Now that I was able to control myself and actually sit down and watch
The Avengers without feeling like my brain was exploding I think I can talk about it. I will warn you when spoilers are coming.
If you don't know the basic plot... basically SHIELD gathers "The
Avengers" (Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, and
Hawkeye) to fight against Thor's brother Loki and his army in an attempt
to take over Earth and/or destroy it. The movie is kinda split into
parts, or chapters if you will. It starts with kind of a re-introduction
of each hero/character, it morphs into the main plot set up of the
problem, and then the resolution with the major battle against Loki and
his army.
Overall, this movie is badass. The effects are great, the sound design was well done, the character development (for the most part) was decent, and the general flow of the movie was smooth and fun. They evenly mixed comedy and action, like great comics do, and it worked out very well. I was dying laughing at parts along with everyone else in the theater. It was a bit closer to the newer Ultimate Avengers rather than the older ones but I think that was more for the characters than the storyline. I do have some complaints which I will mention with spoilers, but honestly the minor gripes don't take away anything from the overall movie. I still loved it just as much if not more.
If you haven't seen it yet, definitely stay through the credits. There is a mid-credit scene and a scene after the credits. Both times I haven't stayed all the way through but from what I have heard the scene after the full credits is pretty minor and was stuck in just for fun. When I see it a third time I'll stay all the way through.
Now for
SPOILERS! If you haven't seen The Avengers yet don't read on. Seriously. Don't spoil it for yourself. Let the awesome be a surprise.
So... I will start off with my gripes which, like I said, are quite minor.
1. I didn't like how Iron Man was basically the main character. It was almost like he was the #1 leader of the group and was basically just an asshole to everyone until the very end. Granted Tony Stark is an asshole in general, but come on. Even assholes have their limits.
2. Thor didn't have nearly enough screen time. Even Hawkeye had more screen time than Thor did. Not to mention it was barely mentioned how he made it to Earth. Loki briefly says Odin must have used a lot of dark magic to get Thor back to Earth but it is left at that. Even the guys at SHIELD including Agent Coulson and Nick Fury didn't question Thor's presence. None of the other Avengers questioned it either. I assume that full explanation will be saved for Thor 2, though. Especially since Jane Foster has been confirmed to return in
Thor 2.
3. Bruce Banner's sudden control of "the other guy" was a bit confusing. When he first changes on the aircraft in Black Widow's presence he nearly kills her and can't seem to control himself whatsoever. He fights Thor and practically destroys the aircraft in the process, but when he arrives in NYC mid-battle he magically is like "I'm always angry" and has full control of himself and knows which team he's on. I didn't quite understand it.
4. Black Widow and Hawkeye both were a bit pointless, imo. Her main motivation the whole time was to keep Hawkeye safe. Set up for a future plot line I think. I doubt either of them will ever have their own movie the way the rest of the characters have had.
5. Agent Coulson dies. wtf...
That's about it, though. I loved the way they eventually found a way to work together and all that junk. It was funny how they were all kind of paired up, too. Iron Man and Captain America kind of stayed together, The Hulk and Thor made a good pair, and Hawkeye and Black Widow were a good team as well. I also loved how we now know that Thor can stop Banner with almost no effort.
And like I mentioned above, definitely stay for the mid-credit scene. The big character reveal is none other than Thanos. He is the one who provided Loki's army and apparently found the way to get Loki to Earth to capture the Tesseract. If you don't know who Thanos is he is basically one of the big bad villains in the Marvel universe. He is a part of the Titan Eternals who exercises superhuman strength, stamina, and durability. He also possesses a certain level of telekinesis, manipulation, and is able to project and absorb cosmic energy. In a way it makes sense for him to use Loki to try and obtain the Tesseract. However... Thor took the Tesseract and Loki back to Asgard with him so who knows is Thanos will appear in
Thor 2,
Iron Man 3, or
The Avengers 2. Or all of the above. Either way, Thanos' presence is definitely a big and exciting reveal.
I kind of am wondering if there will be any explanation of how the Tesseract escaped Asgard to begin with. The way this movie made it seem, in slight contradiction to Captain America, is that Asgard is its rightful owner and that it belongs in the artifact room along with the Yodenheim casket.
Anywho, I could just go on and on. My most basic advice is to go see The Avengers. Despite the gripes I have now it is a great movie, both as a comic book movie and a general movie. It has a lot of fun elements for anyone to enjoy.
