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So how do you pose a threat to a demigod, a supersoldier, a man in an indestructible metal suit and a hulking green juggernaut? Well, you really can't. But with a surplus of loud explosions, massive battles, and limitless CG effects you can feign the right amount of adventure to appease fans of such monumental clashes between good and evil. The Avengers keeps the concepts simple enough, but piles on so much mayhem it can become wearisome to those not previously invested in its subjects and willing to readily believe in the delirious events transpiring on screen. If you're not cheering by the time our gang of superheroes takes down a giant mechanical space worm, you probably knew a long time ago this movie wasn't for you.
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As Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and the agents of the secret military agency S.H.I.E.L.D. attempt to harness the power of the extraterrestrial energy source known as the Tesseract, the villainous exiled demigod Loki (Tom Hiddleston) returns to Earth to steal it. Along with the cube, Loki brainwashes and kidnaps assassin Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and scientist Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) to aid in his devious plot to conquer all of humanity. To combat this new threat, Fury reinstitutes his scrapped "Avengers" initiative and sets about gathering together the world's greatest heroes - Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).
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The posing, evil grimacing to denote villainy, and arsenal of one-liners are at an all-time high in The Avengers, which works to assemble a group of superheroes that constantly compete for screen time, one-upmanship, and the last laugh. The humor is actually overdone, poking fun at all of the characters and situations to the point that audiences will probably question which absurdities they should be taking seriously. And that's detrimental in a film overflowing with fantastical silliness, both visually and from dialogue. It's bad enough that despite gods and alien worlds, the extremely advanced technology is still unbelievable - and that jargon like gamma signature, thermonuclear, quantum, fusion, and cognitive recalibration sound so ludicrously forced for the sake of convincing viewers that the Avengers' instruments are beyond general comprehension.
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Although it's not quite a sequel, it still only feels appropriate to measure it up to films like Transformers 3, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Iron Man 2, Superman Returns and the like. It's not as mind-numbingly nonsensical as a few of the aforementioned titles, but it doesn't look or feel original, and the abundance of special effects and overwhelming destruction create nonstop spectacle without substance. Never once is there any real peril; this is made upsettingly apparent with the inclusion of non-superheroes Black Widow and Hawkeye, who are just too drastically inferior to go up against global catastrophes initiated by intergalactic alien wargods. With a complete lack of definition for the various powers exhibited by the antagonists and protagonists alike, their massive demolition of Manhattan and battling one another for the title of "toughest superhero" means very little. They might as well all be invincible. No villain is formidable enough and no force threatening enough for these cartoonish CG-inundated extravagances to be sympathetic.
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Marvel movies know what they're doing: clear action, sharp performances, and intelligent screenplays. Of course, the studio is allowed their mistakes after so many successes (here's lookin' at you, Iron Man 2), but more often than not, Marvel nails it, especially in their set-up for the long awaited Avengers film. We've had Iron Man, Black Widow and The Incredible Hulk, we're getting Captain America, and now we have Thor - the god of thunder. Not just thunder, but lightening and fertility and strength (thanks, Wikipedia). And if anyone can embody fertility, strength, and inclement weather, it's Chris Hemsworth. Tall, blond, beefy - he has to be the ideal casting - and in a film racked with political intrigue, light hearted hysteria, and Shakespearean grandeur, Kenneth Branagh has to be the ideal director.
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The film opens on Asgard, a powerful kingdom in another world, where the respected king Odin (Anthony Hopkins) has two boys who both want the throne: the wry and clever Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and the arrogant and brutally strong Thor (Hemsworth). Thor is a proud warrior with a group of great friends who follow him into battle against the Frost Giants, a race his father once proudly defeated. Of course, this is against his father's wishes, so Thor gets stripped of his powers and his only weapon - that famous hammer - and both he and the hammer are banished to Earth through a wormhole. He lands in New Mexico, meeting (read: getting hit by the car of) three scientists: Jane (Natalie Portman), Erik (Stellan Skarsgard), and Darcy (Kat Dennings). His hammer lands shortly thereafter, and the hunt is on for him to get it back, with the help of the scientists. Meanwhile, a war begins to brew on Asgard between the kingdom and the Frost Giants in retaliation for Thor's invasion.
