Saturday, August 9, 2014

The Avengers (2012, PG-13)


The Avengers pulls off such an impressive feat.  It juggles six heroes, many of whom carry their own adjacent franchises, and it gives each of them standout moments, memorable dialogue, and character-building scenes.  The film is covered in ties to Marvel’s previous movies, but the first time I saw it, I was living proof to the fact that it’s still remarkably comprehensible with only a cursory knowledge of its predecessors.  It’s exciting, slick, hilarious, emotional, and awesome as all get-out.  It’s my plan to review all the films sometime before Age of Ultron, and today, we’re going for the big group hurrah.
 
Snaps and kudos to writer/director Joss Whedon, of course.  Besides being a big ole nerd who gives all these characters their due, this franchise is right in his wheelhouse.  He’s never had a problem using eclectic ensembles without making them feel crowded, and he also has a talent for writing dialogue between characters with wildly different manners of speaking.  Here, it’s terrific fun to put the ostentatious Loki next to the terse Black Widow, or have V-for-victory-era Cap puzzling over snarky Tony Stark’s modern pop-culture references.
 
The nuts and bolts of the plot are largely window dressing.  There’s a cosmic cube, an alien army, and a trickster god with a vendetta, all of which are an excuse for the real point of the story:  bring the Avengers together as a team (a bit like Guardians of the Galaxy, actually, with heroes instead of outlaws.)  The friction is evident from the start.  SHIELD director Nick Fury has thrown together a lot of alpha types who like to be the one calling the shots.  Additionally, Thor’s involvement (and personal investment, since his brother is the one SHIELD is after) brings up the issue of human vs. Asgardian priorities, and Dr. Bruce Banner is a little edgy about being enclosed in a Helicarrier.  And Tony, naturally, is nearly as much of a wildcard in the proceedings as Loki is.
 
With all these complications, it’s fantastic to see them gradually begin respecting each other and come together.  Everyone starts to realize what the others can do and learns to defer to each other’s strengths.  From Bruce and Tony’s scientific knowhow to Cap’s tactical prowess to Thor’s ability to go head-to-head with the Hulk without getting smashed to jelly, everyone has a part to play, and it’s amazing.  I’ll get into specifics in another post, because I could literally fill an entire page with “Remember when XYZ?  That was awesome.”  For now, I’ll just applaud Whedon’s penchant for geeky fan service –he offers up an Iron Man vs. Thor fight and a Thor vs. Hulk fight, just ‘cuz.
 
Since again, most of these characters have their own franchises and I can sing the actors’ praises there, I’ll only mention this film’s new kid on the block, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce.  While I love Edward Norton and thought he did a fine job in The Incredible Hulk, Ruffalo is just wonderful.  Bruce is a perfect, utterly watchable mix of even-keeled, twitchy, and insightful, and Ruffalo’s performance here still makes me wish we could get a new Hulk movie with him.
 
Warnings
 
Heaps of comic book violence, some swearing, and a little drinking.

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