Film Review: The Avengers
- Details
- Published on Friday, 11 May 2012 10:18
- Written by Berndt Hannweg
A Film Review: The Avengers
The Avengers
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. There is no “I” in team. But Tony Stark would be very happy to point out there is a “me”.
Having watched all five of the films that preceded The Avengers, I can tell you that Joss Whedon managed to do something extraordinary. He took various characters from a range of okay-for-a-Saturday flicks and produced a comic-book film to be proud of.
The villainous Loki is back on Earth, this time stealing the Tesseract, a source of unlimited energy, with the intention of opening a portal through which his minions can invade New York. So Nick Fury calls together Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Dr Bruce Banner, the Black Widow and some guy with a bow (that appears to be his sole characterisation) to stop him.
Michael Bay could learn a thing or two from Avengers, primarily to do with the need for a plot and pacing and good dialogue and characters you actually grow to like over the space of the two hours. Whedon doesn’t stint on the action, though, and the fight sequences and special effects are good, if not spectacular.
The leads have some great interaction with each other, but it is Tom Hiddleston as Loki who steals the show with greasy superiority and evil panache, at least until the Hulk arrives on the scene.
Fans of Marvel Comics should go see this film, while the uninitiated will enjoy the ride as well, with lots of good one-liners and some surprisingly heart-warming moments thrown in. If you don’t laugh and get teary-eyed while watching The Avengers, you may not be fully human.