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It's interesting watching Thor adapt to his mortal form and get used to life on Earth. What's even more interesting is Branagh's tonal choices for the film - it's an incredibly light-hearted take, with beautifully designed special effects and 3D, and Branagh knows how to balance the humor (of which there's a lot) and the drama (which is heavy). Even when directing Hamlet back in '96, he had a strong grasp on finding humor in tragedy, and vice-versa. For a glimpse at the very dark side of his humor, and a better look at his directorial talents, check out Sleuth (2007) with Michael Caine and Jude Law. Most impressive, regarding the effects, was the use of the 3D format. I know my readers; they're thinking "Wait... he actually liked 3D?" And yes, I did. It served its purpose, this time; the film was dimly light, but the 3D action was clear and didn't distract from what was going on. 3D usually just makes a film darker, and this wasn't the case here.
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The performances are what sell films like this. Iron Man had one of Robert Downey, Jr.'s strongest performances in years; Edward Norton brought loads of empathy to the Hulk. Chris Hemsworth makes Thor believable, despite the utter unbelievability of the character and story in general. He plays Thor like a child, somewhat - maybe just a brash teenager with too much power - and learns to be the hero he needs to be. Natalie Portman might as well be a Disney princess, but her Jane Foster's infatuation for Thor is tangible, and they make the sweetest couple. Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings have incredible chemistry as a comedic team, and Skarsgard can steal scenes from anyone he chooses; he's a powerful actor. Anthony Hopkins mangles a bit of scenery, but his character is larger than life, so that might come with the territory.
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Smaller performances, however, truly seal the film together. Idris Elba has a small role as a castle guard, and leaves a haunting impression. Rene Russo comes back to the big screen as Thor's mother, and while she's barely noticeable, she provides what is basically a cameo with enough to be effective, without being distracting. It's good to see her again. Colm Feore gives a frighteningly smooth performance as the Frost Giant King Laufey; he's slimy and slippery with evil. Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye is also introduced, and Clark Gregg is back from the Iron Man movies as Agent Coulson, the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D., who is looking for Thor and the hammer. You know it's an Avengers movie because Coulson makes a few jokes at Tony Stark's expense.
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An example of the film's light hearted tone: Thor and the three scientists are in a New Mexico diner, and Thor runs out of coffee. "This drink is delicious! More!" he shouts, and slams his mug on the ground, like a Norse god might when demanding more wine. Portman's instantly maternal reaction kicks off the start of a beautiful friendship. Another example: the discovery of the hammer lodged in a rock in the middle of the desert leads to a series of Sword and the Stone-like attempts to pull it out. There's a cameo you don't want to miss there. And, as per usual for Marvel, there's a scene after the credits that sets up a following film.
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I'm looking forward to seeing more of Chris Hemsworth, hopefully not in too many Thor movies, as he has the talent to not just be an action hero; and if there is another Thor movie, I'd love for the same cast to come back, with Branagh directing them again. I think maybe I've just been spoiled, but the whole project would just feel different otherwise. This is the best of the Avenger films since the first Iron Man, and one of the best superhero films I've seen in a while. It makes up, certainly, for The Green Hornet, and is a hell of a start for the superhero season. Captain America comes out soon, The Green Lantern after that, then the Spider-Man reboot... even if they wind up being terrible, at least we have Thor to fall back on. And who better to rely on than him?
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This year, superheroes are going to be the in-thing to dress up as. With the upcoming releases of The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, costumes of these superheroes are going to be flying off the shelves for both the premieres of these movies and also for Halloween. Because of this, it might be helpful to know which superhero costumes are going to be the most popular this year.
