The Avengers

So, I had to see this movie twice before I could review it. If The Avengers was going to be good, then I was going to see it at least twice anyway - yet at no point did I factor into account another technical fault!
My first viewing started with an ugly scratch in the centre of the screen. I leapt out of my chair in an effort to address the problem as soon as humanly possible - I had waited too long and hard for The Avengers to be sullied by a scratch or possible hair caught in the projector!
Alas, it took a good 15 or so minutes for the problem to be rectified - and to add insult to injury, it returned towards the end of the movie as well!
Despite this wholly agonising problem, I enjoyed The Avengers immensely - a damn-fine indication of any great movie!
I saw it a second time and enjoyed it even more. This time I was able to concentrate on the opening scenes without distraction, resulting in a significantly more relaxed experience.
The Avengers is the culmination of 5 previous movies, which have introduced it's core characters independently. From the first Iron man to Captain America: The First Avenger, each film has been hugely successful, both in popularity and in honouring it's characters and their rich history's. For me the only one which didn't quite deliver on the scale of the others was The Incredible Hulk(a lesser film than the Ang Lee/Eric Bana effort, in my view). Incidentally, the only character to be recast in The Avengers is that of Bruce Banner/Hulk. Mark Ruffalo is the best incarnation yet - lets hope he sticks around!
The Avengers features the characters and actors we've come to know and love from the previous 5 Marvel movies. This is the films major draw and the banter and play between each character is pulled off magnificently! Many a comic-book sequel increases it's character quota with each new chapter, yet is often unable to pull off the interaction between a multitude of characters. The Avengers has the advantage of featuring previously established characters and manages to balance the screen-time between them effortlessly - this could have been more Iron Man than Thor, or more Captain America than Hulk.
I believe this is thanks, in no small part to the director and co-writer Joss Whedon - no stranger to handling movie and television projects with large casts. Without discrediting co-writer Zak Penn, The Avengers feels like a Joss Whedon movie. There's a solid story here, with commentary on the human race; our subservient nature and our predilection towards war, well realised character arcs, fantastic special effects and a considerable amount of comedy! The Marvel universe is known for it's lightness of touch(much more jovial than the DC universe) and never has this playfulness been better captured than in this Avengers adaptation.
The plot to The Avengers sees Loki(brother of Thor) wield the Tesseract(from Captain America; The First Avenger), in an attempt to rule the human race. With the help of a few minions(all in a trance-like state), Loki plans to open a portal to another world - which would allow an alien race(the Chitauri) to help him conquer the Earth.
Meanwhile, the Avengers are assembled! They are thrust into Nick Fury's world of S.H.I.E.L.D, and discover what's at stake for the humans. Despite their previous independence, each hero takes their place in the worlds most powerful team, in an effort to save the Earth and bring Loki to task.
The Avengers is a great movie. It's been incredibly well thought out, with no character given short shrift. The effects really are magnificent(only a few hover-board-like sequences look out of place). The movie delivers on both spectacle and story - and come the conclusion, you'll be hotly anticipating the next instalment(there's a sweet nod at what's to follow, so stay seated after the initial credits have rolled) - 4/5!