The Avengers has been in development for years. Ever since I saw Iron Man for the first time and saw that after credits sequence for the first time, I knew something huge was about to happen. Now four years later, it is finally happening. Marvel brought together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye to form the Avengers. The film is written and directed by Joss Whedon who is known to be a legend with TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Angel, and Dollhouse. Now this has been my most anticipated film of 2012 for a long time and every trailer has gotten me more pumped than the previous one. Well, I finally saw it at the New York IMAX 3D fan screening (one of 10 that was being held across the country) and I have to say that I may make some bold statements in this review, but I fully believe in them. The Avengers is gonna be a really tough film to beat for not just the best superhero film of the year, but the best film of the year in general.
Every worry that I had for The Avengers was gone after the first trailer hit the web back in October and I never gained it back. Thankfully, the movie proves to be above and beyond anything that I could have ever imagined in an Avengers movie. Literally every aspect of the film is golden and Joss Whedon really proved that he is a master storyteller. He makes sure that these characters mesh brilliantly and that all of them get their moments to shine.
One of a lot of people's worries about The Avengers was if some characters wouldn't have enough screen time or be shoved to the side. Most of that was for Black Widow and Hawkeye. Luckily, every single character gets just enough screen time and each of them have multiple crowd pleasing moments. Even out of the big guys, really the only one that has an overwhelming amount of scene stealing moments is the Hulk.
Speaking of which, Mark Ruffalo is the best Hulk yet. He does keep his calm during some scenes, but when he gets pissed it's believable. Whenever he was the Hulk, he was AWESOME! The motion capture for the Hulk was spectacular and you can see that it's still Mark Ruffalo. That's also where he demands applause from the audience. There were plenty of scenes in the movie where my audience went nuts and deservedly so.
The rest of the crew were fantastic in their roles. Robert Downey Jr. still feels like Tony Stark even with a different director guiding him. He actually gives such a fantastic performance that he actually pulls off some really dramatic material in some scenes and it works so well. Chris Evans is great as Captain America. He feels like the odd guy out in the whole group, but it makes sense because he was last in the 1940's and now he's in a completely different environment. That kind of stuff is captured really well here. Chris Hemsworth is also terrific as Thor. He still keeps his dramatic scenes at the same tone as in his solo movie while keeping the same charm about him that made him likable in the first place.
All of these fantastic characters are also given great and hilarious dialogue. There is a lot of tension between certain characters along the way, but Joss Whedon's humor is perfectly placed in certain moments. Sometimes, it even adds the perfect closure to a scene and just makes it even more special. It's truly great dialogue.
Everyone's talking about the alien race that's in this film fighting the Avengers crew. They really do seam like a threat at several moments, but the main villain is Loki who's played by Tom Hiddleston. He is absolutely incredible in The Avengers. His character is so menacing and fierce that every time he's on screen, you are glued to his character. His charm adds so much to making him such a terrific antagonist.
The finale of this film has been the main focus of the trailers. That was starting to worry some people about them showing a bit too much. They haven't shown ANY of the best moments in the trailer yet. There are plenty of moments here where the audience went crazy with applause and cheering that have not been revealed yet. So don't worry about watching the trailers or TV spots.
The visual effects are spectacular here. It really steps up from the other Marvel films and makes it feel epic. The motion capture of the Hulk is terrific and up to par with most stuff from WETA Digital. All of the visuals during the fight scenes look spectacular and really make the movie look realistic. The action really is pumped up to 11 here.
A lot of the style, character development, and dialogue is all thanks to Joss Whedon. He gave all of us the Avengers movie we deserved for following these characters for four years. He did a fantastic job bringing in elements from the previous films such as their after credits sequences, certain moments that tied together in each film, and even bringing in some stuff into the movie that you only remember if you saw each film in detail. I'm so thankful that I saw all of the Avengers set up movies prior to seeing this.
I really have nothing but praise for The Avengers. It's everything that I wanted it to be and more. After four years of following Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America, Marvel and Joss Whedon brought everything full circle for whats sure to be a critical and financial success. It's funny, emotional, a visual spectacle, and just everything that makes a perfect superhero movie. I cannot wait to go see it again on May 4th.
Overall, I give The Avengers an A+