The Avengers (2012)

Yeah I know I'm a little late to the party but I've seen it now and I'll let you know what I think. 

As a kid I was pretty into comics and the Marvel and DC Universes. I was by no means an expert but I knew enough to get by. Knowing the back story for each of The Avengers is helpful but not necessary beforehand. The film does a good job at introducing each character again without making it super drawn out or boring. I think knowing a little about the Marvel's superteam is welcome knowledge so that you aren't confused at key points in the movie.

The film was directed by the brilliant Joss Whedon, who brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and more recently Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. I was a little worried that the feel of the movie might not quite fit with the Marvel design but I'm glad that those worries were misguided.

As we meet the team, we also see some supporting characters from their respective movies. The films in the past few years that The Avengers (2012) draws from are Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).

The Avengers:

Chris Hemsworth as Thor

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man

Chris Evans as Captain America

Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow

Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye

Everyone else:

Tom Hiddleston as Loki

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill

Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson

Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts

Stellan Skarsgard as Dr. Eric Selvig 

and Paul Bettany returns as the voice of Jarvis (Tony Starks' computer)

We also get cameos by Harry Dean Stanton, Ashley Johnson, Alexis Denisof, and of course you can't forget the legendary Stan Lee.

Well getting down to it, the movie starts off at a good pace, a little slow but I had pretty high expectations. Perhaps it went a little slow because they wanted everyone to be able to just pick up and watch it without necessarily having seen the other films. Not long into the film the action really picked up. I am a little biased but I'm definitely glad they had plenty of Hulk action scenes because he's my favourite. I also found that there was a lot more humour than most of Marvel's films to date, but it gave a nice contrast to the seriousness of the plot. 

Oh right, the plot.....umm let's see:

Loki is pissed and wants to rule the Earth and so The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and their ragtag team try to stop him.

How was that?

I would have to agree with most and say that it is my favourite Marvel film to date. I think it flowed quite nicely and is a must see for anyone who enjoyed any of Marvel's films so far. As I hinted to before, I suggest  watching any or all of the films from which the Avengers were assembled (I'm sure you can figure out what I mean by that). Despite having great admiration for the film, I really wouldn't bother seeing it in 3D, but I'm cheap so you can't really take my word on that. 

Update:
- I don't think I said this the first time round, nor do I care to actually check, but make sure that when you do see The Avengers, stay until the very end because there are two scenes at the end of the credits. I won't ruin it for you but I will say that comic book fans will know a little more than the general folk about the significance of the first of the two scenes.

Notes:

- Something I didn't know before, Joss Whedon was one of the writers for the Toy Story screenplay, which makes me respect him so much more than I already do.

- Alan Silvestri provides the score for The Avengers, and I'm glad they chose him. I can't say that he's my favourite film composer but he's definitely up there. He's provided the score to some great films, most notably Back to the Future and Forrest Gump.

- Alexis Denisof voices The Other (the creepy guy talking to Loki). Along with being a frequent part of  Joss Whedon productions, he plays Sandy Rivers alongside  Cobie Smulders' Robin Scherbatsky on How I Met Your Mother.

- Natalie Portman didn't return as Jane Foster, I can't remember why.....I probably should have done some research....oh well. Gladly, it is reported she will be reprising her role in Thor 2.