A whiz-bang superhero team

THE AVENGERS (2012)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

 All you need to know about superheroes is that they have special powers that enables them to perform extraordinary abilities. I wish I could say that when you see one superhero movie, you have seen them all. Not quite the case with the Marvel superheroes on hand here. From Captain America to Hulk to Thor to Iron Man, this is the sweet desert of an epic movie many fans have been waiting for. It is that, and more.

The gung-ho, patriotic Captain America (Chris Evans) has been frozen in ice for 50 years and is thawed out to help form the superhero team, the Avengers initiative, thanks to the persuasive Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick recruits other members, with the help of the formidable martial-arts expert and superspy Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), such as the reluctant Iron Man aka billionaire hotshot, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), and the semi-reluctant Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) who is always angry but hasn't turned into the Hulk for about a year. The mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is missing but not for long - he is searching for his adopted brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), a dangerous god from Asgard who wishes possession of the Tessaract, a glowing, impenetrable cube that allows the gods to travel from one dimension to the next. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is also on hand with his trusty bow and explosive-tipped arrows, but he ought to watch out for Loki's powerful scepter.

"The Avengers" gives us all the banter one might hope from these superheroes whose egos and personalities clash when they are in the same room. Thor fights Captain America and Iron Man while trying to capture Loki. Hulk and Thor also have their moment with giant green fists against a mighty hammer. When the Avengers are not fighting, they argue and try to one-up each other. Tony tries to get Bruce angry because he is "a big fan of the other guy." Tony also can't stand the "old man," that man being Captain America and his colorful outfit. Only Black Widow and Hawkeye seem to get along - they have a past history of being involved in minor political debacles, far removed from anything like gods, green-skinned monsters and alien ships.

The grand finale involving the aforementioned alien ships and alien beasties wearing visors and helmets felt a little off - who are these CGI-created hooligans from space? It felt a little like a hackneyed video-game in 3-D with all of these alien creatures falling into place a little too neatly. The focus on the story should have stuck with Loki, who manipulates others to do his destructive bidding early on. Could he not have done the same thing with our superheroes and turn them against each other? Still, despite various explosions of buildings and streets ripped apart like shredded paper (the comics featured just as much destruction), I cared about the superheroes enough to get through the calamity of it all. It is seemingly "Transformers"-type calamity, but with a lot more heart and more than one and a half dimensions. Michael Bay isn't half the director that newcomer film director Joss Whedon is.

Robert Downey, Jr. makes the most of the arrogant Tony Stark; Mark Ruffalo is an able Bruce Banner and impressive Hulk (the scene-stealer for sure); Jeremy Renner makes me root for his Hawkeye with his laser stare and archery skills; Scarlett Johannson (an actress I less than admire) gives us a whipsmart woman as Black Widow in this epic boys' tale, and Chris Evans is still the admirably old-fashioned Cap Man ("There is only one God, m'aam"). Tom Hiddleston is still the lecherous, Iago-type villain - displaying a tinge of regret about his estranged relationship with his hammer-loving brother. Two repartee scenes involving Loki and Tony Stark are about as engaging as one might expect. There is also a brief set of scenes involving Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg, who last appeared in "Thor"), the right-hand man to Nick Fury who wants his old Captain America trading cards to be signed by the man himself. It is moments like this, peppered throughout the film, that give it some soul, shape and dimension.

"The Avengers" is not the best superhero movie of all time (nor is it as grandly wondrous or enthralling as "Thor" or "Captain America") but it is a smart, snappy, rousing, occasionally lighthearted, furiously paced blockbuster film, giving comic-book fans and fans of these actors in particular a little bit of everything. These superegotistical heroes are not cardboard automatons - the actors give them humanity and individual personalities. And then they kick ass in the grand Marvel way.