The Avengers Review

4.5 out of 5

Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner, Clark Gregg
Released: May 4, 2012
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 143 min

Action, Superhero

The Verdict

Thumbs Up: Highly Recommended

Marvel fans and anyone who wants a crowd-pleasing superhero team-up. It’s rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi action and violence.

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Synopsis

Loki (Hiddleston), Asguardian god of mischief, is looking to take over the Earth. He receives help in the forces of the Chitauri to do this task. In order to stop him, Nick Fury (Jackson) must activate the Avengers initiative. His hope is to bring together Thor (Hemsworth), Iron Man (Downey), Captain America (Evans), the Black Widow (Johansson), Hawkeye (Renner), and The Hulk (Ruffalo) to save the planet. They all form The Avengers, “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”.

Spoiler Warning!!! Full Review Below

Full Review (Spoilers)

Producers: Kevin Feige

The Good

The visual effects for this movie were awesome. Each character looked great and the movie worked well visually. You could see each explosion and feel each clubbing blow.

Joss Whedon did an excellent job combining such a huge roster of people for this movie and making almost all of them shines. He gave each character enough screen time and he didn’t make the film seem too crowded.

Tom Hiddleston played a great version of Loki. He definitely shined in each scene. You couldn’t help but love his character and despise him at the same time. His character had depth and delivered comical relief when needed. He wasn’t just a bad guy who stayed in the back and hung out in the shadows. His character was in the front lines for most of the film.

Scarlett Johansson’s performance was the second best out of the cast. She was able to play a damsel in distress one second and flip it to become the aggressor. Kudos to her for being able to pull off crisp behavior transformations.

The Bad

The use of the mind takeover was poor. It had a stupid fix for it, a hard enough bump on the head. This is just the tip of the iceberg for the complaints about the use of the staff in this movie. Another thing that didn’t seem right was the overall powers of the Tesseract. You could use it to blow things up, power weapons and even take over people’s minds.

Hawkeye played a very weak role in this movie. He was easily controlled for majority of the film to go against the Avengers. When he joined the Avengers, he played small roles and showed off little skill. This portrayal didn’t showcase the great skills of this comic book character. Even his costume design seems a bit bland.

The destruction of the Chitauri happened in just a 5 minute window. Iron man went into place with a big nuclear bomb and delivered the blow to the “mother-ship” to finish the war. It makes the whole battle in New York kind of pointless if all it took was one-well placed missile.

Originally published on the Bring On The Reviews Blogspot blog on March 30, 2014.

The Avengers (2012) Cast and Details

The Avengers (2012) is directed by Joss Whedon and stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson. It runs 143 minutes and is rated PG-13. You can look up the full cast and crew on IMDb. You might also like my Hook review.

DC's Hypothetical Corner

Let’s say I change one thing. Maybe that one thing will make this movie better or more watchable.

It would be a different movie if Edward Norton actually playing as the Hulk. Maybe a slightly different feel when he’s having the talks with Tony Stark in the lab. We’re not saying Mark Ruffalo didn’t do a good job, we just think Norton could have brought out a better performance for this character. Just picture this movie with Crispin Glover as the Hulk, Dwayne Johnson as Nick Fury, Alex Pettyfer as Hawkeye, Alan Ritchson as Captain America, Ryan Gosling as Iron Man, Jason Momoa as Thor and Ronda Rousey as the Black Widow. Think of it as the Young Avengers with more bite. Question of the week: Who would you cast as the “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”?

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