The Avengers
How do you
give six superheroes who have previously helmed their own movies a chance to
strut their stuff on screen, and give each of them enough time and opportunity to
do so? You make a 2 ½ hour long blockbuster. That’s what they’ve done with “The
Avengers” and the result was a very entertaining and exciting film.
The latest
instalment from the Marvel Universe wastes no time at all getting into its
story. Our villain of the show Loki (returning from Thor) appears and steals
the Tesseract (the cube of energy from Captain America: The First Avenger) for
his plans of world domination. Understanding what Loki can do with this power
source, Nick Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D. green lights the Avengers initiative. This
team consists of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and
Hawkeye. They are scattered across the globe (and Universe) and brining them
together proves difficult at first.
Tony Stark
is moving ahead on his new venture; sustainable energy and is now based out of
New York. Captain America hides out in a gym, still getting used to the fact he
is not in his own time period. Bruce Banner (Hulk) is in Calcutta, working as a
doctor for hire and seems to have kept his inner beast under control for some
time. Natasha Romanov (Black Widow) is ‘working’ in Russia, taking down bad
guys with her cunning martial arts skills. Hawkeye gets caught up in Loki’s
plans and is not really himself for a short while. And Thor is nowhere to be
seen. Hardly what you would call a ‘united’ team, but that doesn’t stop Nicky
Fury and Agent Caulson from seeking them out and reminding them why they were
chosen.
When the
team is assembled (Thor appears once he finds out his brother Loki is up to no
good), the dynamics between the characters are tense and wrought with friction,
as each of these heroes have strong, dominant personalities and all stand for
something different. Iron Man fights for himself; Thor fights to keep balance
in the Universe; Captain America fights for his country; Black Widow fights for
S.H.I.E.L.D.; Hawkeye fights for whoever pulls his strings and Hulk fights to
keep himself from turning green and angry. With all these different
motivations, how can this team share a common goal? The only way they can - by avenging
something.
The central
theme of the film seems to be about each of the characters putting aside their
differences and getting beyond themselves. It takes some motivation, but when
the world is threatened by war, they pull together and become a formidable
force.
Having been
in the works for four years now, “The Avengers” will please fans of its heroes
and their previous films with no problem whatsoever. For a film about six
superheros banded together, it delivers exactly what you’d expect. It operates
on an epic and grand scale for its entire running time. There’s a lot of
invention and creativity at play here and what I liked about “The Avengers” is
that it didn’t take itself too seriously. Amidst the thrills and spills, some
tongue-in-cheek humour and even an occasional laugh-out-loud moment work their
way in, especially when you least expect it. One moment I have to recap, is
during the massive battle scene in Manhattan between The Avengers and the
invading aliens. Thor and Hulk work together to bring down a destructive
machine that flies through the air. It crashes into Grand Central Station and
the two heroes stand there for a moment to make sure it’s down. Given that just
the day before, these two had a fight of their own, Hulk doesn’t let Thor
forget that and casually punches Thor, sending him flying out view. The whole
cinema erupted in laughter.
If you want
a fun time at the movies, where you can escape with some larger-than-life
characters, great action and awesome special effects, then check out “The
Avengers”.
*POST CREDIT SCENES - From this point
onwards, the post-credit scenes in each film double and got more in-depth,
alluding to major events on the horizon. The 2 post-credit scenes after The
Avengers couldn’t be more different. The first is a nice shot of our band of
heroes, enjoying a fast-food feast in a damaged restaurant, presumably
somewhere in Manhattan following the attack. They sit in silence, munching
their burgers and fries, and giving each other the occasional glance. More or
less, they are just wrecked and have nothing to say. The second scene takes us
into space, somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of the outer unknown. A
floating rock houses two beings, one talking to the other about his surprise
that humans couldn’t be ruled or conquered as easily as they thought. The
closing shot, shows the large, imposing figure of the second being, who slowly
turns to reveal his face, hidden under a helmet. His piercing blue eyes and
menacing smile hint at a villain we will see one day… unbeknownst to many
viewers back in 2012, this was Thanos.
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