Probably the most anticipated film of the year, The Avengers finally arrived and conquered this May. If only all superhero movies were like this...
For a few years, we've had the pleasure (or not...) to follow Marvel's heroes come alive on screen... Hulk (twice and always disappointing), Iron Man ( twice and kicked ass!), Captain America and Thor. And now they all shared the screen in Joss Whedon's latest.
When you're making a superhero film, you have to be careful not to make it seem like a film about a guy dressing up in a ridiculous outfit and acting stupid. With the Avengers, you have a bunch of guys dressing up and playing heroes (and acting stupid...), so there was always a huge chance of this film coming off as stupid. But luckily, Joss Whedon knows what he is doing and the audience will be blown away with the film's awesomeness.
The film is very cast-driven. Robest Downey Jr dominates this film, but Chris Evans gives him a run for his money. Mark Ruffalo finally gives Hulk the treatment we have been waiting for. Eric Bana and Edward Norton, this is how you portray Hulk! But despite all of the big names in the cast, it's Clark Gregg as Agent (Phil? His first name is "Agent") Coulson who steals all the scenes he is in. The whole cast is well-balanced, but as said, this is Downey Jr's film. He has such charisma on screen and the whole character of Tony Stark/Iron Man is so dominant that the rest of them didn't have a chance. But the biggest surprise for me was Scarlett Johansson, who I thought was going to be very wooden and seriously, ending up as damsel in distress even though Black Widow can kick some serious ass. My only complaint would be Colbie Smulders who had absolutely nothing to do, she was no way relevant to the film and seemed to me that she was just there because they had to have another woman on board or else all the testosterone would have been too much.
What makes The Avengers so great is that it's a very well balanced film, almost the perfect superhero film. It has the action, which is adrenaline-filled and fast-paced and brings out the best of our heroes. And it has the comedy. For fans of Joss Whedon's other work, this is a joy ride. The familiar sense of humor is there and we love it and it gives the film heart. The tensions between The Avengers are delicious, they truly are a ticking time-bomb and we know it. And Joss Whedon knows how to play it. He knows when to joke about it but also he knows how to work it so that we have a taste of our heroes not-so-pretty side.
But unfortunately, The Avengers wasn't perfect... It had no major problems but a bunch of smaller
ones.
Like a) Why on Earth would you make Jeremy Renner's character flip sides so early on? Hawkeye was an interesting character and I would have wanted a bit more of him before he was made Loki's servant. That way I would have cared for and understood his need of vengeance. Now the character didn't seem as imporant as he could have. Her relationship with the Black Widow could have been expanded or even shown more in the beginning of the film, so that when Hawkeye was "captured", it would have been emotionally more gripping.
B) Thor's (the film) main problem was that it gave too much space for Loki, who is the Big Bad in The Avengers, making Thor seem a bit childish in his own film. This film's fault is that after Thor giving so much attention to him, this one gives too little attention to him. Loki is one of the most interesting villains to me and Tom Hiddleston is amazing, making Loki creepy but somewhat understandable. So in this film, we never get the feeling that he really is the Big Bad, that we should be scared for The Avengers that they couldn't beat him. Hiddleston does really fine work in this film, but script doesn't allow him to go all the way with the character. Shame...
C) Loki doesn't get enough attention, but neither does Thor. The whole cast is amazing, but we are mostly centered on Iron Man and Captain America. All the others get their time but fall in the shadow of these two. Robert Downey Jr. of course dominates the whole film, but I would have loved for all them to bicker more and be on each others' throats more. And in the end, come together more. I never got the feeling of unity, I would have wanted to get.
All in all, this is a really good, fun film. It's not a film to be taken so seriously, it's made to entertain. And it succeeds. Joss Whedon was truly the right man for the job and he pulled it off. I bow down to the master.
The ending left us wanting more and the scene after the credits (why do people alway run away so soon?) left us pretty happy and sure that we'd be getting more. But who will take the wheel for Avengers 2? I have no idea, but topping this film will be a huge challenge. I'm hoping to see Joss Whedon to return, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. I just hope that they can get the old gang back together as soon as possible. ASSEMBLE, PLEASE!
