Famed director gives new life to superhero genre
"The Avengers" is the type of movie with the potential to be either a complete triumph among special effects films or a complete failure because it is a special effects film. This spectacle became the central point when advertising the film, with the campaign boasting all the chaos from the effects-heavy action scenes. As we have learned from Michael Bay's fetish for soulless robot monotony, this is a recipe for disaster.
But surprisingly, "The Avengers" reveals itself as spectacle with substance all thanks to the film's one true hero, director Joss Whedon. Whedon's handling of the movie reflects his love for the source material, as he presents a film that thrives on the audience's pathos and features characters that actually express their humanity.
Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as narcissistic, genius billionaire Tony Stark/Iron Man, whose sharp tongue and egotism provide as much amusement as in the two "Iron Man" films. Chris Hemsworth returns as almighty thunder god Thor, looking to convince his wicked brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to return home.
Chris Evans also returns as old-fashioned Steve Rogers/Captain America, who adjusts to a new technologically-advanced world after 70 years of slumber. Scarlett Johansson continues her role from "Iron Man 2" as lethal gymnast Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow.
The latest incarnation of Bruce Banner/The Hulk is played by Mark Ruffalo, who portrays the nuanced, seemingly mild-mannered scientist better than past Hulk actors Eric Bana and Edward Norton. But the actual pea-green colossus is even better, as Whedon takes away the character's dopiness from the past two Hulk films and just lets him run wild, becoming the movie's biggest source of laugh-out-loud humor.
Also new on the scene is Jeremy Renner as ace archer Clint Barton/Hawkeye, but unfortunately most of the film features him under the control of the main villain Loki. With Hawkeye and other agents under his control, Loki extracts the power of the blue cube from "Captain America: The First Avenger" to summon an alien race called the Chitauri to destroy Earth, forcing Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to assemble the heroes.
"It's sort of like a team," Stark fluently says about the superhero motley crew, and "sort of" is the operative phrase toward the team's creation.
The initial attraction of "The Avengers," and its core focus, is the gathering of these heroes to face an apocalyptic force. But amongst this struggle against an opposing force that threatens Earth, these heroes face another conflict: their individual egos that trump any notion of heroism.
These interactions are when the movie is at its best, whether they're engaging in some witty banter or simply at each other's throats. The Stark/Banner relationship is the most interesting as both enjoy conversing with someone of equal intellect, though Stark is more curious about Banner's rage issues. Whedon has fun with the Stark/Rogers relationship as they express their conflicting ideologies and Stark's sharp tongue doesn't help. We also get to see the team's biggest brutes, Thor and Hulk, duke it out.
But what's especially impressive about Whedon's screenplay is the amount of depth and humanity of the characters. They aren't just battling their associates' neuroses, but also struggling with their conflicted selves.
Whedon manages to find balance among these heroes and their problems. Every character gets an equal amount of the screen time keeping the audience invested in each hero's internal struggles such as Thor's conflict with fighting his brother and Stark favoring his own narcissism over self-sacrifice.
In addition to having fun with each character's neurosis, Whedon avoids getting too serious, presenting some self-awareness within the material such as Kenneth Branagh's Shakespearean approach toward "Thor" (2011) and Stark blasting AC/DC as he enters the fight. But the pure embodiment of self-awareness comes in the form of Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), the movie's own superhero fanboy. He carries around trading cards of Captain America and talks to him like he's meeting his favorite celebrity.
While all the spectacle and character interactions play out like a comic fanboy's dream, Whedon's screenplay also features some political and thematic material that college students could write theses about. Many superhero films suggest some political motive behind the scenes, and this film contains numerous moments that suggest some political statements, both conservative and liberal. There's Captain America's old-fashioned, conservative appeal as he expresses his monotheistic beliefs (this actually got the audience at my screening applauding) as well as Stark's energy conservation for the newly constructed Stark Tower.
Finding faults in this movie is like looking at a wasp: they exist but we would rather ignore them. The sluggish approach toward the plot due to the fair amount of setup and exposition is barely endurable and pure spectacle controls the majority of the climactic battle, but this isn't essentially a negative. Once the movie turns New York into an urban battleground, the special effects dazzle much more than any "Transformers" film and the battle is engaging because of how invested the audience is in the characters.
It's difficult to see how Marvel Studios can go back to giving audiences something at 90 percent now that they have seen what 110 looks like. "The Avengers" raises the bar to a point where the traditional approach of one superhero versus one villain isn't enough anymore, while also setting an ideal example toward how the genre should be executed. The movie is pure, pleasant entertainment that more than lives up to its hype.