The Avengers

Some of the reasons I wasn't a huge fan of The Avengers has absolutely nothing to do with the movie itself. The theater in which I saw the film had terrible sound. I guess they were expecting the action scenes to be so loud that the volume was so low during the dialogue that I missed a lot of it. For the first hour or so, I only understood about every fifth word, missing important plot points and funny dialogue. Not to mention, I was lucky enough to be sitting next to two pre-teen girls who clearly didn't spend their money on the movie, because if they did spend twenty-two dollars to see The Avengers in 3D, they would not have gossiped and gabbed for two and a half hours straight. I mean, I guess I understood the basic plot which was that Loki stole that giant glowing blue thing and threatened to demolish the world and the Avengers had to stop him and his alien army. If there were any finer points to the plot, they were all but lost on me thanks to the universe working against me. I'm the kind of person who likes to get lost completely in a movie so that I can fully enjoy it. Due to all the theater distractions, that just never happened with The Avengers, and that's a shame, because I was stoked about seeing the movie.

Then there are the reasons I didn't love The Avengers that were in the control of the movie. First off, it was at least twenty minutes too long. They definitely could have trimmed that final epic battle scene (although it was bad ass... it just could have been a little shorter). Plus, the first hour or so was pretty much catching up with your favorite super hero. And while it was fun to see what Iron Man and Captain America and The Hulk have been up to in the years since we've seen them on screen, that sequence could have been streamlined a little bit so that it played quicker. Then there's the relationship between Thor and Loki. I know it was touched upon in the film Thor, but I think more attention should have been paid to the interesting dynamic between a heroic man when your brother is trying to decimate Earth. That's an interesting concept and was broached only in a small throwaway scene completely with a funny one liner I barely heard.

This isn't to say there weren't good things about The Avengers. There were. I mean, it was FUN! Watching Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye beat the crap out of aliens during that last big battle scene was FUN! Yes, it was so much fun that the word deserves to be in all caps. The action sequences are thrilling, exciting and well done. Kudos to director Joss Whedon for not getting too bogged down because sometimes in action movies, the sequences can end up looking like a jumbled mess but that's definitely not the case here.

The acting is absolutely top notch but that's sort of to be expected from a super hero movie that boasts the most Oscar nominees featured in a film from that genre. Playing billionaire genius Tony Stark / Iron Man must be second nature to Robert Downey Jr. by now and he continues to be exciting in the role. Tony Stark, with his dry wit and sarcastic humor, is the perfect character for Downey and he nails the character every time. Chris Evans as the loyal leader Captain America is great as well, nailing the earnest, good natured vibe of the character. Mark Ruffalo is fantastic as Bruce Banner / the Hulk and you get the feeling that if he'd been playing the character previously than the last two incarnations of the character wouldn't have been so unsuccessful. He's fantastic and endearing as the character and ridiculously likeable. Chris Hemsworth is sort of a waste as Thor. With such a missed opportunity for a great storyline for his character, he pretty much just goes through the motions as a big, powerful demigod. Scarlett Johansson is totally bad ass as the Black Widow, a deadly assassin / spy. I genuinely hope that rumored spin off happens because her character is mysterious enough that I'd love to learn some back story. Jeremy Renner, who, in my personal opinion, is the best actor in The Avengers is totally and completely wasted. He barely gets any screen time at all until the big climax and then he just gets to shot arrows at things while looking in another direction. He's cool, I guess, but completely wasted.

But, of course, any super hero movie is only as good as its villain. That's why The Dark Knight is (and probably always will be) the greatest super hero movie of all time. And the villain in the Avengers is superb. Played by Tom Hiddleston, Loki is a damn good bad guy, always one step ahead, always smarter than he appears. Even in captivity, you know he has the upper hand and he plays it so cool and collected, you can't help but believe he has the power to destroy the Earth.

Overall, The Avengers definitely was a great ride and lots of fun, I just wish I could have enjoyed it more, and that's not all necessarily the movies fault.

Grade: C+