Marvel’s The AvengersBy Wilson Morales
After releasing 5 films (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America) in less than five years, Marvel Entertainment smartly put together ‘The Avengers’ at the right time. While some can argue that it’s not the ultimate or best comic book film ever made, it’s certainly has a lot going for it that geeks and new fans will eat this action packed adventure up and come back for more. The film has enough ingredients (acting, special effects, action) to capture your attention and become the huge blockbuster it was meant to be.
A lot of credit goes to director Joss Whedon, who was able to come in and not only bring in the character traits from the other films that he didn’t direct, but add more humor and action to the mix.
Thor’s evil brother, Loki of Asgard (Tom Hiddleston) has transported back to Earth looking to capture a blue crystal cube called the Tesseract that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was to trying to figure its strengths and value. Loki manages to hypnotize S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, the archer Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and physicist consultant Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard, who appeared in ‘Thor’) into helping him escape with the glowing weapon.
With a deadly enemy on the loose, Fury has his trusted man, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) rally up the individuals he wanted for his Avengers group, starting with Agent Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) sent to get the ‘big guy,’ Dr. Bruce Banner/ Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, replacing Ed Norton, who appeared in ‘The Incredible Hulk’). Fury himself goes to get Steve Rogers/ Captain America (Chris Evans), who’s eager to get a new assignment after being frozen for over 70 years. Meanwhile, Agent Coulson goes to convince Tony Stark/ Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) to suit up for this mission, but Tony’s too busy working on new technology with his now-girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).
After meeting up and easily capturing Loki without much of a resistance, Captain America and Iron Man then have to fight off Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki’s adoptive brother and the Norse god of thunder, who wants Loki to pay for his crimes in Asgard. Settling down and joining the group on the airship, everyone’s at each other’s throats until Loki’s plans are further revealed and puts the world in danger.
When deadly circumstances put things in perspective, all of the Avengers realize that it takes a group effort to stop Loki and his army from creating mass destruction upon Earth. With a third act that involves a lot of action, the Avengers muster everything they’ve got to save the world.
Without revealing too many plots, it’s safe to say that Joss Whedon has given the fans exactly what they wanted in a film created for them. In past comic book films, too many characters, whether they are heroes or villains, can be a distraction, but Whedon has carefully written a tight script where every character is given a moment to shine. With the exception of Chris Evans, who seemed a bit bored in his role, everyone else had a blast revisiting their roles, especially Downey Jr. He’s always in a great mood and it shows on-screen. Whedon’s given him the best dialogue and the best clothes outside of wearing the iron suit.
Ruffalo does a good job in accepting the role that was previously played by Ed Norton and Eric Bana. Rather than have Banner struggling to contain his emotions, Ruffalo plays the role with confidence, already assured of his problem, and handles it in an admirable fashion. While Downey Jr. has the best lines, Ruffalo has the best action scenes. No one can beat the Hulk when’s he angry and it clearly shows on screen, especially when told to “smash”. While Jackson’s Fury is the catalyst that brings the group together, it’s Hiddleston’s performance that also keeps you entertained. His scenes with Hemsworth makes one appreciate William Shakespeare’s stories.
Comic book fans may question some of the structure of the character development as not all are derived from the book, but they will appreciate some of the Easter eggs spread out for future sequels. The Avengers is fun, action packed and certainly an enjoyable outing’s entertainment!