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Let us begin with The Dark Knight Rises since it will prove to be the easier selection. When The Dark Knight came out in 2008, people couldn't get costumes of our favorite DC superhero off the shelves fast enough. Add to this the sudden and tragic death of Heath Ledger, and you have a Halloween that was filled with people dressed up as Batman and his arch-villain, The Joker. The thing is that this fad didn't stop there. Even three years later, there would always be at least one person dressed up as either Batman or Heath Ledgers' Joker at every Halloween and costume party.
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The result is that without a doubt, this year with the release of The Dark Knight Rises, we will have a similar rush for Batman costumes. This means that the costume stores are going to be packed with people trying to get a new Batman costume for the release of the new film, or so that they can be the trendiest hero at this year's Halloween parties.
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However, if the Dark Knight isn't really your preference when it comes to super-powered vigilantes, or if you prefer Marvel Comics to DC, then you are probably going to be one of the many who will be lining up to dress up as an Avenger this year. If so, then you're in luck. As it turns out, a lot of costume stores are getting in shipments this Summer for costumes of your favorite Marvel superheroes. Among these will be Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk, and even Hawkeye and Nick Fury.
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The question is, which one of these heroes is everyone going to want to look like when it's time to celebrate Halloween? In only the past few years, we've seen the release of this movie's prequels which included Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk. However, not all of these superheroes were as well represented during the costume parties of the years that the movies came out. For example, how often have you seen a person dressed as the Hulk? Was it as often as someone dressed as Batman? The answer to the latter question is probably a no, and it's no wonder why. The Hulk is a difficult guy to dress up as, and you have to be pretty big in order to pull it off.
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So this leads us to the question of which of the Avengers costumes will fly off the shelves this year? The answer to that question will probably either be Captain America or Thor. The reason for this is a simple process of elimination. While everyone loves Iron Man, it will be very difficult to find a costume that will look authentic enough to those who really want to do the alcoholic, womanizing hero justice. How do you get a costume made completely of iron? For that matter, how do you wear one?
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As for Nick Fury, Hawkeye, and Black Widow, while each of these characters is cool in their own way, they are either not known enough, or they are generally pushed in the background by the heavy-hitters like Iron Man, Captain America, and Hulk. That isn't to say that there won't be plenty of Nick Fury costumes around, it just means that they won't be flying off the shelves like others will. As for Black Widow, this costume is marketed completely to women, and while there are many females who might love an action-packed movie based off of a comic book, it still won't necessarily be enough to make this costume difficult to find this year.
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This leaves us with Captain America and Thor. While the Norse god of thunder is a favorite for many, previous years have shown that when it comes to these two superheroes, people prefer to dress up as Captain America. So, if fighting Nazis with government-given superpowers is your style, then you may want to pick up a Captain America costume before they fly off the shelves this year.
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Last week during a special screening of Captain America: The First Avenger a teaser trailer for next year's superhero extravaganza The Avengers was shown following The First Avenger's end credits. Whilst it didn't give much away, it was successfully able to generate an insane amount of excitement for next year's film, showing Warner Bros how it's done when it comes to teasers for their superhero films.
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Unlike the teaser trailer for Warner Bros The Dark Knight Rises, Marvel were willing to give the fans a first hand look at all the characters from The Avengers in costume. Unfortunately, I'm unable to load the trailer as Disney were quick to pull it down, but what I can say is that the costumes are a mix of Ultimate/616 styles.
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The trailer started with Steve Rogers punching a punch bag, when Nick Fury walks in to talk about a mission, which don't actually find out what the mission is. The music then begins and we get treated to some great shots of Iron Man, Thor, (Mix of Ultimate costume and Ages of Thunder) Black Widow (Iron Man 2 costume), Hawkeye (Ultimate) and Bruce Banner.
