Avengers Review

I only like the explosion-infused, action-packed, summer blockbusters to a certain extent. They tend to go in the way of Michael Bay: eye overload with little to no actual storytelling. The Avengers wasn't like that...ok not ENTIRELY like that.

First, it contained some great camera work. People tend to underestimate the power of good camera work. You can have all the neat special effects you want but if it's not presented in new and interesting ways the audience will get bored. Director/writer Joss Whedon shows you the action from every possible vantage point, it's like his camera is not burdened by the limits of conventional cinema. There is a moment when a character takes aim, then you see presumably what he is aiming at. At that moment the camera does a quick zoom and focus shot, something Whedon did many times in Firefly, and it has become kind of a signature of his. This comes from years of dedication and practice, but most of all incredible creativity and it really paid off for him in this.

Second, The music by Alan Silvestri was fantastic. His work always seems to have a layer of depth beneath it. While the good guys are fighting the bad guys we don't just hear a heroic anthem, it is layered with the seriousness of fighting a war. There are so many subtle and complex ways to stir emotion with music and Silvestri does a great job here.

Third, the story was there. It must have been nightmarish to take separate stories of six different comic book heroes and fuse them into one. I'll cut them some slack for the cheesy dialogue, because the plot stayed interesting and never branched into the formulaic. The writers made a funny and inspiring story about uniting against a common foe. The actors were spot-on and the characters had depth that the audience connected with.

Sometimes it's hard to know how much is enough. With multi-million dollar budgets the creators could afford to pump up the effects. There were many good things about the effects, like the aliens and fancy technology, I'm sure it will get a nomination in next year's Oscars. I applaud them for their ingenuity and creativity, but dock them several points for taking it too far. There were so many things for your eyes to focus on per second that mine actually started to hurt. So in that sense it did go the Michael Bay route. Watching in 3D made it worse. I'm also convinced that if you overload the audience's brain too soon they will be jaded and unimpressed by the end of the film.

Still, The Avengers was a fun heart pounding film that will be a treat for all those following the superhero saga. Comic book purists will no doubt find something to ridicule, but the common film enthusiasts will see it as the action packed adventure we've come to expect from our summer blockbusters. I for one am excited to see what Marvel comes up with next.