by James Owen
MPAA Rating:
PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence throughout, and a mild drug reference.
Director: Joss Whedon
Studio: Paramount and Marvel Studios
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/the Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/the Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Tom Hiddleson as Loki, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Stellan Skarsgard as Dr. Erik Selvig, Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, and Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill
What's the only thing better than a superhero? How about a team of superheroes?
In Marvel's The Avengers, writer and director Joss Whedon breaks cinematic ground as he brings some of the most legendary superheroes in history together into one film.
When the alien artifact known as the Tesseract falls into the hands of a dangerous and vengeful god named Loki (Tom Hiddleson), Colonel Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) brings together a team of incredible people called "the Avengers" to stop this dangerous foe. The heroes include the Captain America (Chris Evans), the billionaire genius Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) the god of thunder, and the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Along with them are the elite assassin, the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and the expert bowman Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).
Themes
The film focuses on the ideas of teamwork and sacrifice. Early on, the team struggles to get past the individual's own arrogance and independence to achieve what they need to. During a large argument, Bruce Banner (the Hulk) comments in disgust, "What are we? A team? No...we're a time-bomb." The Avengers also addresses the idea of sacrifice for the team. Tony Stark is an arrogant and complacent character who was defined as volatile, self-obsessed, and narcissistic. Captain America comments angrily, "The only thing you really fight for is yourself." He adds, "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play: to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." Tony replies arrogantly, sticking his chin out, "I think I would just cut the wire." Throughout the movie, characters display their willingness to put themselves in harm's way to save others.
Content
As a whole, The Avengers displays family friendly content and themes.
The action is violent, but is not very graphic. At the beginning of the movie, Loki harnesses the Tesseract's power to completely level a S.H.I.E.L.D. compound. Loki uses a small device with spinning blades to scan a man's eye, although he gives the impression that he is shredding it. No gore is shown, though. (SPOILER ALERT!) Agent Coulson: one of the key agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, is impaled by Loki through the chest and is killed. In the climax of the movie, aliens invade New York City and do all kinds of damage and it's obvious that several people would have died.
The language of this movie is fairly mild. The strongest that it gets is one whisper of "Oh s**t." "H**l" and "d**n" are used four or five times each. "P**s" is used twice. "A**" is used once. Loki uses the British vulgarity "quim."At one point Tony Stark questions Bruce Banner about how he keeps the Hulk in check. "What's your secret?" he asks. "Yoga? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"
Near the beginning of the movie, the Black Widow wears a dress revealing cleavage. Other female characters, including the Black Widow, wear tight, form-fitting bodysuits. Tony comments about Pepper "bunking over" with him. Pepper appears to whisper a suggestive comment into Tony's ear.
Conclusion
In all of the build up to this film since 2008,
Marvel's The Avengers delivers everything expected of it and much more. The characters, even though they are superheroes, are well rounded and down-to-Earth. You will care what happens to them. The all-star cast delivers an extraordinary performance of these extraordinary characters. Even though nearly half of the movie is computer generated, the action is engaging and fun.
As Loki's forces begin to invade the Earth, the Avengers feel helpless. "How do we do this?" they ask. Captain America faces the invading forces confidently and replies, "As team." And this team is one that will be remembered forever.
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