Movie Review: “The Avengers”

With so much buildup and hype behind “The Avengers,” it would not have been a surprise if Marvel’s latest blockbuster had fallen short of the fans’ expectations. “The Avengers” is Marvel’s attempt to tie the worlds of its movie characters together in the same manner as its comic book counterpart did in the past. Marvel has succeeded decisively in its primary task and in addition, has created a spectacular movie in the process.

The Avengers features an all-star cameo cast from a majority of Marvel’s recent films, including Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlet Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), and a new actor, Mark Ruffalo, as The Hulk. The casting in this movie is spot on, with the new heroes standing competently next to those already established through their respective films.

 One of the fundamental draws of “The Avengers” is how different cast members react to one another; all of these heroes already have developed personalities from their own movies and it’s surprising how often they step on the toes of their comrades. Because of these dynamics, we see epic confrontations such as Iron Man duking it out with Thor, Captain America arguing with Iron Man, and The Hulk nearly losing his temper a number of times.

These scenes are fantastic in that they exhibit each character’s unique dark side without being too blatant about it and it gives the heroes a chance to conquer their inner demons. For a flick featuring so many known icons, this level of character development is both surprising and refreshing. While the overarching plotline was relatively simplistic and at times, cliché, the story of how the Avengers develop as a team is deep and satisfying.

Of course, a superhero movie would not be complete without larger-than-life action sequences and “The Avengers” has plenty of these. In fact, “The Avengers” is easily more action-packed than any of Marvel’s previous films. The awesomeness of the battle scenes is augmented by the cooperation between the heroes of the story. The characters work together while still sharing light-hearted conversations and it almost has a “Lord of the Rings” vibe at times.

Everything in Marvel’s recent films (with the exception of “Spiderman”) has been leading to the climactic story of “The Avengers.” It is the ultimate example of a superhero movie done right and it will be interesting to see where the cast goes from here. This movie is loaded with great storytelling, excellent characters, and a ludicrous amount of stylized action. “The Avengers” is a worthy entry in the story of every character it portrays.