Avengers (2012) - Movie Review

Hi,

Giving in to the enormous hype and the crazy ratings for the movie, me and my friends booked tickets for Avengers!

First things first. I respect the effort and the creativity put into the movie and the splendid performances of the star studded cast.

Review: I will not delve into the plot. I will outline the facts as to why the movie did not work out for me.

Being a super-hero fan, I had modest expectations for some thrill and action. The expectation was also due to the earlier movies (Ironman 1&2, Thor) which were really good in their own space. But unfortunately, sparing a few moments in the movie (Please see Note) most of the movie was bland. There were not enough edge of the seat, thrilling action scenes. Most of the scenes were one sided or we knew that nothing would happen anyway.  I feel the Bourne series action scenes (with no effects) were way too thrilling than the action scenes of Avengers lavishly smeared with effects. The characters were not pushed to the limits to bring out the X factor which could have done the trick. I felt, with so many super heroes something more spectacular could be done. I will come back to the action scenes shortly.

Firstly, the villain (Loki) seems a bit soft and cowardly for the might of the avengers. Yes, he may have made a deal with a deadly adversary (who sends his army),  but the manner in which Loki tries to enslave humanity is far from dreadful. There is a lack of venom and horrific traits to the villain. Finally, yes, it needed a better villain. Some one like Sauron, who inflicted fear just through his eyes.

Moving on, the action scenes (saving a few, see Note) were mediocre. I could see the effects of Transformers, The Dark of the Moon (TDOM) being "copied and pasted". The concept of the portal also being the same! The swarm of flying demons, the enormous snake like creature (compared to the enormous ships in Tansformers TDOM)... all of those made me remember Transformers (TDOM). Being a super big budgeted movie, I expected something creative from the CGI front, rather than mere cut and paste.

Thirdly, the gnawing first half where the super heroes fight themselves. Agreed that they are all heavy weights who want their own "space". But honestly, it was way too much of that. 

Coming to one more aspect, I really feel Black widow and Hawk were a waste. They are human and no match to the super heroes in the battle field. And in the final battle scene, both of them suddenly started appearing comical. Black widow using tasers to electrocute demons and hawk shooting puny arrows in every possible direction. HAH, give me a break.

Summing it up, I feel the movie was handled too lightly. There had to be certain weight and seriousness to the characters to appreciate their strengths. The humor too, was predictable. I forced myself to laugh just to get something out of the movie. CGI was a let down, which seriously disappointed me. And to top it, it was derived from a previous, its a shame.

Rating: 1.5/5

Note: As I mentioned earlier, some of the scenes which were genuinely thrilling:

1. Bruce Banner turning into HULK and chasing black widow.

2. Iron man repairing the engine of the ship with the help of Captain America.

3. Hulk destroying some of those enormous ugly creatures.

My personal favourite was Mark Ruffalo as Hulk. I would love to see a new movie dedicated just for HULK.

Do let me know your views in case you differ on any of the points.

Thanks for reading!!