Film Review: Marvel Avengers Assemble

Marvel Avengers Assemble (otherwise known as The Avengers) compromises of an all-star cast, led by writer/director Joss Whedon.  A true comic book fanboy who wanted to be a part of the X-Men films, you can tell how much he cares about the story that he’s telling and the characters that he writes about in the film.  It has his signature direction style, and also his trademark wit.  The plot was clever, and well explained, unlike a lot of superhero films that are more focused on the action and making money from a well-known character.    Whedon is also not afraid of his strong females, and, whilst I expected a testosterone fest, I was pleased to see that whilst the majority of characters were male, it wasn’t.  Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow was as equally bad ass as anyone else (without the superpowers) and the scene where she beats several guys whilst tied to a chair is most definitely one of my favourites.

The actors did their jobs well, and it was good to see that Chris Evans’s acting has improved since his Fantastic Four days, as have his muscles.  Mark Ruffalo made a brilliant Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk, playing the inner torment of a Jekyll and Hyde-like character well.  He’s a very talented actor and seldom gets the credit that he should.

Robert Downey Jr. was perfect as Iron Man, as always, and Chris Hemsworth seems to be settling into the role of Thor nicely.  The only character that really bugged me was Hawkeye, as he felt like more of a sidekick than a leading man.  However, this is more due to my personal hatred of sidekick-like characters, and from what I’ve been told about the comic books, whilst he’s a part of The Avengers, he takes more of a backseat than the others.

If you haven’t seen films such as Iron Man, Captain American and Thor, the film will still make sense to you, but it does add something to your viewing experience by knowing how the characters got there, and there’s also homage to their other films in there.

Watching the film in 3D surprisingly added to the experience, and it was clearly filmed with the concept of 3D in mind, but it worries me about how it will translate into 2D and if it will be as equally spectacular.  However, with such a great cast and crew working on it, I’m sure that it will.

Comic book films are a unique genre in that they appeal to both the action/adventure lover and geeks.  However, if you’re not a fan of action/adventure films or aren’t in the slightest bit geeky, it’s probably best to go watch something else.

Image Credit:
Marvel.com