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We were then shown the first glimpse of the Avengers in the same room together, as Nick Fury was talking to Tony Stark, whilst Captain America was sitting down. Thor was leaning against a wall, and we also got a first look at Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner. I can't quite remember if the Incredible Hulk was shown, but I can guarantee if he was in the trailer it was nothing special. Cue lots of action shots as Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye shoots something causing an explosion, Scarlett Johansson in action as the Black Widow and Iron Man flying in the air, with Thor throwing his hammer to reveal the Avengers logo coming May 2012.
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It had to be one of the greatest teaser trailers I've ever seen. Again, unlike the teaser trailer from Warner Bros The Dark Knight Rises, Marvel gave fans something new to be excited about. None of the footage was reused, and seeing all the characters in costume just illustrated how amazing it is that the Avengers movie is actually happening. Was the trailer too revealing? No. We still don't know anything specific about the plot (unless you've read Samuel L Jackson's stolen script). We didn't seen much interaction between the characters, therefore any character specific sub-plots such as Tony Stark's surprise to meet the super soldier his father always spoke about remain a surprise.
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I have to give it to Marvel. They've worked really hard to build this film up and based on the teaser trailer alone, it looks like it will almost definitely pay off. Just seeing the online reception alone to the leaked teaser trailer is staggering.
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The Avengers are one of the greatest comic book teams ever created. Originally debuting in 1963 as a superhero team consisting of Ant-Man, Thor, Wasp, Hulk and Iron Man, The Avengers have gone on to have a huge rotating roster over the years, consisting of aliens, mutants, gods, super soldiers, robots and supernatural beings. With Avengers popularity at an all time high, I've chosen to discuss who I personally think is the best Avenger of all time.
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(Bio)Clint Barton was born in Waverly, Iowa and lost his parents at a young age. After spending 7 years at an orphanage, Clint ran away to the carnival where he became a master archer. After seeing Iron Man in action, Clint was inspired to become a superhero, but a misunderstanding on his first outing forced him to go on the run as a falsely accused thief. Clint then met the Soviet spy, The Black Widow who persuades Clint to steal technology from Iron Man. After the mission proves unsuccessful, Hawkeye decides to stay solo, but is later convinced to become an Avenger after Iron Man sponsors him, believing Clint is serious about becoming a hero.
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Some people are sceptical that compared to the likes of Iron Man and Thor, Hawkeye is going to look weak when appearing next to his teammates when The Avengers is released in 2012. What makes Hawkeye such a relatable and engaging character is that he is just a normal man, standing amongst gods and super soldiers. Many people have compared to him to Han Solo in the sense that, he isn't afraid to get in other people's faces. Hawkeye's backbone is his dynamic with the other Avengers. He often clashes with Iron Man over authority issues, which can also lead to conflicts with other Avengers such as Captain America.
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One of the best examples of how Hawkeye should be portrayed is in the recent animated show The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The show depicts Clint as a former S.H.I.E.L.D agent who has a large attitude, which keeps him on the outskirts of the Avenger's team. Despite only been a fringe member of the team, Hawkeye has some great standout action moments in the series.
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I'm not the biggest fan of Mark Millar's Ultimate Hawkeye interpretation. Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the black-ops aspect of the character, I found Ultimate Clint to be slightly generic, and his character was too similar to The Punisher (although there was some standout moments in The Ultimates 2 for Clint).
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We've seen a glimpse of how Hawkeye will be portrayed next year from Jeremy Renner's brief cameo in Thor. So far it looks like a reasonably fresh concept for the archer avenger, but there are definitely elements drawn from The Ultimate series. The recent concept art for Hawkeye's costume for The Avengers movie more or less confirms this.
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So there you have it. My favourite Avenger is not a god, or a man in a weapons suit. It's simply a guy who uses a bow and arrow. Hawkeye hasn't had the best treatment in mainstream Marvel comics recently, but hopefully come next year when everyone see's what a great character he is that will all change.
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The Avengers is a collective name for a group of Superheroes that have banded together to fight evil since 1963. There is a new movie in production about The Avengers that is due for release in 2012, written and directed by Joss Whedon of Buffy and Firefly fame. The main characters of the film are Thor, Captain America, The Black Widow, Hawkeye and the Incredible Hulk.
