by Joss Whedon with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson
You know what you are going to see.
If you buy the ticket for Avengers Assemble you know what’s going to happen: a group of superheroes kicking ass and smashing everything in sight, explosions, never ending fights, growls and macho dialogues, a flying battleship, ugly aliens, and the foundation upon which new sequels will be built.
To be honest, what I was expecting was a sloppy script adapted to suit all the egos involved and a tiring green-screen action filled with fireworks and stunts. What I got instead was a pretty solid story, witty and effective dialogues, unique and distinctive characters, and raging action.
Surely the movie panders to the needs and cravings of the fans and the majority of the public , but director/writer Joss Whedon did a good job balancing all the ponderous superheroes and giving each one of them a very precise personality and traits.
Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) steals the scene with his rifling jokes and puns, Captain America (Chris Evans) is the all American hero, pure and righteous, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is surly and arrogant, but loyal and vital for the war against his evil brother, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) kills and breaks necks with a feminine touch, while Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) controls everything from a distance, but his support and skills are very much needed. The biggest – in every way – surprise of the movie is surely The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Thanks to the new techniques of motion capturing, he has finally a heart and soul, and has instantly become the representation of The Hulk to be taken as a model for the next movies. Special mention to the evil Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who took the burden of being the center of attention of the whole film pulling it off thanks to an interpretation between Norman Bates and The Joker, and to Nick Fury (a superb Samuel L.Jackson) who glued all the superheroes’ performances maintaining the adrenaline always at a high level.
Well crafted movie, Avengers Assemble hit all the right chords and threw the right punches, also with a discrete and not invasive 3D that managed not to distract from the (simple) story. Story that could have been a bit more original and elaborated towards the end, without stumbling upon already seen concepts and ideas. But still, Avengers Assemble is a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat, with fun and more than a few laughs thanks to the heart Joss Whedon and co. put in the making. Let’s just hope that everyone who saw/will see this movie won’t feel saturated and a bit exhausted after all these superheroes films.
And Samuel L.Jackson still deserves an Oscar.
