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| The Avengers (2012) |
Given that this is a huge cinematic event, you would hope the plot to be on a grand scale, and thankfully, it is. It's only as I'm writing this that I thought about it, but this is the first MCU film to really feature a world-ending threat. All the other movies had conflicts that were localised to a specific area or person, and were generally more personal stories. It makes a lot of sense that this is the first film to really threaten the entire planet, justifiably uniting all these characters we've seen in action on their own into one team. It's also a good thing that the actual threat itself is, really, not that fleshed out. It's a typical alien invasion story when you really think about it, but I'd argue that's also a good thing. By keeping the threat itself simple, we have far more time to spend with our heroes and watching them interact. That's not to say the threat is a pushover, far from it. Rather than fighting one singular opponent, this film faces the Avengers against a horde-villain, which is also good as we get to see not only how each individual Avenger handles the threat, but also see them working together in such a satisfying way. At the centre of it all is Loki, who's just as fun to watch here as he was in Thor. It's fascinating to watch him smile gleefully at his plan coming together, and it's really great how he hardly lays a finger on any of the Avengers, yet he accomplishes so much. Loki really is one of the best villains in the entire MCU.
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| Tom Hiddleston as Loki |
It's worth taking a look at the Avengers themselves, but I've only got so many paragraphs, so I'll be as broad as I can where I can afford it. In general, all the actors that return from previous movies are about as good as they were in their solo adventures. Stark is still tremendous fun to watch, and Robert Downey Jr. continues to bring him to life almost effortlessly. Chris Evans is probably a little better here than he was in Cap 1, if not because he's got something different to work with here than in the last movie. He sells the 'man-out-of-time' thing really well, and later he's great as a leader. Chris Hemsworth is still fantastic as Thor, and this version of the character is absolutely better than before. He's still 'no-nonsense', but you can tell he's a little more mature than he was in his last movie, and he's just a little more likeable as a result. Mark Ruffalo takes over for Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, and I 100% prefer Ruffalo's portrayal. Not that Norton was bad, but I think Ruffalo captures the little idiosyncrasies just a little better. He has the mannerisms, he's a little nervous yet can be demanding, like he's always fighting to keep the monster inside calm, and Hulk himself is at his best here. They do a similar thing that the Norton movie did and treat Hulk's first appearance like it's a monster movie, and it's so very effective. Hulk also just looks better in general here, as it's actually Mark Ruffalo doing the mo-cap for him, marking the first time the same actor of Bruce Banner actually played the Hulk as well. If anything, what this movie proves is that the Hulk works best in small doses, as this is easily the best Hulk appearance in a movie up to this point.
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| Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk |
Scarlett Johansson is still great as Black Widow, and now that the character is known to us from the beginning, we get to see more of her arsenal and what she can do, and it does not disappoint. We would have to wait until The Winter Soldier to see her really come into her own as a spy, but what he get of her as an assassin in this movie is fantastic. As is Hawkeye, played wonderfully by Jeremy Renner, though there is one big problem with his character, and it's not the thing you're all expecting me to say. It's not that Hawkeye brings nothing to the table as an Avenger, because that could not be further from the truth. Even in this movie, he's far from useless. The second act sees Hawkeye basically bring down the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier almost single-handedly. He's a proven spy, and he and Black Widow have great chemistry with each other. My big problem with Hawkeye, and this applies to Black Widow as well, is that we don't really find out much about who they are as people. We get a sense of their personalities as the movie goes on, which is really all you need for a movie like this, but in terms of where they came from, there's nothing, and a large part of that is a result of neither of them getting their own solo movies before this one came out, which I can see why they didn't. Especially in the cinematic landscape of the early 2010s, I don't think anyone was chanting in the streets for a Hawkeye movie. It's less of a problem for Black Widow, as not only did she get a spotlight in Iron Man 2, but she's working with the Avengers for the entire movie, while Hawkeye only comes in for the third act. When the crew are all together, however, it's great fun to watch. Their personalities clash, they have back-and-forths, they bounce off each other amazingly, and you can really tell that this cast gets along behind-the-scenes as well. Especially in an ensemble movie, you need you main cast to gel, and the Avengers absolutely do.
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| Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye |
The action in this movie is probably the best its been in the MCU up to this point. Even before the last act, which is basically all one long action set piece, what we get is really great stuff. Each Avenger has their own area of expertise, they all tackle problems in different ways. On the Helicarrier especially, its great to see them all working together without actually working together, with Iron Man trying to keep the thing in the air with Cap's help, Thor doing what he can to subdue Hulk in a superbly entertaining face-off, Natasha knocking some sense into Clint, and Loki watching it all unfold. When the fight hits New York, all of that is amplified. Hulk's big moment(s) in this third act could probably rank among my favourite moments in the entire MCU. The pace just never lets up until the very end, and it never feels too gratuitous or mindless. You never get a sense that all the destruction was just there for destruction's sake, and there's a big emphasis on getting the civilians out of harm's way. This theme would come up again later in the MCU, but this is one of the big things that sets this movie apart. It would be very easy to just watch the Avengers fight in a city, but this film addresses that its more than just about stopping the bad guys no matter the cost. There is a heavy emphasis on saving lives, and the heroes will sometimes turn their backs on their enemies to help innocents. It's also just so much fun to watch. There's never a dull moment in these action scenes, and combine the action with the comedy of their personalities coming through during the fight which is something that I absolutely adore and add on top of that the amazing Avengers theme music, and you have a masterpiece of a superhero movie right there.
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| Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury |
With The Avengers (2012), Marvel Studios proved once and for all that they knew what they were doing, and this film would be the building block upon which they built every movie that was to come afterwards. What an excellent foundation it was. 9.5/10.
Next, it's Iron Man 3.
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