The Avengers
Setting
The Avengers takes place in the modern day (2012) world. This takes place after Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor. The story takes place mainly in New York City, where Tony Stark (Iron Man) has recently built a Stark Tower.
Summary
While studying the Tesseract for SHIELD, Dr. Erik Selvig and Nick Fury bring Loki to Earth. Loki uses a spear to mind control Selvig and Clint Barton (Hawkeye). Loki takes the Tesseract from the SHIELD base before he blows it up. Nick Fury and Agent Phil Coulson activate the Avengers Initiative. Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Bruce Banner (The Hulk), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Thor (Thor), and later Hawkeye are gathered to help stop the threat that Loki poses and aim to find out what Loki is planning. The movie follows the Avengers as they attempt to stop Loki while also learning to settle the differences between them.
Characters
Nick Fury
Nick Fury is the leader of SHIELD and the Avengers initiative. He is serious and mysterious. He is not the most likable character and is not supposed to be. He is under suspicion by most of the characters for the beginning of the movie and remains mysterious for the entire movie. He is, though, a pretty awesome hero with one epic scene in the entire movie.
Agent Phil Coulson
Phil Coulson is Nick fury's right hand man. He makes appearances in Iron Man 2 and Thor as he tries to recruit heroes for the Initiative. He is probably one of the most ignored character in those movies, but in this movie, you finally appreciate him for who he is.
Steve Rogers/Captain America
Captain America is a character who feels out of his time period. He is a living anachronism. A lot of his problems come from this out-of-place feeling. This is why he is so at odds with Tony Stark who is so comfortable in the present time. He is a super soldier who was frozen in the Arctic since WW2 and carries a super shield.
Tony Stark/Iron Man
Iron Man is literally a man in an iron suite that is equipped with weapons and that can fly. This is what keeps Iron Man alive. As Tony Stark, he is a billionaire and the CEO of Stark Industries. Another reason why Stark is at odds with Captain America is because he made his fortune on selling weapons and promoting war. Stark and rogers both change to be more accepting of the other.
Thor
Thor is the Norse god of thunder who came to Earth to get Loki. Thor is pretty distant from the other characters because he is so high up in the way he acts. This is a source of tension within the Initiative. Thor, in my opinion, is one of the less focused on heroes, and he doesn't change as much as some of the other characters.
Bruce Banner/The Hulk
Banner, when angry, changes into the Hulk, a giant, green strong man. He does not get along with the government and stays hidden from his enemies to avoid changing into the Hulk. At the beginning, the Hulk is reluctant to come, but as time goes on, he learns to control his anger and to be a helpful avenger.
Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Hawkeye is a superhero without super powers. He is just able to use a bow really well (What is up with all the protagonists with bows these days?). He is also not focused on as a character and is actually under some sort of mind control spell for most of the movie. He is though, pretty awesome, and I'm happy they didn't stick with the purple outfit.
Natasha Romanoff/The Black Widow
The Black Widow is the most annoying and useless of the Avengers and nobody admires her. Seriously.
Conclusion
The movie was well thought out and well paced, and they didn't skimp out on the action scenes. I think the finally action scene was about twenty minutes long. The movie also has both a balanced internal and external conflict and develops all the main characters very well. I enjoyed the movie greatly. 9 out of 11 penguins.
