The Avengers (2012) review

The Avengers (2012)

Review by George Elcombe

"Hulk, smash"

I love summer blockbusters. Although now we don't queue around blocks anymore, the name still sticks. Its this time of year I attend the cinema most to see hyped up films full of special effects and explosions that deserve to be seen on the big screen. Pure popcorn entertainment and I love it.

Paramount does it very well and manage to drag me back to the cinema again and again to entertain me, but this film is exceptional. Yes, it's been a long time coming and has been hinted at in all the previous Marvel studios films (let's be honest; Iron Man 2 (2010) was just a long advert for this) but this, their 6th movie, is worth the build up and the best of the bunch.

Plot: Loki is after the Tesseract power cube from Captain America (2011) and is planning to open a portal and bring an army from another world to conquer the Earth and enslave humanity. It just so happens that Nick Fury has been planning the Avengers initiative for such an event, and brings together Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America, Hulk and Loki's brother Thor to stop him. This is going to be a party to remember! 

Director and co-writer Joss Whedon always does very good character ensembles (Firefly (2002 – 2003, Alien Resurrection (1997)) and none of the main characters is this film felt like they were left out with the exception of Hawkeye who was underused, although I’m glad they did shed some light on his and Black Widows past.

Each of our heroes had an informative introduction, establishing them to new viewers and reminding me why I like Tony Stark so much. Although this film clocks in at over 2 hours, it’s well paced, has you caring about the characters and is never dull.

This also has a lot to do with the epic action sequences and the humour. The entire cinema were cracking up at Joss Whedon's classic one liners and one scene involving Loki towards then end had us laughing and applauding. While the action set pieces are great and there are a lot of them, the finale being the best.

As per most Hollywood action films, this utilises the method of having wave after wave of faceless villains fly in as fodder so our heroes can do what they do best. Smash seven bells out of them, and Hulk does it the best in a rampage which was nothing less than pure joy. Overall Hulk stole the show and I hope we see more of him in future Marvel films. 

It's as great as everyone says and I love Tom Hiddleson as Loki. The cinematography is excellent although the 3D conversion is meh, the special effects are up to scratch but where this film shines is its ability to entertain.

Spoiler zone:

There is a nagging plot hole: if hulk is always angry, then why did he Bruce out on the Helicarrier? Seriously, if he's always angry then it's stupid to have him transform on it when he can just control his rage! But Hulk is fantastic in this film so I'll let it slip. Another nag is when Iron Man saves New York by directing a nuke up into a portal to the alien’s ship, where he may be trapped forever and his suit magically runs out of power. Well, the trailer showed Hulk catching him upon his decent and Iron Man 3 was recently given the green light: thus this moment has no tension at all. Nag.

Agent Phil Coulson is a fantastic character and I've enjoyed him in the previous Marvel films. Although his death is necessary for the development of this film and the unification of the Avengers, he will be missed. But I loved his interaction with Captain America and his trading card collection.

And the post credit glimpse of a future villain I have never heard of! Seriously, I thought it was Red Skull but no, it's Thanos, who we all remember from…. Erm…. I admit I love how Marvel had a very ‘grounded in the real world’ approach in Iron Man (2008) and The Incredible Hulk (2008), but since Thor (2011) opened up the possibility of other worlds, I am intrigued to see where this franchise is headed. It's a shame Fox own the rights to X Men and Apocalypse.

And that shot in Black Widow’s room when Hawkeye walked out of the bathroom, did that imply that they are more than friends? He he he.

End of spoilers.

In short this movie is as great as everyone says, and I am still loving this new Marvel franchise and excited for the next films.

8 out of 10.

If you like this, try:

The Incredibles (2004)

Serenity (2005)