[yasr_overall_rating]
The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
I’ll admit. I barely know enough about Marvel comics to even deserve the fun of reviewing this film. And if it weren’t for my strategic backup plan, I would’ve been shrugging my shoulders a few times at characters I was helpless to identify.
A girl throwing fireballs. A robot guy whose skin looked like he had been the victim of one of those fireballs. And sure enough, they were in love.
Fortunately, I’m fairly resourceful and I know a handful of comic nerds. So I brought my best +1 along to clue me in where I was clueless. And it worked! The fireball girl is the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen)…the robot guy is Vision (Paul Bettany) and embedded in his forehead is one of the six coveted Infinity Stones that the terrible genocidal Thanos (Josh Brolin) is after in order to control the fate of the universe.
But don’t be too offended that I would deign to offer my opinion on this film. I think it’s also important to realize that when any film series spans several generations, the franchise has to be aware that newer generations will not connect to the story in the same way as those geeks who first started with the comic books. And that’s where I come in with my innocence and naivete for all things sacred under the Marvel sky.
Have you noticed how the tone has changed in the comic book movies ever since “Guardians of the Galaxy” was released with so much current cultural humor? After that, Iron Man shifted to the enjoyment of these ridiculous antics along with Thor and Deadpool. This is how the newer generations relate to these films even as they are still catching up with the original storylines. So on a pure entertainment level, everyone will love this Avengers film with the usual jabs between Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), the boyish antics of Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and the blunders of Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).
However, be prepared to be challenged in keeping up with all the teams that come together in this Avengers story. I honestly had no idea that the Guardians of the Galaxy were in the Marvel crew until this film, but I was delighted to see a few of my favorites in Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel).
Now! On the level of full-blown comic nerd, I paid attention to my +1 as much as I did the film. And from what I can tell, he was in total nerd heaven. Especially when Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finally showed up to the fight with a hammer fashioned by the ironically large Eitri (Peter Dinklage). There were thunderbolts and lightning and finally….finally!…in the full glory of live action film, was the very best of an 8-year-old’s hero. There were other moments that elicited the audible excitement of the predominantly male audience, but without spoiling your own experience, I think it’s safe to say that this Avengers film knocked it out of the park.
The only criticism I would suggest is that at times, the story seems a little thinly stretched to include such a vast cast of characters and tie everyone’s past story into this singular historic event. And of course, this is fantasy and sometimes the solution to a problem is almost too imaginative to be believable. But really, who is gonna care? No one. That’s who.
In theaters Friday, April 27th
Perfect, and maybe more importantly; a really fun to read review. 5 stars 🙂