This Jedi Reviews The Avengers

Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a team of super humans
to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki and his army.

Am I the last one to see this movie? Everyone was so excited to see it, even going to midnight showings of the action-packed superhero extravaganza. Great reviews and woohoos! on facebook absolutely drove me to see the movie. Thankfully, it was showing in non-3D, and I had free passes that I was saving for a good reason to go to the theater.

So, everyone knows the story, right? Honestly, I don't know if I can tell you the story, other than Mace Windu...er, Fury goes against some mysterious council to put together the Avengers, a group of super-skilled warriors with PTSD to fight invaders that want to take over Earth. Yep, the stuff of comic books, for sure. Oops, sorry...graphic novels.

What I liked:

The heroes were fab! Black Widow, Captain America...Iron Man!!  Oh yes, Tony Stark - what a character! (Who said they don't create INFJ fictional characters??!) Excellent casting was really a treat. Loved Hawkeye, Thor and especially Hulk - too much fun. I have to say my favorite part was when Hulk grabs Loki and whams him back and forth on the ground - sheer awesomeness!

I liked the music for the most part, although it was pretty standard action movie fare.

I appreciated how the scenes were shot, especially with Iron Man and Captain America - very graphic-novel-ish. Throughout the entire movie I noticed the subtle comic-like influence in the shots; posing the characters in the classic composition you would see in the comics - very well done. I could well imagine the speech and thought bubbles over their heads.

Excellent costumes!

What I didn't like:

The aliens that we knew nothing about, nor why they were coming.

Too long fight scenes.

I really didn't like the bad guy, Loki. Now, I know you are not supposed to like the bad guy, but he was really nasty and cruel. I hated him killing Phil, (nor did I like Fury using Phil's cards as a 'push'). I guess the bottom line is that I don't like to see played out that which I inherently hate - pure, unconscionable hatred and cruelty towards others without clear reason. But, I am older, I guess. Perhaps Loki's character wasn't 'fleshed out' enough for me, as I wasn't convinced he had enough hatred built up to act in such a cruel way.

I didn't like the line between good and evil blurred in this movie; sometimes, I couldn't determine whether the heroes were good guys or bad guys. I don't particularly like that in a story as I like a little bit more solid 'footing' instead of constantly wondering about the intentions of the character, but that's a personal preference.

The mega-bazillions of dollars worth of destruction to Manhattan skyscrapers - it seemed really over-done.

My teens saying I embarrass them in the movie theater...oh wait, that's not the movie's fault!

This movie was a fun ride, even if you didn't see all the back-story-movies that were carefully made to proceed this one (which I didn't). It was long, but it didn't seem to drag (except during those too-long fight scenes I mentioned).

I was told to stay until the end of the movie, so we did. It would seem that everyone else knew to stay, as well. Not sure if I will catch the next movie or not, but it would be kinda fun to watch those superheroes in action again.

The bottom line: A fun escape movie to see with older kids who are up on superhero culture. Just do it.