The Avengers

Rating : 8/10
Release Date : 27th April, 2012
Time : 142 minutes
Director, Co-writer : Joss Whedon; Co-Writer : Zak Penn, based on characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby ; Music : Alan Silvestri
Starring : Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgard, Gwyneth Paltrow

From the silly, (Tezz in the morning), to a stunning spectacle (Avengers in the afternoon).

Earth is under attack from a God, Loki, son of Odin and brother of Thor. They are after a cube that promises unlimited energy and also acts as a portal to space and some very trigger happy aliens. The Fury feels compelled to call in the now defunct Avengers. Iron Man. Black Widow. Hawkeye. Captain America. Oh and the geeky guy who goes green and grows big when angry.

Thor, the aggrieved brother, joins in. And we have a visual feast as gadgets and fights galore occur at the speed of roughly one per 5 minutes. And about the same frequency for fantastic, furiously funny one-liners.

It is a half baked story. The world invasion seems strangely Manhattan centric. The powers of Loki and his wand waver between insurmountable to eminently beatable. And the council, the fury seem to have powers greater than the president of the USA.

However, all of this is overshadowed by thrills and spills of the ‘shock and awe’ variety. The ship that goes invisible. The fight between Thor and Hulk. The tension between Iron Man & Captain America. The sinuous, sexy style of Black Widow. The cool hammer. The stupendous shield. The wand. The hi-tech arrows.

The moment of the movie was when Loki decides to lecture The Hulk about being a God. Or ‘Hulk, smash’. Or ‘we need a plan of attack ? I have a plan, attack !’

And despite the short amount of time they have per character, they manage to paint an engrossing picture of each, their frailties, skills and make us care for them.

This is boys with toys taken to another level. Its fun, witty, irreverent and we are transported to being kids again, watching with mouth agape as superheros struggle to save our planet.