Rating: ****
The Avengers,
by virtue of being the first movie of summer, gets to set the tone for the
season, and that tone is a fun, thrilling spectacle that balances big action
and heart. It develops strong characters with complex relationships, while
still being able to level New
York under the thumb of an
alien invasion. Under the stewardship of Joss Whedon, The Avengers, a
movie that really was too big to fail, does the highly improbable for modern Hollywood blockbuster
filmmaking: it makes your ticket price seem like money well spent.
Following up on Iron Man, The Incredible
Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers brings
together characters from all those films into a single adventure. When Thor’s
vengeful brother Loki suddenly appears in an installation run by the world
peacekeeping agency S.H.I.E.L.D., stealing the Cosmic Cube (from Captain
America) and kidnapping Dr Selvig and Hawkeye (from Thor) as his
worker bees, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury puts the Avengers Initiative into
effect. Assembling Captain America,
Bruce Banner, Iron Man, Black Widow and eventually Thor, The Avengers set out
to stop Loki before he can unleash an alien army to take over the Earth.
So, where to begin? How about the
writer/director Joss Whedon, and may I say how astounded I am about how much of
his typical Whedon-ness manages to make it into the finished film. How does one
define ‘Whedon-ness?” Well, there’s the scene during the alien invasion when
Black Widow reminisces about Budapest to which Hawkeye retorts that the two of them remember Budapest very
differently. There’s the scene on the helicarrier where Stark refers to Loki’s
slaves as “flying monkeys” to which Captain America excitedly realizes that he
gets that reference. And then there a couple of prime Hulk scenes that are
honestly too good to spoil.
Speaking of whom, this is another area that
Whedon excels: his characterization of the Hulk and his alterego Bruce Banner.
The recasting of Mark Ruffalo for the part was an added treat because Ruffalo,
as a person, is so unassuming and seems so harmless that when he Hulks out,
there really is something to fear. Ruffalo getting to be the first actor to
play both Banner and Hulk through the miracle of motion capture adds to that
effect because you can see both characters reflected in each other. But Whedon
gets credit for this Hulk too because I think the script gets that psychology
better than any writer on a Hulk movie previous.
The rest of the cast does well, although I
think Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye get the short end of
the stick, because, sadly, in a cast this big, there just isn’t the same amount
of room for everyone. The one character, besides the Hulk, that gets the
benefit of the Whedon treatment is Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. In
Whedon’s hands, Widow rightly joins the filmmaker’s pantheon of butt-kicking
females, and Johansson gets to show some vulnerability as well as some
cleverness considering Widow is one of two Avengers without powers. Chris Evans
continues to be commanding as Captain America,
and subtly plays well Cap’s man out of time struggles while still being a authoritative
presence. Whedon also does well restraining the unbridled enthusiasm of Robert
Downey Jr as Tony Stark, and focusing it. Downey also plays
well off Ruffalo as the team’s two resident brainiacs.
But the true miracle of The Avengers
is pacing. There were so many masters that Whedon had to answer to, so many
highlights he had to hit, it’s a wonder that the movie didn’t look more like a
highlight reel rather something with a coherent narrative. There’s a lot of
action, but there’s also a lot of character moments, a lot of time spent on
seeing how these heroes interact outside the immediacy of the next crisis. And
in another typical Whedon touch, one supporting character is killed before the
end of the second act, providing both a dramatic impetus for the team, and a
justifiable reason why they go with their given nom de plume.
On the downside, The Avengers is
geek chic of the highest order, so when you come, you have to come in a playful
mood because there’s no room for curmudgeons in the theatre. Alan Silvestri’s
score is perfectly unmemorable, which is a real shame because I think if
there’s one element holding this back from being perfect popcorn fare it’s the
forgettable music. Sure Raiders of the Lost Ark was great, but what
connected you to all those great memories of the film as you left the theatre?
It was the John Williams theme. Perhaps J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek,
featuring a score by Michael Giacchino, may be a more recent example of a
musical score that makes just that little bit of extra difference.
But ultimately I feel that any criticism of
The Avengers might fall under the category of nit-picking, and certainly
the box office returns thus far prove that if ever there was a movie that fit
the definition of critic proof, this would be it. But the thing of it is that The
Avengers deserves the accolades and the adulation, and appropriately, just
as the superhero genre seemed to be a game of diminishing returns, The
Avengers comes in and saves the day. Ultimately, when it came to building
hype for this movie, there was no assembly required.
And do stay to the very end of the credits
for the second bonus scene. You will not be disappointed.
