In Theaters: The Avengers ****

Alright.  I saw it.

Truth be told, I went into the movie this morning thinking that I'd end up shooting holes and nit-picking the whole thing when I got around to writing my review.  I'm not exactly sure why.  I'm a sucker for super hero movies, so I was certain that I would like it, I just wasn't prepared to buy into the hype.  I suppose that's because I haven't been sold on this whole Marvel Universe thing.

Prior to this film, the Marvel Universe endeavor has consisted of one stellar movie (Iron Man), one terrible movie (Iron Man II),  a couple movies that aren't great but will do in a pinch (The Incredible Hulk and Captain America), and a movie that was remarkably entertaining notwithstanding the fact that it was pretty lame (Thor).  With that decent-but-not-great build up, I was certain that I'd like it, but I just hadn't been able to get fully on the bandwagon when it came to The Avengers.

So where am I now?  Am I a full-blown believer in the genius of the Marvel Universe?  Is it the greatest idea in the history of cinema?  I don't know.  But, I will say that, with The Avengers, they did everything right.  And, while the composite parts of the Universe that lead to The Avengers haven't all been stellar, they helped make this movie better.



If you don't remember the plots to the previous films in the Universe, you might be a little lost at the beginning of The Avengers.  The movie doesn't waste any time with flashbacks or set-up.

For example, At the beginning of the movie, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives at a remote research facility after finding out that the Tesseract -- an energy cube capable of providing unlimited power -- has become unstable.  I remembered the reference to the Tesseract in the post-credits scene in Thor and, at first, thought it was pretty random that they'd casually jump into this scene without any more build up than that. Eventually, I remembered that the cube was central to the plot of Captain America as well, so it wasn't a huge leap.  Still, like I said, it helps to know what's gone on before.

Anyway, in the opening scenes, we learn that the cube has become unstable because it has been used to open a portal through space.  Once the portal is opened, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) appears.  At this point the movie expects that you'll remember that Loki was the villain in Thor.  Once again, there's no explanation or exposition, only one line: "You're Loki, the brother of Thor."  Loki proceeds to take over the minds of people in the room -- including Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) -- and then runs off with the Tesseract.

Eventually we learn that there is an alien race interested in the Tesseract and they've contracted Loki to track it down and deliver it to them.  In return, they've promised to provide him with an army of alien creatures and machines with which he can take over and rule the Earth.

Needless to say, Nick Fury is not about to let Loki get away with this.  So, he activates the Avenger Initiative, that thing they've been referring to after the credits in all these movies.  Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson) is tasked with bringing in Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).  Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) goes after Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.).  Fury invites Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) into the fight himself. And, as luck would have it, Thor ((Chris Hemsworth) shows up on his own, on a mission to bring Loki back to Asgard.  Hawkeye is eventually knocked out of his trance just in time to join the team.

As you might expect, it's difficult to get all these characters to get along.  So, they fight amongst themselves, bicker, argue, and recite brilliantly witty dialogue and then unite just in time to save the day.

God Among Geeks Joss Whedon was brought on to write and direct The Avengers and he brings his other-worldly talent as a wordsmith fully to bear on this film.  As in everything he does, he's able to draw you into an unfamiliar world and then surprise you by making fun of it. Virtually every scene is punctuated by perfectly timed joke or sight gag.  Now, he's not lampooning or parodying super hero movies, not by any means.  He's simply allowing the movie to have a sense of humor about itself.  In the end, I that's what makes the whole thing work. I'm not kidding when I say that The Avengers should be up for a screenwriting Oscar.

Now, the biggest no-no in comic book and super hero movies is crowding the story with too many characters.  Indeed, the quality of most super hero movies can be directly attributed to the number of villains.  Yet, with The Avengers, we see six different heroes competing for screen time, yet it doesn't fall into any of the pitfalls of past movies.  For that, I have to give credit to the Marvel Universe idea.  While Thor and Captain America weren't great movies, they did allow their heroes to come into The Avengers as fully developed characters.  And, as the movie pipes along, you never get the sense that they're consciously trying evenly divide the story among the various heroes.  Indeed, they all existed independently before The Avengers and, if box office returns are any indication, they'll have long lives afterward.  It's a balancing act, to be sure, but Whedon pulls it off beautifully.


Another great thing about how this movie ties the stories together is that, by refusing to rehash every backstory to refresh everyone's memories, they've retroactively improved the quality of the previous films.  Seriously, after seeing this movie this morning, I've wanted to go back and watch Captain America and Thor again...though I still have no interest in sitting through Iron Man 2.


Now, here comes the big, geeky question.  Where does The Avengers fit in the grand pantheon of super hero movies?  Is it the greatest comic book movie of all time?  I think there are some who would be disappointed if it was anything less.  For my money, The Dark Knight is still the greatest super hero movie of all time, even after seeing The Avengers.  But, I do think that The Avengers belongs in the conversation.