Summer Movie Season Begins: The Avengers Opens!

Grab your Superhero Friends and Head to the Theater! "The Avengers" is now Playing!

I’m not a comic book girl, but I have to admit I have been hooked on The Avengers series ever since Iron Man in 2008.  Anyone who stayed through credits got a sneak peak of Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Furry, and knew that there was so much more to come!  

What I find neat about The Avengers Series is the buildup of movies leading up to this one:

• Iron Man, 2008 
• The Incredible Hulk, 2008
• Iron Man 2, 2011
• Thor, 2011
• Captain America, 2011

 All of these movies can stand alone, but what I fully appreciated was the chance to get to know each of the principal characters in The Avengers years before the movie was even produced. This was genius, allowing interest to build, and exposing more and more fans to the series along the way. Again, I have never read the comics, but have grown to know Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), Black Widow, (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

Josh Whedon, director, is famous for creating and writing several notable Sci-Fi T.V. shows and movies, such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and my personal favorite is the "Firefly" series which was briefly on T.V for a season in 2002-03, and spun the cult classic movie "Serenity," released in 2005.  Recently, Whedon also lent his writing talents to the just released, "The Cabin in the Woods" in April, receiving praise for being much smarter than the typical horror flick.

The Avengers starts with a bang! The movie begins at S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters (a secret security organization led by agent Nick Furry) where the Tesseract (a unique energy source) is being held and examined.  Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, comes into our world with the purpose of stealing the Tesseract, taking over our world, and eventually taking over his old home plant Asgard, which he was disowned from.  To gain control, Loki takes over several members of S.H.I.E.L.D ‘s minds including Agent Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).   

Nick Furry now has no choice but to convince the other members of the Avengers to join him and help get the Tesseract back. This is not an easy task since all members have past or present issues they are currently working through.  Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as Iron Man, Tony Stark. Tony has been working on new building that is complete energy self-sufficient. Tony begrudgingly agrees to join, and has girlfriend Pepper Pots continue working on with the project without him.  Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) has the job of convincing Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to join the team.  Bruce is reluctant to take part due to his uncertainty if he can control “The Other Guy” Hulk. Nick Furry approaches Captain America (Chris Evans) to join, but Captain America is still sore that he has been brought back to life and is having a hard time adjusting to the 2000’s.  

One aspect of the movie I did not expect was how much I enjoyed seeing Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/ Hulk. The hulk has previously been featured in two separate movies played by two separate actors. I felt that Ruffalo did the best job showing the two very different faces of the Hulk. I hope to see more of Ruffalo’s Hulk in the future. 

The Avengers is fast paced right from the start and has some of the best special effects I have seen in an action movie. The 3D is worth the extra money, and is a great use of the technology. The costumes were also incredible. I have no idea how Cobie Smulders and Scarlett Johansson put on their cat suites, but both actresses looked amazing!  The Avengers went beyond what I had expected and is a great way to kick off the 2012 Summer Movies.