TBTS Reviews: The Avengers

Marvel’s The Avengers, brought to you courtesy of Joss Whedon’s genius brain, has already become the blockbuster of the summer, even though summer has not officially started yet. It smashed opening weekend records and continues making obscene amounts of money around the world. This is clearly the biggest film of 2012. And it could have so easily gone wrong.

I’m not a comic book fan. I didn’t know anything about these characters before watching the movies. All I knew of Iron Man was that Ozzy Osbourne had a song named after him, and all I knew of the Hulk was the cheesy 80s television show that I never actually watched. But, I have seen Iron Man and Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America, thanks to my über-geek husband, so I knew what was what going into The Avengers. As a non-fan watching a film created by and for the fanboys, I was actually quite impressed; I don’t think it could have been any more perfect. Spoilers below…

What they got right:

1. As a non-fan who has only seen the other four movies featuring these characters/actors, I needed some background on why this group of people were being brought together, by whom, and for what purpose. The Avengers does a great job of bringing you up to speed. You get a little character introduction and history, but Joss Whedon was counting on the audience having seen the other four films first, so he doesn’t spend a lot of time there. The best part is seeing how the characters interact and face each situation. That tells the audience way more about each of them than any dialogue could.

2. There was no forced love story between Black Widow and Hawkeye, even though they clearly have a history and a deep connection. So many film makers would have thrown in a romantic component “for the ladies,” and I love that Joss Whedon never went there. We rarely get to see on-screen examples of a man and woman having a purely platonic but nonetheless very powerful connection, and it’s great to see it here. There very easily could be a romantic relationship between the two (I don’t know the canon, so I don’t know what goes on between them), but there was no hint of that in the film. And it was really refreshing.

3.The Avengers is really, really funny. It’s not unusual for an action movie to throw in some clever dialogue to lighten the mood, but The Avengers is pretty funny throughout the whole film. Much of that is owed to Tony Stark, played impeccably by Robert Downey, Jr., as being the clever, snarky one is kind of his thing. But the other characters hold their own, especially Thor, who delivers one of the best lines in the film.

What they got wrong:

It’s really hard for me to think of anything about this movie that could be improved (maybe more Loki? Tom Hiddleston is hot!). If pressed, I guess I would say that I was not a fan of Agent Coulson dying. That’s kind of becoming Joss’s “thing.” I get why he had to do it, but… I mean… damn. Couldn’t you find another way, Joss?

My verdict:

Are you kidding? Every single person should watch this movie!