DirkH’s review published on Letterboxd:
The Avengers, or as I'd like to call it 'How to go from a 36 year old to a 12 year old in 2.5 hours', is this generation's Star Wars. Or Back to the future. Or Indiana Jones. It doesn't matter, pick one, it's iconic.
This will not be a rational review. It never could have been as I am a silly comic book geek. Whether good or bad, it would simply be impossible for me to approach this film rationally. I am so happy that at the centre of this film lies a big, thunderously thumping heart.
Technically this film is practically perfect. There are so many unbelievably impressive set pieces you get to see, it is simply stunning. CGI, costume, character and creature design, all breathe the exuberance of its comic book sources. That's all to be expected from a big budgeted blockbuster with this much talent involved, but still, to pull it off to this degree of perfection is no mean feat.
A technically superb film does not make it good, especially in the super hero genre. This is what we have seen in the Avenger's predecessors. Most of them looked fantastic and got a great comic book vibe, but they still missed something. They missed that spark of creativity needed to lift a film above the realms of mediocrity. This film is filled to the brim with effervescence, issued forth by a fantastic screenplay.
I saw an interview once with Mark Hamill. They asked him what he thought of The Phantom Menace. He looked into the camera and said: 'George, where is all the fun, man??' Big films like this need two things, the aforementioned spark and an enormous amount of fun. Whedon's screenplay has all that. Moreover, Whedon understands the universe he is writing in. He clearly loves the characters for he manages to give them the perfect words they need to establish their uniqueness. There is not a single joke that didn't work, not a single piece of dialogue that felt out of tune or out of character. This film taps a lot of its strength from that and it is safe to say that I am very impressed by the fact that Whedon pulled this off.
The actors know what they're doing, that's the benefit of the road Marvel decided to travel. It serves this film very well. I feel I need to single out one performance, though. A film like this is often only as good as its villain. Hiddleston's Loki is superb. There's no other word for it. He gives this character such a dark gravitas, bitterness and desperation it is truly impressive.
I'm jealous. I'm jealous of every teenage kid who sees this film and will undoubtedly have that same experience I had when I first saw A New Hope, or when I first heard that unbelievable score of Back to the Future or heard the cracking of Indy's whip. This will be the film they will be talking about when they are of the age I am now. I have no doubt about that. Any film maker that captures that kind of movie magic and makes me want to be that kid again deserves the highest of praise.
And I'll gladly give it.