Eye Candy #597 - "The Avengers" (2012)

The Avengers (2012):  Director Joss Whedon delivers in this big budget, big thrill comic book fan wet dream that is still accessible to the general public.  Building on the ground laid by Marvel Studios films over the last 4 years, SHIELD’s Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) pulls together a team of superheroes, the “Avengers”, including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), along with ace-in-the-hole The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to combat the machinations of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his otherworldly allies, the Chitauri.  The Tessaract, which has made appearances in two other Marvel films, is captured by Loki, which he uses to open a portal to allow the Chitauri to invade New York City and then the world.  It’s up to the Avengers to stop them all, while bantering wittily amongst themselves.  The support cast includes Stellan Skarsgard, Clark Gregg, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cobie Smulders. This is a very dynamic film that starts with a bang and doesn’t let up for over 2 hours, as the Avengers grate against one another other almost as much as they fight the bad guys, as they figure out what it is to be a team.  The dialogue is great, the action vignettes are well-staged, particularly the Hulk/Loki fight, and for the most part, everyone in the very large cast of leads is given time to shine (the exception being Hemsworth’s Thor, who isn’t given a whole lot to do), with Downey, Ruffalo, and Johansson acquitting themselves the best.  There are also enough easter eggs and comic nerdery (such as the helicarrier and the villain hinted in a post-credit scene) to keep the die-hards happy.   I really have no complaints about the film.  I’d rate this at the top of the Marvel movie list, above the first Iron Man flick and Spider-man 2.  It’s a different kind of flick than Nolan’s Batman movies, less psychological and cynical.  It is, all around, a very good picture.  Woodchuck sez, “Check it out.”