Joss Smash

What should happen when you put a group containing Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddelston, and Samuel L. Jackson on screen at one time? It should implode. That much star power in any other film (see Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, etc.) is a good indicator that they're compensating for a lack of plot with names that they know will generate revenue. Fortunately for the first (and probably biggest) blockbuster of the season, The Avengers has one other important name on the bill: writer/director Joss Whedon. If you don't know who Whedon is, he's the genius behind such cult favorites as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly (and it's big screen spawn Serenity), and Dollhouse. He also had a hand in writing the animated film Titan A.E. and 2009's (released this year) Cabin in the Woods. I like to think of him as an American comedian with a Brit's sense of timing. I also like to think of him as a sort of God, but that's just me (and the hordes of other devoted Joss Whedon acolytes). While his resume up until this was impressive and genre-defining, taking on The Avengers was still a heavy burden to taken on alone. In this interview on CBS he talks about how people threatened to place all the blame on his shoulders if the film turned out to be a $220 million flop.

Always trust your quarter of a billion dollar movie in 

the hands of the dweeby, receding-hairlined ginger guy. 

Fortunately for Joss (and Disney), The Avengers opening weekend just happens to be the biggest of all time, hedging out Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 by over $30 million. HP went on to become the third highest grossing movie of all time, behind Avatar and Titanic (how much of a dick do you think James Cameron is? I think he's got to be an A-List douche), which gives me hope that The Avengers can make even more movie history by working it's way up that ladder as well. Fortunately, I don't think the success of the film will make Joss a major blockbuster director, which may seem like an odd thing for me to say. In the aforementioned interview Whedon was asked about the fact that he's not known for big movies, and he responded by saying he wouldn't even want a reputation like that. He's a man who creates small QUALITY works of cinematic art, and I don't want to see that compromised by Hollywood. He was the perfect man for The Avengers, having worked on a series of Marvel comics (not to mention the scores of Buffy and Angel comics) in the past few years. Being a fanboy of the genre himself, he knew what to do to appease his target demographic.

As for the film itself, it's the perfect marriage of blockbuster action, CGI, comedy, and tension. Since all save Ruffalo had been given a chance to debut their characters on screen previously, the interactions between all of the core cast seemed genuine and consistent with what had been previously established. What makes this film truly brilliant is the sum of small details that build an incredibly complex world. There are too many to list, and I don't want to give anything away because it is just too much fun to discover them on your own, but there is one that really struck me as a Joss Whedon hallmark. While Loki is the main physical villain of the film, the dissent among the ranks of the supersoldiers (the Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man (he's in there twice because he just loves to cause trouble)) is what really cause problems. This sort of internal struggle being the main "bad guy" dates back to the very first season of Buffy. Joss has always had a knack for personifying teenage angst, growing pains, loss, and all of those sorts of emotional issues that we all face at some point in our lives. He changes the formula a bit for this movie, but the innate Whedon-ness is still there. Fans of Marvel who don't yet know how brilliant Joss Whedon is will be happy with the result, and fans of both (like myself) will leave ecstatic.

One great thing about Marvel that I have always appreciated is that, especially in the recent big screen adaptations, they don't only target the stereotypical fanboy. Because they have action, they often have romance, they always have comedy, and there's usually some amount of mystery, these films cater to the majority of movie-going patrons. At the midnight premiere here in Bozeman I saw everyone from the weird kid I had computer programming class with in high school to some guys who looked to fit into the jock category to a pretty normal girl who went alone, dressed up like Black Widow. Movies and TV are the most appealing art form for much of the global population, and it's important to have films like this that can unite very different groups in their fandom.

This has been an oddly serious post for a comic book movie, but the only other way I can express my love of it is a ten page post of "EEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and that would be stupid. All I can say is GO SEE IT. It's the funniest Marvel movie yet, it's got a solid story, good graphics, and a bunch of little moments that make you go "whoa!". And when you see it, don't be like the majority of the losers at my midnight showing who left during the credits, stay until the end; the post-credit scene is my favorite so far. So while I go see it again tonight (and probably Tuesday. And maybe next weekend. . .) get your ass into a theater seat, put on those 3D glasses (or not, however you prefer, since the 3D wasn't overly necessary for this one) and get prepared for an awesome trip to a galaxy far, far away. Oh wait, wrong movie. . . Just go. Now. Before I hunt you down. Thank you.

6 stars out of 5 (I may be biased)