Marvel’s The Avengers – Film Review

This film systematically changed Hollywood going forward. The thought of making a film series that has continuity beyond a trilogy and that interviews characters in and out of different franchise upon having team up films was not thought of as a working product. Since 2008 in “Iron Man,” the post credit sequence of Nick Fury saying to Tony Stark.. “I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative..” has not only been the bane of existence of theater ushers but the spark in Marvel Studio’s game plan in making a giant franchise.

The only negatives of the film is the basic plot of the story. There wasn’t much memorable about the middle in the 2nd act of the film. It is pretty paint by numbers to get to the hero shot in the incredible 3rd act. The costumes of the heroes don’t hold now as they did then. Other than those issues it’s a fun ride of a film. Mark Ruffalo is a great replacement for Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk. It was so great to see all these characters come together on screen was a fascinating experience to see come to life.

Iron Man: [as the fight begins] Call it, Captain!
Captain America: Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority’s containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash.
Hawkeye: [to Iron Man] Want to give me a lift?
Iron Man: Right. Better clench up, Legolas.
Captain America: Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow ’em down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up.
Captain America: You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk?
Captain America: Smash!

The 3rd action sequence where all 6 Avengers come together to defeat Loki was just very well done by Joss Whedon. Having Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America in that circle hero shot seen on the big screen after this 4 year build up was definitely worth it. The Chitauri were basically the Robots from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, where they all die off at once — even though that was the case they did their serviceable job.

The character of Phil Coulson did a solid job in servicing the story, but was a great send off to set up his main role on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” He was the glue that connected all of the characters during Phase 1 that it was a perfect way to move on with his character. Tom Hiddleston of course does a superb job as the main villain to set up the next main villain, Thanos. Overall the middle of the film doesn’t hold up as much as the beginning and end of the film. The humor is very strong and is not only quotable, but that holds up.

9.5/10