Film Review: Marvel’s The Avengers

I just watched The Avengers and I’m still struggling to get my head around the idea that this film exists. I mean, it’s just so improbable that something this huge could actually be put together. What’s really so impressive, though, is that it all somehow works. The Avengers is a riveting adventure that miraculously manages to deliver on all of its promises. No matter what you were hoping for from the film, you won’t be disappointed.

Joss Whedon has worked on a lot of really exceptional stuff. As a writer and a director (among other things), he has earned a level of respect and devotion that is hard to match. As I’m someone who primarily commits my time to watching and thinking about television, I also hold Whedon in high regard as a wonderfully talented individual (this is the man who created Buffy, Angel and Firefly — how can you not be impressed by him?). As the writer and director of The Avengers, Whedon’s trademark style is all over this film. He knows how to keep this film grounded and epic simultaneously, and perhaps its greatest achievement is that it actually manages to do that.

Whedon is also somebody who knows how to get the best possible performances out his cast. One of the unique challenges of The Avengers (and a reason that many people thought it wouldn’t work) is that is has an enormous cast who all need to have decent storylines. It’s remarkable that the film is able to provide every character with a storyline that not only works, but that is engaging and complex. I feared that some of the less well-known characters (like Black Widow or Hawkeye, who haven’t had films of their own) would be given less attention, but that is thankfully not the case. (In fact, Black Widow’s compelling plot enables Whedon to, once again, write a truly great female character.)

There are a lot of very big egos involved in the team that make up the titular Avengers, and Whedon’s script acknowledges how difficult it would be to have them work together. The struggles in their dynamic last for just the right amount of time, and the personality clashes (like Steve Rogers and Tony Stark being at odds) make perfect sense for the characters. It’s also great that we’re given the time to learn more about the members of SHIELD and Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Phil Coulson all prove to be characters worth caring about. Furthermore, Loki is revealed to be a very wise choice as the villain of the piece. He’s someone that you can’t help but love and hate at the same time. It’s a tricky balancing act to get Loki right, but the end result is a character who is relatable yet unthinkably cruel at the same time; he’s an ever-present threat and very a enjoyable presence when onscreen.

I already mentioned that Whedon gets the best performances out of his actors, and all of this very able cast get their moment in the spotlight. The real star of the show is Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner, as he really seems to understand the character in a way that previous actors who’ve had the role did not. There’s a rage under the surface of his calm exterior that is hard to convey but Ruffalo does a great job of giving the character some real depth. Everyone else really steps up to the challenge too, and I definitely feel that there isn’t a single weak link in this cast.

Characters aside, the film just seems to work. It may be lengthy, but it’s plotted very well and it flows smoothly. There’s a lot of great work done in the early stages that really sets up who these characters are (if you’ve never seen a Marvel film before but are interested, you’ll be able to follow this just fine) and when it gets to its large action set pieces it treats them with a conviction that allows them to be elevated above the sort of mindless destruction that was seen in the Transformers films. The editing on those action sequences is really great (there’s some really awesome choreography and the battle feels as though it takes place within a clearly defined space as a result of impressive camerawork) and the film is able to take advantage of the 3D in a way that others don’t always manage to (although I still find it a bit unnecessary).

The Avengers is also surprisingly funny. Whedon’s script is full of moments that remind you that what you’re watching is meant to be really entertaining. His dialogue is as gloriously witty as ever and the arguments between the characters are sharp and full of great one-liners. I mean, I liked The Dark Knight, but one of my main reservations about Christopher Nolan’s Batman films is that they aren’t really superhero films. They don’t have any of the comic book sense of joy and hope — and fun — that is necessary so, for that reason, I don’t know if they’re entirely as effective as something like this (there is definitely humour in dressing up like a bat and fighting crime, as much as those films resist it). The Avengers knows when to make its audience laugh and when to make them sit up and take things seriously — that it is able to achieve that balance is one of its most important successes.

The key thing that the film gets correct, though, is that it consistently understands that the way to keep the audience engaged is to keep the characters relatable and human. The Avengers always treats these larger-than-life heroes as people and in doing so it creates an environment in which we really care about what they care about. Because we feel like we know the characters, their fight becomes our fight and that sense gives the film a definite power. It’s amazing that The Avengers is able to make every single character into an engaging and distinctly-relatable person and that it’s able to do it so well.

Without giving anything away, Whedon’s writing will keep you absorbed as the plot twists and turns and his story is something that you’re able to feel is both epic and real. The pacing of the film is expertly judged, making it unlikely that you’ll ever feel as though it is killing time. On top of all of that, The Avengers manages to pull of far more breathtaking action sequences than you’d expect are possible; it is a stunningly ambitious film in every sense of the word. Marvel has been building up to this moment for a very long time and it brings me great pleasure to say that if you’ve been eagerly anticipating The Avengers, you’re in for quite the ride because it totally lives up to the hype.