Marvel Studios colossal gamble in combining four of their major comic brands into one film was subject to feeling clustered and failing, yet having gotten each hero's back story and characteristics out of the way in previous films, Avengers can go all out. No brakes.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) is teamed up with Doctor Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk) Steve Rogers (the super soldier Captain America) and Thor, the god of thunder, to protect the world from a hostile invasion led by Thor's brother Loki. They have to learn to put their personal demons aside and work together if they are to succeed!
Avengers Assemble is another landmark in cinema after Harry Potter; keeping firm continuity on a franchise makes it stronger. The actors already know their characters, the film's first act dips wonderfully into "character moments", one minute it is a new Iron Man film, then it is Thor's movie, Avengers simply revels in their clashing personalities, a geeky "what if Thor, Tony Stark and Captain America were in a room together?". I cannot stress the credit due to Joss Whedon, co-writer and director, he brought is A-game here; the wit and stinging dialogue is here in abundance. The cinema I was in was roaring with laughter at all the right points.
There are several short signature fights, giving each hero and villain a chance to fight another, though this does not feel forced. Instead each battle feels unique, memorable and is certainly eye catching.
The film's heart and soul is with the superheroes, and while their personal demons are less defined here (for obvious reasons, there are six of them!) the battles they wage show them struggling, Marvel's ethos of "human superheroes" is not completely lost here. By the end, the heroes are quite worse for wear.
Loki is the signature villain, and one should watch Thor (and Captain America) to fully appreciate what's at stake. The villains are pushed aside overall, but only for the excellent team-building theme the film is about anyway.
Definitely worth seeing, for the great dialogue alone, never mind the frantic and characterful battle sequences on top of it!
"But he is my brother, he is family"
"He just killed over eighty people!"
"He was adopted..."
"He just killed over eighty people!"
"He was adopted..."
5 cups eh? ;o) I do agree it was very good though. Full marks to Joss Whedon for pulling that off, I definitely had my doubts going to see it, but he performed an amazing balancing act. It really was an ensemble film, which is really rare these days!
ReplyDeleteYep! 5/5 purely because it does what it was supposed to really well :) Plus getting the whole audience and me laughing out loud is impressive. I always thought Whedon was the right choice, given he writes this sort of cast all the time!
DeleteIf I were really picky I'd say the soundtrack wasn't great; at least I can't remember any music cues, drowned out by the action and dialogue. That and how the film's plot hinges on the two weaker Marvel films. But that's being picky!