“Marvel’s The Avengers” grossed a whopping $200.3 million domestically over the weekend, claiming the highest grossing weekend
total in history, a record previously held by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” at $169.2 million.In its first
three days, “The Avengers” has already grossed more than “Thor” ($181 million), “Captain America: The First Avenger”
($176.6 million) and “The Incredible Hulk” ($134.8 million), and is on track to surpass “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2,” with
lifetime grosses of $318.4 million and $312.4 million, respectively.“The Avengers” had an equally impressive debut in the
foreign market, drawing in an additional $441.5 million to bring the film’s worldwide gross to $641.8 million.
The film began its advertising campaign back in 2008, when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) made an appearance after the
credits in “Iron Man,” and the release of “Thor” and “Captain America” thereafter indicated a future film to unify the
Marvel characters under a single title.“The Avengers” is that title, its success served well by using each of the
previous Marvel films as a form of advertising, though the profits of those films certainly speak for themselves.
Even for those who have not seen the individual titles, “The Avengers” offers a plot relative to, but independent enough
from each of those films to prevent a viewer from feeling left behind or confused.Is the film as good as its earnings
suggest? Yes, and better. In fact, it was good enough to turn me, a self-declared superhero film skeptic, into a believer.
“The Avengers” begins with the reintroduction of Fury, the director of an espionage agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., who is
experimenting with a Tesseract, an energy source with great military potential. As the device begins to emit unusual
radiation, the Norse God Loki portals in through the energy field, fights off Fury’s agents, and manages to escape with
the Tesseract. Loki promises to give the Tesseract to an alien race known as the Chitauri in exchange for an army to help
him subdue Earth’s population.
Knowing the power of the Tesseract, Fury reactivates the Avengers Initiative and with the help of his staff, tracks down
Dr. Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), and Steve Rogers/Captain America
(Chris Evans). The group manages to track down Loki and capture him, but Thor, Loki’s brother, bursts into their plane
and takes Loki in an effort to reason with him.
After a scuffle with Iron Man and Captain America, Thor returns Loki and accompanies the group back to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s
aircraft carrier to imprison him. As the group grows divided on how to proceed in finding the Tesseract, Loki’s enslaved
agents attack the carrier and set Loki free. Loki later uses the Tesseract to open a portal above Stark Tower to enable
the Chitauri invasion. The Avengers must regroup, put their differences aside, and put their skills to use in order to
fight of the Chitauris and save the planet from Loki’s ruthless rule.
The cast shares the spotlight pretty equally, with, justifiably, a bit more focus on Robert Downey Jr., who is simply at
his best in this film. His character is witty, fast thinking, and egotistical, but above all, just plain funny. In fact,
this film has an abundance of laugh-out-loud moments and could easily be qualified as an action-comedy. The dialogue is
just asimpressive as the action, giving the film additional depth and helping build suspense for each coming action scene.
There are an abundance of semi-climactic moments in this one, made possible by the fact the Avengers can’t seem to play nice
with one another. Whether it’s Hulk versus Thor or Captain America and Iron Man teaming up against Thor, the film is made
that much more action-packed by placing the Avengers against one another before they unite. The Hulk’s temper is more
outrageous than ever, and though his loyalty to the Avengers eventually comes around, his unpredictability will no doubt
keep viewers on the edge of their seats, and at times, bursting into laughter. The supporting roles of Scarlett Johansson
as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye are solid, without taking too much of the
spotlight away from the four legendary superheroes.
