Avengers

* This review includes spoilers.

Avengers was released in 2012 and is based off of the comic books with the same title by Marvel. The movie was scripted and directed by Joss Whedon. Many big celebrities starred in the movie such as Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Tom Hiddleston.

The movie begins when an Asgardian man named Loki encounters an extraterrestrial race called the Chitauri. He is promised a Chitauri army in exchange for retrieving the Tesseract, a powerful energy source. A portal opens on Earth, allowing Loki to pass through. He takes the Tesseract and enslaves several Federal agents with his scepter.

Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. initiates a plan called the Avengers Initiative. S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a counterterrorism and intelligence agency. The Avengers Initiative brings together the mightiest superheroes around including Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, The Black Widow, and Hawkeye.

Thor, Loki’s adoptive brother, frees Loki in attempt to reason with him and bring him to their home of Asgard. The plan fails but they are able to capture Loki and imprison him on the flying ship the Avengers reside on called a Hellicarrier. The Avengers struggle to agree on a plan on how to deal with Loki and the events that have been unfolding thus far. Meanwhile, the agents Loki has enslaved attack the ship, damaging it’s engines and sending everyone into chaos. The Hulk lashes out in anger at his fellow superheroes, leaving Thor to attempt stopping him. Captain America and Iron Man work on fixing the engine while The Black Widow knocks the enslaved Hawkeye unconscious effectively breaking the hold Loki has on him. Loki and Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. face off and Agent Coulson unfortunately passes away.

The death of Agent Coulson rallies the Avengers to work together as a team. They gather in New York where the portal is open, allowing the Chitauri in to Earth to attack. S.H.I.E.L.D. attempts to release a missile in Manhattan while the Avengers are battling the Chitauri. The missile is intercepted by Iron Man so that it does no damage to the civilians living in Manhattan. Iron Man redirects the missile into the portal where it detonates, destroying the Chitauri’s mother ship. The Black Widow is then able to close the portal. Thor takes Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard. The rest of the Avengers go their own ways but Nick Fury is confident that when they are needed in the future they will return.

The film has received great reviews from many big reviewers such as Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and CinemaScore. The actors also received good reviews from papers such as The New York Times and magazines including Rolling Stone. A sequel is anticipated sometime in 2015.

Personally, I cannot give Avengers enough good reviews. The movie was incredible in my opinion. I loved everything about it. Not only did I feel the movie went off with a hitch and that the actors all did an amazing job portraying the characters, I also felt that the movie renewed a new love of superheroes. Superheroes have been around since the 1930’s and every year new fans are born. The idea of superheroes never gets old. Speaking for myself at least, I feel that the world needs superheroes no matter how fictional they may be. These superheroes give people of all ages hope that good will win over evil and that ordinary people can overcome struggles to become extraordinary. No matter what’s going on around me I know I can always turn to the Avengers to renew my hope for the future. So many people want something to believe in and The Avengers gives them that. In a world where there are so many people struggling, we can have hope in people, hope in heroes. I believe there are heroes out there, ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary by the paths they choose, and I will go down just like Coulson believing this.