silas_firth’s review published on Letterboxd:
One of the best superhero films to date. While I’m still personally a fan of Raimi’s Spiderman series, Avengers is right up there.
I didn’t do a lot of research before going to see this one. I had watched Captain America and Thor, but didn’t really have a clear idea of the stories behind the other superheroes. Turns out, I watched the two most important prequels. While I know I missed some of the jokes and references that I would have understood had I known more about Iron Man or The Hulk, Thor is important in its introduction to Loki, and Avengers is simply the next chapter of Captain America. An even better one.
Throwing together 6 superheroes might sound chaotic. Each one has their own story (most already put on film), and an attempt to have 6 lead characters never works. But Avengers isn’t chaotic, the story fits together like clockwork. Iron Man/Tony Stark has the largest character arc, and the story ends up centering on him, though the others never feel left out. Having so many important characters is rarely done well, but Avengers handles it perfectly.
Technically, the film is excellent. As far as lighting and art direction, the film feels reminiscent of Thor, quite likely due in part to having the same villain. I felt that the cinematography is better.
The 3D is quite good, though there were a few parts that didn’t quite look right to me, and overall, I think it would be almost as good in 2D.
And the writing is excellent. There are few, if any, corny lines, and the film is full of great quotes.
Aside from some language, the film is clean and a complete blast to watch. And hey, you can’t argue with those box office numbers…