Review for The Avengers (2012 movie)

After many weeks of waiting for the crowds to die down, I finally went to see The Avengers and what a rip roaring, action packed, fast paced, cinematic extravaganza it was!  Under the masterful directing hand of Joss Whedon, the coming together of each superhero is nicely and quickly handled with each character getting time to show their personality as well as their powers.  With so many larger than life superheroes battling for top dog status, there were many moments of humor amongst the testosterone, mostly courtesy of Iron Man/Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.).  He's just as snarky working with a team as he is on his own.  I enjoyed seeing a romantic side to him though in his scenes with Pepper Potts (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) and their playfulness with her standing up to him and hope to see their relationship expanded.

Captain America (the eternally boyish Chris Evans) still represents the triumph of the underdog in America and definitely acts as cheerleader throughout the movie.  Thor (that sexy Adonis Chris Hemsworth) is still arrogant with his god-like nature and seemed to be the one having the hardest time being a team player.  His showdown with Iron Man not only showed off some cool special effects but some exciting action sequences as well.  The Hulk (the surprisingly good choice of Mark Ruffalo) finally lives up to the hype after his two previously disappointing movie incarnations.  I enjoyed his take on it being a totally separate entity within him that even he is somewhat afraid of.  Once the Hulk actually emerges it's to very human-like facial expressions and actions.  His fight with the villain Loki is both humorous and to the point.  The two new additions to the Marvel movie world, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (the ruggedly sexy Jeremy Renner) are intriguing and easily meshed with the rest of the team.  They have a history just hinted at in this movie, and as a newbie to the comic world, I'm dying to know more about each of them.  Black Widow makes for a worthy heroine, and without a Wonder Woman movie on the horizon, I admired her battle scenes and her ability to keep up with the boys.

Amongst so many worthy heroes, it's imperative that there be a worthy villain.  Once again Loki (played with unapologetic glee by Tom Hiddleston) brings the bad as he tries to subjugate Earth using a massive alien army.  His scenes are over the top fun and there's true enjoyment radiating off him as he chews through each of his scenes.  I definitely hope this isn't the last we've seen of him as I'd like to dig deeper into the complicated brotherly relationship between him and Thor.

From start to finish this movie gives viewers everything they'd hope for in a summer movie.  Great action sequences and special effects, likable characters worth rooting for, and a tantalizing teaser to keep people talking for months until the next installment from the marvelous Marvel superhero movie franchise!  This is one geeky gal who cheered, laughed, and squealed with joy throughout the movie and isn't ashamed to admit it!

For those who still haven't seen the flick, or those wanting to relive the joy, here are some clips......

My rating for this movie is an A!