Film: Avengers Assemble

Director: Joss Whedon

Starring: Robert Downey Junior, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlet Johannson

5/5

the relationships that we watch develop are one of the film’s strongest points

 

I don’t know where to start. Iron Man is awesome. Thor is awesome. Captain America is awesome. The Hulk is so awesome. Even the bad guys are…you guessed it, awesome. In fact, the only thing not awesome about it is the name, a last minute adjustment to avoid confusion in Britain with the TV series. I gave myself bit of time having watched Avengers Assemble in order to gather my thoughts and get over the giddy excitement that the whole experience left me feeling, and yet all I can think of is how awesome this film is.

 

There are so many reasons that Avengers Assemble is such an enjoyable film. First of all there’s the intense satisfaction that this film is finally here. Then there’s the fact that these characters with huge personalities all gel together so well; in fact the relationships that we watch develop are one of the film’s strongest points.

the action sequences are truly exhiliarating

 

The Incredible Hulk – a much loved character for Marvel fans – is portrayed practically perfectly. Much must be granted to Mark Ruffalo who stepped into the well-trodden shoes of the big, green man – taking over form Edward Norton, whose portrayal was widely considered the best yet – and demonstrated that there’s more to Bruce Banner’s alter-ego than just getting angry and smashing things (but don’t worry there’s still a lot of that). Ruffalo’s performance provides Banner’s tale with tragedy; for example, he explains how he once tried to put a bullet through his head “but the other guy spit it out.”

 

The action sequences are everything that their counter-parts in, say, Transformers are not: truly exhilarating. Furthermore director Joss Whedon gets the jokes completely right; Stark’s dry sarcasm is ever present, Thor’s Shakespearean tongue makes for some amusing exchanges and the Hulk’s strength is put to brilliant comic effect.

 

While much of what is great about Avengers Assemble must be attributed to Whedon’s brilliant direction, it is ultimately the strength of these fascinating and much-loved characters that shines through; I repeatedly found myself with goose bumps when another hero entered the fray. It goes without saying, but the other superhero films out there – like The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man – have a whole lot of awesome to live up to.