and needs to be stopped (by The Avengers), lol!

But even Joss Whedon sees the simplicity in this and has fun with the format. Bring humor, heart and voiding using your typical mindless explosions (like Michael Bay's Transformers films) to carry a story! Taking the viewers on a journey that's entertaining for all ages, new or familiar with the material.  

What more can I say except that after waiting four years, five movies and countless teaser trailers leading up to the release of The Avengers. It's delightful to see a movie that lives up to it's own hype! Here's my ratings: A-, 9, 4 1/2 stars & Better Than Sex!!!

by Frederick Clark