In light of Sunday’s new Super Bowl trailer for the highly – nay, universally 🙂 – anticipated fourth Avengers film – Avengers: Endgame, in theaters April 26 of this year – I have decided to review one of my favorite films of all time. This is Marvel’s The Avengers, the highly-anticipated team-up that first united the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, Nick Fury, et al. – also known as “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”
First off, this film is brilliantly acted and directed. Joss Whedon directed both the first Avengers movie and its sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron – which I half-bash in a prior post – and his use of practical stunts and effects (save for the final battle against the Chitauri alien army, inevitably) is quite enthralling in terms of audience engagement. Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. return from their solo films as Steve Rogers/Captain America and Tony Stark/Iron Man respectively, and their on-screen chemistry is evident. Scarlett Johansson is nuanced and focused as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow and Jeremy Renner is stoic yet committed as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, and Mark Ruffalo turns in an excellent performance as Bruce Banner/the Hulk, replacing Edward Norton with ease and charisma.
Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. in a scene from The Avengers.
In addition, this film contains two of my favorite movie scenes of all time: first, the Iron Man Mark VII suit-up scene. To this day, I have not felt as many glorious chills or as much incredible, uncontainable excitement in a movie theater as when the villainous Loki sends Stark tumbling out of the top floor of Stark Tower, and his personal AI, J.A.R.V.I.S., sends his new suit to save him through wristwatch scanning technology.
The second scene is Hulk’s “I’m always angry” scene in which Bruce Banner transforms just in time to stop an alien ship. This is the culmination of the film’s second act – the moment at which the Avengers finally assemble – and it is full of pure awesomeness and self-motivation.
Overall, I believe The Avengers thrives in its buildup of suspense and its steady introduction of individual characters.
In the film, while Iron Man and Captain America clearly lead the squad, there are no supporting characters. Marvel succeeds in presenting its viewers with an array of equally adept actors and characters that are strong on their own. Further, the film flows seamlessly, and its clearly-delineated battle sequences feature a degree of character interaction so significant that it goes hand in hand with the special effects. In other words, this is not a Transformers movie by Michael Bay…
Armed with a superb and epic Alan Silvestri soundtrack, the film does not disappoint. It may be a tad imperfect story-wise given the superhero genre, but the flaws are few and far between.
Final rating:Â 
Image Credit:
http://eventingnation.com/how-would-you-have-fared-in-rolex-trivia/
http://www.stoutbot.com/cinema-excelsior/episode-33-the-avengers
http://sciencefiction.com/2014/10/14/robert-downey-jr-joining-captain-america-3-civil-war-storyline/
Well done once again; I think this critique is accurate and fair. I loved the way Evans and Downey Jr. interacted with each other throughout the movie, and I totally forgot that Ruffalo replaced Norton. In my opinion, Ruffalo crushes his role as Hulk throughout the series, and it all began with how well he played the role in this film.
Fair critique on a movie that seems ages old at this point. I believe the rating of 3 stars may be a bit generous though. Although you praise the movie for pacing, I have to disagree. The movie sometimes throws you in and out of conflict a bit harshly. It kind of seems like the characters are everywhere at once. However, I do agree that Mark Ruffalo has possible the best scene in the movie, but he has somewhat lost his glamor in later films. 2.5/4.