I was lucky to attend a preview screening of Marvel Studios’ The Avengers presented by Acura, the official vehicle of S.H.I.E.L.D. (the spy agency responible for the team). Heavy with security; after signing a waiver, checking our phones and walking through the security wand check point my friend and I were seated and ready to watch the much anticipated spring blockbuster.
The Avengers follows the five previous Marvel Studios productions; Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America – The First Avenger, which set up the characters featured in this film. However, The Avengers stands alone as well, the opening third assembles the characters with just enough backstory to help a new viewer but not bore the veterans. The need to pack so much into the movie is almost too much but is required to set a tale with so many protagonists. Once the heroes and villains are reintroduced the action gets under way. Since this film was always conceived as the follow up to the previous five films, story elements from each of them tie together to create a very full plot. The feel of the movie is perhaps most influenced by the two Iron Man films, carrying on the slightly camp attitude and the charisma of Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark has a tendency to over shadow some of the other characters but director Joss Whedon manages to pull the focus back before it gets too much. With the big acting, comes big action and the Real 3D adds just that extra bit of ‘oomph’ to the flash without being over-done and distracting. The 2hour 23minute picture goes by quite quickly and keeps a fast pace leaving no time to ever lose the audience’s attention. With so much action packed in, a return viewing may be order to see if I missed anything, I’m sure I won’t be alone in seeing a second time it alongside another Avengers fan. Overall The Avengers is action packed, fast paced and lots of fun.
Marvel Studios’ The Avengers open across North America Friday May 4, 2012
Nice capsule review. As much as I enjoyed the movie I will probably wait for the Blu-Ray, which hopefully will have some cool extras, before seeing it again.
Thanks. Good call, I bet there are tons of extras that didn’t make this cut.