Welcome back to yet another part of our MCU series. After a quick break to watch the newest movie, we are back on schedule. Today, we look at The Avengers and everything that came with it. It ranked very high on the pre-watch, will it stay with its former glory?
The Avengers: Re-watch and Analysis
The Good
Fight Scenes
The Avengers was at the time the longest run time in the MCU, therefore, it made sense it was filled with action-packed fight scenes. From fighting each other to Loki to the massive army at the end, it felt like this was always entertaining.
The first big fight we got to see was Thor vs. Iron man and it did not disappoint. Even with the incredibly low-risk since we knew neither hero would be taken out so early in a film, the fight was filled with action and excitement. Showing what Iron Man’s suit could do against a demigod like Thor was awesome to see. However, then Captain America shows up and the scene becomes even better. Thor’s hammer vs. Cap’s shield is an outstanding scene that gets overshadowed due to the rest of the movie.
Next, you see fights on a plane vs. Loki and his minions. While this wasn’t quite as good it was still entertaining enough. The final battle was a long and drawn-out mayhem fight but the intense amount of action made it just that much better.
However, maybe the best part of the “fighting” was that of the characters themselves, which brings us to the next point.
Character Development
The development in this movie is top-notch and some of the best work in the early MCU. Watching all the Avengers and their egos work together is not only funny but cool to see. Starting out rough, it looks as if the crew won’t last long. However, thanks to the brilliance of Nick Fury, they find a way to bond together and put their differences aside.
While Black Widow and Hawkeye were easily two of the most forgettable parts, even they had some good moments. But the real work comes when they show three massive personalities in Stark, Thor, and Rogers together. Adding in Banner’s brilliant mind and it was quite the way to move through a movie.
Overall, the story-telling of these characters coming together to do what is best is not only well done but also a key moment we see repeated in the MCU. While at times it feels overdone, the original sure was amazing.
Humor
The Avengers movie did a good job of incorporating humor into the movie. Loki and Stark’s drink conversation was a hit, so was Stark’s shwarma bit. At times the MCU tends to also overdo this but they found a decent balance in the movie of funny but also serious.
At times cracking up the tension was what was needed. However, when it came down to it you always knew when even the heroes knew they needed to be serious. The mix of comedy and not just straight jokes and one-liners was a very nice balance.
The Bad
S.H.I.E.L.D. Logic
One of the biggest flaws in this movie was logic just to try and advance the plot or add something more. A huge part of this was having one of the biggest “protective” agencies in the world use absolutely zero logic in decision making. The first massive head-scratcher was not telling someone who can turn into the Hulk that they were going on a massive plane. This was all so they could try and have a cool “you better get inside” moment while the ship was transforming. In reality, it makes absolutely no sense. Neither does having him on the same plane with Loki either. It seems fairly reasonable a good way to get out of being caught is to enrage the Hulk. Why even bother risking it?
The next biggest issue is when S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to nuke the city just in case. The Avengers hadn’t shown any signs of slowing down yet they decide to release a nuke and guarantee you kill all the civilians instead of risking some dying. The logic in this is beyond flawed and it is a poor attempt to add drama but also cover up that they have no idea how they were supposed to stop the massive alien force.
Skipping Explanations
Another problem with the plot in this movie is how much they skipped just because. It is already a long movie so there is no doubt some stuff had to be cut. However, something massive at the end of Thor was that the portal to other dimensions was destroyed and he couldn’t revisit Earth. Yet in The Avengers he just comes back and it is barely even given an explanation. It’s like nothing even happened and destroys the end of what was already a poor movie.
Another explanation is how Erik Selvig would know how to input a safety switch into the machine Loki had him design. From all accounts, it appeared they were completely brainwashed and would do anything they could to help Loki. So, the addition of a switch once again because the plot demanded it was a little weak.
The last explanation was why hitting someone on the head got rid of the Tesseract’s mind control power. There was no real logical explanation as we barely knew how or why it worked. This was a small detail but having some more knowledge about this may have made the movie much better.
Overall: The Avengers
Overall, this is the best movie up to this point in the MCU. While we are only six movies in, it was still easily the strongest. Some plot flaws likely hold it down from being the very best in the MCU but the development of characters and action make it up there.
At two and a half hours this movie is a longer watch, however, easily worth it. A very easy movie to watch again and pick up on new details or see cool moments and action, this movie is still as enjoyable as remembered.
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