Review of "THE AVENGERS"

THE AVENGERS:

A tesseract (four dimensional cube) found under the sea holds the potential for great power, but when it activates itself, a portal opens allowing the Norse god LOKI to land on Earth. Loki's plan is to bring an army through the portal to subjugate the world and get revenge on his brother, Thor, and others. NICK FURY, a forever youthful spymaster for Marvel Comics, assembles a team to combat Loki and save the Earth.  Among the heroes recruited are IRON MAN, THE HULK, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and THOR. In addition, two people without superpowers join - NATASHA, a super spy, and HAWKEYE, a master archer. The team is diverted when they start squabbling among themselves - probably due to Loki's influence - but Fury is able to reunite them, and together they manage to defeat Loki, close the portal, and save the world.

Regular readers of Marvel Comics should be familiar with all these characters, but I wasn't.

It's pretty exciting stuff, but I had some problems with the film. The episodes of fighting go on and on and on, and during this time, there is no advancement of the plot. You know someone is going to win, so why not get to it? Also, there is a lot of gratuitous, anonymous violence. For example, a snake-like alien machine flies through New York, destroying buildings and generally causing chaos. Presumably, people are getting killed, but you don't know any of them so you have no emotional investment in the carnage.

Several places had plot gaps. When Thor first appears, he could be either a friend or a foe. Then suddenly, he's a solid ally with no showing of how, when or why the others accepted him.  Other places have similar gaps.

The characters are interesting and are distinct. Natasha is delightful in her techniques for getting information from people who think they're intimidating her. Stark-Ironman provides good comic relief with his cynical, ironic comments. Fury, the leader, is great, but what else would you expect from Samuel Jackson.

The music is stirring and coherent.

This is a good workout movie.  It could be better, but it's still worth ++++ - it gets your pulse up to a run. If you see it, let me know what you think.