The Avengers is a great ensemble movie
The movie does not quite rise as high as the Rotten Tomatoes 93% critic and 96% spectator scores imply, but is very well done and extremely entertaining. I would reserve scores like those for The Incredibles, Shrek or Batman Begins when it comes to movies in this genre. That said the movie crushed my expectations. Spiderman 3 and Shrek 3 largely failed because they introduced too many disparate characters that were not developed enough within a muddled story line. When The Avengers was announced, I really feared it would succumb to the same flaws.
However, The Avengers works as an ensemble movie because it unifies its cast to fight a single threat. The banter between the various characters while the various Avengers learn to work together is also tons of fun. It includes a reply I wish I could utter: “Take that away, and what are you?” “Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philantropist”
Another reason the movie works well is that it gives characters like the Hulk, which may be too simplistic to be the lead character in their own movie, just enough screen time to shine.
Go see it on the big screen!
Hi Fabrice,
Amongst all the super heroes in this movie, is there one with a predominant role or are they all equally depicted/shown? I haven’t seen the Avengers yet but I’d love Tony Stark to be the leader. That would be like an “Iron Man 3” teaser so to speak… I love the Tony Stark character and, for me, the Iron Man movies are far superior to “Thor” for instance.
I hear you, I love Tony Stark and did not really like the Thor & Captain America movies. The Avengers mixes the various characters rather well. There is no clear leader, but if anything Captain America is the glue who holds the team together though Tony Stark is the ultimate savior.
Saw it twice! Very entertaining movie. They also managed to show a “thinking” Hulk. Loved the Tony Stark line too and I can imagine that it resonates with you… “Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philantropist”… well at least the Genius, Billionaire part.
Hi Fabrice,
Just saw it. Pretty disappointed, I expected so much regarding the Box Office. But perhaps my preference for the Iron Man movies bias my thinking… Much more character development and empathy for the lead character in the Iron Man movies (more humour, Pepper Potts is cute and better villains…). But that’s just my humble opinion.