Expertly weaving multiple superheroes for the first time on the big-screen in live-action – with amazing set pieces, skilled character balances, psychologically-tricky villain, & epic action scenes, The Avengers innovates blockbuster moviemaking – the Marvel comic book you read as a kid come to life. 8/10.

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Plot Synopsis: When Thor’s evil brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), gains access to the unlimited power of the energy cube called the Tesseract, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of S.H.I.E.L.D., initiates a superhero recruitment effort to defeat the unprecedented threat to Earth. Joining Fury’s “dream team” are Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).

*Possible spoilers ahead*

Pros: Strong opening and introduction to Loki as the villain, sense of childlike wonder like a lighthearted comic book come to life, great castings for all of the Avengers – charismatic and downright entertaining RDJ as Stark, great textbook pacing, tremendous balance giving each hero enough screen time and allowing for intriguing character interactions, introducitons, and time to shine, sheer meaning being the first film to put these many superheroes together in live-action (I cannot understand why DC didn’t try this first since the Justice League (1960) was created before The Avengers (1963) and did the superhero team-up first.. but still props to Marvel for taking the risk and it paying off with one of the biggest box office debuts of all-time, great CGI used sparingly to still maintain at least a sense of it being grounded in reality, Loki a GREAT villain – god of mischief and really plays the part with clever schemes to turn the Avengers against each other from within and play mind games with them, as well as not being a total pushover hand-to-hand and in the final battle scene with the Chitauri, phenomenal acting a strong script and writing overall with strong-handed sure direction by Joss Whedon really establishing the benchmark for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel movies, Chitauri well-designed, strong and downright intriguing character interactions and snappy dialogue/fights like between Cap and Iron Man that makes the team-up feel organic and lifelike as the team grows into and learns to trust each other and work together and fights like the IM/Thor/Cap in the night forest, strong axis to build team around in Coulson’s death, Loki’s costume is great, comic accuracy on an unimaginable scale Loki being the first villain the Avengers faced in the comics and even the color scheme being the same with the battle in New York, script emphasizing the human side of the heroes instead of only the superpowered side while still letting the superpowers shine plenty in the final act, spectacular final battle scene in New York that balances all heroes perfectly and remains one of the greatest moments in comic book movie history, authentic comic book feel from someone you know really knows their stuff in Joss with plenty of easter eggs and lore, tons of iconic Avengers shots and musical theme, INCREDIBLE post-credits scene teasing THANOS- the biggest bad of Marvel history in an Avengers movie in the future

Cons: Too much campy comedy and jokes that are too cheesy jin parts like in serious villain negotiations with Romanov, erectile dysfunction jokes, Shwarma, etc.. a lot of action movie cliches and not the best hero recruitment scenes – Hulk/Widow India scene, Cap in the gym, not a very memorable or impressive score, pacing while textbook can feel a little slow especially for a superhero movie by today’s standards, a lot of desctruction and casualties in the city – hey, if people complain about it in Man of Steel it’s the exact same story here – Stark leads a Bilgesnipe right through buildings, etc., CGI subpar in parts in the final battle scene

Full Review Coming Soon