IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched on Disney +
Already in the 90s there were plans to bring "The Avengers" of Marvel Comics to the big screen. But in the beginning, Marvel was nothing more than a publishing house and not a film-producing studio, which is why the film rights of many heroes, such as "Spider-Man," "X-Men," "Hulk" and "The Punisher" were scattered to the four winds and a coming together seemed impossible. Even with Marvel Studios, which was founded in 1993, they were only in an advisory or co-producing position in the countless superhero and comic book films. At the latest with the first "Iron Man" film in 2008, Marvel finally recreated their self-contained universe, spread over many films, on the big screen. This was followed by another Hulk and Iron Man movie, "Thor" and "Captain America." You didn't have to be a genius to realize that with these films Marvel was virtually laying the groundwork for their first big summit meeting (especially since they had announced it beforehand). And four years after "Iron Man," there it was: "The Avengers" brought all the superheroes together. What came out of it is nothing less than one of the best superhero movies of all time.
The fact that "The Avengers" brought together the major protagonists from a bunch of previous movies naturally raised doubts and fears among the large fan base. How do you pack so many characters into one movie and still maintain the basic framework of an action film? How do you give each "protagonist" enough screentime so that the audience doesn't feel like they're in another Iron Man/Hulk/Thor/Captain America movie and the rest of the heroes are just supporting characters? How do you manage to achieve an acceptable film length despite the pile of characters and still introduce everyone well?
Well, the fact that all of these problems were not overcome, but avoided altogether, is primarily thanks to director Joss Whedon. The man who brought us "Firefly", "Buffy" and "Serenity", which enjoy great popularity in sci-fi fan circles. Someone who is simply comfortable in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and action, and thus was one of the best candidates for this film. Joss Whedon doesn't make the mistake of introducing all the heroes in a big way, but, like Peter Jackson did with "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King", assumes that you already know the "prequels", which is why the film starts off action-packed. All the heroes get a brief introduction and it doesn't take long for them to get together to stop an imminent threat. The danger, as in "Thor", comes from the brother of the thunder god Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who has found a way to travel between the nine worlds, and so sets out with a force to subjugate Earth, which leads Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), head of the secret government agency and peace organization S.H.I.E.L.D., to call together the world's greatest heroes. After his decade-long slumber, Captain America (Chris Evans) is under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s watch anyway, and the close- and long-range fighter-pobs Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are also already fixtures in the ensemble. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is already there anyway due to his personal relationship with Loki, and with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), two scientists also join the team, who, as we know, know how to convince not only through intelligence. However, this poses some dangers, because when the gamma-irradiated doctor gets too excited, he becomes an unpredictable Hulk, and the other heroes aren't used to working as a team either.
With this point, with the initial tension in this powerful team, Joss Whedon delivers great fan service by having, for example, Captain America go after Iron Man, Iron Man go after Thor, Thor go after Hulk, etc. Because that's what many (at least me) actually wanted to see. Science versus god strength, metal versus muscle, mutation versus technology. It is through these battles, which not only shine because of the excellent effects, that Whedon drives the plot forward, illuminating the motivations of each hero and introducing Loki as an antagonist both intelligent and ruthless, who knows how to use the skirmish between the superheroes to his advantage.
While all of the superheroes have been characterized and described to a certain point in their respective films, their stories are spun out further in "The Avengers." Tony Stark has relocated to New York and is involved with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Thor has disappeared after the destruction of the Bifröst, Dr. Bruce Banner is in the middle of nowhere and Cap is still waiting for an assignment since he was brought out of the ice. The amount of time each character gets is absolutely equitable, something that would have been hard to believe at the time with a movie length of 140 minutes and six protagonists and one villain. The trick is that most of the heroes get their drawing during the dialogues among themselves and director Whedon thus kills two (or in this case six) birds with one stone, so to speak. Only Clint "Hawkeye" Barton falls a bit out of line. Whedon manages to make all the characters grow on you, first and foremost Tony Stark, of course, with his hateful, arrogant narcissism, but who is as shrewd as ever and has that one perfectly fitting line in store at all times, so you just have to love him. All are fundamentally likable in their own way, even Loki stands up to the demands of a villain of this caliber without a hitch. Especially since he commands a huge armada of aliens.
