Click here for the review of The Avengers

SPOILERS must be tagged with the "SPOILER" tag!

I'm glad you liked it as much as the rest of us, James. The Avengers is truly a game changer, and it actually makes me more curious about the upcoming Spider-Man reboot/re-imagining/whatever it is... will it work when compared to something as massive as this movie? (At the very least it looks mildly interesting.)

Anyway.... completely agree with your review, especially the comparison with the Transformers movies. The third act of this movie being so similar to Transformers 3's third act but at the same time so different ("different" meaning "better"), I always use it to convince people to watch the movie, and to stress the fact that an action-packed third act does not mean mindlessness and boredom.

Yes, The Avengers was awesome. And yes, even though it hasn't been officially announced, I'm looking forward to a Joss Whedon-helmed Avengers 2.

James,

Great review.

You brought up something interesting in your review about how do you go back to "7 when it's been dialed up to 11". What was your feeling after the film? Would you rather see the solo sequels afterwards or go right into Avengers 2?

I have a feeling, after I see these characters together at midnight tomorrow, I'm not going to be terribly interesting in those solo sequels. They'll just feel...small.

Straight to AVENGERS 2. I have no real interest in any of these characters going solo, except perhaps IRON MAN, and that's exclusively due to Downey. Even in IRON MAN 3, however, I would be waiting for appearances by one or more of THE AVENGERS. This movie has done serious damage to the concept of a "single superhero" movie unless there's something very special going on. (As is the case with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, which is not your average garden-variety superhero movie.)

Pretty much what I've been thinking this whole time since this project got underway. It's going to be extremely difficult to not have these other characters cameo in the solo sequels, when said hero is in real trouble. Logically, after this movie, it doesn't make sense, except in Thor's case because of where most of his story takes place....

Easy fix. All you gotta do is steal one line from Star Trek: "It looks like we're the only [Superhero] in the quadrant!"

I wonder if some of that sense that one-superhero Marvel sequels will be damaged is due to the fact that most of the Avengers prequels were already underwhelming on their own merits. Iron Man and Thor were the only complete successes, and even Thor felt a bit consequence-less in its final action scene on Earth.

Fun review, James. I can't remember the last time a review of yours felt so giddy. Can't wait to see this Friday night.

I hate to be the guy who makes this point, but this really does read like a 4 star review.

Agreed. You just put into words my exact feeling while reading the review. I was already pretty amped for the movie, but James' tone in his review definitely pushed my racecar into the red.

YES! YES! YES!

Thanks James for highlighting just what every comic book nerd in the galaxy was thinking. This film has set a very high bar for the traditional superhero movie. One that I feel will be very difficult to match. And you're right, who wants "7" when we already have "11". Just leave Robert Downey Jr. in there and I am set for eternity. That man is the only actor who is truly indispensable. Take him out and the whole effort will lack half its charm. However, the rest have done well enough to be in his shadow but still be there. The only other person who comes close is Mark Ruffalo and he is another great actor, so that was expected.

Bones, Giddy is exactly the right word. I am sort of nerd, though admittedly not a super-nerd, but Avengers is one of those films where the giddiness is amplified. Everything you would want from a collaboration of these superheroes is right there in the film. There is not a single mis-step in that regard. The dialogues, the action, the attention to minute details like Captain America running the show... everything is there. It is, quite simply, perfect in every sense.

PeachyPete, Here we go again! Hasn't JB already provided enough answers for this question?

And, yes, can we all agree that DC is way behind when it comes to the silver screen? For too long, DC has been relying in the strength of the two greatest superheroes of all time while Marvel has quietly built up a massive quality in its films. Counting by the hand, you have the Spiderman trilogy, the original X-Men trilogy, Wolverine and of course the Avengers films, not to mention the new First Class film which was quite awesome in its own right. What does DC have? The Dark Knight trilogy and Man of Steel lined up. Yes, I have a sense that both are going to blow my mind especially because Nolan is involved. However, unless DC bucks up and comes up with something (READ: Justice League), it has little chance of survival. And who wouldn't want to see Batman and Superman share screen space, although it is going to be practically impossible. Bring it on!

He certainly has. I wasn't asking for an explanation as much as I was pointing out how effusive his praise for the film was in the review. Bones nailed it when he called it giddy.

This biggest surprise of the review was this paragraph:



I don't think any of us expected that!

I was soooooooo excited for this that I downloaded a copy. It didn't spoil it for me in the least. It just confirmed that I WILL be going to see this in 3D IMAX. I've already watched this cam copy 3 times...so now I'm ready to pay attention to the details in IMAX. I can't fucking wait.

I have to say as much as I love superhero movies I had a lot of trepidation about this movie. Frankly Avengers and Justice League are definitely not my cup of tea when it comes to comics. Very few writers can really pull off the appropriate team dynamics.

Therefore, it comes as a great relief that this movie appears to be amazing. I can't wait to see it this weekend.

James, you left out a star I haven't seen a movie twice in three days since Fellowship Of The Ring and other than Goblet Of Fire, I've not enjoyed a movie as much since either.

I will disagree about the 3D though. This Saturday just past, I had to attend a 3D screening (the 2D had sold out, haha!) and it was just appalling. All the things that people complain the most about (except sore eyes) were there in force. The movie actually looked better in 2D I think.

I hear that Iron Man 3 will be putting Stark back in a "from a pile of scraps!" scenario, which should be interesting. Naturally I'll be seeing Thor 2 since Thor is the best thing ever anyway!

Awesome review like the movie James!

I agree 100% , including the 3D bit

Avengers made $13.3M this last weekend in the Australia Box office, the second one came with only $1.2M to indicate you the massive dominance

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie/box_office.php (See AU Box Office)

Funny to mention that a friend told me that he went to see it in 2D, this last weekend (Sunday night, the last function) , with other 2 friends and according him they were the only ones in the Cinema HaHa

I saw it on the 25th of April (public day here) in 3D of course and I was smart enough that I bought the tickets with my smart phone with 2 days in advance and we arrived 35 minutes ahead of time to queue up to get in and make sure we got good seats.

If you like 3D definitely go to see it in 3D

Cheers

You were unlucky. As I wrote in the other Avengers thread, this was one of the best uses of 3D that I've yet seen.

I went and saw it twice with different groups of people both times in 2D and the cinema was packed out, the manager (who I know) said it was pretty much an even distribution of people between the formats and that next week they will be adding more 2D showings to compensate for the demand. Turned out they increased it from 3x2D showings a day to 7.

EDIT: James, the second time you mention his name in the review you refer to him as "Tim Hiddelston". Not enough is said of him in a lot of reviews, I thought he was probably the most magnetic performance in the movie or at least equal with Downey.

Can't wait and great review! Probably going to suck it up and wait for Sunday afternoon or something. Don't feel like battling the masses!

Have to agree that Thor is the best. It is too bad that Marvel doesn't have the resources to do the epic mythological adventure that was envisioned by Matthew Vaughn.

I am not sure I agree with the idea that Avengers is a game changer but a movie done by a good director who understands the characters,genre and format unlike Martin Campbell with Green Lantern.The problem there are only a few directors like Whedon and Nolan and there is a big drop off after that.So it is impossible to expect that future episodes to come up to that top level but more likely hit and miss with some working better than others.When looking at Thor 2 director Alan Taylor's resume and it has mostly tv shows you will expect a hopefully solid movie on a small scale nowhere near Avengers level.

Well I'm not sure what the problem is to be honest. The screens at Vue are top notch and even the digital projection looks pretty decent. I'd go see the movie in an IMAX theatre but it wasn't designed for it so I cant see how it'd look any good.