The Avengers (2012)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  9 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: Few films out there bring quite the sense of celebratory joy and excitement that The Avengers does, as it not only marks the first time that these characters that we'd grown to care for come together, but the way it's executed makes it a complete joy-ride from start to finish - and that's largely thanks to the brilliant (and ever-underappreciated) talent of writer/director Joss Whedon.
  
  Yes what the guy behind the brilliant Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly does here is to focus on the characters and their interactions with each other above all else in a way that miraculously gives each of them an arc through the course of the story whilst delivering relentlessly snappy exchanges and plenty of time to just watch the heroes argue and get to know each other. We get Tony Stark hilariously throwing his weight around in the new team and eventually learning what it truly means to be a hero, Steve Rogers finding himself out of time in a frightening new world away from the army comradery, Thor having to deal with the evil actions of his brother Loki who's seeking vengeance after living in his shadow for so long, and the new Bruce Banner being forced into a volatile environment in a way that delves into that idea of the monster within far better than any cinematic portrayal of The Hulk had before.
  
  All of that makes for the perfect approach to a film that could have easily become overwhelmed with action or plot or have felt overstuffed with characters, but it only works so well because on the one hand the dialogue is so brilliant, and also because the cast who deliver it all arrive on top form and share genuinely magnetic chemistry whether they're arguing or kicking bottom together.
  
  But as if that wasn't enough, all of that great stuff pays off with the ultimate final act in which the rag-tag team finally come together and put their differences aside for the good of humanity in a spectacularly rousing action sequence that's still arguably the best of the MCU to date. It's just so unashamedly celebratory in the end, and that's not something that can be said for all modern comic-book movies but it's great to see - especially after the build-up of all the previous films. It's a true superhero sugar-rush.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Sure some of the visuals are a little goofy and yes the plot has some shortfalls, but who cares? It's properly smart entertainment.
  
  VERDICT: Joss Whedon crafts a smart, snappy, character-focused team-movie with the ultimate celebratory pay-off with 'The Avengers,' and the result is a shameless joy-ride from start to finish and one of the quintessential comic-book movies.

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