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Most of the Superheroes in the film already have Halloween costumes in the stores based on their characters from previous stand alone productions and the comic book series that have run for many years. Hawkeye may be the exception and a costume based on his character is hard to find just now. But the costumes for the other members of the merry band are wonderful. Thor and Captain America have had new costumes released based on their respective movies. Iron Man and The Black Widow costume ideas had a revamp last year. Hulk costumes haven't changed very much over the last few years which may be due to the introduction of CGI into films in a massive way and with the Hulk being such a big guy!
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So if you are looking for a group of Halloween costumes for your family or your friends The Avengers may just be a great idea for you. Granted there is only one ladies outfit but what an outfit!
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In the UK during the 60's and the 70's there was a long running TV series called The Avengers but this should not be confused with Marvels Avengers unless you want your costume to be a business suit topped off with a bowler hat! But to be fair the UK show was still about crime fighters fighting evil but without any super powers, only a bit of martial arts, and plenty of style.
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Whilst staying on the subject of the UK there was once upon a time a Captain Britain who joined Marvels Avengers for a short while around 1976.
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More famous Avengers who I don't think are appearing in next years film are Spider-Man and Wolverine of X-Men fame. So plenty of scope for a big group of Halloween party animals to choose from if they want to go beyond the boundaries of the movie.
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There have been a few Halloween costumes for couples and groups over the years, Batman and Robin were a very famous duo, popular for dressing up as. Pirates make an easy group to re-produce but children and teenagers today demand costumes that will make their friends declare "that's awesome" when suggested as an idea for Halloween.
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Superheroes fit the bill brilliantly when it comes to disguising yourself and with the crime fighting, never say die Avengers costumes out there, then there's something for everyone.
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It's literally the biggest comic book movie ever made. It's taken four years and five movies to make and in May of this year, Marvel will finally unleash The Avengers on screen. However, would anyone that hasn't seen any of the movies beforehand be familiar enough with The Avengers concept, based on how Marvel has been marketing it so far?
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The Dark Knight Rises doesn't come out until July of this year. Yet, Warner Bros. has already officially released a teaser trailer, a full trailer and a six-minute prologue. It seems strange that compared to The Dark Knight Rises, Marvel have only officially released one Avengers trailer, and a slightly altered international version. Granted audiences will flock to the movie anyway, but is Marvel making enough of the opportunity to put their cinematic franchise leagues ahead of DC's final Batman picture?
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What kind of marketing am I expecting? Well, seeing as Black Widow and Hawkeye haven't had a great deal of screen time in previous movies, why not release character vignettes from them both, showcasing a few of their moments in The Avengers movie so audiences can familiarise themselves with the characters beforehand. It would certainly help their character development if audiences knew whom Black Widow and Hawkeye were heading into the movie. It's an alternative route, if Marvel would prefer not to release a new trailer so soon.
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I'm also surprised at the lack of merchandise so far. The Avengers will undoubtedly attract a lot of kids, what better way to solidify that then by getting toy lines and other merchandise out early. I remember when the Phantom Menace line was released before the movie; I was stoked to see all of these new characters and couldn't wait to see the movie as a result. The same applies to video games. There has been no news of any Avengers game in development (after one got cancelled) yet video games are a great way to generate hype for a movie. Imagine seeing your favourite Avengers that aren't in the film given the movie concept treatment. Even if movie games all tend to suck, it's why there's so many of them. Getting some merchandise out early couldn't hurt.
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I understand Marvel is probably playing it safe for now. If they start the hype machine too early, they run the risk of it fading out before the movie even hits theatres, however I believe the matter is more to do with Joss Whedon trying to keep aspects of the film under wraps for now. Aspects such as what army is supporting Loki in his quest to conquer Earth, and if any other villains or heroes appear. You can only look at Wolverine: Origins as an example of marketing damaging the movie. When Fox released a trailer showcasing Deadpool (or Barackapool as the IC calls him) fans panned the movie before release, some even calling for a boycott. Marvel is probably just trying to avoid making the same mistake. Especially if the army is revealed to be Hydra, instead of the Skrulls or Atlanteans.