Of course, the sympathy that the characters spread would be half as strong in its effect if the actors weren't so great. Robert Downey Jr. has already shown in "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2" that he is the perfect embodiment of Iron Man, but Chris Hemsworth proves once again that he can do more than just flex his muscles. Chris Evans also plays Captain America so well that the character of the gene-modified super soldier seems so perfectly old-fashioned anyway and almost tailored to his body. Moreover, Mark Ruffalo clearly gives the best Hulk after Eric Bana and Edward Norton, who had to leave after differences with the studio. Not only is he physically a bit beefier, more robust and stronger than a tall Edward Norton, but he also has that latent-aggressive manner. Scarlett Johannson is a great actress anyway, but her potential is not fully realized here. Jeremy Renner not only makes a cheap Legolas copy (though he's briefly referred to as such), but for the time he's given, he's absolutely convincing with his mildly annoying manner. And Samuel L. "Bad Motherf***er" Jackson is just plain cool in his black trench coat and eye patch. He could have kept the afro and the sideburns from "Pulp Fiction". But even with a bald head, he loses nothing of his charisma. Even Cobie Smulders lets completely forget her role from the successful sitcom HIMYM. Alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo, however, Tom Hiddleston probably delivers the greatest performance. He is so convincing in his role as Loki that one forgets that his comic-like armor (the Capricorn helmet) looks very ridiculous at times. Still, he doesn't quite manage to look menacing, but that's more due to the script.
By a tragic twist, which I will not spoil in any case, the Avengers find in the end in New York but again together, throw their original ignorant and arrogant motivations overboard and work as a team to a common enemy to finish. What sounds cheesy and conventional is basically so. But this fact is swept out of the way just like that by a staging of the grand finale. Joss Whedon delivers such a finale that stands up to any superlative. A finale that gave me permanent goosebumps and during which you just sit in front of the screen with a wide grin and wide open eyes. It's not for nothing that even Marvel series like "Hawkeye" still reference this finale some 10 years after its release. When Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor, Hawkeye and even a Hulk who acts with purpose instead of mindlessly reducing everything to rubble work together, group up and get their bearings, it's a real bombast battle, as you'd just expect from a meeting of so many superheroes. But the finale wouldn't be half as good if it weren't for Alan Silvestri's music score. As music to listen to separately, the soundtrack is perhaps not quite suitable, for that it has no real flow, but in the battle turmoil it comes into its own.
Actually, I could go on writing for hours here, I haven't even mentioned the incredible effects, the fun you have and the super-pointed gags. It's a movie that, in combination of action and music, put such a big grin on my face that I must have looked like a freak. "But wait," you might be saying now, "that sounds like another "Transformers"/"Battleship" crossover. No, it's not: first, there's no non-stop action, but well-portioned (and far better) action. Secondly, the characters are fantastically drawn in dialogues partly in an extremely funny way, partly in a serious way. It's hard to believe how Joss Whedon managed to get all doubts and fears out of the way, to give all characters their scenes to unfold. Only in the middle of the film does the flow of the film slacken a bit, but beyond that it has exceedingly good pacing. The usual maladies of many action films, like big love stories and moral decisions, Whedon just consistently leaves out. A relationship between Black Widow and Hawkeye is only hinted at by her addressing him by his first name, Clint. This is the greatest intimacy Joss Whedon allows himself, and thus doesn't even come close to falling into the trap that John Woo fell into with "Mission: Impossible II," for example. Those who didn't like films like "Iron Man" and "Thor" and "Spider-Man" before will probably not like "The Avengers" either. But those who can warm to such cinema, especially "Iron Man", will probably cry tears of joy here, as it pretty much hits the same notch - only ten times harder. "The Avengers" belongs in the fun, action-packed superhero movie category. You can't compare it to "The Dark Knight" or "Watchmen", as those fall more into the (action) thriller category than "comic book adaptation" for me.
