"Avengers Assemble"

Having not been thus far tempted to go and see any of the current run of 3D cinema releases (other than Scorsese’s “Hugo”, which I regret having missed out on), the good reviews prompted me to make the effort to take in “Avengers Assemble” and, on the whole, I’m glad I did. I’ve also been remiss when it comes to catching up on the individual films from Hollywood’s version of the Marvel universe, with the exception of the first “Iron Man”, so I feared that I’d be lost amid a multitude of back-references. I assume there were some, but it didn’t get in the way of such story as there was – basically, superheroes team up to try and stop a bad guy from taking over the world. If it succeeds, it’s because of writer-director Joss Whedon’s witty way with dialogue, and engaging performances from an excellent cast, notably a wisecracking Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo as the over-sensitive sometime Hulk, a delightfully edgy Scarlett Johanssen (The Black Widow) and Tom Hiddlestone, magnetic as the villain, Loki - there are also welcome appearances from familiar faces such as Cobie Smulders, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harry Dean Stanton and Jenny Agutter. Whedon’s clever enough to turn a possible negative – too many superheroes as Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Nick Fury also come into play – into a positive by making the various intersections of their vulnerabilities vital to the plot. As for the 3D element, aside from a few dislocatory moments, it only really comes into its own during the climactic battle sequence towards the end (not a spoiler, since, of course, there’s always a climactic battle sequence towards the end). Jolly fun.


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