The Avengers

"You think you're the only hero in the world"

Asgardian Loki (Hiddleston) comes to earth to claim the Tesseract: a powerful cube of energy, and settle an old score.  To obtain the Tesseract, he needs to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D., and open a portal to transport an alien army to conqueror earth.  He manages to claim the cube and borrow a few S.H.I.E.L.D. employees to fulfill the master plan.

S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Jackson) calls for reinforcements to retrieve the cube.  He recalls assassin Black Widow (Johansson) and sends her to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner (Ruffalo) and his special expertise.  Agent Coulson (Gregg) is dispatched to bring Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) into the loop.  And Captain America (Evans) is brought up to speed and back into the world.  Soon Loki's brother Thor (Hemsworth) joins the group.  Can they stop fighting long enough to rescue Hawkeye (Renner) and Professor Erik Selvig (Skarsgard), stop Loki, and save the world?


The culmination of years of hype, Marvel Studios landed on a gold mine.  Everything about the film works.  The script by geek god Joss Whedon is awesome.  It is a fast paced, action packed story, that draws from the early days of Avengers comic books (Whedon is a fan of the comic books).  There is the right amount of action and comedy and some heartbreak.

The cast is great.  Everyone, but Mark Ruffalo, reprise their roles from previous films.  Ruffalo is the third actor to appear as Bruce Banner / The Hulk in the last decade.  He replaced Edward Norton, who appeared in The Incredible Hulk (produced by Marvel Studios).  Ruffalo finally manages to humanize the character, and make him connect to a mass audience.  Ruffalo also performed the Hulk character, in a motion capture suit, while Lou Ferrigno again provides the voice of the Hulk.  The other new face in the film is Cobie Smulders (from TV's How I Met Your Mother), as Nick Fury's 2nd in command Agent Maria Hill.  She works well in the part, and serves as a supporting player.

The film had the highest opening week ever, and continues to dominate the movie boards.  This success means there will be a sequel.  Until that point, fans can console themselves with the other Marvel Studio's sequels: Thor 2 and Iron Man 2, and eventually Ant Man.

The Avengers (2012) 143 minutes
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference.
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson
Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill
Stellan Skarsgard as Professor Erik Selvig
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury