The Avengers (2012)

Written and Directed by Joss Whedon (Serenity, Much Ado About Nothing)

What can I say about The Avengers that hasn’t already been said a dozen times in a dozen thinkpieces and retrospectives? What can I possibly add to the discourse on this relatively universally acknowledged masterpiece? Maybe not much, but I’m certainly going to have fun talking about it. The centerpiece of a years-long build-up, the first Avengers film is, above all else, a celebration. It’s a joyous romp through the possibilities that big-screen superheros permit. It’s what everyone didn’t know they wanted until they had it. It’s a genius step forward, and still one of the best-executed movies in the entire MCU. The plot is simplicity itself. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has returned from exile with a mysterious cosmic patron and an army at his back. The only thing that can possibly stop him is the unification of every hero we’ve yet seen in these movies. Agent Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) puts the pieces in motion to get Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Thor, and the Hulk (a very well recast Mark Ruffalo) working together to take out the enemy army and save New York.

The plot may be simple, but the execution is anything but. It’s hard to remember how uncertain a prospect this film was before it actually happened. Absolutely no one was actually sure that something like this could be pulled off. A kind of semi-sequel to five separate movies, some of which some of the audience might not have seen, and steeped heavily in complicated world mythology? That was never going to be a sure thing, at least until it was. These tentpole Avengers movies seem so normal now that it’s hard to remember a time when they were a pretty risky experiment, but they absolutely were. Joss Whedon makes it all look easy. Formerly an almost exclusively TV director, he had always had a way with ensemble casts and banter, and this movie utilizes those abilities to the furthest extent imaginable. Almost every scene crackles with chemistry, with a new relationship explored or a new question answered. Who would win in a fight? How would these two get along? What’s the worst that could happen? It’s a formula that keeps the viewer constantly engaged with what’s going on in the movie, always paying attention for the next fun match-up. Perhaps even more impressively, almost all of these interactions actually work. The interactions are firmly rooted in character, so they entertain and simultaneously make the viewer feel intelligent for understanding why characters behave the way they do. It’s impressive scripting throughout, balancing all the spinning plates with seeming ease.

The movie opens with a bang, wasting almost no time in establishing stakes and introducing us to the villain. After the inciting incident it evolves into a series of ‘putting together the team’ scenes where each of the heroes is brought in or incentivized to help with the common cause of saving the world. Each of these scenes is great, dripping with characterization and rewarding long-term viewers, while remaining accessible to the uninitiated. Since none of the characters know each other yet, there are helpful, unintrusive summaries to bring everyone in the audience up to speed. They’re mostly there in the form of the aforementioned excellent incidental dialogue. And once everyone’s together, the movie elevates to the next level. The first big ‘everything goes wrong’ fight scene is an amazing showcase of exactly what people wanted out of a movie like this. It does indulge in the unfortunate trope of the villain wanting to be caught as part of their master plan, but it should be forgiven because for once that actually plays into the villain’s character and all the heroes recognize it. The movie excels at always giving every character something to do in every major scene, which is harder than it sounds considering the incredibly disparate power levels of some of the heroes on the roster. Having what basically amounts to a God and just a pretty strong guy in the same fight should be ridiculous, but this movie somehow pulls it off every time. It manages to make the stakes of whether Thor or the Hulk will win a titanic fist fight seem pretty comparable to whether or not Captain America will be able to pull a lever.

The movie works despite what should be problems. It’s pacing is kind of shaggy, and it follows no discernible traditional structure in terms of its plot. Trying to map it to three acts will make you slowly lose your mind, but it gets away with it somehow. It’s theme is basically the same as My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but that simplicity works in its favor. Sometimes, evidently, we want to watch a movie where the power of friendship overcomes the forces of evil in spectacular fashion, and this movie gives us exactly that. Honestly, this movie could have botched a lot of things, and if it still gave us the rotating shot of the team finally united, I would still forgive it. That shot has (rightfully) become one of the most iconic not just of the trend of superhero movies, but I would argue of the 21st Century in general. It’s hard to believe that it comes almost a half hour before the end of the movie, it seems so climactic. Really, everything after that is just Marvel throwing itself a gigantic party about how amazing it is, and yet we’re still along for the ride because it feels so earned, and so exuberant.

There’s so much more to say about it, as well. The villain is astonishingly nuanced, if still very evil. It features the only fight in the entire MCU against mooks that actually works (this is largely due to the fact that the focus is on how the heroes are working together, not the mooks themselves). The first meeting of the holy trinity of the MCU is an amazing fight that still thrills even years on. Agent Coulson’s death is legitimately devastating even though he was a relatively minor character. He gets just enough development and dialogue for you to really feel the force of it when he’s gone. And what this movie does for Tony Stark needs very little introduction. In many ways, this is almost another Iron Man movie, just due to the amount of development the character gets by the end. This was a good idea both because Iron Man was by far the most recognizable of the characters at that point, and also because he needs the development to maintain our interest. His growth forms the core of the emotional arc of the film, with him finally having to make the tough decision that Cap challenged him to upon their first meeting. It’s a satisfying conclusion, and manages to find that suspension of disbelief that can often be so difficult when you know there’s another movie coming down the line. The sacrifice feels real and weighty, with or without Iron Man 3 confirmed for next year. Everything about this movie just works. It turns potential failures into success, and cemented a promising trend into a film legacy that continues to this day. It’s a nearly unprecedented work in the history of film, and it deserves its spot in the books that will eventually be written about it.

Overall:

Stray Thoughts:

• This section could just be a series of quotes that I like from this movie, but I’ll try to keep myself to just three:
• “I’m always angry”
• “I get that reference”
• “If we can’t defend the Earth, you can be damn sure we’ll avenge it.”
• Alright, that’s all.
• Ruffalo is a trade-up from Norton in every way here. He is amazing in every scene that he is in. The little parts of his performance, like the simple, anxious way he carries himself, are inspired.
• Black Widow’s intro scene is wonderful, action-packed, and hilarious. Johansson is a great facial actor as well, really selling the terror during the Hulk showdown(s).
• I like that the climax takes some time to show civilians being saved. That kind of stuff is really important in these movies, and needs to be done more often.
• In any other movie, Mariah Hill (Cobie Smulders) would get a full discussion because she’s so cool. This movie is just so generous that she only gets this footnote.
• Post-credits Scene 1: Very nice. A tease at the greater shape of the Marvel cosmic universe that they couldn’t possibly know exactly how they were going to pay off, but that still feels exciting as that reveal is finally coming to a conclusion this month.
• Post-credits Scene 2: Excellent. Everyone loves this one, and rightfully so. It’s so delightfully casual, so communicative without saying anything. Shawarma, indeed.
• Stan Lee cameo: I love this one. It’s very simple, saved almost until the end, and it’s fun. It makes me smile every time I see it.