There is a threat in the universe that the human population on earth will burn. The Tesseract cube that harnesses energy from space is misbehaving and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of S.H.I.E.L.D an intergalactic peace keeping intelligence agency is worried that something catastrophic is about to happen. The ground shakes, the NASA compound begins to crumble and the cube produces Loki (Tom Hiddleston) holding a spear speaking words of freedom for the human race. One issue though, Fury knows Loki’s idea of freedom stands for war and he and his comrades Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) are out to battle. One problem, Loki turned Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) into some type of slaves with the touch of his spear and they have fled with the Tesseract which can only spell the deepest darkest trouble for mankind.
So what is Fury to do now? He assembles with the help of Agent Coulson the forces of S.H.I.E.L.D. First stop track down the big green guy, Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) with the help of soviet agent Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). They already know it will be easy to track him down but keeping his anger in check is yet another issue. Fury approaches Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) for his help and with a slight upgrade to his uniform he’s good to go. Not far behind is Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) who with the blessings of his wife Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) the metal man with a genius mind is also on board to locate Loki, retrieve the Tesseract and protect the world. Although when they find Loki in Germany attacking mankind they question if he wanted to be found and if so, why?
Held captive aboard their ship, Loki is being interrogated as to where the stolen Tesseract is being held and for what uses Loki has for it. Out to reason with his brother is Thor (Chris Hemsworth) but sometimes blood is not thicker than water especially if it’s not true blood. Stark finds out that Fury and his organization was using the Tesseract as a means to create weapons of mass destruction but for Loki he intends to use it for bigger equations, as a way to open up a portal so that his hundreds of warriors can enter earth and kill all that inhabit the planet. Soon though the heroes become scattered and the fortress in the air is being shot down falling towards land.
What else can be done to stop Loki from destroying the planet? Apparently the only possible solution is to get the Avengers Initiative together in hopes of protecting the world but if they cannot then at least they will avenge it. But it may be too late since Loki has opened the gates of hell, an opening in the universe for the evil lords and their soldiers to invade the world. In a fight to the finish a statement is made to the world actually more of a promise and as the heroes each go their separate ways the world and the theatre audience knows of course that they will be back. Thanks in most part due to some unruly humans!
Whedon does a brilliant job directing this film and in the process with the help of some phenomenal writing brings a group of super heroes together to form “The Avengers”. If you have the chance to see this film on IMAX and in 3D it is very highly recommended since it is well worth it. Although the character development is well done with the Marvel characters I think if you haven’t read the comics or seen past films with them you may be slightly lost at times. Also as some of the dialogue took over the superb special effects there seemed to be a bit of a lull at times in some of the scenes. Overall though everything about the film spells box office success but if you’re looking for some awesome special effects then you’ll thoroughly enjoy the last twenty five minutes of the story when the director brings in the war against the humans in New York City.
Hands down my favorite character is Robert Downey Jr., he either has the best lines or else he’s just that good at delivering them. I loved Evans in his Captain America film and although he is just as good here he does take a bit of a back seat at times. Which several of them do since there are so many of them running around trying not to fight each other but rather band together to fight the evil Loki and his army. Ruffalo, the newest actor to play Hulk does a nice job although seeming a bit too timid before he turned green. At least in this film he became naked when he grew green and the actor resembled the Hulk as well. I always wondered how those pants still stayed on him when his crotch became super huge! Hemsworth who I recently saw in another film did not impress me in it but as Thor he really seems to take command. Johansson is easy to look at and can play just as rough as the boys being able to connive anyone as well as kick ass in a tight leather outfit. I’m a fan of Renner and although he plays on the evil team for some time in this story he still is able to make the audience like him for his special skills with a bow and arrow. Hiddleston not only convinced me to dislike his character but also made me believe that evil forever lurked within his veins. Jackson is always great, Paltrow has a very small part, Skarsgard is worthy of his role, Smulders was a treat to watch especially for what would come out of her next and Gregg was the guy everyone would like to work for especially if you were a superhero. Nice product placement for Disney and Farmers Insurance along with several other companies which seems to be a staple in film making now a days. Overall walking in with very high expectations they may not have been absolutely met but albeit this is and will be a must see film for the month of May. Written and definitely worthy of three paws out of four by Jon Patch.
