The Avengers: Juggling Fun

After seeing The Avengers twice in the past few weeks, I find that I have a few things to say. The most important one, of course, is that this movie is fucking awesome. If you ever had doubts about a movie that follows a team of superheroes, or the pitfalls of a shared universe in the Marvel films, drop what you’re doing and see this movie because it will blow your mind and make you realize why gamblers take huge risks – because when you win, you win it all. I’ll warn you now that this review will mostly be incoherent expressions of delight and fangirling. The core of the film is, of course, the delicate and volatile relationships formed when people who are used to being in charge and working alone are tossed together as the last resort to get the earth out of a desperate situation. And with Joss Whedon at the helm, these relationships are a wonder to behold. There’s Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, two men with very different personalities who nonetheless find a kindred spirit in each other as people of science. They have a serious lab bromance that involves Stark helping Banner to accept himself and his abilities more, and to realize that his rampaging alter ego did not mean the end of his life. Then there’s Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, who act as foils to each other and yet, eventually develop an awkward but effective partnership (see the scene where they repair one of the airship’s engines). Next there’s Thor and Loki; the background we get from Thor (which I definitely recommend seeing before this, especially if you’re not familiar with the comics like me) quietly remains at the heart of the conflict. Despite what Loki’s done in the past and what we learned about his origins in the previous film, Thor still loves his brother and wants him to come home. Loki, on the other hand, is struggling to define himself – in Asgard he often felt inferior to Thor, which was only compounded by his true origins, and now he wants power and to feel validated. He can achieve both by serving whoever he serves (who I believe is a Dragon to Thanos…? This is actually one of the few flaws I found in the film; too much of Loki's new power and goals went unexplained, because it was clear he had ulterior motives for taking Earth) and lording his godly superiority over the Earthlings. Loki makes for a fascinating antagonist, and at some points I had to remind myself that he wasn’t the protagonist. Then we have the shadowy, hinted-at past and interactions of Hawkeye and Black Widow, which add a layer of depth to both of their characters. We see enough to know they are closer to each other than the rest of the team, and that neither is, perhaps, quite as “clean” as the others, even Stark. They’re haunted people, and that shows, but it doesn’t stop them from doing what’s right and what needs to be done. It would be really, really nice to see more of this explored in a sequel, if only because their interactions were more interesting and unexpected than the ones between the others. As characters individually, there’s also a lot to appreciate. Each is wonderfully realized and faithful to the previous films, while you can still see Joss Whedon’s touch on each of them. Thor and Steve Rogers are both quintessential fish-out-of-water, who are not only attempting to deal with a new team dynamic and their responsibilities as “heroes,” but also alien values, technology, and scopes of experience. Nick Fury, who at times represents the ordinary person/audience’s perspective, also has to wrap his head around the new higher forces that have become involved in Earth’s present, and the amount of superheroes he must try to direct. Many of Nick Fury’s moments were highlights in the film, particularly his interactions with Loki. Agent Coulson was definitely at his best in this film, where his personality and role have been expanded beyond that of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The excellent, witty dialogue is responsible for a lot of this, but look for his collection of vintage Captain America cards, which were one of my favorite parts of the movie. And then…then we have Black Widow. Some have complained that this film doesn’t really pass the Bechdel Test, which is unfortunately true. There are fewer female characters than I’d really like, although Agent Maria Hill and the brief scenes with Pepper Potts were good. Guess what? Black Widow makes up for all of it and more. With the film universe that’s been set up thus far, there unfortunately wasn’t a lot of room to add strong female characters, so Joss Whedon took all the awesome he usually distributes and crammed it into the former Russian spy. The first scene with Natasha Romanoff will, I think, go down in my memory as one of my favorite scenes ever. The Black Widow is deadly, manipulative, intelligent, and really really fun to watch. You don’t want to mess with her, because she will take you down. I’m hoping we get to learn more about her in future films, because it’s clear what happened in the past still has a profound effect on her. If nothing else, go see this movie for her. On a technical note, the way that the final battle was stage and filmed was absolutely excellent. For once, a modern superhero battle actually felt like a battle, with the team playing to each others’ strengths, making quick tactical decisions in middle of violence everywhere, plans made based on surrounding buildings, actual city locations referenced in dialogue, how to deal with civilians, and more. All of these things would need to be taken into consideration in real life, and The Avengers truly reflects that. The battle is shot beautifully as well. There’s a definite contrast between aerials and ground shooting to portray what the characters fighting in either place would feel and see, and the transitions between different members of the team flow smoothly and effortlessly. A couple of other things stand out as well. For one, there’s giant evil mechanical space manatees which are just awesome all around. The manipulation of characters by other characters is also masterfully handled, particularly when it comes to Loki and Black Widow – if you’ve seen the movie, you know which scene I mean. Overall the film is excellently cast and acted, especially in the cases of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/the Hulk and Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Elements from all of the preceding films were excellently tied together, from the consequences of what happened in Thor to the trauma and remembrances of Captain America: The First Avenger. If you haven’t seen the preceding films, I definitely recommend it, particularly Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Thor, since elements from those films are more heavily drawn upon in The Avengers. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, you desperately need to. It’s excellent in so many ways and reminds why comics and superheroes became meaningful in the first place. Avoid spoilers if you can, for there are many moments where impact depends on you not knowing what happens next. If you’re looking for another review, I recommend iO9’s review, which points out a few more obscure reasons to watch. The film is nearly two and a half hours, but it’s such fun and has pretty decent pacing, so you won’t feel it. And finally – as always, stay for all of the credits.