Is The Dark Knight Rises Really The Best Superhero Movie of 2012?
The Avengers
Released: April 26th (UK) The Good: Where to start? Easy: the chemistry of the Avengers team. Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and the rest of the casted super-heroes of this ensemble piece work marvel-lously (sorry) together, never hogging the limelight from one another and constantly maintaining a perfect balance of raw emotion, pure and hilarious comedy and deep reverence towards their standalone entries. There are countless moments when this film simply exudes confidence, but perhaps the shining highlight is just seeing such incredible British and Hollywood icons share in each others glory and sheer acting brilliance. That Joss Whedon manages to give each character the time they deserve to shine and indeed interact with their peers speaks wonders for his writing and directing ability, and I really hope that we can see him involved with the inevitable sequel in at least some kind of supporting role. The storyline of Assemble works magnificently too, drawing in particular on the events of Thor and Captain America to bring in elements such as Loki and the Cosmic Cube. Initially, this concept of reliance upon old assets might have seemed daunting to Whedon in terms of enticing newcomers to try out the film, yet clearly going by the wealth of ticket sales the general accessibility of the narrative has been spread via word-of-mouth and people have understood clearly the plot without necessarily watching all of its predecessors. Avengers Assemble also boasts perhaps the most impressive special effects weve seen in any film this year (well, possibly with the exception of Prometheus). The Hulk, the inter-superhero brawls and of course the astounding final battle are all brought to life in such a realistic way that for me it seems impossible not to be immersed into the rich universe of the ensemble piece. SFX arent everything, something Prometheus did learn the hard way, but my oh my do they lend a hand in the case of Avengers, again helping to strengthen its cause as something other than a by-the-books camp superhero film. The Bad: My problems with Avengers are so far and few inbetween that theyre virtually non-existent. Perhaps the pre-titles sequence was a little over-reliant on past series lore and could have done with one of the aforementioned superheroes, and the final battle was debatably a little longer than it might have needed to be. To be honest, though, those niggles are extremely picky on my part and their insignificance just highlights how much of a great time Ive had watching the movie again and again. The Verdict: In Stark (sorry, the puns will stop eventually!) contrast to Ghost Rider, Avengers Assemble literally embodies why the superhero film genre should be taken seriously by sceptics. From its bombastic and thrilling action sequences to the more personal and raw emotional scenes directed perfectly as per usual by Joss Whedon, there really isnt a dull moment in the entirety of the piece, which is saying something given its unusual length (140 minutes) for a Marvel film. If DC Entertainment are listening, then heres what they need to know: this is how you build up to a superhero ensemble movie and completely deliver on your fanbases expectations! 5 Stars