To understand The Avengers you have to understand each of the films that introduces the main characters. Iron Man and Iron Man 2 introduce us to Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), a genius weapons engineer that really has an anti-hero personality. He is brash, egotistical, selfish, and conceited. It works for him though as he uses his special suit that runs on his heart "battery" for lack of a better term that allows him to fly and fire weapons at his enemies.
In The Incredible Hulk we are introduced to Bruce Banner (Edward Norton in the original, Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers), a genius scientist that was exposed to something that causes him to turn into a giant green monster that acts on pure emotion and rage whenever his heart rate gets elevated. He ends up in the jungles of South America as he tries to harness what he views as an "inner demon" and control it as best he can.
Thor introduces us to the world of mythological figures. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the god of thunder and heir to the throne in his land. When his ego and selfishness upset his father, he is banished to earth which starts an inter-galactic war between him and his evil brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) as they fight for control of their land, and Thor fights with his mighty hammer for the respect and title he lost.
Captain America: The First Avenger pretty much says it all in the title. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was a small man with a huge heart that the U.S. Army chose to make a super-soldier prototype that turned out to be the only to help fight the Nazis in World War II armed with his unnaturally strong shield designed by Tony Stark's legendary father. Captain America is a noble character and a true soldier. While protecting America from a madman with a mysterious cube, he sacrifices himself by crashing a plane in the frozen glaciers beneath. Rogers somehow survives, but is frozen in some sort of hyper-sleep until he awakes in present day not having aged.
The team of six is rounded out by two more members. Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) was briefly introduced in Iron Man 2 as a sexy spy assassin. Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner, who apparently has to insert himself into every significant movie franchise right now) was briefly seen in Thor as a master of archery and a trained killer.
The leader of this group was briefly seen in most of the installments in this franchise. This man is Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Not much is learned about him other than he is the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is the group that wants to assemble The Avengers.
The reason why it is so important to know where each character comes from is it assumes you know this background and plays from it in The Avengers. In fact, one of the biggest strengths of the movie is how it allows each character to continue to exist in their own world already created in the previous films while finding a way for them to co-exist and share the spotlight. Actually, some of the conflict comes from finding a way to co-exist. It works a fine yet perfect balance.
This is a great film, but in a different way than other superhero films like Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise. While Batman grounds itself in reality, The Avengers delves into the extraordinary and supernatural. It is really inevitable once you have a demigod and a giant green Hulk involved in the group. The villain in this film turns out to be Thor's brother Loki as he comes back from his alternate universe to take over the world as his planet to rule. What it lacks in reality, it does make up for in fun. It is a much more lighthearted film compared to its counterpart. This makes it lack a certain depth that Nolan is able to achieve in his films, but its colorful characters and breathtaking action scenes make it a great film nonetheless.
The one thing I regret from this film is that Edward Norton could not reprise his role as Bruce Banner. Mark Ruffalo does an honorable job, but he's the one character that was replaced. There were scenes that needed Edward Norton that were deprived of it over a little dispute. It wasn't necessarily a weakness of the film, but more of a distraction for me. Like I said, Mark Ruffalo is a great Hulk. He's just not the one the part was originally given to.
Overall, this is one of the best superhero movies I have seen. It's story is average, but it is all about the characters. Each one has its own strong but distinct personality that are able to be themselves and develop without anything feeling forced. With the previous films already established, there is no need for origin stories. It allows The Avengers to be almost two and a half hours of non-stop plot, character development, and action. It is one of the shortest movies over two hours you will ever see, and you would be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining movie this year. If you ever saw a superhero movie you enjoyed in any way, shape, or form, see The Avengers.
Rating: 4 stars
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