Avengers Assemble

UK Release Date. 26 April 2012
Certification. 12A
Running Time. 2 hours 23 mins
Director. Joss Whedon
Cast. Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Clark Gregg, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Stellan Skarsgård, Cobie Smulders.

Rating. 90%

Review.

Phase One of Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe concluded in 2012 with Avengers Assemble. By this point in time, the audience had been introduced to Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). But Avengers Assemble was an unprecedented superhero movie release. The effect the film had on the genre - and blockbuster movies as a whole - cannot be overstated. 

Following on from the events of Thor, an aggrieved Loki (Tom Hiddleston) attempts to conquer Earth with the help of an alien army, the Chitauri. The invasion culminates in the spectacular Battle of New York as Loki's forces enter Earth's atmosphere through a wormhole created by the Tesseract [the significance of which was not yet apparent].

The undeniable strength of Avengers Assemble is the pacing. The film flows smoothly and is perfectly balanced where storytelling is concerned. For all its humour, there are several sobering moments. It also helps that Avengers Assemble is one of Marvel Studios' most quotable films, e.g.

Loki: "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

Tony Stark: "The Avengers. That's what we call ourselves; we're sort of like a team. "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" type thing."

Loki: "Yes, I've met them."

Tony Stark: "Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here. Your brother the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

Loki: "That was the plan."

Tony Stark: "Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

Loki: "I have an army."

Tony Stark: "We have a Hulk."

Loki: "I thought the beast had wandered off..."

Tony Stark: "You're missing the point! There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it!"

Avengers Assemble could have easily collapsed under its own weight. The enormous cast all needed to have substantial storylines. What is remarkable is that the film succeeds as well as it does. This success can be attributed to the charisma of its stars (and their characters), but mostly due to the talents of writer and director, Joss Whedon. Whedon's writing keeps the film grounded and epic simultaneously. There are a lot of action sequences, but Whedon ensures that each character is afforded a few moments to shine out of costume, so that the audience is able to connect with them. It is remarkable that the film is able to provide every single character with a storyline that is engaging and complex. Even some of the less well-known characters like Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are given ample screen time. Indeed, Black Widow’s compelling plot enables Whedon to, once again, write a strong, smart female character.

The opening meetings, exchanges and confrontations between the principal characters are a masterclass in escalation and anticipation. There’s a reason why the iconic, circling shot of the unified team works as well as it does, and it isn’t just because of Alan Silvestri’s rousing score. All of The Avengers’ narrative arcs feed into this moment; the film's plot strands unite as the characters do themselves.

No matter what you were hoping for from Avengers Assemble, the film delivered. In doing so, Avengers Assemble demonstrated that Marvel Studios had a vision and a plan to make that vision come to life. The Infinity Saga.