The Avengers

Rated PG-13
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, and Scarlet Johansson Running time: 142 minutes

I had the opportunity to see this highly anticipated film over the weekend, and it was well worth the ticket price!!

This movie is two and a half hours of action. I suspect because they have so many main characters to introduce to the audience and to each other they jump right into the story without a slow build, or even really needing one. We meet the villain within the first five minutes, and an action sequence ensues. So, if you don't know anything about this movie it is the culmination of the movies Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America, which began in 2008 and finished up in 2011 dropping hints that yes, there will indeed be a movie tying them all together. In this movie Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D agents Black Widow and Hawkeye are brought together when the earth is attacked by Loki, the God of Mischief, and his army of aliens(the Chitauri).

Director Joss Whedon brings the heroes together beautifully, giving equal time to each hero, and never alters the personalities the characters had in their own movies, but allows them to come together into one group that has bonded by the end of the movie. Joss generously gives us Iron Man vs. Thor, Thor vs. Hulk and Black Widow vs. Hawkeye for anyone who ever wondered just who would win if... which, admittedly I've wondered. Besides the action I actually laughed out loud several times, there are a lot of great one-liners delivered by the heroes and the villain. The end sequence was one of the best fight scenes I've ever seen in a superhero film. They show you a close up of these heroes fighting, and then off to another scene of another hero saving civilians, and then they pan back and you can see a main battle happening in the center of the city, while off to the top left is that fight you were just watching close up of your heroes fighting, and down on the ground is that hero saving the civilians. It was amazing, sweeping view of a battle. All in all the movie is good from beginning to the rewarding/satisfying ending, and be sure to stay until after the credits role for a hidden scene.

This movie is rated PG-13, and now for the big question: is this superhero movie okay for a child under 13? Well, I'd say yes. How young, that's up to you. As I mentioned at the beginning, this movie is two and a half hours of action aka violence. Most of the violence in the movie is focused on aliens, (who look like monsters), which makes it hard to feel a lot of empathy for them, and they seem pretty cartoony. The fights are quick and there's no blood in any of the alien fights. Although, there are several gun fights earlier in the film, and about four of what I'd call actual graphic scenes. These include two stabbings of actual named characters; Loki removing someone's eyeball, although they pan away from this, so the horror of it is just implied. There is one scene where someone's entrails are hanging out of their body, though it's quick and it's from the back. There is a death of a named character. There is also mild language.

So, major thumbs up for this film. It's a really fun, action-packed blockbuster that actually took some time to get to know who these superheroes are.

Reviewed by Dawn McCullough-White



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