The Avengers
If we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we’ll gross a billion and a half dollars.
+: dialogue, characterisation, production and sound design, almost every moment designed to kick ass lands.
-: simple (and arguably simplistic) plot, the very occasional duff scene, and overlit. Holy shit is it overlit.
The Avengers works. But why?
Character. Pretty much everything regarding The Avengers — renamed Avengers Assemble in the UK, to avoid confusion with a show no-one under 50 remembered anyway — is rooted in character, even the smallest conversations and expository dialogue. Banner, for example, asks one obvious question early on (“what does he want the Iridium for?”) that Stark answers — in the middle of offering to fly Agent Coulson to Portland, the kind of grand billionaire generosity he alone amongst the main characters is capable of. The occasional happenstance nudges things along, but for the most part, the script runs on rails.
Balance. Everyone gets at least one moment, and often several, although Hawkeye’s a little short-changed. And however much Whedon’s feminist credentials have been questioned lately, both Black Widow and Maria Hill are the equals of any other character. Natasha Romanoff (should be Romanova, but OK) manages to outfox a Norse trickster God, fight multiple Russians whilst tied to a chair, and realises the importance of the portal. For all the dialogue aimed at him, Whedon refuses to regard Captain America as some uptight square, and for all Thor’s strength, he doesn’t attribute him with infallibility. As for Iron Man — well, admittedly he gets the big heroic moment, but it’s pretty much earned anyhow.
Backstory and foreshadowing. This includes, once again, things the story raises and then invites the audience to ignore — “who showed you this power?” Thor asks of Loki — “who controls the would-be king?”. And then, for an hour and a half, the question is never resolved, which allows the first post-credit scene to wham the audience right in the face. Banner’s “I’m always angry” moment casts new light on many of the film beforehand, when Ruffalo gets to try out a hundred different ways of looking peeved. It sets up later films, too, far more than you realise — the basis of Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron are all there (yes, even the romance subplot. No, really, watch again).
Aesthetics. As mentioned above, The Avengers is overlit like crazy, with night scenes looking like noon much of the time. But this is a small thing, and really the sole thing which makes the film appear cheap. I know sound design is rarely the first thing people praise in a film, but bringing all the Avengers together also brings together the metallic flanging effects of Mjollnir, the clangs of Captain America’s shield and the clicking, whirring mechanisms of Iron Man’s suit, all in one place. And despite Tony Zhou’s Every Frame a Painting about the subject, the Avengers theme is pretty memorable.
What doesn’t work is ineffective at the edges, crowded out by memeable moments arising at least once every ten minutes, which probably makes The Avengers seem like a better film than it is. In many respects, The Avengers is a like a Chemical Brothers album; tension and release, and conventional structure is there (if anything, the film holds a little too fast to a rigid three-act structure), but the intended effect is endless highs and just enough downtime for contrast. Luckily, it’s more Surrender than We Are The Night.
The Avengers, more than the rest of Phase One, would provoke the craze for ‘Cinematic Universes’. Within five years, many had been rumoured, few had come to fruition, and none had really surpassed the MCU artistically or commercially. With DC now attempting to throttle back on the whole ‘universe’ angle, it may be that Marvel not only did it first, but best — although it is, a tiny bit, from lack of trying.
High Points: many, although the long(ish) take panning through all six members from Black Widow to Thor during the climax deserves particular mention.
Low Points: that the opening car chase lasts for two and a half minutes — arguably two, really — is pretty telling. Even Whedon probably didn’t think he’d nailed it.
Curios: Many. Besides the ‘cut the wire’ bit, the film repeatedly raises the question: what does kill the Asgardians? Submachinegun fire doesn’t seem to bother Loki, but Thor dives out of the way of fighter jet guns, and both of them regard the dropping Hulk-trap with some degree of seriousness (although Loki, naturally, doesn’t let this get in the way of a prank). Also, Captain America swears in this film, Hulk does his best impression of Otto Mann from the end of The Simpsons Movie (2007), and despite having a father who worked on the Manhattan Project, Stark’s first reaction to a nuclear explosion isn’t to close his eyes.
Flagrant Product Placement: Galaga, schawarma, maybe even New York City (even if a good chunk of it’s actually Cleveland).
Connections to Elsewhere: in many ways, this film is the elsewhere. Apart from War Machine, who’s absent for no (in-film) reason, there’s little breadth-wise to reference (as opposed to foreshadowing or backstory). The thrice-referenced cellist would later show up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the ‘Battle of New York’ would essentially incite the entirety of the Netflix series. And, right where Hulk punches Thor, a certain Adrian Toomes would show up.
Stan Lee Cameo: a cranky old guy, sceptical about superheroes being in New York. It’s brief, but it also does very little. The broader montage, though, is interesting: the most sceptical voices regarding the Avengers are an African-American couple. (4/10)
End Credits: two, for the first time — the introduction of Thanos (8/10), and the shawarma scene (7/10).
8
Next: Iron Man 3 (2013)
