Following 5 solo movies the team is finally here, suited up and ready to take on Loki, Thors adopted brother; a demigod. Loki who is conjuring a devious plan to let all hell run riot on dear earth that we all sincerely love has bad things coming his way. The NÚMERO UNO Tom Hiddleston super villain will stop at nothing unless THE AVENGERS have something to say about it!
The hype for one of the most anticipated movies of summer 2012 has taken 4 years to build on. With the unveiling of IRON MAN in 2008 up until CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER from 2012 these movies are merely well crafted teaser campaigns. Opening up in the UAE on the 3rd May 2012 the expectations on this Paramount Pictures/ Walt Disney distributed production has its work cut out for it. Cinemas have already sold out most of its shows for the premier night and I would anticipate it to be so for a few weekends considering the box office stratosphere potential THE AVENGERS pack.
Captain Steve Rogers aka CAPTAIN AMERICA sacrificed himself during the WWII destroying with himself the Tesseract that contains immense energy to create sustainable energy. Dr.Stark Senior and S.H.I.E.L.D who retrieve the Tesseract and the captain from the depths of the ocean has since then been experimenting on extracting its power. When the Destroyer of Asgard posed a massive threat to the human race in THOR, S.H.I.E.L.D began its experiments in phase two of the Tesseract. The demigod Loki infiltrates the highly secured S.H.I.E.L.D premises where lab tests are being run and reduces it down to a sand pit before taking with him the Tesseract, Hawkeye and Selvig. Loki not only hopes to use its powers for sustainable energy but more over he wishes to use its power to open a portal to outer space and thereby bringing to earth a breed of aliens that would destroy the human race. This is big! Dear readers this is merely the beginning of what would be considered to be an epic Superhero mash-up. This in terms of avenging a crime is sheer MOTIVE!
Now that Loki has the Tesseract it’s up to Nick Fury and Agent Phil Coulson to bring in the parade. It is time. It’s time the avengers assembled. Re-branded in the UK as AVENGERS ASSEMBLE it gives a better feel to the tone she carries through her 142 minutes. Samuel.L.Jackson and Clark Gregg finally have more screen time. I personally believe that Samuel.L.Jacksons performance is of great aid to the motive of the entire assembly. None could have rolled out that dialogue and convinced us that we need super heroes to save the earth since we are way above our heads and make it sound convincing. We are at War!
Another well thought out angle to the production is direction and screenplay. Joss Whedon has focused intently on the motives of each superhero. This move is wise since the stakes are quite high in terms of expectation of the audience. It is important that he convinces that each superhero needed to be present for earth’s survival. Each Superhero is given equal prominence. No one has been overcast by the shadow of the other. Even Black Widow and Hawkeye although very much human are in no way lesser to Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk or Thor. Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth have been there and done that and do know how to keep the intensity and the humor flowing. While undoubtedly Robert Downey Jr is the in house comedian amongst the avengers its amusing the way Joss Whedon works some humor out of Thor (who is now sleeveless & flexing his biceps) and the Hulk. If there is one way of being human with no powers and still fitting in perfectly into the avengers unit is to have the right attitude. Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner is all about the attitude right from the word go. Tom Hiddlestons psychotic interpretation of Loki brings THE AVENGERS to their knees before they rediscover themselves. It’s clearly 6 against 1 and that’s a lot of pressure on the British star. Successfully pulling a character such as Loki on a summer blockbuster hit will do wonders in his career.
All of the above with the bonus point of some breathtaking CGI is the entire production. There aren’t any breakthrough moments in terms of technology in the field of CGI. Joss Whedon is using the industries best but nothing innovative is exercised. THE AVENGERS isn’t a war movie but it’s a movie of war! It’s fought by hammers and shields, it’s fought by unity and perseverance.
With 3 sequels in the pipeline with CAPTAIN AMERICA, THOR and IRONMAN THE next big question is when will we see a follow up to THE AVENGERS? I will answer that with a quote from Joss Whedon himself. He stated “I don’t want people to go out saying when the next part is? I want people to say; OH I want to see that again!”
Readers around the world; the key word with this movie is advanced ticket reservations!
TITLE: THE AVENGERS : AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
DIRECTED BY: JOSS WHEDON
STARRING: ROBERT DOWNEY JR, CHRIS EVANS, SCARLETT JOHANSSON, JEREMY RENNER, MARK RUFFALO, CHRIS HEMSWORTH, TOM HIDDLESTON, CLARK GREGG, COBIE SMULDERS, STELLEN SKARSGARD, GWENYTH PALTROW & SAMUEL.L.JACKSON
RATED: PG 13
RATING: 08/10
142 MINUTES