The Avengers

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael

Well it's finally here, after 5 feature films of teasing since 2008. That's quite an elaborate set up. Equally exciting is seeing geek hero Joss Whedon not only finally getting a chance to play with the big boys, but with all of them in one film. This is a film obviously written by a fan and a real comic book geek. May as well have been called "Fan Service: The Movie"

Sure the plot is all of 5 minutes long, simple and obvious but it's the action and characters that are the focus. It's that awkward stage of treading water, where you've set up most of the characters already and you can't develop them too much because they need to keep something for possible future films.  It really boils down to being a good time with characters we want to see more of. There's a lot of them and they all get their time to shine. Being a Whedon film you can be assured of a few things...

Firstly, it's going to be the funniest of all the Marvel films. It just is. Whedon writing dialogue for Tony Stark seems like a match made in heaven, but surprisingly the two biggest audience cheers/laughs come from non-verbals gags from the Hulk. That's right, Hulk is sure to be the unexpected audience favourite.

Secondly, the characters are all going to have a purpose. As I said, they each get their moment, they each have their own little problem and personality clashes and that's probably the most enjoyable part of the film for me. Hawkeye gets thrown out of the equation early on, but is really used more as an instigator and jumps back in at the end to help kick intergalactic butt, so I don't really count him, does anyone at this stage? Out of the rest of them Thor has brother issues but not much else with the group dynamic which is a bit of a shame as he's my favourite.

Thirdly, the females are gonna be badass. If this wasn't called The Avengers (or Fan Service: The Movie) it could easily be Black Widow's origin film. Everyone else has already had theirs and she was just thrown in to Iron Man 2 so learning a bit more about her and giving her some really awesome stuff to do is great.

Fourthly, a beloved audience favourite is going to die. With Whedon it is inevitable and while his choices are somewhat limited here due to contractual reasons and future film possibilities, sure enough not everyone makes it to the end credit sequence. Sad.

Lastly, there is going to be a long complicated one take shot at some stage in the film. And here it is during the big climactic battle and the most ridiculously awesome shot in the entire film.

Loki has changed slightly as the villain here. Obviously his experience at the end of Thor left him rather bitter. He comes back with an army of what appear to be the aliens from Battleship riding that giant worm thing from Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It is what it is, an arbitrary alien horde that provide appropriate 3rd act destruction. As for the speculation as to wether the Skrulls appear in the film, well I'll just say, the don't appear before the end credits...

A few side characters also pop up. Pepper Potts is in the film as is the scientist dude from Thor however Natalie Portman is only seen as a picture on a monitor. Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson has been made a Captain America fanboy and it is hilarious. Also makes sense too considering The Cap is the only hero that's been around for a while that hasn't had direct contact with him. I like that Paul Bettany is still around to voice Jarvis (and Lou Ferrigno is still around to voice Hulk). The usual Stan Lee cameo is right at the end and is a little too on the nose but always fun to find.

Unfortunately the cinema we saw the film is cropped a bit form the top and bottom. It's not a 2.35 ratio film so the few instances of subtitles were a little frustrating. The 3D post conversion is very good for the most part. There was one shot that stood out as being rather impossible to resolve to the point that it hurt, but it wasn't long and was the exception not the rule. There was actually some nice use of the depth, definitely not a film you want to see too close to the screen though. Best thing about the 3D? Being able to choose between Iron Man, Captain America, Thor or Hulk styled glasses. I got Thor because he's my favourite, but no doubt Iron Man will be the most popular, they certainly look the best.   And no-one will choose poor old Hulk. (Except maybe after they see the film and he becomes everyone new favourite.)

Alan Silvestri does a rousing score and provides a nice theme that I might have to listen to once again to get the finer points of but is pretty hummable. Sound is great, Visual FX are great. According to the credit role, every major FX company on the planet worked on the film so you'd hope so.

Speaking of credits, while there was a tag after the end title sequence, the reported scene that was shot this week to go right at the end of the credit role was not on the print we saw. Gives me an excuse to go see it again though I guess.

Ultimately this is an origin story for The Avengers as a team and it works as that. It's a massive crowd pleaser and very entertaining indeed. For many it's sure to be their favourite Marvel film. It's certainly the biggest action wise. Defiantly gives you great comic book geek cool moments with a lot of hilarity. Can't wait to see it again.