• Cast
• Cinematography
• CGI
• Plot

Holy superhero! This film is absolutely fantastic! From the story line and the computer graphics to the characters and the cinematography, The Avengers is brilliantly mesmerizing. This film is by far the best work from Marvel to date. With the introduction to the newly improved Hulk and the features of Hawkeye and Black Widow, I was hoping for the best. To my anticipations, the cast for the film did not disappoint. I think the Captain was well captured in The Avengers establishing his identity amongst the other superheroes and S.H.I.E.L.D agents. The entire film, from start to finish is slammed packed with intense and fresh, high-energy action. The film’s strengths completely arrested the attention of the entire audience, establishing the quality of The Avengers. This film is a wonderful juxtaposition of Hollywood collaborating with the underground to make a great Marvel feature.

Synopsis:

In one of the most well known comic books of the infamous Marvel, The Avengers was released  in the U.S. May 4^th, 2012. Nick Fury and his international peacekeeping agency S.H.I.E.L.D. try to save the earth from Loki and the numerous members creating his army. In a last ditch effort, Fury calls on “The Avengers Initiative” made up of some of the greatest superheroes in the Marvel comics such as, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America and his very own S.H.I.E.L.D agents, Black Widow and Hawkeye. Tokened as one of the most anticipated films of the year, The Avengers is one that does not disappoint.

The Good:

Iron Man

There are many aspects that make The Avengers a fantastic film. Starting out with the billionaire genius Tony Stark and his superhero second identity Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. is absolutely brilliant as always. He continues to be the witty asshole fine-tuning Stark’s larger than life persona to perfection. The new additions to the Iron Man suit are absolutely amazing as well. The computer generated graphics for the superhero’s outfit and weaponry that aid the character’s portrayal are cleverly thought out and wonderfully created. He is flawless throughout this film and takes up a fair amount of screen time, yet not too much. Robert Downey Jr. continues to bring his characters to life with his great ability to take on the role of the character in every way possible.

The Hulk

The newly improved Hulk is absolutely brilliant. He is by far the best Hulk that has been featured in all of the recent Marvel films. He shows the pure brutality of this green giant to astronomical ways. One thing that I really appreciate about this Hulk is the genuine nature that creates him. His character is the closest thing I have seen to the original in any recent Hulk film. He was not exaggeratedly sized like the first Hulk and he had a bit of a personality while the green beast ragged on. He is also fairly versatile as a character showing the brute about him as well as a few moments of comedic relief. The Hulk was wonderful in everyway. The enormous havoc this green giant bestows upon the city during the main battle is ridiculous. The Hulk is lawless, destroying anything and everything walking, climbing, or flying in front of him. Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner wasn’t bad. I think he did a great job of playing the genius scientist. Although I am still personally partial to Edward Norton’ Banner/Hulk. Side-by-side, Ruffalo’s Hulk compared excellently and is just as good if not better.

Captain America

Captain America is actually a lot better than I thought he would have been, especially compared to his self-titled film. Although considered physically weaker than the other superheroes making up The Avengers, he is a core member to the team. In the beginning he seems to be bland and lacking of personality as he tries to push everyone to what’s right. Nobody in the group seems to take him seriously, especially Tony Stark with his better-than-everyone-else mentality. By the end of the film, however, Captain America officially makes a spot for himself as the leader, The Captain, of the group commanding the other heroes during their war against Loki and his army.

Thor

As in the self-titled film that was recently released to Blu-Ray/DVD, in The Avengers Thor is a complete bad ass. He is not afraid of anything and has the strength of Iron Man. Along with being able to fly and his war hammer, he is practically a god. That alone explains how awesome he is as well as the fact that he can control lighting. Although Thor’s appearance takes a while, once in action he is featured throughout the film, as his brother, Loki, is the main villain. Shortly after his appearance, Thor has a face off with Iron Man, which is literally a few minutes of consistent epic-ness. Throughout the entire feature, Thor showcases his strength and god like powers as he destroys massive amounts of Loki’s army during the team’s epic battle for Earth.

Black Widow

She is hot, Russian, and can kick some ass. Black Widow, also known as Natasha Romanoff, is a great asset to the film. She has the mentality to keep strong and motivate her team while also being able to stand next to her comrades in battle holding well over her own weight. In the scene where The Avengers are battling Loki and his army, she absolutely dominates. Scarlett Johansson is always a great actress and she reliably came through in her part as Black Widow. She kicked ass the entire time and looked absolutely flawless the entire time.

Hawkeye

This man is brilliant; He can shoot absolutely anything with an arrow even if its 20,000 feet in the air. His bow and arrow system is brilliantly designed. With the touch of a button, Hawkeye is able to change the arrowheads to whatever situation he is in. This world-class archer and marksman is a crucial feature to the film with on point shots not to mention, he’s one of the most proficient and daring pilots in The Avengers. He did an excellent job in the film.

The Cinematography

One of the last things I expected to be great in this film was the cinematography, yet shortly into the feature I was completely arrested by the superb aspects making up The Avengers. The camera angles used are amazing. Director Joss Whedon’s choice in using the camera to tell the story in a unique manner is a brilliant decision. In one of the scenes when The Avengers are battling Loki’s army, a car flips over due to the barrage of attacks from the brute soldiers of Loki’s army. When the vehicle flips over, there is a camera meticulously placed inside the car that reveals a unique visual angle that I personally have not seen in many, if any films before. The shot gives the viewer the perspective of being inside the actual car when it flips over showing all of the destruction and action that occurs during the epic battle for Earth. This one shot could expand a whole new technique in the way camera’s can capture footage for action sequences. The portability of the camera along with the great quality will allow for more transverse shots that audiences have never seen before due to the limitations of the cameras. It is a great shot that adds to the cinematography of this film. Overall, the camera shots, angles, lighting, and editing, all aid into the brilliant cinematography of The Avengers.

The Bad:

One Liners

The film was excellent in so many ways; however, it’s geared towards a mass audience, which ultimately allows for the clichéd one liners like “Hit it!” or “Light em’ up!” While there were instances were this occurred in the film, I went in expecting it to be so. This may just be a pet peeve of mine, but I cannot stand this style of dialogue due to it being reliably cheesy. Fortunately, these one-liners are not prominent throughout the film and did not seem to make too much of an agitation.

Score: 4.5/5

Overall, The Avengers is the best film that Marvel has released to the big screens thus far. It is absolutely brilliant in almost every aspect. The cast making up this great feature is a wonderful juxtaposition of differing characters working together to produce a fantastic film. Throughout the entire time, there is constant action waiting to completely arrest the audience from some of the film’s beginning stages. The cinematography captured in The Avengers is wonderful as well. The camera angels and various uses in the techniques to film the piece are all wonderful decision by Whedon. The features such as the portability and quality of the camera placed inside the car was brilliant. The computer graphics used to make the special effects for the film are perfect. They did an extraordinary job of making the CGI realistic and incredibly clever. In the end I enjoyed The Avengers greatly, I thought it was brilliant in so many ways making it the best Marvel big screen feature to date as well as the highest grossing film in North America, over Harry Potter. I would highly recommend this film to anyone and everyone, it’s just that awesome.