Avengers Assemble

Well here we go my first review.

Where to start?
For those of you not in the know “Avengers Assemble” is not the instruction manual for a new piece of Ikea flat pack furniture, oh no. It’s a Film that’s been five years in the making.
Ever since Robert Downey Jr. donned a shiny metal red and gold suit back in 2008 all roads have led to this point and after two Iron Man, a Hulk, a Thor and a Captain America film the most expensive backstory in Hollywood history was complete.

The erstwhile Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury, who seems to have been in as many Marvel films recently as the cameo whore Stan Lee, brings together a team of superheroes (and a couple of plot holes) to save the world from a Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and an army ably provided from acme’s “Rent a Goon” department.

These aforementioned superheroes come in all shapes and sizes and happen to include Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow, a woman who isn’t just put in for geek eye candy and plays an important part in keeping the story arc moving forward.  Chris Evans, Steve Rogers Captain America’s is a man out of time but surprisingly not out of place. His leadership skills in the third act keep Earths last stand grounded in reality and he’s written to perfection.
The star of the show however has to be Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. A character, if you believe what you read in the press, he has signed on to reprise a further six times on the big screen and rumour has it the small screen too. “Hulk Smash” may have just become the new yard stick for on screen cinematic  destruction and it can only be a matter of time before the phrase passes into the pop culture hall of fame. Next on our list of do-gooders is Thor. A God that could best be described as a long haired, “have Hammer, will travel”, weather man with angst. Indeed it is struggle and belief that there may still be good in his brother Loki that provides the film with some of its backbone. Jeremy Renner, last seen in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Soon to be seen taking the Bourne Franchise forward on his ever capable broad shoulders plays Hawkeye. A character which has nothing to do with the 70’s TV show M.A.S.H. but has everything to do with being the best shot with a bow and arrow this side of Robin Hood. Rounding off our band of “Grade A” good guys is Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark. He gets some of the best lines from the film but copyright not withstanding I would have loved to have hear him utter the immortal phrase “To infinity & beyond!” at least once.
Getting all the characters to gel and giving them all their own screen time was a very tall order, almost bordering on the impossible but Writer and Director Joss Whedon called upon his experiences dealing with group dynamics in Buffy, Firefly & Dollshouse to see him through. Having now seen the film twice I can’t think of any writer or director out there that could have done a better job with the tools at his disposal.

So what is Avengers Assemble about? It’s about two and a half hours.
However I’m suspecting that you dear reader may require a little bit more than that from a review. So let me set the scene….
Loki having somehow managed to survive drifting off into space at the end of Thor, is still a power hungry megalomaniac. Just think James Murdoch with a helmet horn fetish, hell bent on wielding power over a subjugated people and guess who he wants to subjugate? Go on you’ll never guess…..That’s right the good old people of earth. You know for a planet that’s only made it as far as the moon the human race does seem to have made a long list of galactic enemies. I’m sure the French must have something to do with that however I digress.
Loki pops up on earth needing to get his grubby little hands on an unlimited source of power “The Tesseract” and luckily those nice chaps at S.H.I.E.L.D. happen to have one. This power source is the key to getting Loki's army to Earth and after a few waves of Loki’s magic staff/wand and a few kung fu moves that would put Bruce Lee to shame it gets taken. What follows in getting the Tesseract back can honestly be described as good as it gets at leaving your brain at the door and being entertained. I don’t want to give too much of the story away but if flying aircraft carriers and a script so sharp you could shave with it normally float your boat you are in for a huge treat. If you haven’t seen it GO! And if you have seen it go see it AGAIN!!!

We lucky Brits also get the honour of having the word “Assemble” tagged on to our title. Apparently to cut down on any confusion with the 60’s TV show starring Patrick Macnee as John Steed. I myself feel a little put out by this and if I’m being honest a tad insulted! I know that stereotypes can be a hard thing to see past at times but really, do our American cousins think Britain is populated by people that could and indeed would walk into a cinema expecting something other than a superhero movie given the previous Marvel films?

In closing, I am aware that some of you out there internet land can’t cope with anything longer than 140 characters long so this review and all future reviews shall include a condensed, easy to swallow in tablet form, guide to what you can expect.

A film with Hammers, Hulks and an under the radar C word. Great action, superb writing & a cast I can’t wait to see assemble again.
#ABLAST

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPoHPNeU9fc