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- The Avengers Assemble
On Saturday April 12, I - and a few hundred Marvel fans - had the privilege of watching the spanking new Avengers movie. (If you’re thinking of bowler hats & umbrellas right now, you’ve got the wrong ones.)
If you’re into your Marvel movies/comics, you may have already seen Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk and be mentally salivating at the prospect of the new Spiderman movie. You will already know that X-Men is one of the movie franchises that brings together many heroes with different powers to fight a common evil. However, Avengers uses the approach of combining well known heroes in their own right and convincing them (or at least attempting to convince them) to work together.
The result is a lot more difficult than you would think. Old fashioned patriotism in Captain America clashes with modern day swagger in Tony Stark/Iron Man. Consider this conversation for size:
Captain America: “We need to obey orders!”. Tony Stark: “Orders isn’t quite my style”. Captain America: “It’s all about style with you, isn’t it?”. Meanwhile, Dr Banner has managed to keep the Hulk contained for some years and is not quite keen on unleashing him. (But you already know that won’t last long, don’t you?)
The clashes don’t just stop with their egos either. I don’t want to reveal any spoilers but the Avengers spend loads of time just fighting each other, long before they fight anyone else. So, if you’re like me wondering who would win between Captain America and Iron Man and whether Hulk is strong enough to lift Thor’s hammer, well...nah, I’m not going to say. Harry Hill would probably say “Which is better? There’s only one way to find out...FIGHT!” And they do – a lot!
The final fight scene is reminiscent of the Transformers movies but it’s a lot easier to follow the sequence. In fact, the cinematography is breath taking, particularly when in one long camera shot, you see each of the Avengers using their powers to fight on all different levels – ground, skyscrapers and in the air. I won’t be surprised if an Oscar nods in this direction.
However what is totally unexpected is the amount of humour in the film. There is a really incredible number of laugh out loud moments, some of which are totally unexpected. This could easily have been promoted as a comedy.
This is, without any shadow of a doubt, one of the best super hero movies to have come out and it will stand the test of time. I know some of you don’t want to get your hopes up and then be disappointed – but you won’t!
My advice for maximum enjoyment, watch the preceding movies first in the franchise (Thor, Iron Man, Captain America) – they’ll get you some foundation but you’ll be fine without them too. Also, the film is made to be enjoyed in 3D...with friends. You’ll need someone to talk about your favourite moments with.
You can take your children along too as long as they can handle some blood every now and then. So, do you get the feeling that I like this movie? Yeah, it’s okay.