"There was an idea, to put together a team of extraordinary people, so that when we needed them, they could fight the battle that we never could."
-Nick Fury
The Avengers hit theaters last night at midnight and man oh man was it....I'm still processing it because it was absolutely perfect. I found no flaws at all, and there was a perfect mix of seriousness and humor, especially humor, very surprising. Lets start with the plot. Loki, the adopted son of Asgard has fallen through a wormhole and is after the Cosmic Cube, also known as the Tesseract. The Cube is in S.H.I.E.L.D's possession and Loki finds a way, as he always does, to open the cube and arrive on Earth. That, dear readers is where chaos ensues. The team begins to meet one another, but not on a friendly note. Everybody fights everybody and it was awesome. Banner is brought in to try to find the Tesseract, which Loki steals and uses to bring an army of the alien race called Chitauri to earth, while Iron Man constantly antagonizes him hoping for a change in pant size and body mass, while Cap tries to calm Stark down, while Widow tries to supervise while Fury hides secrets while Thor crashes down and fights Stark, while Coulson watches in what seems to be concern mixed with amusement. Shortly after a chaotic battle on the helicarrier and a death in the family, the team unites and they become the team they were meant to be. The rest of the movie (about an hour) is one WAM!BAM! final battle in New York. That's as far as I will go into plot details but I want to tell you, stay during and after the credits because this time there is not one, but two, yes TWO scenes!!!
Now let's go into the individual characters themselves.
Captain America:
The Captain is a man out of time and that really shows in the Avengers. In one scene you really feel bad for the guy because as he punches his boxing bag, every punch brings him back to a memory of the war and you can see the pain in his face, especially when he says "When I went to sleep we were in a war, but when I woke up 70 years later, here we are, the winners." Evans did a fantastic job as Captain America making the transition from symbol of hope to Leader of the Avengers.
Iron Man:
Iron Man kick-started the Avengers franchise back in 2008 so it only makes sense that he has some of the best moments in the movie. The scene where he gets the new suit....my jaw dropped to the floor. It's epic beyond comprehension. Robert Downey Jr. delivered a performance that I enjoyed more than in Iron Man 2 because he was his cocky self but with a hint of sincerity, where Iron Man 2 he was just plain cocky. One of the best parts of having Iron Man in this movie is he lives to piss off every hero. One of the best scenes is where he tries so hard to turn Banner into the Hulk. Priceless.
Thor:
We come to Thor, my favorite of the Avengers. Thor was great in the movie. Hemsworth delivers a great performance as the God of Thunder and we finally get to see him use all of his powers. One of my favorite fight sequences with him is when, yes we all knew it was coming, when he fights the Hulk. He truly shines in the final battle and the scene where he gets his armor was just superbly done.
The Hulk/Bruce Banner:
The gamma-powerhouse is back and better than ever! This time Mark Ruffalo plays Banner and. unlike the previous incarnations, he plays the Hulk as well, through the wonders of motion capture. The hulk honestly stole the show. As Banner, he was like that lost puppy that you want to hold and protect but as Hulk he was a 10 year old on redbull. It was easily one of the best performances in the movie.
Hawkeye:
The teams resident Archer finally gets the screentime he deserves. He doesnt get as much as I thought he should have but for the ammount he did, man Jeremy Renner knows how to handle a bow and arrow. The Marvel Cinematic Universe's take on Hawkeye was great and I hope he gets his solo movie!
Black Widow:
I'll be honest. When I first saw Iron Man 2, I wasn't really pumped for Widow, don't get me wrong it's cool to see her in a movie but it just seemed kind of forced in there. In Avengers however, she really shined. Scarlett Johanssen was fantastic and proved that there needs to be more female heroes taking center stage.
S.H.I.E.L.D:
S.H.I.E.L.D had three main stars in this movie. Nick Fury of course, Agent Phil Coulsen, and Maria Hill.
Nick Fury finally gets the screen time he deserves and gets to fight and shoot his way through some bad guys. Samuel L. Jackson delivers and proves that HE IS Nick Fury.
Agent Coulson is like the godfather of this team and he really shines here. Whereas the past movies have just had him make cameo appearances, this movie he takes a more central role and Clark Gregg proves he deserves as much of the spotlight as the others.
Maria Hill isn't really a focus of the movie but she is portrayed well by newcomer Cobie Smulders.
Loki:
Loki is the main villain and Tom Hiddleston masters the role. In Thor, Loki was still figuring out who he was but in this movie, he is down right vicious and evil. He fights every Avenger and just delivers a stellar performance. Right now he is tied with Heath Ledger as the Joker for my favorite comic book movie villain of all time.
Final Verdict:
The Avengers is one of those rare superhero movies that sets itself apart from other summer blockbusters. It appeals to everyone and I cannot find one singal flaw. The action sequences were top notch. The acting was superb. The script was fantastic. The effects were beautiful and it was just a masterpiece. Joss Whedon is a true master and I hope he comes back for many many more films! See this movie, you will not regret it!!
I give The Avengers a perfect 5 out of 5!!
On a slightly-related note for the 6 hours me and my bros spent waiting in line, I decided to give in and pick up a prop to bring with me. The compliments I got from guys on line were awesome and my friend learned that while it is a prop, it still hurts like hell. Turns out I was the only one with the prop I chose, everyone else was rockin Cap shields and masks. Me? I saw this at my local comic shop and couldn't resist. :)
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