2012’s The Avengers,
directed by Joss Whedon.
Starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris
Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L.
Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Paul Bettany.
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
(Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, and Daniel Sudick).
What is it about?
With Asgard castoff Loki lusting for power, he mobilizes an army
behind him (the Chitauri). Loki plans to use the Tesseract energy cube (last
seen at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger) to open a wormhole between the Chitauri and earth so that he
may invade it and conquer it as king. S.H.I.E.L.D. (just Google it) director
Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) activates the Avengers initiative, to assemble
superheroes Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America (Chris Evans), The
Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson),
and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) into a super team. Their eclectic and unusual mix
of personalities prove difficult to work together and even figure out a plan of
attack against Loki- will they be able to coalesce as a unit to avenge the
earth?
Why is it worth seeing?
The Avengers is
the sixth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) phase 1 stage, and is
the final film before phase 2. Over the course of 4 years, there were a number
of standalone origin films made (Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger), planting seeds for this team up.
With the build up, it’s difficult to
not at least be curious about what would happen if all of these superheroes
were to be put together on a team- would it coalesce, or collapse?
Although it may not have seemed like it at the time, The Avengers is the MCU coming out party, a cinematic
epoch defining, financial Hollywood machine. The craziest thing about it is the hype may be justified.
Joss Whedon may not have been the
obvious choice to make a $220 million budget blockbuster about robot men and tights-wearing
super soldiers, but the TV veteran of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse
brought a strong sense of (albeit twisted) family values. Him and co-writer Zak
Penn’s script about a group of (err, unique) individuals put together for a
singular purpose recalls many conversations between a bickering extended
family- one that happens to have abilities such as wielding lightning and
insane strength. Indeed, arguably the most endearing scenes of The Avengers is when they are all in the
same room together gabbing.
Even after spending a good chunk of
time with these characters already- the chemistry that develops between them is
fresh, exciting, and at times hilarious. It’s a master’s thesis into what
social workers would call group or family work, a dynamic and ever changing
milieu of agendas and personalities chaotically enmeshed. The choices in characters that the MCU
chose to put together previously becomes a masterstroke. While some of the
standalone films (and subsequent characters) are stronger than others, once
coalesced the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It’s Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs for groups.
Bringing their respective strengths, Downey
Jr. and Evans in particular are masterful in examining their roles in a
fractured world, and growing into them. Not far behind, is the stealthy
espionage of Johansson, Ruffalo’s laid back vibes contrasting nicely with
the beast within, and Renner’s easygoing manner that belies his military
efficiency. But the MVP of the film is likely Hiddleston’s Loki, one of the
genre’s most iconic villains. After warming up in Thor, his trickster inspired antagonistic ways are equal parts
petty revenge and Shakespearean, and when it comes to needing to be at the
centre of it all, Downey Jr. seems to have met his match. He proves worthy of
being in the conversation with The Joker, for villain foils that are
more interesting than the heroes.
At times, comic book films’ special effects departments in
the past just couldn’t get it done, in terms of portraying the mayhem and epic
cosmological travels that beings who could fly and teleport could do. No such
issue here, and the endless swaths of extraterrestrial baddies and super
powered good guys look amazing, guaranteeing we can stay in the moment and
glide along the thrill ride Whedon provides. And what a thrill ride. On top of
Whedon’s penchant for family squabbles, he creates a climatic battle sequence
that is unforgettable, and does that genre defining thing where its strength is
so pronounced that countless films to follow would try to emulate it (and
fail). There’s other entertaining skirmishes as well...
Featuring competent character development, superb casting,
slick visual effects, and slam bang action- Whedon deftly balances it all in a perfectly tight package.
While the opening sequence feels like a television production (never good in a
movie), and the premise at times can be ridiculous and Macguffin packed, The Avengers is a cultural milestone
that made a boatload of money and is guilty of being delightfully entertaining and
endlessly re-watchable. My #9 movie of 2012, it’s a smash.
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