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I'm sure nearer to April/May The Avengers marketing will pick up speed, but for now, let's just hope a new trailer hits soon. The first trailer was a little too much Tony Stark for my liking. This is an ensemble movie after all.
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An entire Indian generation has come a long way today, and this reviewer is one of them. From playing that DataEast game which announced 'The Avengers' in a baritone that would make Amitabh Bachchan look puny, to watching them in true blue 3D on the big screen - we have survived. This week, we review The Avengers, a unique movie that has more than five superheroes, and does justice to all of them. Here is the complete review of The Avengers.
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Loki, he of the golden horns who had earlier made life difficult for Thor in the movie Thor, runs a pact with an unknown race, an alien race, will help him extract his revenge, if he opens a portal for them to attack Earth. Loki does what he is told, and steals the Tessaracat (a McGruber if there ever was one), and opens a portal for the other world to attack Earth. Loki steals the Tessaract, takes a group of scientists and Hawkeye under his command, and opens up a portal that brings the aliens onto Earth.
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Because this threat has never been experienced by Nicky Fury and the S.H.I.E.L.D, they come up with a new plan, set up The Avengers, a team which would have Earth's best superheroes, and in their own words, "If they won't be able to save it, they would at least be around to avenge it". How, and whether The Avengers save Earth this around forms the rest of the story.
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Given the movie has a wafer thin plot, it is surprising that it runs for a little over two hours, and it is also surprising that there's not a single moment where you would want to not watch The Avengers do their stuff. There's Iron Man, there's The Hulk, there's Captain America, there's Thor, there's Black Widow and Hawkeye.
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Some fans would think that Hawk and Black Widow would get less screentime, or their characters would just be space fillers, but that is not the case. Both of them have quite a fleshed out role, when it comes to a movie that has seven protagonists, with four of them having their own movies, the Hawk and Black Widow characters have been used very well.
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The best performances and characterizations is a mixed bag between Iron Man, Hulk and Loki. All three characters are so well written, that you would want to either go out and rent all the Marvel movies, just to know what these characters have been doing all this life.The best part of the movie is the dialogues. Each and every character has one dialogue that makes them the best out of the lot. There are several ooh and aah moments, and that moment where Captain America's shield would be hit by Thor's Mjolin is also shown in the movie.
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The dialogues given to all the characters are top class, and you will certainly not want to bat an eyelid after the interview. The movie does lag a bit before the interval, but we should cut them some slack, as they had to introduce seven superheroes in a single movie. Everyone has their moments, and the movie of course tries to put a reply to some of the oldest questions in comiclore - what would happen if the Mjolnir hits Captain America's shield, what happens Thor and Iron Man, the two singlemost obnoxious and attitude laden men meet each other - etc, etc, etc.
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Loki is pure evil, while Iron Man is still the brash, flamboyant person who just saves the world because there's nobody else that'd do it. There's also The Hulk, who would easily fit in as one of the most confused characters in the history of the Marvel Universe. It's Captain America and Thor with their old school concepts that add some value to the ongoing mayhem on screen.
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The action sequences are pure, unadulterated fun. Though we still consider that the sequences in The Incredible Hulk were the best action sequences ever done in a superhero movie, the half an hour long battle sequence in The Avengers comes a very close second.To put it in a capsule, The Avengers is a very strong, well-made superhero movie that promises more bang for your buck than ever. If there could one thing that it suffers from, then it would be the old age discussion about how Marvel Comics characters are more or less popcorn ones, compared to the deeper, darker ones over at DC. And with both the universes being turned into movies now, the Avengers would not be the best bet for people who want some darker, more intense superhero movies.
