The Avengers - April 2012

Directed by: Joss Whedon

Everybody take note! The superhero film genre has just been ramped up a gear or two, in fact, someone has rammed the throttle into overdrive and that someone is Joss Whedon.

For those of you who don’t know who this man is, he’s been around a while, but not as famous as other directors. First and foremost, he is a writer. We have him to thank for films like Toy Story, Titan A.E., Atlantis and Alien Resurrection. He is also the writing and directing genius behind TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse and the short lived Firefy (among others) and he is no stranger to directing big action movies. He helmed the Firefly spinoff movie, Serenity.

But, this is Whedon’s first big feature film, it’s also his first blockbuster and there is a lot riding on the success of this film.

The Avengers is a long time coming. There have been numerous directors attached to it, a number of scripts, and of course, six other films preceding it (I am including the original Hulk). Making it work has been no easy task.  Each character has their own successful film franchise (Thor 2 and Captain America 2 and Iron Man 3 are due out in the next two years) with plots, subplots and narratives that have loosely been tied together with short end-of-credits scenes involving Nick Fury and the Avengers Initiative.

The film has been on Marvels radar since Iron Man first appeared on our screen on in 2008.

For the uninitiated, The Avengers comic was released in 1963 and was titled “Earths Mightiest Heroes” and starred Iron Man, Ant Man, Wasp, Hulk and Thor. (As an interesting sidenote, in issue 4, the Avengers find Captain America, trapped in ice). The comic has had a number of incarnations over the years and has spawned a couple of animated series, gaining other popular Marvel heroes along the way, most notably and more recently, Spiderman and Wolverine.

In the first issue of The Avengers, the team are assembled to fight Thor’s brother Loki who has used his power of illusion to persuade the Hulk onto a part of destruction.

Whedon has used these elements as his inspiration to create a strong script and storyline that successfully pulls together some of cinemas biggest personalities (and egos) and not only develops their characters further but broadens their appeal.

The story is over the top, but not enough that you find yourself scoffing. The reality is that you need to suspend disbelief when dealing with characters from other worlds, aliens and magic! And considering the source material lends itself to be over the top anyway, the beauty in Whedon’s script is that it never once takes itself seriously. (SPOILER) Even when S.H.E.I.L.D.S super-sized aircraft carrier turns into a flying invisible fortress, Nick Fury states, “Let’s dance” as reflectors cover the ships surface much like a mirror-ball, rendering it completely invisible to the naked eye! Over the top? Hell Yes!

The first act sees the assembly of the Avengers. The Cap and Bruce Banner are asked to find Loki and the Tesseract he has stolen from SHEILD. Later Thor and Iron Man join the team with Hawkeye and Black Widow. What works well is that when the four superheroes and superegos come together, each thinks they will save the day, but as their egos compete against one another for attention, the typical alpha-male muchoness comes to the fore, causing disunity and damage – a lot of damage!

 It is not until part the way through the second act that the team pulls together for the greater good, which is to save humanity from total destruction at the hand of Loki and his alien army.

The script is what makes this film and is proof that studios should trust “fanboys” with comic book adaptions. Whedon has used his extensive knowledge and passion to write a story that is appealing to all audiences while combining what we love from the original films. There are plenty of references to the “prequels” and the character traits each has developed and bring with them and for the fans, easter egg references to the comics to satiate their appetite.

It is film is funny. Very funny. The Hulk almost steals the show (spoiler) when he throws Loki around like a ragdoll during his “I am a God” speech, but each character gets a few choice lines that will surely become part of our vernacular.

At times I thought I was in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, considering the scale and grandeur of the film’s final act – the near destruction of New York. Although there are hallmarks to DOTM, Avengers is nothing like it, in fact, Whedon proves he is the better director by piecing together huge battle sequences, action, explosions, while ensuring that each character has plenty of screen time that not only makes sense, but doesn’t get lost in the enormity and scale of it all.

The production flawlessly merges CGI and live action together, but the 3D conversion leaves little to be desired. Considering the success of Tron Legacy, I am surprised Disney (who owns Marvel) didn’t pull out all the stops and have it filmed in 3D.

I have long appreciated Whedon’s film making abilities and here he channels the work he made famous in Serenity, those fast zoom shots of ships exploding are used here, but not overdone. He also shoots action from interesting and random angles often panning through the back of destroyed cars and broken windows and styling shots that replicate comic book frames, which many fans will appreciate, but most will miss.

The Avengers proves that comic book adaptions can work in the right hands and that screenwriters and directors need to have some understanding of what they are working with.

This is the BEST comic book – SUPERHERO – film I have seen and is the mark by which all future films will be judged by.