This unprecedented success is mainly attributable to the
movie’s spectacular trailer, amazing special effects and that legion of comic
book and animated series fans who marched to movie theatres last week that
helped the film to achieve its top grossing status. But just like any other
movie, there are a few (or a lot) of people who aren’t really familiar with the
Avengers, luckily, we’ve got it covered. Read on and see what the hype is all
about.
Overview
The plot of the movie revolves around a mysterious object
known as the Tesseract (cosmic cube), an energy source of unknown potential and
acts as a portal through space. The tesseract has been under the protection of S.H.I.E.L.D.
(Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law Enforcement Division), a
fictional espionage and military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel universe.
It has been used to produce weapons of mass destruction in anticipation for
alien race invasions.
On the other side of the universe, lays the Chitauri alien
race who also seeks the power of the tesseract to control the universe. To be
able to fulfil their plans, the Chitauri asks help from Loki to obtain the
tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D and deliver it to their master.
And this is where the Avengers come in. The team of super
powered and super skilled beings were commissioned by S.H.I.E.L.D to prevent
Loki and the Chitauri to use the power of the cube to open an interplanetary
portal for an invasion of earth. And the rest is your usual action movie filled
with bombs, explosions and a@#-kicking.
Characters
Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) is the director of
S.H.I.E.L.D and responsible for the Avengers initiative. Fury’s main purpose in
the movie was to coordinate the actions of the Avengers and is assigned the
task of supervising the mission to retrieve the cosmic cube. Nick Fury has no
known super powers but his longevity rivals that of Captain America. In the
comics, he was also a WWII veteran. His apparent long life comes from the
infinity formula also known as the immortality drug.
Captain America / Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) was a
WWII veteran with enhanced human physical abilities. His abilities were induced
by a serum developed to create the perfect soldier to be used in the Second
World War. In the movie, Captain America was cryogenically frozen in time when
the plane he was in crashed into the North Atlantic Ocean. He was then
discovered (along with tesseract) and reanimated by Howard Stark – Tony Stark’s
father.
Bruce Banner / Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo) is a genius
scientist whose exposure to gamma radiation transforms him into a super
powerful force of destruction driven by anger and excitement. Aside from the
strength and power that the Hulk provides to the team, Nick Fury wanted Bruce Banner
in the Avengers to be able to help them to track the tesseract since Banner is
an expert in detecting extremely low levels of radiation that the cube emits.
Clint Barton /
Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner) is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and master marksman.
Hawkeye’s ability is his excellent archery skills comparable (if not at par)
with DC’s Green Arrow. His participation in the movie was mostly as Loki’s
puppet and his actions were mostly villainous. It was only when Black Widow
fought him and beat him back to his senses that he actually had the opportunity
to help the rest of the Avengers.
Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johannson)
another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that was featured not only in the movie but also in
Iron Man 2. The Black Widow is a highly trained agent that specialized in hand
to hand combat and use of guns and knives. She’s also an expert in espionage
and intelligent work which makes her one of Fury’s best agents.
Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) is the Norse god of
thunder. With the aide of his Hammer Mjolnir, he is capable of super strength
and flight. He is also able to summon lightning and direct it to his enemies.
Thor was brought into the story because he was after his adopted brother Loki.
It was unknown how Thor was able to return to earth after he destroys the
bifrost bridge in Asgard.
Tony Stark / Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr.) is a
billionaire-philanthropist who wears a technologically advanced suit of armor
powered by an arc reactor. The arc reactor is also the one thing that keeps
stark alive by using an electromagnet to protect Stark’s heart from a shrapnel
embedded in his chest. Stark has a care free yet heroic personality both in the
movies and in the comics. Aside from his power suit, Fury also wants Stark to
help Bruce Banner in locating the tesseract as a physics expert.
Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) is the adoptive brother of
Thor and is the main antagonist of the movie. He was given a sceptre by the
Chitauri to help him in retrieving the tesseract. The sceptre uses a similar
form of energy as the tesseract which makes it the perfect tool in retrieving
and stopping the effects of the cube. The sceptre also allows Loki to
unconditionally control a person to do his bidding.
Likes and Dislikes.
Now that we’re done with the crash course introduction of
the members of the Avengers, it’s now time to list down things that we love and
hate with the movie.
Likes. In
general, the Avengers was a really nice movie. But the thing that made it a
success was that it strayed away from the typical action movie clichés. The
film didn’t feature action packed scenes interspersed with romantic and cheesy
scenes. Instead it used funny and humorous scenes mixed with comedic dialogues
to entertain its audience.
The special effects used in the movie were of course
exceptional. All that explosions, lightning bolts, fight scenes and light show
is a joy to watch especially on 3D. And lastly, I liked that the film’s story
was very cohesive and realistic. This is clearly evident if you’ve watched the
other Marvel movies done for the members of the avengers like the “Hulk”
series, Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America and Thor.
Dislikes. On
the other hand, there were things that I didn’t like about the movie. One is
that I didn’t like Mark Ruffalo playing Bruce Banner. I just think (and I know
a lot of people might be against it) that Eric Bana did a better job in portraying
the character than Ruffalo. It’s not that Ruffalo was bad at making action
movies, but I sort of remember him as a guy who plays supporting roles in
romantic comedy films.
Second was that the final fight scenes, where the Chitauri
army uses the portal created by the tesseract to invade the earth, were very
reminiscent of other science fiction action movies. A friend of mine even said
that those scenes kind of look like they were taken from one of Michael Bay’s Transformer movies.
Lastly, I didn’t quite like how the super powered members of
the Avengers were unable to stop the tesseract; And all it took was Black Widow
and Loki’s sceptre to turn off the cube. I don’t know about other people but I just
feel that it’s a little bit ironic.
The Verdict.
To sum it all up, the Avengers is a very nice movie. It has
a good balance of comedy and action that makes for a good watching experience.
It’s quite likeable even if you’re not a follower of the Avenger Comic book.
And if you’re one of those movie goers who go gaga for great special effects, then
I recommend you watch it right away.
There’s little to not like about the Avengers, if you could
get past the minor questionable choices that the producers and director made
for the film (such as casting choice and the relative similarity of action
scenes to Transformers Dark of the Moon) then this film would be perfect for
you.
