The Avengers

‘The Avengers’ hasn’t even opened in theaters in the United States and it has already made about $260 million worldwide which covers its cost, which was $220 million, this alone describes the craze and buzz this movie has created. It’s hard to deny even not being a part of phenomenon, that this is a great action packed movie. We all like: Superheroes, special effects, alien attack, fights, space ships, saving the world, comedy. The special effects are fantastic, from Iron Man’s suit to The Hulk and the evil aliens. There are many weak points in the storyline, but if you’ve been wanting to go watch this movie more than anything is because of the action it has, I doubt many people want to watch it for its dialogue or depth. One thing this superhero movie does best is shine a light on all the beloved characters, although some or a bit more important than others it is all about team work.   

In this comic book brought to life the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. calls in the superheroes after an energy source of unknown potency, tesseract, opens a portal through outer space and the Norse god Loki (Tom Hiddleston) crosses over and steals it, hypnotizing some of the scientist that had been working with the energy source, Clint Barton or Hawkeye (Jeremy Reener) and Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård). At this point Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has no choice but to go against the government’s wishes and reactivate the Avengers Initiative. So, while the superheroes are gathered we get to see a bit of what each one of them has been up to, with a little background explanation on who each one of them is. We first see Russian spy Natasha Romanoff better known as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), she is sent to India to get Bruce Banner aka The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) because he might be the only one that can track the tessarct. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) goes to collect the multimillionaire scientist Tony Stark or Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) is asked to join since the energy source was found in the ocean after his freak accident that made him a superhero. Finally the demigod Thor (Chris Hemsworth) crashes the scene as he’s trying to get his brother Loki to change his mind and leave planet earth alone. All these different personalities, which the government views as freaks, must come together to save the world before alien forces take over the planet.      

The movie is 143 minutes long and at times it does start dragging, when the superheroes can’t get along because of their egos, but fortunately the culminating action scenes saves anything that was wrong with the film. Personality wise Iron Man is the most likeable character, because of his calm, funny, and sarcastic views on life and the other characters. It is always awesome seeing a girl kick ass and Johansson does a great job keeping up with these superheroes when she’s basically the only human. There’s an unnecessary and uncharacteristic point where she’s portrayed as being weak, but minutes later she’s ready to kill huge robot like monster aliens. For some reason Captain America becomes the leader, perhaps because of his military background and although many seem to dislike his goodie two shoes personality, however, he’s able to carry out an organized team effort. Thor is just the odd extraterrestrial being, that knows this evil forces good enough and cares for planet earth to be able to give the superheroes and advantage. There’s no denying though that The Hulk is probably everyone’s favorite superhero, it could be because he’s not a thinker but a doer and although he’s hard to control somehow the beast realizes what his place is and when to SMASH.

There’s a fierce competition of popularity between Iron Man and The Hulk, they both steal the show and are even more superheroey than most when the situation calls for it. I have to admit that at times there is too much going on at once and some characters seem to be forgotten, while others are sitting around or being chased unnecessarily, but it all comes together so masterfully, ironically enough when disaster breaks out. The 3D effects are not glorious, so save your pennies and watch it on the regular screen; also, make sure to sit around after the movie is over as there are two extra scenes at the end. The Avengers is an unstoppable force that will continue to succeed, there being talks of another Hulk, Iron Man and Avengers 2 movies.