AVENGERS ASSEMBLE (2012)
DIRECTOR: Joss Whedon
STARRING: Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo
GENRE: Sci Fi | Action | Comic Book
CERT: 12A
REVIEWER: Gemma
Comic book movies are always very much hit and miss. For every Dark Knight Rises, we have a Batman and Robin. For every Iron Man, we have The Phantom. And to have an ensemble comic book movie, where three out of the four well known characters have had successful movies on their own, it takes one brave and formidable man (or woman) to put together a movie that doesn’t suck.
Enter the geek god himself, Joss Whedon. He is the real life Nick Fury, who has managed to do the impossible. For this movie could easily have been Iron Man 3 featuring S.H.E.I.L.D and the Avengers.
Whedon proves to the masses, what us faithful followers have known for ages. When it comes to ensemble pieces. Joss is the Man!
Each character in this movie has their own chance to shine. Multiple storylines entwine to create a movie that is riveting to watch. Familiar faces from each of the previous movies crop up, but its far from the “oh they had a part in ‘x’”. Each adds to the multilayered plot.
The vastly underused Black Widow from Iron Man 2played with a certain flair by Scarlett Johansson, is given some pretty meaty stuff. This alone demonstrates Joss’s talent at giving us a strong, kick ass female character, who is more than eye candy or a love interest and can more than play with the big boys. We are given snippets of a back story to Black Widow, that those who are familiar with the character from the comics will recognise and those who are not, enough to make her a much more interesting character.
Most of this is conveyed through her hinted at complex relationship with Hawkeye, played by a cool suave Jeremy Renner. After watching what is clearly a well established friendship between these two characters, I’m hoping they get their own origin movie.
Robert Downey Jr. is now instantly thought of as Iron Man/Tony Stark. He could have easily played the “big star” card and overshadowed the movie, but the new boys to this party are more than a match for the man in the Iron Suit. The banter between Downey Jr and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is funny to watch. Its like watching siblings squabble over who is the favourite. Hemsworth makes Thor’s naivety at being insulted by Iron Man endearing.
Then there is the “older” sibling Captain America, played by Chris Evans. Here we have a much more human Captain America. He is a fish out of water, a man who has had a sense of moral duty drummed into him. He is a soldier, following the orders of his superiors and it is through Iron Man and to an extent, Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner he begins to question this. While I enjoyed Captain America, it missed something about Steve Rogers. This film rectifies that.
As for Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/The Hulk, we finally have an actor that can convey all facets of the character. For me he, he even stole some of the film from the others.
As for the actual plot, it has all the telltale signs of a comic book film. No scene is just filler as each is part of a puzzle, which when slotted together gives a fantastic picture. Not once did I look at my watch, which is always a good sign. You can see that Whedon is a comic book fan for he creates such a lavish piece. Small scenes and plot lines from previous films are worked into this film to make it seem organic, even from the Hulk films.
The villain of the film, is Loki from Thor. There appears to be some sort of time leap between the end of Thor and this movie, which makes where Loki has been and how he came to become the leader of a hoard of aliens a bit up in the air. If you can overlook this, then you are fine. I managed to do this with ease. I only took that his motivation was to get back at Thor for what he sees as his abandonment. I did like Loki and was glad that Joss didn’t go for the normal route most comic book movie directors take with the villains of the piece.
My only comment is this. Don’t fork out for IMAX 3D. The film was never filmed for IMAX and was only converted to 3D in post production.
After this, I can’t wait to see what comes next from the Marvel Universe and more importantly Joss Whedon.
Go see this….. Now!!!!!
RATING: 
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12 Comments
I absolutely loved this movie! And I agree 100% with everything you said. And I’m so glad I’m not the only one who liked Loki, even though he was the villain. Everyone was just super brilliant in this movie.
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I’ll eventually seet his one, though not in a huge hurry to do so. I would love for Hawkeye to have his own movie, maybe then we could find out why his wife, Mockingbird, isn’t in this one.
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I just saw this yesterday and loved it! I was squeeing over every black widow scene. I loved that Joss didn’t disappoint with her character. I was scared going into the movie that she would be tossed into the love interest role or the damsel in distress character, so I was thrilled with how important her contribution to the movie ended up being. It makes me even more hopeful that the rumors of Joss Whedon is doing a SuperWoman film is true.
I also really loved the comic relief moments. Especially when it involved the Hulk.
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@Ashley- yup Loki was a great nemisis. Everyone played a great part, but it could have gone so wrong
@Ryan-I have hopes we get a Black Widow/Hawkeye origin movie. So much was hinted at in this movie. The best thing about comics is that the origins of characters has changed with different writers. The movies can be the same. (I had never heard of Hawkeye before these movies, so nothing of his origins)
@Samantha-Joss Whedon did put a proposal forward for Wonder Woman, but Warner Brothers passed. Bet they are kicking themselves now. Never heard about Super woman movie.
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The actor who played Loki is amazing – I hadn’t seen him before Thor, and it was one of those performances that sent me straight to IMdB to look up his profile. He looks like an alter-Johnny Weir. Loved the movie, Joss did not disappoint. I think LOGO on cable is doing a Buffy marathon this weekend with new Joss commentary; gotta check this out, info was just passed on to me. I can rewatch Buffy like nobody’s bidnezz.
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Awww man, you made me wanna go and see it again.
I loved it, I admit I’m not a comic book fan but I love these films. The whole cast together worked really well, I also thought Robert Downey Jr would have the most screen time so I liked that it was pretty well balanced in that respect. I loved the Hulk, he did steal the show…Puny God
I have but one complaint…and I know Gemma will agree with me.
CHRIS HEMSWORTH WAS WEARING TOO MANY CLOTHES!
That is all
Vikki @ V’s Book Life
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Oh man, Hulk completely stole the show for me. That scene at the end with Loki? Brilliant. I loved it, and if they make another one, I hope that Joss Whedon is at the helm.
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I agree on points you make. The Hilk was thr surprise standout for me. Whether that was the actor, writer or director, I don’t know. All I knoe is I love the big green guy.
Marvel would be stupid not to sign up Whedon and if Whedon plays it smart he xould make a deal so that he does Avengers 2, maybe a black widow/Hawkeye origin movie (because that would be brilliant!) and a pet project or two.
Side note:- Joss has worked with Disney in a round about way before. He was involved in the script for Toy Story, for Pixar. (Pixar and Marvel are owned by Disney)
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I so want to see this film!! It sounds awesome! I love Wheedon. Plus Chris Hemsworth *swoon*
Super review Gemma, loving your Friday Films
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Hemsworth is his hunky self in this, but I also kind of like Ruffalo. Not sure but there is something about him.
Thanks for the kind comments. Hoping to go see Dark Shadows this week
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I LOVED THIS MOVIE SO MUCH!!
Scarlet Johannson <3
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I couldn’t agree with you more.
Might I suggest you look out some of Joss Whedons other works too. I esoecially recommend Serenity. It rocks
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