Written by Joss Whedon and Zak Penn
Directed by Joss Whedon

This is the movie that so many of the films before it have been building up to. Although some of the films that preceded it don’t need to be viewed to understand what’s going on here, I believe that without viewing Thor in particular, a viewer will end up lost. If you have a basic knowledge of Captain America, Iron Man, and Hulk, it’s pretty easy to pick up the storylines in this film.

The Tesseract is a cube-shaped item that supplies an unlimited amount of energy and is currently in the possession of the humans on Earth. There are other beings out there, though, who understand it more and seek its power. At SHIELD Headquarters, Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) has been conducting tests on it when it begins turning itself on and off. The building is evacuated, and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives. The Tesseract begins “misbehaving” again while he’s there and opens a portal of some kind, which allows Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to come through. Loki is protected by the same power of the Tesseract and can also wield it as a weapon. He escapes the facility with Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Selvig under his control. Fury, Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), and Agent Hill (Cobie Smulders) watch all they have worked to build be destroyed.

Nick Fury must deal with the World Security Council, which is in charge of him. He must convince them that it’s time to bring these people together, even though The Avengers Initiative was abandoned.

It’s time to call in The Avengers.

Cut to Russia, where Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) seems to be in trouble. A cell phone rings, and it’s Agent Coulson demanding to speak to her. He tells her that Barton was compromised, and she manages to incapacitate the men who were holding her, showing just how much she was really in control of the situation. He tells her she has to bring in “the Big Guy.”

Somewhere in India, a child visits a local man who is considered to be a healer and asks him to visit her father. Instead of a sick man, he’s met by Natasha Romanoff. It’s David Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and Natasha has to convince him to come in with her. The Tesseract emits a gamma radiation signal, and he’s the most knowledgeable about gamma radiation.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is working out his frustrations at the gym. Nick Fury goes to him and shows him the file on the Tesseract. He tells Fury they should have left it in the ocean.

Agent Coulson visits Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who is having dinner with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). He gives him a computer to use as a briefing on what’s going on. Coulson is then charged with bringing Steve to the new SHIELD headquarters in the middle of the ocean, and he fanboys over Captain America on the way. What appears to be an aircraft carrier at sea is actually the infamous Heli-Carrier. Banner gets to work on finding the Tesseract despite his misgivings about being “trapped” on board.

Meanwhile, Loki is building his headquarters. He talks with the leader of the forces waiting to attack Earth in a different realm and knows he has made a deal with the devil.

SHIELD traces Loki to Germany. He goes to a reception to steal something and then tells the crowd outside to submit to him. One man stands up to him. Captain America comes in and saves him. He’s not faring well one-on-one with Loki, but then Iron Man arrives. They take Loki prisoner all too easily. As they are headed towards the Heli-Carrier, there’s a lightning storm. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) arrives and grabs Loki off the Heli-Carrier. He tries to talk sense into Loki. They are interrupted by Iron Man. Loki is amused while Thor and Iron Man fight,

Loki is taken prisoner to the ship, where he’s placed in isolation, believing that will prevent him from doing anything. However, Loki knows exactly what he’s doing.

The Avengers is the film that gathers all of the superheroes together for the first time. There are more to come, but for now, the heroes that have been seen on film first gather together in this film. Of course, knowing what the future holds now, there are some parts that don’t hold up as well. One of the big questions I have is why Nick Fury didn’t call in Captain Marvel. You would think that this is one of those “Emergencies” she gave him that beeper for. As originally scripted, no one knew about her yet.

There is an answer to that to be found in the deleted and expanded scenes, although it doesn’t make Nick Fury look all that great. Did he engineer all of this just to have the team bond with each other to fight off the threat? It seems when he is talking to his bosses at the World Security Council, it’s hinted that all of this was done to have these very individualistic personalities learn to work together. Considering all of the death and destruction that occurs in the film, that is startling. Is it okay to serve up people and places to unwillingly die and be destroyed? Do the ends justify the means? This is a question that will come up in the future in the MCU, and the scene was rightly cut from this movie. It makes it look like us ordinary folk are considered to be collateral damage, completely expendable in furthering the idea of a network of superheroes to protect Earth. Who exactly are they protecting?

