6
(Christian characters)
6
(violence, mild sexuality, & a little strong language)
8
(you don't find many movies that are this good)
Avengers assemble!
Sorry, the comic book geek in me couldn't resist the urge to yell that out at the top of my lungs. I think all my neighbors are staring at me now, or at least in my direction (since they can't actually see me unless they are watching my house with x-ray specs which is too creepy to think about). Say what you will, but I'm willing to bet that most of you, upon reading that, had the urge to yell it out yourself.
I had high hopes for "The Avengers" thanks to all the movies leading up to it. Whatever you think about Summer blockbuster superhero movies you can't deny that this is an unprecedented project: 4 series of movies all tying into one larger project. "Avengers" brings in 4 major heroes: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk plus a couple of lesser-known characters Black Widow and Hawkeye, and Nick Fury to get them all fighting on the same team. You don't HAVE to see all the movies (1 for each of the major heroes I mentioned plus an Iron Man sequel with more coming down the pipes), but it will really help you get a feel for who these characters are.
"The Avengers" movie assumes you know who these guys are by now focusing on paying them off rather than setting them up. That's what those earlier movies are for. That's its first strength, I never feel like we are treading old ground. We start with a kind of “where are they now” introduction that leads into the heroes coming together one by one for whatever their individual reasons may be rather than a “here's how they got to be heroes” setup.
The secret is out of the cage by now so I'm going to tell you who the main villain is: Loki. Loki is peeved about what happened to him in the Thor movie so he has gotten up to some new mischief. He has chosen Earth as the focus of his rage because of Thor's affection for it (the two do not get along which you would know if you saw the other movies. See why you need to watch them?)
Loki is more than the non-superheroic populace of Earth can handle so when he makes his move Fury revisits the disregarded notion of the Avengers Initiative. Calling the heroes together to form a response unit is something that his bosses don't want him doing. Fury tells them where they can stick what they want, but the volatility that brews when these mighty men get together threatens to destroy them all without Loki having to lift a finger. War is coming, and if Fury can't find a way to get these guys to fight Loki's forces instead of each other the planet is doomed. Dooooooooooooomed!!!!!
A-hem... sorry...
The casting for this whole project is impeccable. I've been impressed with the choices throughout the run of all the movies (at least all the ones that return for this one). Since I spend time dissecting their performances in the individual movie reviews I won't go into that much detail here except to say that they all do a really, really good job.
There is one break in continuity – Bruce Banner / Hulk is played by Mark Ruffalo. I thought Ed Norton did a decent job in the last Hulk movie, but I've always felt like he's a bit of a showoff. He's not a bad actor, not at all, he just has an air of “look at me, I'm magnanimous.” Ruffalo feels like he's there to make you believe he's Banner not to have you look at him for two hours. If they do another Hulk movie Ruffalo is they guy I would most like to see in the role. I buy him as Banner in a way that I haven't done since Bixby was alive. When I see him I see Banner whereas when I look at Norton I see Norton.
The next great thing is the way this movie balances its various elements. There's a great sense of humor without the movie feeling campy. There's action but not so much that the story feels mindless. There's drama and exposition but not so much that we get bored waiting for the superheroic action. The big question on a lot of fans' minds I think is with this many big names who gets the shaft? The answer is Hawkeye. Fans of him may feel a tad let down, but everyone else gets plenty of time to shine. Hulk's comes late, but it's satisfying. Even Black Widow gets a fair amount of screentime and some butt-kicking action sequences. I am impressed with how well the screentime of each of the heroes measures out against the others.
The dialogue is witty which is what fans of Joss Whedon have come to expect. He manages to make the movie feel epic in a way that I think other directors like Michael Bay have hoped but failed to achieve. Whedon manages to bring some depth to the story and makes me feel like the characters are truly important not just flashy muscle. I mean it's still primarily an action movie, I'm just saying it's not mindless action.
The effects look fantastic. There is never a point that I feel like the computer animation doesn't live up to what it needs to be. I never feel pulled out of the world because things don't look realistic. Maybe I'll find something to point out after a couple of viewings, but for now I'm going to give it a perfect score on this aspect... or would if I were actually grading it in such a way.
I try to find something to criticize in even the best movies as well as praise something in even the worst of the worst. It helps keep me objective, but I'm having a hard time coming up with anything negative to say here. The score isn't as strong as I expected. I didn't feel like any of the themes stand out, but maybe I'll change my mind when I see it again and listen for the music more. Anything else I could say would be unnecessarily nitpicky.
Morality
There are a few moments of strong language. Some of it I find unnecessary, but as a whole there is so little of it that compared to the average movie it's barely worth mentioning. There's probably a little more than there was in the other Marvel movies but not by a whole lot.
There is some mild sexual innuendo (mostly between Tony and Pepper). Beyond that there is virtually nothing sexual. The girls wear some tight uniforms, but they aren't anywhere nearly as revealing as a lot of the ones I see in comic books. Banner ends up nude after a Hulk-out. We see enough of him to know his pants didn't make it through the transformation but without any actual nudity.
Violence is typical for a comic book action movie. There is a lot of fighting, some of it with lethal outcomes, but nothing gruesome. Most of the scenes have little to no blood, and the ones that do have a lot have it for a reason not just to be gratuitous with it. Hawkeye talks about putting an arrow through Loki's eyesocket, and Hulk smashes the crap out of some bad guys. Honestly though, what did you expect from a big, green rage monster? A song and dance?
Spirituality
If you know much about the Thor movie you know that he and Loki are called “gods” at times, but they aren't written as true gods. They are just powerful beings with technology beyond our understanding who were considered deities in the past by primitive societies. Hulk calls Loki a “puny god” at one point.
There is one reference to the real God when discussing Loki. Captain America responds to a comment about him saying, “There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that.” I appreciated that. I don't expect to see Christian characters get preachy in a movie like this, but when so many movie makers are so afraid to mention anything about God in a positive light it's nice to see a character with a little of that kind of depth to him. Whedon often has positive Christian characters which I respect. It seems that most movie makers give us people that are this or that religion, but if anything related to Christianity comes up they can only be critical. I don't expect to see a lot of Christian influence when I watch a movie from a culture that is not primarily Christian, but when the vast majority of the US considers themselves Christian (even if I tend to think a great deal of them don't act very Christlike) it makes sense that such an influence should make it into some of the characterizations of people from this region if only from a cultural perspective.
The Bible says that there is no greater love than for one to lay down one's life for friends. That is something that many of the classic superheroes exhibit even if they aren't doing so from an evangelical perspective. It's what the Avengers are about and what makes them truly heroic. If there were nothing else positive you could take away from this movie (which is not the case), it would be seeing this idea demonstrated. Some of these guys have a hard time putting others before themselves. That's a lesson we see them learn. And that's a large part of why I think this is going to resonate with viewers beyond all the exciting action and special effects.
Final Thoughts
Every good thing you've heard about "The Avengers" is true. I don't know if I can say it is better than "Dark Knight," but part of that is bias because I have been a much bigger fan of Batman for far longer than any of these other heroes. However, I would say that this is easily one of the best superhero movies ever made. Very few are even in this same league, and I would be surprised if anything is able to match it any time soon. And make sure you stay to the end, alllll the way thorough the credits.
Buying Guide
Coming Soon!
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