The Avengers (2012)

Another week, another Marvel movie to watch!

Last Saturday I re-watched the film that successfully cemented the current status of the MCU: The Avengers. It’s surprising how far we’ve come since then in terms of storytelling, tone and character development.

The Avengers feels like the type of film most people associate with the term ‘comic book movie’. It’s colorful, it has big set pieces, larger-than-life moments and cartoonish costumes. And yet, it’s a movie that managed to smartly find its footing between having grounded characters and distinctively ridiculous moments.

The movie has the huge –almost impossible- task of bringing a handful of superheroes so they can work together in order to stop a very stereotypical baddie whom, as expected, wants to rule the world. It’s something we have seen many times before, and yet the execution feels entirely fresh.

On one hand, for those who had followed the previous films, there’s an instant gratification about seeing these characters finally interact with each other. On the other, there’s just something tremendously entertaining in seeing a bunch of strong personalities clash so spectacularly, whether you had been invested in the Universe so far or not.

The Avengers walks a thin line between a pretend realism and situations that come straight out of the pages of a comic book. The movie presents everything with self-awareness and emotion. These outlandish band of champions are more than perfect examples of heroism. They have their own demons, their reservations, and even their own egos get the best out of them sometimes, with terrible consequences.

While other films would opt for some initial yet unimportant banter that would inevitably end up with the heroes conquering their petty disagreements by the end, the Avengers actually fight –and in some cases, almost succeed in trying to kill- each other; and they have to be driven to the very edge with the unfortunate death of a starry-eyed fan in order to truly realize how much power they have, and how important they can be. After all, they have the ability to become a beacon of hope for those without any power themselves.

By now, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard people declare that they don’t like ‘superhero movies’, because how could they ever relate to the likes of a god, or a super soldier, or a monstrous green creature? Yet, movies like The Avengers succeed in finding the human beneath the hero, a feat that continues and deepens with each film in the saga.

In this movie, our heroes must learn about self-sacrifice, about putting their own fears aside for the greater good, about the need to sometimes give up control… and they do it with humor, gusto and a purely human attitude. Why shouldn’t we relate to that?

The Avengers also have to face the weight of being under public scrutiny, and the movie does a commendable effort in trying to show that not everyone is on board with having these vigilantes defending Earth against external threats. The seeds to the Avengers’ complex relationship with established institutions, politics and the people are carefully planted in this film, and will have later repercussions as their chronicle progresses.

If there’s a weakness in The Avengers is, as expected, in its villains. Although Loki is fairly entertaining, the depth of his character actually comes from what we saw from him in Thor (2011). He is less interesting here, although as charming and mischievous as always.

The rest of the antagonists are equally unimportant. The Other is only an evil figure lurking in the shadows and spouting threats towards Loki. Likewise, the Chitauri fleet is only one of many armies of undistinguishable entities that are there only to be destroyed without remorse.

In truth, the Avengers themselves become the more noteworthy foes to each other, a trend that will continue in later films and reach its peak in Captain America: Civil War.

In the end, The Avengers is truly the fun, lighthearted –although not ‘mindless’- start of something great. It’s an assembly of heroes, but also a first step towards the more complex narratives that will come later on.

This is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Challenge: I’ll be watching 1 Marvel film each week in preparation for the release of Avengers: Infinity War.