Marvel Avengers Assemble

Viewer Rating:Eoghan Bolger has rated Marvel Avengers Assemble rating: 4 Star

Avengers


Avengers is an action film directed by Joss Whedon, it stars Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L Jackson and Scarlett Johansson and is 142 minutes long. The plot sees director of shield, Nick fury assembling a team of Marvel's superheroes when the Asgardian God Loki declares war on the human world. However with so many to gather and with conflicting personalities it's a question moreso of achieving co-operation before anything else.

I was initially a bit worried about Joss Whedon's involvement here, he's a director/creator that either gets too much or too little time to tell his story and drags things out. When is on form though his work is always generally worthwhile.
Whedon is a good choice here as he is himself also a comic book fan and author.
The storyline here isn't as good as some of the other superhero Marvel films, notably x-men first class but as usual of the latest offerings the characterization still remains a strong point. Bringing Loki in as the major antagonist was a very wise decision as he is one of Marvel's most intricate, clever characters, he's a guy you always need to keep your eye on, a crafty schemer.
This goes a long way in the setup, quieter scenes, whereas many action movie's languish in these segments and can't sustain themselves, the characters here a so faithfully rendered, the banter between them too, meaning that the goofing off and parts where the plot and action is in non-motion don't feel boring or like wasted time. Expect smart alecy, sarcastic verbal barbs aplenty here. Threre's no need to develop anyone given the build up to the movie with the other superhero outings but this one manages to flesh out the characters quite well in an enjoyable, often amusing and entertaining way.
There is more action than is typical of the usually summer blockbuster where much of the time is spent sitting in the cinema during the first half waiting for something to happen, the fight scenes are split up well and frequent enough.
All the actors are on form for their respective roles and too my surprise, Loki's actor has improved quite a bit since his lacking performance in Thor.
When the action happens it impresses on all levels and like the movie itself, actually does live up to the generated hype for once, this is engaging, octane stuff and Whedon aims for a crowd please and he achieve it splendidly. The action direction is slick, breathtaking enough so that (and I have yet to encounter this in a cinema before now) that audiences got up, cheered, laughed and clapped throughout.
When a director is able to create that level of reaction and theatre atmosphere, he and his film have a certain magic touch.
These action films are finally catching on and offering more than just the typical two hour boredom killer.
There is nothing soulless about the avengers and Whedon has capture the tone, spirit and characterization of the comic books splendidly all wrapped up in a visually impressive, witty, well produced package. There is even a sequel hook that looks like something worth speculating and getting excited about too.
The humour, rarely only ever fails to save it however and one nitpick I have is that Samuel L Jackson, I can't buy him as Nick Fury, he just doesn't look like the character enough to be convincing.

Verdict: **** ½

Review published on the 28 April 2012 00:01