The Avengers

            Few movies were as heavily anticipated as The Avengers, and there must be a million billion reviews for it but none of them are my review. With movies as hyped as this, emotions are high and it is hard for some people to be unbiased. Many people will hate or love this movie before they even step in the theater. Those people are stupid

            Still, as action movies go, this one was a delight. It had just the right combination of plot advancement, comedic timing and action to hold your attention and keep it in a little happy zone for the duration of the film. It was fairly predictable (Heroes gather together to fight a bad guy. They initially hate each other but overcome their dislike of each other to eventually overthrow the bad guy). You won’t be overly surprised by anything in this movie. The Hulk smashes. Ironman philanders. Captain America leads. Thor acts like an alien. Still, the interactions are amusing enough that it is somewhat forgivable. Many are the scenes where you just can’t help but laugh out loud and it definitely has the unique sarcastic touch of Joss Whedon. As much as I would like to describe each moment in vivid detail, I feel it would do a disservice to the movie if you did not just see them first hand.

            The biggest drawback of the movie comes from the fact that you have to watch about 10 different other movies to fully understand what is going on in this one. While most fans and I have watched all of those movies, I feel that all films should be able to stand alone without the need to research other books, movies or comics to understand what is happening. Someone who has never heard of the Avengers (like your average non-American person) should be able to watch it without having a million questions about who everyone is and why they do what they do. That is not to say that sequels should not be connected in any way, but I feel like they should at least fill in the necessary information required to understand the film within the duration of the film. Something as simple as having a meeting where one of the SHIELD agents describes the organization, then introduces the characters and their powers or origins to each other would suffice. A little explanatory intro like they do in the Resident Evil movies would also be great.

            For most people who go into the movie having seen all of the other movies and probably armed with a little comic book background as well, this drawback is fairly moot. And even with the thousands of questions one might have, the film is still quite enjoyable. I would give this movie a 4 out of 5.