The Avengers: The Best Superhero Movie Ever Made!

Image from http://teaser-trailer.com/movie/avengers/

     I wasn't always a big fan of comic books, but I love superhero movies!  When they are done right, they are fantastic, and there is a glut of them these days.  Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, the X-Men, Ironman, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America have all had some pretty good movies, and every so often, some critic comes along and says something like “This is the best superhero movie they’ve yet made!”  I remember hearing some critics say that about such films as The Dark Knight, Ironman, and Captain America.  Some of the lesser films in the superhero sub-genre include the Hellboy, Blade, and Fantastic Four franchises, along with DareDevil, The Green Lantern, The Green Hornet, Electra, Darkman, Ghost Rider, and even Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy from 20 years ago.  There have also been all manner of super-hero comedies and parodies, from My Super Ex-Girlfriend and Hancock to Kick-Ass and Megamind.  My personal favorites from this genre are The Incredibles, Sky High, and even Mystery Men.

Image from http://spiritualpopcorn.blogspot.com/2012/05/avengers.html

     And yet The Avengers blows them all away!  That’s quite a statement considering how very much I simply loved Batman Returns (still my favorite of the Batman films), Spider-Man 2, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: First Class, and also thoroughly enjoyed a smattering of most of the others (even the first Hulk and the two Fantastic Four movies that most critics and die-hard fanboys hated).  The Avengers really IS the best superhero movie they’ve ever made, and they managed to take the characters of Ironman, The Hulk, Thor, and Captain America, combine them into one movie, and make their characters even more entertaining than they were in their individual movies!  Who would have thought that with such a combination, and such great characters (and with Black Widow and Hawkeye added superbly to the mix), and especially Robert Downey Jr. doing his best arrogant, super genius, playboy schtick as Tony Stark/Ironman, that the Hulk would actually be the one to steal the show!  Some of the best action sequences involve his character, as well as some of the most humorous moments.  Right off the top of my head, I can think of four very funny moments that involved the Hulk!  That takes some skill considering he’s really nothing more than a big green guy with anger issues!

     The balance of this film was spot on, and seems to mix the right amount of character inter-relationships, action, and humor better than any other superhero film I’ve seen.  Spider-Man 2 and a few of the X-Men films came awfully close, but even they don’t have such a perfect, entertaining mix of both action AND humor!  The Avengers was craftily designed to be a real crowd pleaser and I LOVED IT!!!

Watch the trailer here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPoHPNeU9fc