SHIELD is a much bigger thing than we’ve been led to believe up until now. I’ve seen Nick Fury and Agent Coulson, but it’s much larger than the two of them. There are two facilities that belong to SHIELD, both of which are pretty much destroyed during the course of the film. I wonder how the taxpayers are going to feel about that.

Nick Fury blames the need for secrecy and deception on Thor. I can’t imagine that in the time between Thor and this movie they could accomplish all of this, so it had to be in the works for some time. There’s a new regular character in Agent Hill. She seems to be somewhere between Agent Coulson and Nick Fury in the chain of command. The idea that Thor is what prompted them to work harder, knowing there were beings they might have to battle in the future who are much stronger than anything on Earth, works for having Selvig working with them. I wonder if Natalie Portman was unavailable, unwilling, or if they didn’t write her part into this film.

Steve Rogers: Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?
Tony Stark: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.
Steve Rogers: I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I’ve seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. 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 Stark: I think I would just cut the wire.
Steve Rogers: Always a way out… You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.
Tony Stark: A hero? Like you? You’re a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!
Steve Rogers: Put on the suit. Let’s go a few rounds.

The Avengers is where the various personalities come together. They won’t work well with each other as their egos are too large. Tony Stark has always been conceited, but at least with David Banner he meets his match in scientific knowledge. Tony does give him a slightly different perspective on the monster inside him. Steve hates Tony at this point. He’s full of himself beyond what Steve knew of his father. Natasha knows Stark hates her from their interaction in Iron Man 2. It’s her skill set, though, that uncovers Loki’s plan.

That they all fall right into it is unsurprising.

The action can’t be beat, and with that goes the special effects. The battle scenes in this movie are second to none, especially the Battle of New York. The CGI monsters invading the planet are like nothing we ever saw before when first viewing it. Some of the extras are insightful as to how things like The Hulk were accomplished in the film. I do like Mark Ruffalo’s version of The Hulk the best of the three I’ve seen portray him.

The relationship between Natasha and Clint Barton is also first developed here. They have a past that’s hinted at and never shown, not even in the future film that gives more of her background. She wants to rescue him from Loki more than anything. We don’t know much about him yet, but there is a bond between them that won’t be broken for a long time.

Watching the extras, which show how the film was made, there’s a deeper appreciation for what the actors go through on a film like this. Often, they are acting with a partial set and a green screen for the rest of the setting, which will be filled in at post-production. I can’t imagine how hard it is to immerse yourself in a character or setting when there’s nothing there to base it on. They have some idea of what it’s going to be about, but not the complete scope of the scene.

Stan Lee moment in the montage of news reports near the end. He’s an old man playing chess in the park who is interviewed. He’s also in one of the deleted scenes with Steve Rogers.

Thor: Have a care how you speak! Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother!
Natasha Romanoff: He killed eighty people in two days.
Thor: He’s adopted.

I can give you a whole host of reasons why this is the most unfunny joke in the film, but I’ll leave that for another time.

In short, this is a near-perfect film. It runs close to 2 1/2 hours, but there’s very little in there that doesn’t serve a purpose. Whether it’s developing a particular character or setting up the action, nearly every moment of the film pays off in some way. I actually like this film the best of all the Avengers films.

Credits scene(s):

The first scene has Thanos reflecting on what just happened on Earth and realizing that humans are much stronger than they appear. Of course, we don’t know yet that it’s Thanos.

The second scene at the end of the credits has the gang gathered to eat at the Shawarma Shop.

Blu-Ray extras:

• Trailer
• A Visual Journey
• Alternate Opening and Ending
• Assembling the Ultimate Team
• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Marvel’s First Ever Gag Reel