The Avengers Review

The Avengers is the story of how the heroes The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye join forces to save the Earth.

Rating:  3.5/5 stars (Three & a half stars)

Star cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow.

What’s Good: The action scenes; seeing so many superheroes together on screen; the one-upmanship between them.

What’s Bad: The build-up in the first half; the cryptic undercurrent between Black Widow and Hawkeye; people uninitiated with these heroes will probably not enjoy it as much.

Verdict: The Avengers is an action packed superhero extravaganza and will do good business.

Loo break: A couple during the first half.

Watch or Not?: You’ll probably never get see so many heroes together with so much action! Don’t miss it.

User rating:

Marvel Enterprises & Marvel Studios’ The Avengers brings together some of the most popular Marvel heroes together on screen to save the earth.

While the secret military intelligence agency SHIELD is experimenting with the powerful cosmic cube, the Tessarect, it becomes unstable. While SHIELD chief Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) and agent Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are trying to figure out the reasons behind the Tessarect’s unusual behaviour, the cube opens a portal out of which Loki (Tom Hiddleston) appears.

Before destroying the entire headquarters, Loki escapes with the Tessarect and even enslaves Hawkeye and some scientists so that he can create a portal to usher his soldiers on Earth. With no other way in sight, Nick decides to get his Avengers plan into action by getting together some of the best superheroes on Earth.

Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) returns from her Russian mission and goes to Calcutta to persuade Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) as he is the best scientist who can help them find the Tessarect on the basis of its gamma radiation. Though Banner has his apprehensions to join because of his ability/tendency to turn into the juggernaut monster The Hulk, he agrees. Fury also convinces Captain America (Chris Evans) to join the squad even though he (Captain America) feels disarmingly outdated as he was recently revived from the frozen state that he was in.

Soon, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) also joins the team. With the help of Banner and the rest of the team, they find the whereabouts of Loki. While Loki is busy trying to subjugate people, the team overpower him in a surprisingly easy attack. While transporting Loki for interrogation, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) storms in and attacks his half-brother Loki to find out why he stole the Tessarect. This results in a thunderous fight between Iron Man and Thor. After realizing that they are all fighting to protect the Earth, they imprison Loki and discuss means to finding out his true intentions. While the Avengers are busy squabbling amongst themselves, Hawkeye (under Loki’s control) and his team attack SHIELD and rescue Loki.

Do the Avengers manage to put aside their differences and work together? Does Bruce Banner get out of control as The Hulk? What is Loki’s real plan and why did he get captured so easily? The rest of the film answers these questions.

The Avengers Review: Script Analysis

Zak Penn and Joss Whedon’s story isn’t new. This sort of potboiler is probably similar to many other superhero films. But where Joss Whendon’s screenplay shines is assimilating all the ‘marvel’lous heroes (by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) and giving them equal screen space and smart dialogues, with Iron Man getting some of the best comebacks. The writers have a smart ace up their sleeve for a sequel!

The first half of the film, which involves how the different heroes are roped in, is slow but all that can be forgiven for the second half. Though all the characters have been given good screen time, the part between Black Widow and Hawkeye seems a bit forced and even gets irritating.

The Avengers Review: Star Performances

Since most of the heroes here have their own superhero films, you couldn’t expect anything less from the cast. Robert Downey Jr. is fabulous as the spoilt billionaire superhero Iron Man. Chris Evans is good as Captain America. Mark Ruffalo does very well as he takes the mantle of Bruce Banner/The Hulk. Chris Hemsworth does well as the thunder god Thor. Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner are alright as Black Widow and Hawkeye respectively. Tom Hiddleston is very good as the menacing, and slightly confused, Loki. Clark Gregg is sweet as Agent Phil Coulson. Cobie Smulders doesn’t have much to do as Agent Maria Hill. Samuel Jackson is also good as Nick Fury.

The Avengers Review: Direction & Special Effects

Joss Whedon does a good job but falls short in the first half. For giving the heroes good lines, almost equal screen space and some smacking action sequences, Whedon has used them to their fullest. Alan Silvestri’s music is good. Seamus McGarvey’s cinematography is very good. Editing by Jeffrey Ford and Lisa Lassek is alright. James Chinlund’s production design is lovely. Special effects are excellent.

The Avengers Review: The Last Word

The Avengers is a beautiful treat for fans of the comics. For those not familiar with these Marvel heroes, the film will be only slightly less enjoyable.

The Avengers releases in India on 27 April 2012.

Watch The Avengers Trailer

Note: Though The Avengers is composed of one Nordic god Thor and other heroes, we’ve used “heroes” to address the team.