Review: "THE AVENGERS"

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, and Clark Gregg

Directed by: Joss Whedon

Written by: Joss Whedon (based on a story by Whedon and Zak Penn; based on the Marvel Comics characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)

"And there came a day. A day unlike any other..."

As I walked into the theater, proudly wearing a t-shirt bearing that signature "A" logo, my excitement was at a fever pitch. This was the moment that I had waited years upon years for. I left my 25-year-old self at the door and sat in my seat as a 10-year-old, preparing for that which was not believed to have been possible. The lights dimmed. A giant, shit-eating grin spread across my face.

At long last, The Avengers had arrived.

The culmination of four years and five movies' worth of build-up, The Avengers was always a massive gamble. Would it be possible to not only assemble four major heroes with previously established back stories in the same movie, but to also actually make it work? A legitimate concern, especially if you're a lifelong fan of comic books like yours truly. But somehow... some way... they made it work. And in the process, Marvel and writer/director Joss Whedon managed to very well give us the greatest superhero movie yet.

Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of an international peacekeeping and espionage organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D., has been busy overseeing research of a mysterious alien artifact called the Tesseract, which has the capability of producing unlimited energy. Unfortunately, it seems to also be able to create portals to different dimensions. One such portal brings about Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the Norse god of evil and mischief, who steals the Tesseract for his own nefarious purposes. Loki escapes by brainwashing S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and scientist Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard).

Realizing that Loki has the potential to unleash all kinds of horrors upon the Earth with the Tesseract, Fury-- with the help of agents Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and assassin Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)-- sets out to recruit a team capable of challenging and neutralizing Loki: Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), the WWII supersoldier known as Captain America, who was recently thawed from seven decades' worth of suspended animation; billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), who also wears an advanced suit of flying armor as the superhero Iron Man; and Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), a renowned physicist, gamma radiation expert, and fugitive who just so happens to transform into a massive, mindless, green-skinned beast known as the Hulk whenever he gets angry.

Also joining the fray is Loki's brother, the Norse thunder god Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who's been sent from their home realm of Asgard to retrieve his unruly sibling. As Loki prepares to use the Tesseract's power to summon an army to help him take over the planet, Fury's new team-- The Avengers-- must move beyond their differences and internal struggles to stop Loki's plot from materializing.

It's probably safe to say that The Avengers is one of the most-- if not THE most-- ambitious film projects in history. It was a plan that began with the idea to cinematically introduce four of Marvel's most iconic superheroes-- Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, and Captain America-- with their own solo films, cross-pollinate the entries with easter eggs and references, and then finally converge into one big All-Star game of a comic book crossover.

And while those films were released to varying degrees of quality and commercial success, Marvel was nonetheless confident that they could do the seemingly unthinkable. But therein lies the problem: what filmmaker could dare to successfully bring together four characters with previously established back stories executed by different filmmakers? We held our breath in heightened anticipation.

And then we breathed a sigh of relief when we found out that the director in question would be Joss Whedon. Best known for creating acclaimed cult television series such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly", the Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated Whedon certainly wasn't the first choice for helming such a massive and expensive blockbuster (his only previous directorial credit was for the "Firefly" spinoff movie Serenity). But with a geek-god pedigree like his, it actually makes plenty of sense considering the man's own fanboy sensibilities (he actually did a run as a writer for Marvel's "Astonishing X-Men" series), his exceptional skill at directing ensemble casts, and his slick, pop-culture-heavy sense of humor (truly, this film is probably the funniest in the genre without delving into parody).

And it's a testament to Whedon's talents that he made The Avengers just right. Rather than try to "legitimize" superhero films by going down the dark and brooding route, Whedon realized that a superhero movie isn't a true superhero movie without that colorful, flamboyant sense of fantastical wonder, accompanied by a knowing sense of gently self-mocking humor. And yet he still manages to make it an intelligent and well-executed cut above the brainless, insufferably stupid, and noisy "blockbusters" of today.

One such reason for success would be the terrific ensemble cast. As stated above, Whedon is damn good at creating a palpable sense of tension and dysfunction amongst his players, and here it's no exception. Once again, Robert Downey Jr. is an absolute hoot as the wiseass playboy industrialist whose arrogant, ADHD machine-gun patter clashes beautifully against the wholesome, boy scout personality of Chris Evans as the star-spangled man out of his own time. Both Evans and Chris Hemsworth have a better time developing their characters here than they did in their own solo films, and Scarlett Johansson fares better here than she did in her purely eye-candy role in Iron Man 2 (most likely influenced by Whedon's skills with writing for strong female characters).

Clark Gregg is fun as ever as the sweet-natured agent who basically serves as a proxy for the diehard geeks watching (his starstruck interactions with Captain America are priceless), and though he could stand to have had more character development, Sam Jackson is an appropriately badass Nick Fury because, well, he's Sam Jackson.

The biggest surprise, however, is Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner. The third (and best) actor to play the role in nine years (though I did have a soft spot for Edward Norton's portrayal), Ruffalo gives Banner a loveable, approachable edge not seen in any other incarnations, and when he finally turns into the big green guy (a remarkable CGI effect enhanced by Ruffalo performing motion capture), GODDAMN is it incredible. The Hulk is by far the best thing about the entire movie, easily scoring the biggest cheers and laughs. This Hulk no longer broods and sulks. When he wants to smash, he smashes with childlike glee. And he smashes GOOD.

The action is no small potatoes either, and this is where the inner geek in us is tickled: we get to see not only characters like Iron Man, Cap, and Thor fighting alongside each other (I can't believe I finally get to say that), but they even come to blows with each other, and it's a blast to behold. The same goes for the over-the-top, forty-plus-minute climactic battle with the alien army of one Loki (a terrifically insidious Hiddleston, continuing his scene-stealing role from Thor), which essentially levels New York City to ashes. The special effects are to die for, and Whedon manages to make his action fresh, buoyant, and seriously entertaining without going all Michael Bay-fetishistic in the process. The scope is breathtaking: one scene features an uninterrupted, zig-zagging tracking shot following each Avenger as they're kicking all sorts of ass in the streets and skies of New York. Can you say "nerdgasm"? The film effortlessly cultivates a giddy, infectiously fun sense of joy whether you're a n00b to the superhero world, or a fanboy tickled pink to see these characters finally share the screen after all these years (gee, can you tell that I really liked this movie?).

There are some quibbles, though. The first hour of the 2 1/2-hour film is exceptionally exposition heavy, and the story itself-- involving that glowing blue MacGuffin, the Tesseract, which we last saw in Captain America: The First Avenger-- isn't really anything to write home about. It was also a shame to see Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye character underused as an Avenger, since he spends most of the film under Loki's control. And though composer Alan Silvestri's score is serviceable, it's not distinctive and powerful enough to effectively complement a film with such a large and epic scale.

But you know what? Those quibbles are minor, and fail to take away the sheer sense of fun, spectacle, and heart that Whedon and his cast and crew have infused into The Avengers. It's no easy feat pleasing fanboys and fangirls. There are high expectations that only a select few have been able to meet, but pessimism be damned, they did it. Three-dimensional characters, a crackling sense of humor, a thoughtful script, and loving respect to the fifty-year-old source material was all that was needed to place The Avengers in the upper echelon of not only the best superhero flicks, but also the best action and science-fiction films as well. If you will it, it is no dream. And as this lifelong nerd will readily admit, that dream has become a glorious reality. Avengers Assemble.

Letter Grade: "A+"