The Daily Planet Review Section

THE AVENGERS

The Avengers is a hugely ambitious project from Marvel Studio's. Even a hardcore DC man like myself can praise Marvel for the balls it has for even attempting to make this movie. Before even getting to the point of production Marvel had to set up three franchises and  a relaunch. Not only that, these movies franchises had be successful (sadly the Hulk relaunch did not fare as well as the others). With the individual franchises establish, and the seeds for this movie sewn into them, the question then became whether a team movie like this could work and give enough screen time to characters that are already supporting their own movies. Like I say, ambitious.

Marvel Studio's turned to geek legend Joss Whedon to turn the idea of a team movie into a reality. Whilst Whedon may seem to be a safe choice as a writer (there are very few better or on a par) given his fine ensemble work with Buffy and Angel, he was a bit of a gamble as the director with his only big screen directorial outing to date being, the admittedly excellent, Serenity (which was based on his unfairly short lived TV series Firefly). The gamble pays off. Whedon has crafted an epic enjoyable superhero movie with crackling dialogue and big action. Michael Bay should take note of how to do big climatic fight scenes in a city and make it enjoyable. Michael, this is how it is done.

X-Men and Star Trek movies have shown that having a large ensemble can cause some characters to become marginalised. So, how does The Avengers fare in relation to its large cast?

Downey, Jr as Tony Stark/Iron Man has all the best lines and threatens to steal the show until the Hulk shows up. Jackson is effortlessly cool as Nick Fury. Whedon is at his best when writing strong female characters and this shows with Black Widow. Thor and Captain America have great character moments (it is like a comic book fan wet dream seeing Hulk vs Thor on the big screen). 

The movie though belongs to Tom Hiddleston as Loki. A excellently nuanced villain performance by the actor (up there with Ledger's Joker) that shows the actor is clearly enjoying himself, and the dialogue he has been given. The performance never veers into mustache twirling camp.


One of the biggest challenges facing Whedon was Bruce Banner and his alter ego, the Hulk. After the public falling out between the Studio and Norton, Mark Ruffalo was brought in as the third big screen version of the Hulk. Ruffalo brings a twitchy nervousness to Banner, compared to the calmness of Norton, and a gorilla like quality to the Hulk. The Hulk as a character is visually different to the previous big screen iterations and contributes to some of the films funnier moments. Whedon, rightly, focuses on Banner and it is well over an hour before you see his big green rage monster side.

Despite all that is good about the film doesn't mean there are no flaws: the CGI is, at times, dodgy; Johansson is not the best actress (think female Keanu Reeves); the invading alien army are ciphers; the characters of Hawkeye and Maria Hill seem under used and under developed; Captain America, as a character, is charisma free and dull; and the Captain America costume doesn't wholly work.

The Avengers takes the tropes of the comic books such heroes fighting before the join forces for the greater good or the apocalyptic battle that takes place (particularly in relation to Marvel) in New York and transfers them to the big screen. And it turns out the secret to making this film work was in embracing the comic book element and mix it with some great character work.

Overall, The Avengers is a very, very enjoyable superhero movie and kicks off the blockbuster season in style.

Final Rating: 4/5