"Avengers" Critical Review
Marvel's "The Avengers": A Real SMASH!
By Jon Schulte
On May 4th, 2012, box office history in the United States was shattered, with a newcomer that packed a punch, a smash, and priceless entertainment. The release of "The Avengers" rocked record books everywhere, reaching a whopping $500 million mark after only 23 days of being in theaters, beating out 2009's Avatar by a whole 9 day margin as the fastest film ever to reach a $500 million gross. Though it raised $47 million over Memorial Day weekend alone, it's overall domestic gross rose only to $523.6 million, placing 4th in all time in theater gross for a film, behind only 3 films, the Batman saga's The Dark Knight ($533.3 million), and James Cameron's captivating films Titanic ($658.5 million) and Avatar ($760.5 million). In just a matter of days, The Avengers will surpass Dark Knight, and will take the bronze in overall US box office grossing films. Likewise, the same merit will be earned in the worldwide numbers. At $1.31 billion worldwide, Avengers is bound to surpass Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 ($1.32 billion) by the coming weekend, and take third again amongst Titanic ($2.2 billion) and Avatar ($2.8 billion). Though it is making leaps and bounds in success, The Avengers is not suspected to get anywhere near to the top two spots, for it soon will have the competition of other summer films, like The Dark Knight Rises (July 20th) and The Amazing Spider-Man (July 3rd).
With it's popularity and gross based purely off the film's fantastic fan base and vast publicity, this grand spectacle was what people have been waiting for from the American cinemas. Entertainment to talk about. Rounding my 4th time actually seeing the film, I am left each time with a new experience, because the film has so much to it, you can come back and back again and never get tired of it. As a long time Marvel fan, I take my hat off to the film's director Joss Whedon, who's screenplay brought these famous characters from the pages of comic books to the big screen in a way that has changed the history of film as we know it. Avengers executive producer Jon Favreau says if anything, the film was meant to set the new standard. Favreau was quoted in saying, "It (The Avengers) sets a new level for what people can expect from franchises, a lot of work went into making this pay off, and there was a lot of buildup. But we still had to stick the landing. I think this shows what the payoff can be when you put the time in to do it right." (Courtesy of USA Today). And not just a lot of work, but by the end of post-production, the film had become a $220 million project, which, as Favreau would put it, is the price to do it right.
After my experience with film, analyzing what makes a good film, and who to go to for great entertainment, I have a very long list. But, after all the analyzing and research, one film stands in my mind as not just entertainment, but a real experience, is none other than The Avengers. Combining the perfect amounts from it's series of prequels since 2008, Marvel's Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America, which all hinted towards the next or towards their union in The Avengers, the film itself is said to be the end, but is really just the beginning. With Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and Captain America 2 on the horizon, we can expect to see more from Marvel, and more from our heroes in The Avengers.
In ways of films, this one sets the bar for them. In ways of entertainment, this film is a winner in all ways. In ways of creating an epic tale that has made it's mark in history, The Avengers does just that. I usually can recommend films to people, and they will enjoy them, or they won't. But if you ask me about this film, I will tell you, no matter what, see it, eat some Shawarma, see it again, buy it on DVD, watch it more, and then buy your tickets in advance for Iron Man 3.
Schulte Says? See this film, stay until the VERY end (trust me on that one), and you will not regret it. It is well worth the money, and will leave you wanting more. Mark your calendars for the next installment in the Marvel franchise, Iron Man 3, scheduled to hit theaters May 3rd, 2013.
