The Avengers (I refuse to call it by the UK release name) is about Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D’s attempt to form a team of exceptional individuals in case there was an attack against earth which could not be stopped by a single superhero. This team consists of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. However with so many huge ego’s in a film, there are bound to be some clashes and this film, as well as delivering the action, is a great character study.

I am a huge fan of comics and i am a self proclaimed Marvelite, i will use this to my advantage in this review and will hold back from listing who should have been in the film (Ant-Man) and just review it as what it is, a superhero film based on decades and decades of history.

THE ACTORS/CHARACTERS
Normally, i review the actors in this section, however, we have all seen the individual films, we all know how great the casting is, so i will differ this section slightly, for this review only.

Captain America – Captain America, played perfectly by Chris Evans, had a great story in this film. Captain America still has to come to terms with the present time he has been transported to, yet he also has to question the integrity of those around him. The world has changed, the line between friend and foe has become blurred, and this is only reinforced when he is introduced to the big headed, selfish Tony Stark. Evans had some lines which frankly, if delivered by other actors, could have sounded slightly cheesy, but Evans delivers them with flair, which is perfect for his character and the era he came from.

Iron Man – Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr. had one of the better stories of the film. Tony Stark is still as flamboyant and careless as ever, but, as seen in Iron Man 2, he now has a relationship with Pepper Potts, so it no longer is in his interest to be totally selfish. However Tony’s huge ego truly oozes as he tries to take control of the team and also tries to prove he is the best member. However, Stark soon realises that the other Avengers are not his enemy and has a great moment of redemption.

Thor – Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth, definitely has the best story in the film. At first Thor is torn, on one hand, he is happy to see his brother alive and well, yet on the other, Loki has an army and wishes to take over Earth. Thor, even when he sides with The Avengers, is very protective of his brother and will not allow anyone to bad mouth him or threaten him. This required an amazing performance to give the story proper gravitas and Hemsworth delivered it, you really felt for his struggle.

The Hulk – The Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, is given a great story in this film and, without spoiling anything, the twist 3/4 the way into the movie is just great and gave me goosebumps. Personally i loved Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk and honestly i wasn’t expecting anything near Norton’s level from Ruffalo. but Ruffalo is definitely on par with Norton’s performance. It is a very different Banner from when we last saw him in The Incredible Hulk, he is more assertive and, although not the typical Banner, i liked the change.

Hawkeye – Hawkeye, played by Jeremy Renner, was a huge surprise to me in this film. His story, from beginning to end is well executed and very interesting. I found it particularly interesting to watch his relationship with Black Widow. There is always a problem/a joke with archers in films, about how they will run out of arrows, this is dealt with in the film and was a pretty good excuse for the nay sayers.

Black Widow – Black Widow, played by Scarlet Johansson, was by far the biggest surprise of the film. Her action scenes were expertly done, her intimate moments with other characters were great and she actually spoke some Russian. Johansson gave a great performance in this film, she is genuinely convincing as a bad ass bitch who could kill you in 100 different ways before you realised she was there, a great improvement over her portrayal in Iron Man 2.

Loki – Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, gave another amazing performance. Loki is darker, more sinister and hell bent on revenge, the perfect villain. He doesn’t care about who he hurts to become king of Earth. He has an army, but never underestimate him.

THE DIRECTOR
Joss Whedon directed and co-wrote this film. I had my doubts about this film since Whedon was announced as being attached. This film has proven that Whedon is a more than capable director who can easily handle a huge ensemble film like this and this film will definitely make the nay sayers shut up.

The Avengers needed to feel like an epic movie, it needed a huge threat to unite these huge heroes, who were handling villains in their own respective movies. This is not easy to do, yet Whedon pulled it off perfectly.

Some of the shots are truly epic and awe inspiring. It genuinely felt like the Earth was being invaded, even though the fight was based in one city. The fighting is so epic and shot so perfectly it truly is amazing to watch.

CONCLUSION
I have been anticipating The Avengers ever since Iron Man and this movie does not disappoint. All the heroes get their time to shine, as well as being used to their strengths later on in the film. The action is breath taking, the visual effects are stunning, the villain is pulled off incredibly and the acting is superb.

There were only a few problems i had with the film, the main one being that the story wasn’t as strong as previous Marvel films, however, that is understandable, as that is what the individual films were for, to get the audience connected with the characters.

Also, there weren’t that many references to other heroes throughout the film like previous Marvel films, which disappointed me. However the mid credit scene was more than enough to make up for it, i am now salivating for the next Avengers film.

But besides those few minor gripes, this film is excellent, it gave me goosebumps 4 or 5 times and had me laughing at least 5 times.

In conclusion, Whedon has made a great film here and you should definitely watch it!

MY SCORE
9/10