After a 4 year wait, with Iron Man (2008) teasing us and laying the groundwork, followed by 4 more movies including the Iron Man sequel (2010), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor, (2011) and Captain America (2011), Joss Whedon has finally given us the film we have all been waiting for. And man, did he give us one hell of a film.
In a genius move, the latest line of Marvel films took us on a ride where there were connections between them all and everything would climax in The Avengers with the said heroes joining together to form the super team, thanks to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his ‘Avengers Initiative’.
As the film begins, one by one, we are introduced to the heroes in their alter-ego lives. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is putting the final touches to his Stark Tower building. The post credit scene to the Captain America movie is played again, showing us Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) working out/taking out his frustrations on a punch bag and being given the ‘Avengers Initiative’ file. Bruce Banner has exiled himself to somewhere in India and using his position as a doctor to help the sick and needy. We see Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson) taken hostage by a Russian General after being discovered as a spy, and we are introduced to Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) who has been assigned to watch over the glowing blue cube known as ‘The Tesseract’ and any experiments based around it.
Up until now, we were aware of SHIELD’s existence, but only in this movie did we truly experience their world of technology and espionage. Of course there was Nick Fury’s presence in the prior films, but thanks to Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) the ties were made even closer and he served to be the in-between man. As most probably one of the more underrated but lovable characters, Coulson really got the chance to shine as a senior member of SHIELD and earned a lot more screen time then he has previously had. We introduced to Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye in henchman type role for Nick Fury, and we are also introduced to Maria Hill, who is Fury’s second in command. One standout thing of the SHIELD world that we come to learn more about is their base of operations. Their ground base is one ting, but the Helicarrier is another thing all together. The amazing scene in which it reveals it’s self is almost like a fanboy fantasy coming to life and presenting an aircraft we had only seen in comics and cartoons. But to see it on a cinema screen is one to behold
The actual narrative of the film is played out really well. The beauty of allowing each Avenger to have their own independent film(s) is that they do not need to waste any significant time introducing and explaining any character origins, meaning they can get straight into the action and move the narrative along at a constant pace without having any major backwards storytelling. As you would probably expect, the film does spend some time showcasing the recruitment of the Avengers and the way they work together. Even if they do clash. What do you expect when you have a “Genius. Billionaire. Playboy. Philanthropist.”, Old School soldier, God of Thunder, and a generally angry man/green behemoth!? You get a lot comedy, intense action scenes, and one hell of a fun movie.
The great mystery of who Loki’s alien allies are finally become revealed and are mentioned by name, ending an almost a years worth of debate and arguments over who or what they could be. Without spoiling anything, the post credit scene that is now a given for Marvel movies sets up the sequel perfectly and reveals the character who is not only the head of the alien invaders in this movie, but the mega villain for the next….
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