On Saturday I was lucky enough, thanks to Show Film First, to watch preview screening of Avengers Assemble nearly two-weeks before its UK release on April 26th.
Here is my spoiler free review:
From the void of deep space the Asgardian menace Loki has returned, allied with a mysterious alien race he is back with new purpose; to steal the powerful Tesseract in exchange for an army to conquer Earth. Hopelessly outgunned and unable to stop him, Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. must call together all the super-powered heroes he has been monitoring to get the device back from Loki before it can use it to open a portal for his army and bring a war to the entire planet. But with a team made up of a time-lost soldier, a maverick millionaire, a conflicted god, two assassins and a rage-filled monster can the Avengers survive each other long enough to save the world?
The film starts off with Loki's return and then, unsurprisingly, moves into a gathering of the heroes scene. Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and his team of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) must gather the heroes from the previous Marvel films; Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemswroth) and the alter-ego of The Hulk, Bruce Banner (this time played by Mark Ruffalo). Different methods of persuasion are used and, of course, there is the obligatory 'heroes come to blows' scene when they first meet but this is done with actual motivation and character behind the punches rather than just as an excuse for a beat-em-up set-piece.
Once the team is assembled, the matter of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has to be addressed. Just like in the formation of the comic book version of the Avengers, Loki proves to be a formidable opponent who is able to match up with a whole team of superheroes by relying on his intellect as much as his godly strength and magic. He is the trickster god after all, so everything doesn't go according to Fury's plan and the film climaxes in the massive battle of Manhattan which features heavily in the trailers; the Avenger's vs Loki and his alien army for the fate of the world.
Avengers Assemble can rightly be looked at as a sequel to the individual Marvel heroes' films that we've seen over the last couple of years. Not just because it follows on sequentially from Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger or because of the Nick Fury/Avengers teases that featured after their credits, but because the characters stories from those films flow into the beginning of this team-up movie rather than just being ignored and this being considered a stand-alone story or a fresh start.
This leads into my biggest fear when seeing any superhero film sequel; the 'too many cooks' syndrome. As more heroes and villains are added to make it 'bigger & better', the characters that made the original so successful are pushed out, getting a smaller share of the running time and often miss-out on the best lines or are overshadowed in the stand-out scenes. Thank Whedon though, this is not the case with this film and the multiple-heroes aspect of the Avengers is the film's greatest strength. The relationship between the heroes, whether they're fighting or talking, are very loyal to the source material and come across as both believable and realistic on screen.
Without a doubt, this is due to Joss Whedon's experience of dialogue and characterisation of ensemble casts, as in his TV-series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, as well as his work within the comics industry itself. Team this with some quality acting across the board and characters like Thor and Cap are more rounded and more enjoyable than they were in their own films. The star example of this Bruce Banner and The Hulk, characters who have previously appeared in two flawed films and could quite easily have been no more than a plot device. Here Ruffalo's performance and Whedon's script/direction combine to not only make them interesting for the first time but also make them favourite character/s for everyone leaving the screening.
The special-effects are flawless and the action scenes as big and explosive as any comic splash page could hope to be. In one shot during the final battle, the camera sweeps across the city taking in all the characters in various confrontations and draws them together in a grand, balletic scene that is both epic yet instantly understandable. It's something that so many CGI blockbusters have attempted and failed at in recent years.
Previously, my favourite superhero film was Pixar's The Incredibles because it was the only supers film that successfully blended humour, drama, action and emotion while telling a story detailed and grand enough to have come from the pages of four-colour classic. I used to think that animation was the only way this could be done and it was something a live-action film could never pull off; Joss Whedon has proved me wrong.
Avengers Assemble in now my favourite superhero film.
So be patient, the 26th is just over a week away and this film is well worth the wait. In the meantime take another look at the latest trailer...
