The Avengers User Reviews

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The best cinema audience I’ve been part of in a good while. No phones creating light pollution at any point, no phones going off at any point, a tiny bit of rustling from packaging and no muttering or irritating chatter at any point – in fact the only noises the audience made were in response to what was happening on screen. They were all people who actually appreciated what was being projected on to that massive canvas and that’s exactly how it should be. Thank you. I’d also like to thank Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Bruce Banner (Hulk), Thor, Steve Rogers (Captain America) and last but not least Joss Whedon for making me as giddy as a 7 year old on Christmas Eve. “Avengers Assemble” was released in cinemas today, I watched it this morning and I thought it was a high-speed exhilarating superhero extravaganza.

It made me laugh, it made me smile, it bought out my inner child as I witnessed my favourite heroes fighting to save the earth and it’s every bit as good as you expect it to be. It wasn’t perfect by any means but why should it be? It doesn’t need to explain itself because it doesn’t really mean anything but that doesn’t stop it from being a brilliant watch. Certain parts of the end battle scene looked a bit “Transformers-ish” but it’s not offensive or full of explosions like Michael Bay’s hideous version of the Transformers franchise, it’s a superhero film after all and for a superhero film it’s Marvel’s best yet. “Avengers Assemble” is unquestionably action-packed and the action scenes are remarkable, they’re well directed, they’re flowing and would satisfy even the most hardcore of comic book geeks. Whedon’s actually performed somewhat of a miracle because devoted comic book geeks are a hard market to please but I doubt many will be able to fault Whedon’s wondrous work. He managed to give every hero the right amount of screen time to show their stuff, the characterization in particular was great, Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) getting most of the funny lines…naturally. Tom Hiddlestone (Loki) had the most magnetic performance and it’s seems a decent Bruce Banner has been found in the form of Mark Ruffolo, he actually brings something to the role. Eric Bana and Edward Norton must be green with envy.

Joss Whedon’s writing is perfect for this kind of film – zippy, cheesy and witty in all the right places. Many of the funny moments occur after every cheesy moment/line delivered it was followed by a funny quip usually resulting it the film criticizing itself, I was laughing at nearly all of the jokes and so were the audience. Audiences will find “Avengers Assemble” as funny as much as they find it pumped full of adrenaline. Joss Whedon certainly knows his genres, he is at his best when he knows (and likes) what he is working with, much like “The Cabin In The Woods” with horror you can tell Whedon is really fond of the superhero genre and the script shows that he was having a hell of a time writing it. The level of comedy is just right too, I never found it silly or annoying, actually the only problem I had was in the narrative and it was about Hulk and his ability to control when he ‘hulks out’ – so to say. One minute he is saying to Stark that he can’t control it, the next he is in the battle to save the world and can switch to the green rage monster, even control how he behaves when he’s Hulk no problem. And I heard it wasn’t easy being green. I dismissed this problem and any other one I had: 1. because they were only tiny little problems and didn’t affect my opinion on the film, and 2. It hasn’t got any hidden messages or isn’t a visual metaphor for anything. In fact, there is no real reason for it to exist, no desperate story it needs to tell. It was made for people like me who are usually grumpy and hate everything on TV and most modern day blockbuster films to let their hair down and have some good old fashioned rip roaring superhero comradery fun and games.

There is no doubt the film well soar at the box office and by the looks of it critics love it too. Damn right too, the dialogue shines, the performances from the top billed cast are terrific, it’s full of unbearable suspense I think it’s safe to say that Whedon really has made pretty much the perfect superhero movie.