The Avengers is finally here! Based on the 1960’s comic book, The Avengers movie is a brilliant tribute not only to the comic, but also the writers and the fans. Director Joss Whedon’s vision is a fantastic blend of action, dialogue, chemistry and just plain fun! Joss Whedon gets it; the most important element in comic book movies is great characters and The Avengers is packed with ‘em. Not only that, but the characters are already developed leaving Whedon room to play, and he does.

The world is, once again, in deadly danger and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) the director of Shield, the world’s chief investigative unit, thinks he has the answer: the “Avengers Intitiative.” Fury is nearly fanatical about the Initiative and thank god he is. Loki has come to the Earth and he wants revenge. Only The Avengers:  Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Captain America (Chris Evans) are powerful enough to face, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the god of mischief.

Loki has been drifting through the cosmos collecting friends, not the fuzzy nice kind, but the kind that want to rule the universe. He’s not greedy though, he just wants the Earth. That’s where the Avengers step in and Loki’s is stymied, at least till he creates a passageway for his massive army. Then it’s on, the classic battle between the space monsters and the heroes. You have to go to the theater to find out.

Whedon’s vision for The Avengers is even better than I imagined. His development and blending of personalities, especially between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, is amazing. The humanity of each hero, even Thor, is shown in its gooey Marvel Comics goodness. It was like watching the first twenty Avenger’s comics come to life. Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America are at each other’s throats, just like in the books, (except when they fight evil then it’s “Hulk” smash). These are the most powerful heroes on Earth and Whedon never lets the audience (or Loki) forget it.

The acting is superlative, the plot simple but elegant and the story elements brilliant. Even more important, the casting of The Avengers could barely have been better. Even Scarlett Johansson, as the Black Widow, seems to fit beautifully, though Jeremy Renner was a distraction. Renner’s Hawkeye really didn’t sell.

The Avengers is easily one of the best comic book movies ever and I heartily recommend it. It’s now one of my top five and rate it a solid:

4.5 out of 5.