I was never a regular reader of Marvel comics, or DC comics for that matter. I read Batman comics, and the occasional issue of Spider-Man, so I really had no expectations or hopes for Marvel’s self-produced series of films that began four years ago with 2008’s Iron Man. That turned out to be a great movie (and pretty much all of its greatness was on account of Robert Downey Jr.’s brilliant lead performance). Since then, four other Marvel movies (all of which take place in the same continuity) have been released to varying degrees of success. I enjoyed all of them on some level, but none were the equal of Tony Stark’s first adventure.
Well, that’s changed with the release of Marvel’s The Avengers, the superhero team-up that brings Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and various agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. together for an epic battle against alien forces brought to Earth by villain Loki (Thor’s half-brother). Not only is The Avengers similar in tone to Iron Man, but it manages to be even more impressive than that film in a few key areas.
I won’t bother with a summary of the film’s plot because (A) anyone reading this has likely seen the movie already, and (B) there really isn’t much of a plot to summarize. The film’s story can best be described as a skeleton; just the barest of bones. The real meat of the picture comes from the extended action set pieces and, more importantly, the interaction between this group of disparate personalities meeting each other for the first time.
The reintroduction to our heroes and the final battle that destroys Manhattan, which comprise the film’s first and final third, are fun and funny and full of well crafted special effects. But for my money, the best moments of the film are found in the middle, and don’t contain any fisticuffs at all, but the verbal sparring between these super powered beings (with super egos) as they cruise along on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s flying fortress. The various exchanges between Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans are absolute dynamite, as are any moment when one of our heroes comes face to face with Loki. There’s nothing really special about Loki himself or what he’s doing, but Tom Hiddleston brings such wit and snake-like charm to the role that he’s actually pretty hard to hate.
There isn’t a weak link in the core cast, though some get more to do than others. While Downey is the scene stealer as expected, the real surprise is Ruffalo and his less tortured take on Bruce Banner. Having been previously portrayed by Eric Bana and Edward Norton in past Hulk movies, Ruffalo brings a freshness and a bit of self-awareness to a character that’s always at war with himself. Earlier versions of Banner never went beyond brooding and, plot-wise, desperate for a cure, but this latest Banner, which Ruffalo effortlessly slips into, reluctantly accepts his curse and decides to help others instead of himself. That sounds like the definition of a superhero to me.
It’s easy to overlook Chris Evans because Captain America is the least colorful character of the bunch (almost to the point of blandness), but Evans brings an innate likability to the role, and he’s at the center of my favorite moments in the movie, easily holding his own against Downey.
Everyone else, from Scarlett Johansson (no longer a superfluous addition like she was in Iron Man 2) to Clark Gregg as Marvel movie mainstay Agent Coulson, gets their moment to shine, and all of them take advantage of it (this is an exceptionally well balanced ensemble feature). Though, if I’m being completely honest, Samuel L. Jackson doesn’t really bring much to Nick Fury’s numerous speeches, and Cobie Smulders (Robin Scherbatsky herself) comes off as unnatural and wooden in her limited screentime.
Writer-director Joss Whedon’s (most widely recognized for ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and cult classic ‘Firefly’) trademark ear for dialogue and sense of humor are in fine form here. His screenplay goes beyond mere wisecracks and makes the principal pleasure of the film the interplay between the heroes. And his direction may be even better. The movie transitions from scene to scene smoothly and slickly, successfully juggling between our heroes until they’re finally ready to take on Loki’s big bad extra-terrestrial army. I’ve seen enough Whedon-helmed TV episodes (along with his debut feature Serenity) to know that his visual sense can call attention to itself, but I can only think of one or two instances when it happens during Avengers‘ 140 minute runtime.
If there’s one thing that holds The Avengers back from greatness, it’s that Marvel felt the need to add its brand name to the film’s title. That sounds like a strange complaint, but the fact is that throughout this enormously entertaining spectacle, I was keenly aware that I was watching a “comic book movie.” The film, right from the title screen, is held back from transcending its subgenre in the way the best movies based on comic books have. It’s impossible to separate the film from the company that spawned it, and it can’t help but come off a little self-indulgent.
This ultimately puts the movie a notch below Iron Man (and The Dark Knight, for the record), which could have easily been retitled Tony Stark, because that film felt more like a character study than just a comic book come to life. But really, that’s just a nitpick, because where The Avengers triumphs over its prequels is in delivering tremendous (and admittedly CGI-driven) set pieces, all of which build towards the action-packed climax, which gives fans and non-fans pretty much everything they could want from such a battle. The key difference between this fight and one from any of the Transformers movies (which this movie is drawing a lot of comparisons from for some reason), is that I can tell who’s fighting what, and I actually care about the characters that are doing the fighting.
“We’re a chemical mixture that makes chaos,” Banner remarks during a heated argument between the Avengers. If that’s true, it’s some of the most awesome chaos I’ve ever seen. And kudos to Joss Whedon and this terrific cast for successfully synthesizing such a crowd pleasing mixture.
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