The Avengers!

Okay I have to admit right off the bat that this movie is not the best movie ever. But that said, I absolutely cannot praise this movie enough. It is far and away my favorite comic book movie (or CBM). Joss Whedon is a spectacular director and it really could not have been done better by anyone else. It is not an overly complex movie and it really is not necessary to watch the 5 movies that set  it up to enjoy this film. I personally did watch all 5 movies beforehand and all it did was increase the enjoyment.

The CGI is stunning and very realistic. Never was there a scene where I was pulled from the movie due to crappy CGI. Usually this is a problem for me with CGI. I can tell Marvel had a lot of faith in this film. All the characters are well respected in this film. Everyone seems to get equal face time. The humor in this film is pretty much what you can expect from Whedon. Wry wit with a bit of slapstick, it is hard to find better quips than what you get from Whedon. If you like comedy, then banter from Iron Man will be the highlight of the movie for you. The choreography for the actions scenes is spectacular and it is clear that Whedon was not overwhelmed by it in the slightest. Very easy to follow and enjoy.

Anyone that knows Whedon's work knows that he has a great love for strong women and that is still true for this movie. Black Widow and to a lesser extent, Maria Hill get the Whedon Women treatment. Anyone who is a fan of Widow either from the comics or from Iron Man 2 will love her here. Source material is respected as well as well as plenty of nods to the fans. Amazingly, Loki does not steal the show a second time around. Though he is one of my favorite characters here. That goes to either Iron Man or Hulk.

My only gripes with the movie are that at the end, I wanted so much more and I felt that Captain America could have used more wow feats. Not that it did not give plenty but I felt it was too short at 147 minutes. And Captain America was given his dues here. I just wanted to see the upper limits of his enhanced abilities. But these are very minor complaints from a fanboy of the comics and they in no way took away from the movie experience. But I have full confidence that this will be explored more in Avengers 2. I also felt a bit underwhelmed by Banner, played by Mark Ruffalo. He did a fine job but honestly, I just would have preferred Edward Norton's take on Banner. There are strong differences in the portrayals and my personal preference just leans more towards Norton.

As for my rating of this film, it is a 4.8/5. A nearly flawless film. If I were to give it a rating based purely on it being a comic book movie, I would say it is a solid 5/5. Go see this movie. Throw all your money at it. And if someone you know says it is not that great, it is your duty to make them watch it again.