"The Avengers" : Heroic Band of Misfits

Throughout human history there has always been a intricate fascination for divine beings. Creatures that exceed mere mortal capacities, they are either bound to protect or destroy humanity. Titans, gods, demons, wizards, etc. These fictional inventions served to put to rest anxieties and fears, to let the masses feel like there was an order in the universe, in which the good,divine entities will protect us. In our time, these mythological and epic battles have taken a less serious existence, to become the source for entertainment and the creation of icons in pop culture. Superheroes are modern mythology, human, semi-human, or completely alien beings that have extraordinary stories and usually are conflicted between their superior breed and their human qualities. Therefore, these are complex characters each with their own moral codes and their respective fears and weaknesses. Given the fact that each superhero is such an individualized creation, to bring more than one into a cohesive universe that can accommodate for all their personalities, its an uphill task. This is were Joss Whedon's "The Avengers" could have gone wrong, but it didn't. He was able to craft, alongside Zak Penn, a script that allowed each one of these legends to shine in their own way, and still be part of a united heroic band of misfits. Being true to the nature of comic books, yet adding a healthy dose of comedic relief and sarcasm, giving this multimillion-block buster-smash-hit movie a shine of its own, not solely relying on the impressive CGI and visual effects, but on the heroes themselves.

The plot is not  groundbreaking in its format, but it doesn't need to be. There is evil and there is heroes to stop it. The trick is to bring all the side stories, egos, and origins together into this group war. There is the self-made hero, who obtains his powers from his millions and incurable narcissism: Tony Stark/ Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). The old fashioned soldier whose power come from a malfunctioning experiment during WWII: Captain America (Chris Evans). Another laboratory created superhuman who channels his anger into a monstrous creature that smashes things: The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Then there is the alien god of thunder whose power comes from his divine lineage: Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Finally the two new additions to the franchise, two very well trained human spies who have no other power than experience and physical strength: Black Widow( Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye ( Jeremy Renner). To guide this selected group of legendary brutes there is S.H.I.E.L.D's director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who is in charge of protecting an otherworldly source or energy called "the Tesseract", when this is taken by Thor's evil brother Loki, who as usual with villains, is trying to control the planet and make all of us civilians into his puppets. However, to our fortune, the Avengers are here to save the planet, each one of them for their own selfish reasons, but still they are the Earth's only hope.

 The premise is indeed predictable, the ending is even more predictable, but when is the ending not predictable in a superhero movie? This I don't say to be taken as a weakness in the film, it is just a God-given fact of these type of movies. The real value here is in the packaging, the way Whedon presents these characters and weaves their different paths into a singular storyline. The drama that emerges between the heroes in the first half of the film is excellent. Captain America being indeed the unnamed leader of the pack and imposing his old school views on war and heroism. Such ideas collide with the bane and hilarious Stark, and also with Thor's view of humanity as an undeveloped race. Natasha Romanoff or Black Widow and Hawkeye spark the human/ subtle love story of the film, which I must say at times gets lost in the overwhelming presence of the superhuman members of the team.

The Hulk just steals the show with some sort of slapstick comedic punches, literally. Adding a very cartoonish/childish undertones to the film. Which is indeed a great addition to the film which never takes itself too seriously, even its evildoer Loki (Tom Hiddlestone) lends himself to some peculiar comedy, such as requesting a drink when he is finally defeated. Even in all its joyous and marvelous fun, the film is smart about touching on things like the nature of humanity to destroy itself, and the idea that we need to be governed and submitted to coexist. That maybe we are too much of an irrational race that we need higher powers to rescue us from what we cant fight ourselves. All of these existential enigmas become tangible in the distinct genesis of each Avenger, showing us the range of heroism all humans are capable of.

Visually it is topnotch , which is expected with such an incredibly high budget, over $200 million. The human elements of the sequences blend perfectly with the monumental amount of CGI creatures. I found particularly amusing the long takes that follow all of the Avengers in one moving, continuous shot, being driven by Hawkeye's arrow or Iron Man's trail. This film needs no more marketing or word of mouth than the heroes in it, Marvel has created a  separate movie franchise for at least 4 of the major characters, putting them together with this great script is just a no-brainer instant success. If you are that one person in the civilized world that didn't watch this in theaters, or if like most, you want to watch it again, even more than once, this superhero feast is out in Blu-ray/ DVD now for everyone to suppress their perception of reality and belief in the incredible again. Grade A.