The Avengers is a record-breaking superhero movie event, the culmination of years of Marvel strategy and prequels. Iron Man 1 & 2, Thor, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk… this is what it comes down to: one film to bring them all and in consumer culture bind them. No wonder that New York Times film critic AO Scott called the film “Disney’s ATM”, much to the chagrin of Samuel L. Jackson who in response called for Scott to lose his job. Yes, that’s the same Jackson who made Snakes on a Plane.
Besides being a studio accountant’s fantasy, The Avengers tells a ridiculous story rather well. “Ridiculous” is not part and parcel of comic book adaptations. Consider the gravitas of Watchmen, the turmoil of The Dark Knight. But the story here is ridiculous, although handled ably by writer-director Joss Whedon, who now has filmdom at his feet after years of television work (did I miss a Nathan Fillion cameo?)
In essence, The Avengers is an alien invasion story. There’s a portal, a powerful item, some domination-hungry alien beings (their exact motivations are muddy). Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) half brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is tasked with bringing these aliens to earth through a portal, but the Avengers are there to make sure this doesn’t happen. Besides Thor (blonde, has a hammer), there’s “billionaire philanthropist” Tony Stark as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr, who is wisely not allowed to make this Iron Man 3); fellow scientist Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who turns into Hulk when angered; Captain America (Chris Evans), who admits he’s out of place in this new world; Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), who deserves her own movie based on the back story potential and entertaining first appearance this film grants her; and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), possibly the world’s greatest crossbow marksman.
Keeping them all together (which isn’t easy, given the sizable egos of some, the righteousness of others) is Nick Fury, head of SHIELD, and trusty advisor Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg). It is to the film’s credit that none of the characters seem redundant, not even tagalong Hawkeye who could easily have been a well cast extra. Whedon keeps his players in balance while placing much of the weight of the film on Iron Man and Captain America, sparking considerable tension between capitalist-militant America and romanticised Old America of the World Wars, when the United States was a clean shaven, optimistic soldier. So far, so standard operating superhero procedure, but Whedon has a secret weapon: Hulk.
In a few scenes, Hulk becomes the character that neither Ang Lee’s psychodynamic The Hulk not Louis Leterrier’s Incredible Hulk were able to present. Mild mannered, slightly ruffled Ruffalo gives the best interpretation of the barely contained monster to date, and it’s now wonder that much has been written on the glory of the Hulk scenes in The Avengers (Film Crit Hulk and other contributors at Badass Digest have contributed to this discussion significantly, and I will not repeat their comments here). Hulk has some of the best scenes in the film – see his brief discussion with Loki - and is one of the most sympathetic characters overall, even if Banner’s final emotional revelation should come as no surprise.
The film’s three-act structure is out of balance. The opening scene, an attack on a SHIELD research centre, is underwhelming and looks like something out of the television series Stargate, while the finale is 45 minutes long and looks like the love child of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Independence Day. It includes one of those self-sacrifice scenes everyone knows is going to work out fine for the hero in question since Marvel’s future income depends on it, and not because of any narrative reason. That scene plays out in familiar fashion to boot, with Whedon not risking something more adventurous and avoiding possibly alienating his audience.
Back to the ridiculous story. Anyone, any sentient species that would like to invade earth for whatever reason, have only to write an iPhone app to do the job – this whole entering-from-the-skies-above-angle is truly odd and outdated. Loki is known for his sharp mind (and, may I add, he too has a great line for Black Widow that should make attentive listeners gasp at how Whedon got away with it), yet his master plan is an all out military attack on New York. Nothing about it speaks to the villain’s intellectual abilities.
The Avengers succeeds at defining and differentiating between its characters, and that finale sure is spectacular despite (because of?) its sense of familiarity. Some plot holes mar the film (so what does a villain do when his supposed captors literally fight each other for him – does he watch them fight with glee? Does he consider an escape plan? Does he do nothing?) It’s two and a half hours of proven box office appeal but it’s a far cry from Gotham City’s storm und chaos.
Clever dialogue, standard story, good looking people, some strong 9/11 imagery: Whedon gives the fans what they want, but it’s Nolan who has shown how such expectations are to be succeeded and subverted. Some men may want to see the world burn, but Whedon just wants to play paintball in it.
