Movie Review: Marvel Avengers Assemble!

SPOLIERS LIE AHEAD!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

Anticipation is high for the latest superhero outing, and not just from my dad and I, but from various people, including my part-time boss and the cashier I spoke to at Forbidden Planet last week. The seats have been booked for at least a week, and at last glance nearly thirty people have paid for their seats. I won't have been in a theatre this packed since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Part Two.

To understand what's been going on, you have to have been swotting up on your Avengers mythology, or at least have watched all the relevant previous movies. (Hulk 1 & 2, Iron Man 1 & 2, Thor and Captain America)

This is to be the second showing of the day; although the first is being shown downstairs (am currently up in Gold Class at Star City), it won't let out until at least two hours into my own viewing, so I haven't managed to overhear any tidbits.

By 2.15pm, if you include my dad and myself, there are ten people in the room, more than when we went to go see Battleship. By 2.20pm, there are sixteen of us, and by 2.25pm, that number reaches twenty-two. The poor concierge guy is starting to look a bit run off his feet.

By the time the film starts at 2.42pm, (12 minutes late), there are forty-one people sitting down, nearly four-fifths of the rooms maximum capacity. I can forgive the late start however, because the film starts immediately, with no adverts or trailers, which I find extremely unusual and a first in my cinematic experiences.

2 hours and 14 minutes later.....

The film ends, but unlike normal, near enough everyone stays sitting down; clearly they know something I don't. Two minutes into the credits, we get a trailer, something I really should have expected given how Iron Man, Thor and Captain America ended. Obviously there is more to come on the Marvel front.

But those 134 mins….

It didn't seem like the film was that long, and both my dad and I found ourselves increasingly engrossed in the excellent plot that only got better as the momentum of the film built up, what with all the in-fighting, that almost causes the team's collapse before they can even truly form, and destruction of various pieces of property as well as each other.

The death of someone close to the team is what causes the team to unite into the Avengers, giving rise to the now famous quote, "If we can't save the Earth, you'll be damn sure we'll avenge it."

Alongside the stereotypical crash-bang-wallops that seem to come as standard in a superhero movie, the special effects, (I.L.M. and Weta Workshops are key here), are fantastic as per usual; the bad-guys (somehow) managing to look even more badass than normal, the Hulk even greener, the S.H.I.E.L.D. carrier even more amazing than even I could imagine and the weapons even more spectacular than I thought previously possible.

The best actor, in my both my opinion and my dads, was Tom Hiddleston, in his role as Loki, the sheer power behind his acting captivating our attention, although mine was on occasion swayed by the curly dark locks evident from beneath his horned helmet. His best scene is, quite possibly, when he and Hulk are engaged in 'discussions'. Definitely keep an eye out for this one, you will laugh.

And speaking of laughing, the puns, witticisms and by-plays that normally don't cause a chuckle caused a room full of Avengers fans to erupt in laughter and giggles at many times, although most of the great one liners seemed to belong to Robert Downey junior in his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

Definitely one of those films to compare all others too.

And the trailer? Not quite as telling as you'd think it would be.

Dad: 10/10 (aka better than Inception)    Me: 10/10 (just as good as Inception)