Review: Avengers Assemble

Aghast that British audiences might absent-mindedly confuse Marvel Comics’ very own all-action super-group with the 1960s British spy series of the same name (already filmically bastardised by Jeremiah Chechick in 1998 – give it a miss), Marvel Studios’ The Avengers was released in UK cinemas under the significantly more camp moniker of Avengers Assemble.

Tasked with kicking off Summer 2012 by making a full dinner set of the various spinning plates set in motion by previous Marvel features for Iron Man, Captain America and co. was quick-witted writer and fully canonised sci-fi icon, Joss Whedon. A familiar name to fans of series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, Whedon was given a fairly universal stamp of approval when appointed to take charge of this potentially messy affair – a rather auspicious start which perhaps only increased the pressure. Settling into my seat in (inexplicably) the rather cramped Screen 2 at the NPH for this needlessly 3D feature, I hoped the admission price would buy me healthy dollops of Whedon charm along with action worthy of such a lofty project. It is with both satisfaction and surprise that I say I was not disappointed in the slightest.

As the team of Iron Man (Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are called to arms by Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury (still able to pull off that piercing stare, despite the eye-patch), we encounter the natural teething problems involved in jumbling together a ragtag bunch of extraordinary individuals. Fortunately, this is merely an issue for the characters on screen to overcome, as opposed to the audience. We enjoy bombastic action and snappy repartee in equal measure, as (prepare to cringe) the heroes learn they must overcome their differences before they can overcome the villain of the piece, Thor’s merciless brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

Needless to say the cast is superb, with the main players seeming generally at ease with their roles. Mark Ruffalo, the only main debutant, seems to take inspiration from his easy-going, mind-muddled character in Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right (2010) as he follows Eric Bana and Edward Norton’s previous attempts to tackle the rather Jekyll-and-Hyde figure, Bruce Banner. Stellan Skarsgård, Gwyneth Paltrow and Clark Gregg return in minor supporting roles and there’s even a return to voice-acting duties for Paul Bettany, as Tony Stark’s home A.I. system, Jarvis.

With all of the trials and tribulations of The Avengers quite naturally culminating in a dramatic final showdown on the streets of New York you’d struggle to find action any more fast-paced and frantic, with high melodrama all round as Manhattan (and thus, the world) faces complete annihilation. Even during this rather typical comic-book finale, there still proves plenty of room for some surprises (and a few laughs, as is the case throughout) as Whedon’s film thunders to its conclusion.

Burdened with challenging brief to fulfil and an incredible weight of expectation, Joss Whedon took what he was given and moulded it into a contender for the best ‘popcorn movie’ of the summer. I suspect that a fellow audience member described it better than I ever could as, when leaving the theatre, he turned to his friend and bemoaned, “Man, reality is s**t.”.

Dir: Joss Whedon
142 mins
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Stellan Skarsgård, Clark Gregg, Gwyneth Paltrow.

Photo: © marvel.com