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After seeing The Avengers on Friday, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to review it.  So many people are already raving about how good it is that I felt like a review that came out after the film claimed the top spot on the list of highest-domestic-opening-weekends ever, nudging out the last Harry Potter installment by a good $30 million, would just be too much.  I thought this, but then I went to see it again and couldn’t help myself.

I’m sure most of you reading this have already seen the film by now considering that The Avengers accounted for 80% of all ticket sales last weekend.  Those who haven’t, this review will be spoiler free, but make your plans to go see it as soon as you can.  The film needs no introduction, an all-star cast, 5 “prequel” films that have been leading up to this for the past 4 years, and an incredible writer/director all “assemble” to create, in my opinion, one of the best comic-book superhero films of all time.  There I said it.  Now I know some of you may be thinking “Whoa.  What about Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins? The Dark Knight? and The Dark Knight Rises (coming July 20)?”  Well, let me explain.

For me, The Avengers and The Dark Knight trilogy can’t even be put in the same genre.  The Avengers is much lighter in tone and much less serious while The Dark Knight is grounded in reality and considerably darker than any of the Marvel films.  One of my friends put it this way, “As a film, The Avengers is a comic-book.  The Dark Knight is a graphic novel.”  That sums it up quite nicely if you ask me.  You would never see an invading alien race, or an alien race of any kind in Nolan’s Batman series.

That said, The Avengers is every bit what fans want it to be.  I went in with high expectations (like I try not to do), and came out with those expectations having been left in the dust.  All of the concerns I had going into the film dissolved.  Problems a lot of people saw with making a film of this caliber, specifically with balancing the screen time of the individual heroes, disappeared.  Every character has their time and they utilize every second of it.  There are a few standouts, but you will undoubtedly leave the theater trying to remember every line of dialogue or scene that made you laugh.  Some of the characters may stick in your mind more than others, and Joss Whedon, the writer/director, gave The Hulk a life that 2 previous films, and 2 different actors couldn’t quite accomplish.

Read the rest of the review after the break.

The only issue, and I can barely call it that, with the film is that there is one section in particular where the film does slow down and take a break from the action to let some other things brew.  In spite of this, every scene is relevant to furthering the story and character development.  Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, shows a surprising dimensionality as the character goes from the glorified bodyguard of Iron Man 2, to a fully realized character that could easily fit into her own, stand-alone film.  Joss Whedon has a history of writing strong, female characters as you may remember him from creating the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse, both of which have female leads you would probably want to avoid in a fight.

Everything about this film just works and works well.  If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and get to it, and if you have already seen it, maybe consider going again.

RATING: 9.5 out of 10

In some more good news, I’ve added The Avengers Score by composer Alan Silvestri to the Movie Scores and Soundtracks – 2012 playlist on Spotify.  Also, for more music and more Avengers, check out the recent Trailer Tracks and the Behind-the-Scenes posts.

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///Rick