It all came to this. What began in 2008 with Iron Man, culminating in a highly anticipated superhero mashup in 2012 with The Avengers. There really was no precedent that this all could actually work, Marvel was carefully creating the template and hoping it all fell into place. There was a lot of meticulous planning across four films and various directors and while all of their styles were different, director Joss Whedon has blended all of those elements in what is arguably one of the best comic book movies of all time. It may lack the emotional depth or gravitas as say, The Dark Knight, but its ability to turn spectacle into art is unparalleled. This is a popcorn movie with substance, something many big budget movies can’t claim.
If some of the beginning chapters of the MCU seemed a little thin when viewed as stand-alones, The Avengers has redeemed their existence. Part of the reasons movies like Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger have grown on me over the years, is because of this film. Once you watch The Avengers you can’t help but view the standalones differently and a lot of them are better because of what we get here. At the time of release, The Avengers raised the bar to a level where the more “traditional” approach of having a single superhero tangle with a supervillain or two appeared to no longer be enough. Once characters like Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye have become involved in an epic story of this sort, how can you possibly go back to watching films about regular superheroes? Of course, we would learn there was a higher level to go to, mostly supplied by the MCU themselves but at the time, nothing seemed like it could achieve the outright comic book fun and scope of The Avengers.
The threat that brings six superheroes together is posed by Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the adopted brother of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who has broken into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, brainwashed Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Professor Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard), and stolen the Tesseract, an uber-powerful glowing blue cube. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to stop the Norse deity but fails. Under threat of a planetary catastrophe, Fury recruits Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans) and sends Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to bring in Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). Thor makes his appearance when he learns that his brother is up to no good. After a major battle, Loki is captured, but he appears perfectly content to be held in close confinement on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hovercraft. He’s biding his time while his underlings work to open a wormhole that will allow an alien race to attack Earth.
In Joss Whedon they found the perfect director to tackle the project. Joss Whedon is a born fan of the genre and the material, which shows in every aspect of his approach to the proceedings. He also understands what the audience wants and provides us with all the eye candy and money shots we could ask for. He has an understanding of handling the grand spectacle of the film with his directorial excellence really shining during the 50-minute battle royale that concludes the film. I usually scoff at the typical climax of mass destruction between heroes and villains but Whedon manages to find the art here. By this point, we like all the characters so we’re invested in them during the melee and he’s able to create a controlled chaos that doesn’t take away from the humanity of the film. Michael Bay should take note and watch The Avengers whenever he’s creating his brand of mass destruction. What he does looks like a cartoon, what’s done here is cinematic excellence.
The core appeal of The Avengers has been (and always will be) the gathering of heroes. The comic book was initially created in the early ’60s as Marvel’s answer to DC’s Justice League (which banded together Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, and others). The movie fulfills fans’ wet dreams of having a handful of major Marvel superheroes come together in one forum. Whedon provides one of the time-honored occurrences of “crossover” comic books: before the heroes band together to take on the bad guys, they fight each other. So we have Iron Man going at it against Thor, with a little Captain America thrown in for good measure. Hulk and Thor have a smackdown. And so forth. Until Nick Fury gives a little pep talk, egos trump heroism. One of the most interesting themes of The Avengers relates to how individuals comfortable with being the biggest and worst kids on the block learn to work with others with similar capabilities. It’s like when a high school valedictorian finds himself in a class full of valedictorians at Harvard. You either endlessly compete or find a way to bring your assets together for a greater purpose.
Whedon avoids getting too serious, although he avoids full-on campiness. Admittedly, the end of the Earth is grim stuff but, in keeping with the comic book tone of the movie, there’s plenty of humor, including at least a couple of laugh-out-loud moments (one with a literal “punch line” that still gets a laugh from me). The filmmakers ensure we’re laughing with them to avoid the unenviable possibility of laughing at them. This is, after all, pretty silly stuff when you get down to it; Whedon’s approach is perfect for the material. One senses the only prequel director who might have been able to pull this off as well as Jon Favreau but all these years later I can’t see anyone handling it as well as he did.
Most of the “original” actors signed on to recreate their characters. The most valuable of these is, of course, Robert Downey Jr., who has the most screen time of all The Avengers. No one is likely to argue with this decision. Downey Jr. is terrific whether he’s sharing a quiet moment with Gwyneth Paltrow or trading barbs with one of the other actors. Scarlett Johansson reprises her secondary role from Iron Man 2 and makes good on the promise she showed in her limited role there. Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Stellan Skarsgard are back from Thor (without Natalie Portman, although her character’s absence is explained). Chris Evans reprises the title role from Captain America shows shades of the growth I mentioned in my review of his standalone film. And Samuel L. Jackson finally gets a chance to appear in more than a random scene or two; he’s The Avengers‘ glue. Newcomers include Mark Ruffalo, taking over for Edward Norton (who was replaced because he got too big for his britches) as The Hulk (Lou Ferrigno provides the UnJolly Green Giant’s voice in an added element of pop culture nerd-dom that makes fans proud), and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye (although he had a cameo in Thor). I will say that Hawkeye, probably what I would consider the most underrated character of the bunch, is a bit shortchanged here because after being brainwashed in the opening, he’s largely absent until we reach the climax. He gets fun moments during the big finale but I wish he could’ve been used a bit more.
The Avengers opened up the 2012 summer movie season with an explosive bang that reverberated through the superhero genre for years. Some superhero movies, like Christopher Nolan’s Batman outings, play on a different field and won’t be impacted. But I think after the release of this film many comic book translations found themselves chasing The Avengers and more than a few found themselves wanting (I’m looking at you Justice League). This was a game changer. By giving audiences everything they could possibly want and more, Whedon ushered in a new era of bigger, louder, and more spectacular. Future entries into this genre had to either rise to the challenge or disappoint. That’s probably the biggest compliment you can offer to a film of this scale and magnitude.
