Marvel: Avengers Assemble

And so we’ve had it. The great clash of the year. Marvel’s response to The Dark Knight Rises. Marvel: Avengers Assemble is the blockbuster of Marvel Studios, bringing together some of the best loved Marvel superheroes to fight side-by-side and stop whatever wants to conquer earth next. Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye and Black Widow, all band together under Nick Fury in order to deliver some edge-of-your-seat action that you don’t want to miss.

Well, needless to say, this film is going up against the climax of the most successful series of Batman films to date. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the Avengers cannot hope to outclass Nolan’s masterpiece, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good film. The aforementioned team has been pulled together to stop Thor’s sort-of-brother-but-not-really; Loki. Alone, he stands as a good villain against Thor, but is rather weedy when put up against a whole team, so I did feel a little underwhelmed when I discovered that he was the antagonist. I also got the feeling of unoriginality, and was hoping that with the size of the budget that has clearly gone into this picture, the producers could have invested in a better, newer, and all round more original baddie. Luckily, he isn’t alone. He plans to summon forth an army from another dimension, to wreak havoc on earth. This of course redeems the guy, and makes him more sinister, and a better match for the gang.

As far as performances go, everyone has stayed the same since their own movie. Robert Downey Jr is once again stocked with one-liners, quirky taunts and an air of arrogance that makes him loveable. Chris Evans is once again the all American hero, playing the serious team leader. Chris Hemsworth as Thor, the Norse god who is clueless about modern ways. Scarlett Johansson  is the beautiful but deadly Black Widow. Hawkeye, who has never had his own film, is being portrayed by Jeremy Renner, who honestly does a good job as the super-archer. Finally, we have Hulk. Hulk is being played by Mark Ruffalo, a new addition to the cast. The pervious actor who played the hulk must’ve dropped out for some reason. And finally, Nick Fury is played by the incredibly cool, Samuel L. Jackson. All of these actors deliver superb performances, and the chemistry between the characters makes for some interesting and highly amusing relationships.

The soundtrack does well to compliment the huge quantities of action, and whilst once again, falls short of the standards that TDKR hits, it’s incredibly super-hero-like, and one particular scene towards the end of the move, during the epic, climactic battle (which trust me, is spectacular), where the team all stand in a circle preparing for battle, with some dramatic music playing...I got goosebumps. And I was wearing a jacket. There was just something about it that screamed awesome at me.

Whilst there’s nothing particularly wrong with the Avengers, I do feel that it cannot compete with Nolan’s finale. The action was superior, as the final action scene was truly spectacular, but when it comes down to story, characters and general atmosphere, it fell a little short of the standards that Nolan has set. However, I was still thoroughly entertained throughout the entire movie. If you enjoyed any of the separate films, you will enjoy this, so you should definitely check it out.

8/10 - Great