What happens when you combine Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson? Or rather, shall I say, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow?
“The Avengers” is the story of precisely that combination (Not to mention Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury). Superheroes join forces to fight off the forces of evil; Thom Hiddleston as Thor’s adopted brother Loki, whom you may remember from “Thor” and shall be seeing more of in “Thor 2”.
While the superheroes are used to their own one man show – literally, “Iron Man”, “Captain America: the First Avenger”, “Thor”, and “The Incredible Hulk” – here they are thrown together to defeat a very angry dethroned Asgardian leader and his hired alien army. The heroes do not get off to a very inspiring start. From Black Widow coercing the Hulk into helping, the ineviteable butting of heads of the three BMOCs Stark, Rogers and Thor, and the manipulation of the one who gathered them (Fury), it looks like this save the world team is going to bite the dust.
However, they pull themselves together upon the death of Agent Phil Coulson, who believed wholeheartedly in the dream of a superhero crime-fighting team and as was, even upon death, the source of a formidible repartee that had the audience laughing out loud.
The movie, a combination genre of action and humor, is definitely worth seeing, if not for Scarlett Johanson clad in leather in assassin mode (Yay for feminism – there’s nothing pitiful about Black Widow!) or Chris Evans (does the guy have a thing for spandex or did he never outgrow that I-wanna-be-a-superhero phase? Either way, I’m not complaining!) then for the laughs and explosions and alien monsters threatening to invade Earth.
Speaking of monsters, have I seen these invaders before? As a semi-regular superhero movie watcher, I can’t help but feel like these antagonists look somewhat similar to those of the previous alien invader types of films. Anyone remember Shockwave from the last Transformers movie? That giant spiraling worm thingy that appeared out of that hole in space? I was having some serious flashbacks when that turtle-centipede-Shockwave cross came out of that space portal in this movie. However, in this version, there’s more than one of them, and they’re alive alive as opposed to machine alive, and instead of accompanying decepticons, they’re escorted by a hord of aliens on hovercrafts.
Semi-amusing monsters (they do have their terrifying moments, rest assured) aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the script and the acting. With a memorable cast from past superhero movies, cameo appearances of previous well-loved characters like Pepper Potts and Professor Erik Selvig, and giant alien centipede-turtle crossbreeds and aliens riding flying scooters, the movie is definitely worth seeing. And for the ladies who are not so sold on the action-part of the movie – how can you say no to the witty playboy Tony Stark, ever serious and admirable Steve Rogers, intellectual Bruce Banner, mysterious Clint Barton with his bad boy appeal, or the manly demigod Thor? There’s something for everyone in this superhero smorgasbord.
by Nina
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