This is indeed a review of The Avengers (or The Avengers Assemble if you’re from the UK like moi) Marvel’s latest excursion to the big screenFrom the moment that The Avengers was announced I’ve been running a self-imposed media blackout, a no fly zone for all things related. I actively avoided all trailers, clips and EXCLUSIVE! details to prevent any of the hype in clouding my judgement. Not because I’m pretentious or snooty but because the prospect of an Avengers film filled me with hope…Wait, what? Hope? you might ask… Here let me explain:
I hold in my heart a very special place for comics and graphic novels. They are often dismissed as being for kids, something for immature man-children (women-children too: we’re all about the equal rights) Definitely not the type of thing for us serious intellectual types (see: self-important) or ‘grown ups’ respectively and that is a genuine shame…
Hopefully this image will speak for itself. However if you haven’t read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s phenomenal Watchmen (the film’s not too bad either! Review to come) get yourself a copy right now, seriously… You’ll thank me later.
Without a doubt Some of the most thought-provoking and inspirational stories that I have had the pleasure to experience have been in the glossy pages of a comic. For me they are something special, the inner geek in me squeals with delight every time I pick one up. For me It is the same feeling that I have for vinyl records. An inexplicable sense that what you’re holding in your hands is worth oh so much more than it’s face value; an authenticity that couldn’t possibly be replicated in any other medium and I know I’m not the only person that feels this way.
But despite this cold hard fact Hollywood keeps missing the point…
Case in point: Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze in Batman & Robin: Currently on trial for the chilling murder of Ice based puns… How do you plead?
The comic book movie genre has by and large been a series of god-awful abominations. Every time a new superhero film was announced I found myself thinking “I hope to god they do a half decent job of it this time” but I was more often than not disappointed. The genre itself has been treated with the same disdain as the work that has inspired it and in an attempt to ‘create mass appeal’ Hollywood generally sucked out what made the core idea appealing in the first place: it’s soul.
The majority have been badly written, camp affairs which serve little more purpose than to represent an almost satire of the very thing they are attempting to portray. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Marvel and DC comics have been going for a long, long time but despite this fact Hollywood has all but ignored this almost limitless pool of complex narrative in favour of pushing a paper thin script that their marketing department has promised the kids will love, that is of course until now…
Robert Downey Jr shining in his role as the eccentric billionaire genius Tony Stark AKA Iron Man and Mark Ruffalo giving a well realised version of the master of anger management Dr Bruce Banner AKA The Incredible Hulk
Marvel’s Avengers has set a new benchmark for Hollywood to aim for. Simply put it is the best superhero movie I have ever seen.
Under the masterful eye of Joss Whedon (who should not need an introduction!) the Avengers effortlessly ticks all the right boxes as regards to what a comic book movie should be. He has managed to find a way to bring together all of the elements which make each character stand out and harness them into a unifying force with surprisingly funny results.
This way of thinking applies to both the characters and the Actors who play them, despite the all-star cast not one specific actor steals the spot light. Instead each plays a role both true to their original source material and relevant to the overall atmosphere of the film in general.
“Are those the box office figures!?”
“We’re gonna need a bigger Bank”
What makes the mood of the film flow so well is the overwhelming sense of teamwork (duh) in particular the dialogue between the characters themselves which is snappy, well written and extremely funny. I did not expect for one minute to sit down in the cinema with my daft 3D glasses on and laugh out loud. But when I did and on more than one occasion I was more than pleasantly surprised.
Not exactly the best dinner-guest.
Another pleasant surprise for me was the transformation of Loki played by Tom Hiddleston into a legitimate main villain, something I don’t feel was achieved in the Thor movie itself. With Whedon’s input he’s become a darker more immediate threat as opposed to the flighty aforementioned attempt, whilst I was watching Thor I was aware at all times that at the first possible opportunity Thor could and would smash his face in.
Stop! Hammertime.
In conclusion The Avengers was 142 minutes of pure, well made comic book fiction. It neatly tied up all the threads that brought the team together in a gift wrap bow and placed it in front of you in a way that was concise and well structured and because of this I see the entire cast and Mr Whedon himself in a whole new light, I take my hat off to a man who can juggle that many complex characters in a way that makes sense and avoids convolution… Joss Whedon you’ve restored my hope in the comic book genre and I look forward to the sequel!
-Lowth
P.S.
Does he look like a bitch?
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