The Avengers

 

The Avengers 2012

• Director: Joss Whedon
• Seen by this director: Much Ado About Nothing, Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harry Dean Stanton
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Robert Downey Jr – Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows, Sherlock Holmes, The Soloist, Zodiac, Fur, A Scanner Darkly, Good Night and Good Luck, Richard III
• Chris Evans – Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Sunshine
• Mark Ruffalo – Shutter Island, The Kids Are All Right, Zodiac, Rumour Has It, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, My Life Without Me
• Chris Hemsworth – Snow White Winter’s War, Thor
• Scarlett Johansson – Hail Caesar, Lucy, He’s Just Not that Into You, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Prestige, The Island, In Good Company, The Love song of Bobby Long, Girl with the Pearl Earring, Lost in Translation, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Manny and Lo
• Jeremy Renner – Arrival, 28 Weeks Later, North Country
• Tom Hiddleston – The Night Manager, High-Rise, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Hollow Crown, The Deep Blue Sea, Thor
• Clark Gregg – Much Ado About Nothing, Thor, Five Hundred Days of Summer, In Good Company, The Human Stain, The Usual Suspects
• Stellan Skarsgård – Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, Our Kind of Traitor, Cinderella, The Railway Man, Melancholia, Thor, Frankie & Alice, Mamma Mia, Pirates of the Caribbean et al, Dogville, The Glass House, Dancer in the Dark, Amistad, Good Will Hunting, Breaking the Waves, Hamlet, Den enfaldige mördaren
• Samuel L. Jackson - The Hateful Eight, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Django Unchained, Jumper, 1408, Star Wars, Kill Bill, Changing Lanes, The Red Violin, Jackie Brown, The Long Kiss Goodnight, True Romance, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, Jungle Fever, Mo’ Better Blues, Sea of Love, Do the Right Thing
• Gwyneth Paltrow – Mortdecai, Contagion, Two Lovers, Infamous, Proof, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The Royal Tenenbaums, Shakespeare in Love, The Perfect Murder, Sliding Doors
• Harry Dean Stanton – The Man Who Cried, The Green Mile, The Straight Story, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Wild at Heart, The Last Temptation of Christ, Paris Texas, G.I. Jane, Rose, Alien, Godfather II, endless 60’s TV series
• Why? Whedon, the cast
• Seen:11 December 2020      

       Let’s just say that when things go terribly wrong, and the Universe is in danger, Loki (Hiddleston) walks through a force field to make everything even worse. Good guy (sort of) Captain (or whatever) Fury (Jackson) decides that the only solution is to gather a gang of superheroes, call them the Avengers and put them to work.

       There’s a lot wrong with the film (sorry, Joss). The story is thin, the action and plenitude of fighting is boring, it’s too long, and Hemsworth as Thor and Evans as Captain America have about as much appeal and charisma as a cardboard box.

       It is, however, funny and it’s a joy watching the other actors making lots of money with this nonsense and clever one-liners. Hiddleston is especially adorable (isn’t he always?), Ruffalo is cuddly when he’s not a huge great nasty roarer, Johansson is always as cool as they come, and Downey Jr, well what can I say? No wonder Paltrow is in love with him.

 

 3 ½ * of 5 (Hal is underwhelmed and gives it 2*.)