Marvel's The Avengers Movie Review

Marvel's The Avengers is, pardon the rhetoric, a historic feat. Bringing together characters from four different movies into one super-film has never been done before. There's no precedent, no measuring stick to compare to, save for the fact that its got big names like Thor, Captain America, Hulk and Iron Man to carry it. So what can we expect from a movie like this?

Three words: Pure. Distilled. Awesome.

When Loki (Tom Hiddleston in his usually devious best) comes back to earth to wage war, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) assembles a team of super-powered proportions: Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Steve Rogers aka Captain America (played to a T by Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth, godly as usual) and Bruce Banner aka Hulk (Mark Ruffalo in what probably is the best Hulk we've seen so far), supported by Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) and Hawkeye (just Jeremy Renner being badass). But they're not just bringing their considerable skills to the party...they've got some major egos and some ugly baggage as well. Will they be able to work together as a team before Loki turns Earth into his own little playground?

It's a silly question, though...of course they will. It's the ride that'll blow your mind.

Director Joss Whedon single-handedly silenced ever hater he had (including me!) by showing he knows the material, knows what to do with it, and knows when to let it loose. And let it loose he did...The Avengers is, simply put, a comic book realized on the big screen. The constraints of gritty realism has no place here. The colors are brighter, more hopeful. The heroes jump higher and punch harder. The villains are deliciously smarmy and like to monologue a lot. The dialogue is pitch-perfect with just the right amount of camp. And the entire movie makes you feel that anything can happen...and does! And I'm not just being my lovable huckster self here...if you ever wanted to see Hulk take down a giant alien spaceship with his bare hands or wanted to see Cap and Iron Man team up to beat up bad alien dudes, your dreams come true right now.

Forget about the rumors about this movie being basically Iron Man 3...everyone gets their Crowning Moment of Awesome here. Everyone. Even Black Widow. Even Hawkeye. Even Agent-freaking-Coulson. Never thought I would see a well-rounded superhero movie in my lifetime, but here we are, seeing all these heroes together in one movie like they've always meant to be, and it is glorious.

I laughed, I cried, I screamed "Awesome!" together with the people in the theater. No words can describe, short of the clichéd epic, what kind of experience this movie actually is. For me, Marvel's The Avengers is a wow-a-minute thrill ride that proves that a movie with superHEROES is definitely possible AND bankable. You owe it to yourself as a comic book fan to experience this. Watch it with your folks, with your friends, with anyone. Watch it twice. Buy the DVD. Watch it. Highly recommended!