The Avengers
It's exciting to know that even in this day and age, movies still have the ability to keep you on the edge of your seat and surpass your expectations. For me tonight, it was The Avengers. Co-written and directed by Joss Whedon and featuring the returning cast heroes of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) Captain America (Chris Evans) Thor (Chris Hemsworth) Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) new comer Hawkeye (Jermey Renner) and new Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) this star studded blockbuster will tug not only at the fantasies of comic enthusiast eager to seeing the epic toe-to-toe matching up of heroes, but the fighting spirit in us all that rejoices in "stickin' it" to the bad guy.
A pretty simple enough story of saving the world from Thor's brother Loki, (Tom Hiddleston) (who by the way lives up to name by causing mischief in every which-way shape and form) intent on using an alien mystically-eternal power source to become more powerful and summon an other worldly army to conquer earth. For me, the magic of the movie wasn't after the avengers meet each other, or even when they were sizing each other up, it's when they really start to question and fight with each other, a brilliant deception by Loki (the trickster) in order for them to divide and remain divided. When they have to put aside their issues/differences with each other in order to successfully work together, it is there where the audience gets to see the actual formation of the avengers take place. There have been close-ones, laughs, and even deaths but most surprisingly and importantly, I could see stunning moments of situational realizations and growths among the characters that served to redefine them beyond their expectations, both individually and as a team; especially when encountering an additional threat from an unsuspected force...so it wasn't just a "fun smash-fest". Great direction and use of characters in all available assets made available by Marvel and Stan the Man himself (who does give a brief cameo, naturally) and appropriate enough "air time" for each hero so that there wasn't any undercutting. The 3D theatrical release wasn't too bad, but it seems as if poorly lit scenes don't serve it very much justice, and just tends to annoy the eyes after while, so maybe stick to 2D or better yet, bluray when it comes around. As for rating, I'd say an easy 4 out of 5.