Marvel's The Avengers

but I have no
such qualms about Tom
Hiddleston's Loki, who
elevates lithe,
Eurotrash sneeriness to
an art form. (His
eventual comeuppance
is one of the most
crowd-pleasing
onscreen moments in
years.)
God bless you. One of my favourite reviews ever. You are awesome.

May 4 - 01:42 PM

Mike Roelofs

Nailed it.

Eurotrash comeuppance.

"I will not be bullied..." Probably the funniest moment of an action movie chalk full of funny moments.

May 20 - 02:54 AM

Eric Cantwell

This review just made my day. One of the other less positive reviews here on Rotten Tomatoes inferred that the Atlantic would not be receptive to such a lowbrow creation as this. I love it when assumptions such as that backfire. Beautiful!

May 4 - 02:14 PM

Steven Smith

Unexpected knack for action choreography? Yeah, maybe if it weren't for the 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to which he's best known for.

May 4 - 02:39 PM

Riley Horne

True, but this was on such a much larger scale, that it's a completely different world of choreography. Buffy's enemies never tore down half of New York :p

May 5 - 02:00 AM

Karyl Agana

New York or Sunnydale Whedon is the guy to Direct the end of the world movies or shows. He knows how destroy cities and turn them into craters. Let's all just agree the Whedon is really good at cataclysm plot lines.

May 7 - 09:31 AM

john b

Whedon does a great job, but this is a Marvel Studio's production at its heart. Had Whedon wanted to go off a tried and true track, he would have met road blocks. What Marvel has consistenly done is find the best talent. Whedon finishes a very long list, completing an ensemble many years in the making.

May 4 - 04:42 PM

wyatt s

I don't entirely agree. Marvel fucked up HUGELY with the original Spidey franchise, Fantastic Four, and the first Hulk. Whedon definitely deserves credit.

May 5 - 09:39 AM

Kip Beatty

Exactly. Marvel has proved they can screw up their properties on a grand scale. This was very much a Whedon film. The script, especially the dialogue, was dripping with Joss' trademark wit and cleverness. He deserves the lion's share of the credit for pulling off this minor masterpiece, when there was tremendous room (expectations even?) for failure.

May 5 - 02:22 PM

Ingus Burleson

Those were all Sony or Fox, though, not Marvel Studios.

May 5 - 07:16 PM

Shad White

minor? this BY FAR the best super hero EVER made. i was in complete awwe through out the entire film. im still sittin laughing to myself..

May 5 - 08:53 PM

Eric Cantwell

I completely agree. The Spiderman and Fantastic Four movies had absolutely shameful characterization and/or character development especially when it came to the villains. Just at a glance, Doctor Doom, Venom, Green Goblin, and the Galactus cloud thing.. so weak and vision-less. Hopefully every future comic book movie director has taken serious note of the Joker in Dark Knight, as in "oh... a comic book movie isn't just a cartoon with real people". Quite honestly it's taken the movie industry more than sixty years to finally realize that.

May 6 - 09:51 PM

Michael Indo

All of the trash movies that you've mentioned were products of Sony and Fox, not Marvel Studios. The films leading up to the Avengers are the only films made by Marvel Studios and they've all been consistently good. The Avengers is very much a Marvel Studios production and they deserve just as much credit as Joss Whedon in constructing this movie.

May 12 - 12:07 PM

Zauri Severino Junior

Brilliant review for a brilliant movie. Just got back from my 4th screening and it's like I'm seeing it for the first time.

Whedon created the ultimate blockbuster movie experience.

May 4 - 08:57 PM

Dean Martin

I completely enjoyed how the story is written. Most of the superhero films I've watched in cinemas were focusing on how loud the explosions are. Avengers did otherwise. It showed a balance between the story and the effects.

May 5 - 06:49 AM

Steven Bailey

This might be the first movie to come out in years that's actually worth seeing in theatres. Thanks for the review.

May 5 - 08:29 AM

Robert Love

Great review. The movie was genius. As the credit rolled, I said to my friend great screenplay and dialog--this after 220+ minutes of great special effects and action. But the challenge was in balancing off the characters. Whedon somehow brings all of these characters together with great chemistry, and none of the characters get diminished by the other. In fact, even the 2nd tier characters are elevated by the script and the terrific actors who play them. I've never seen a movie that does this that well. The film flowed incredibly well with great timing and humor. Laughs filled the movie theater throughout. Though there is action throughout--easily some of the best action scenes I can remember--the plot, theme and characterization makes it great story-telling. Just one example would be (spoiler) where Captain America confronts Loki in a face off between freedom and tyranny.

Like so many of the Marvel films, this one hits the target, pleasing the purists (the actual comic book readers) while also appealing to the general movie-viewing audience. Bravo!

May 5 - 09:28 AM

Eric Lawrence

it seems like the people who don't like this movie went into it knowing they weren't going to like it. Probably all hardcore Christopher Nolan fans who can't handle the fact that there are other great superhero movies out there.

May 5 - 09:44 AM

Brandon Carlson

I'm a hardcore Christopher Nolan fan. I loved The Avengers. just because you like one thing doesn't mean you Can't be a fan of something else at the same time.

May 5 - 11:17 AM

Eric Lawrence

true that dude. Too bad there's so many people arguing over which film is gonna be better and people judging a movie before they've even seen it. Honestly, I wish Batman was Marvel so he could be in Avengers and replace Hawkeye, now that would be awesome.

May 5 - 11:57 AM

Brandon Cox

Eh, I'd disagree. Batman has always had a very different feel, one that I don't think would mesh well with The Avengers. Batman is at his best when people treat him seriously with a bit of a darker outlook. The Avengers excels because it's so absurdly lighthearted that one can't help but have fun when watching it.

May 5 - 06:33 PM

Jacob Nielsen

uuummmm...Nolan has done many films before his take on the dark knight, which is clear to what you are referring to, sooo. TDK will probably be my all time favorite comic take, cause I like dread movies like that, plus the attempt of its realisic point of view crime saga...sure to end dramatically. Though The Avengers was predictable to me, I as well thoroughly enjoyed this movie, being a "Nolan" fan and all.

May 11 - 12:48 AM

J Hunter

Are you stupid? It's clear that Joss Whedon has had a knack for action chorography. Maybe you should make yourself more familiar with his work. Do you make comments about Tim Burton and how he has an unexpected knack for the creepy?

May 5 - 02:22 PM

Ricky Rodriguez

chill, dude. In the critic's defence, most of Whedon's known talent is from the small screen. He is not a household name (yet) so, perhaps to this critic the action sequences were generally unexpected because he didn't quite know what to expect.

May 5 - 04:56 PM

Scott Feuless

It is,however, true, that anyone who'd seriously looked at Buffy and Angel, which _still_ have some of the best action choreography of anything on the small screen, would not have found it to be an "unexpected" knack.

Also, the Thor character has suffered a bit in his move to the cinema, as they seem to feel obliged to put wimply disclaimers about his godhood in every movie he's in. In the comics Thor fully believes he is a god (small "g"), and he is certainly immortal - there has never been a question about that. Still this movie is so good that it overshadows such things.

May 5 - 06:31 PM