Movie Review: The Avengers

The Avengers

The Avengers (2012)
Directed by: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson

The summer blockbuster season is officially in full swing with the release of The Avengers, the first of many superhero films that will unite movie geeks over the next four months.

This much-anticipated Marvel Comics gathering is brimming with great visual effects, intense action sequences and a hefty dose of smartass character interactions. In short, it's bound to be one of the biggest hits of 2012.

While it helps to have seen each of the superheroes' individual star vehicles, it's by no means necessary thanks to a mostly-solid script from director Joss Whedon and Zak Penn which makes a great effort not to exclude those who may have missed a film or two ...or three.

When Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the deranged, power-hungry adoptive brother of Norse god, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), arrives from the planet Asgard to take over and enslave the entire human race, the eye-patched Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is forced to assemble his S.H.I.E.L.D. initiative agents to protect Earth.

Robert Downey Jr. returns as billionaire Tony Stark -- the man behind Iron Man and the majority of the movie's witty one-liners. He finds himself at odds with Captain America (Chris Evans) the 1940's-era superhero patriot who, after spending 70 years in a deep freeze slumber, is more than a little disoriented by his surroundings. Out of all the characters, these two clash and then ultimately bond the most, providing the majority of the flick's comic relief.

While special agent Clint "Hawkeye" Barton (Jeremy Renner) is given the least screentime of the Avengers, he proves himself essential to the team thanks to his sharp eye and famously accurate marksmanship with his trusty bow and arrow.

Tom Hiddleston as Loki

As Russian assassin Natasha Romanoff, the lethal Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson is able to keep up with  -- and sometimes even out-muscle -- the boys. There's even a hint of flirtation between her and both Bruce Banner and Hawkeye to keep audiences looking for a little romance satisfied.

While the entire cast is immensely likeable in their respective roles, it's Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner who nearly steals the film. The subtle nuances and charming likeability he brings to his lab geek will likely earn The Hulk a whole slew of new fans who once shrugged off the other two medicore screen adaptations starring Eric Bana and Edward Norton. It makes you wonder whether or not The Hulk would have been a more successful and enjoyable franchise had Ruffalo been the go-to guy right from the beginning. His Banner is the psychologically tortured soul at the very heart of the movie -- the one Avenger who would likely give anything to abandon a power that he deems a curse.

The second half of the film is an exciting romp through the streets of Manhattan as the Avengers finally come together as a team to fend off the advances of Loki and his alien army. However, in order to reach this point the audience must slog through the opening 40 minutes of the film with its glacial pacing and redundant conversations about the Tesseract, the little blue cube that acts as a power source and portal for the villainous Loki. You could almost play a drinking game with the amount of times you hear the words "Tesseract" or "cube" in the first half.

But once the The Avengers settles down partway through and finds its groove, it transforms into a wildly entertaining action-adventure led by a talented group of actors who are all equally likeable. It will be hard to choose a favourite Avenger.

If nothing else, Whedon and Co. prove that you don't have to have a flawless script to provide the audience with great, entertaining escapism.

FINAL GRADE: B+

Movie Review: Shutter Island

Shutter Island (2010)
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams

Back in 1992, Martin Scorsese remade the 1962 film noir classic Cape Fear. With Robert DeNiro and Nick Nolte in the leads, the film was nothing more than aesthetically pleasing camp. The actors were all over-the- top and many people would be hard pressed to even remember that it was a Scorsese remake and not some other director with a mediocre film resume.

Shutter Island plays out like Cape Fear, only much worse.

Based on a Dennis Lehane novel, Shutter Island is set in 1954, when film noir was at its peak at the multiplexes across America. It's clear that Scorsese's goal was to make a film noir-ish psychological thriller. Just don't expect Shutter Island to be that film.

U.S. Marshals Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are paired up together to solve the disappearance of Rachel Solando, an inmate at the Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Naturally, it's situated on an island where the only way on or off is via ferry boat. There they meet Dr. Crawley (Ben Kingsley), a man who wants to issue solved while providing the least amount of help possible. There's also a subplot involving flashbacks of Daniels' days as a soldier in the Second World War (he was one of the liberators of the Dachau concentration camp) and his rocky marriage to his deceased wife, Dolores (Michelle Williams).

The priority of most noir films of the 1940's and 1950's was its emphasis on visuals and style. The tragic and bleak conclusions were often secondary to the overall atmosphere of the film.

Stylistically, Shutter Island succeeds. Everything is washed over in a variety of grey tones and shadows. However, the plot, script and performances leaves much to be desired.

Neo-noir films (especially those of the 1970's) acknowledge the conventions of classic film noir, from the melodrama to the psychologically expressive visuals to the protagonist as a criminal. These are all derived from the German Expressionist film movement of the 1920's.

This film plays off as the horrible lovechild of Das Cabinet Dr. Caligari (1919, the greatest German Expressionist film of all time), Fight Club (1999) and A Beautiful Mind (2001). Unlike Roman Polanski's 1974 masterpiece Chinatown or Scorsese's own Taxi Driver, Shutter Island is nothing but an absolute mess and a wasted opportunity.

DiCaprio is such a wildly inconsistent actor. When he's at the top of his game, he's golden (What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Catch Me If You Can), but when he's off his game, he's lousy (Titanic). DiCaprio, who has always struggles with accents, does so again here. His Boston accent fades in and out and alters so often to the point of distraction. Shutter Island is definitely his weakest outing in awhile. He and Scorsese need a break from one another.

Ruffalo, always a reliable actor, is probably the films strongest link. Despite an awful, sidekick role, he makes the best of what he's given. And he never once feels out of place in his 1950's fedora and trench coat.

Kingsley, Williams and the other secondary characters are all mediocre at best. Granted, the material they were given wasn't exactly award-winnin, but one could argue that any genuinely talented actor can rise above the material. That never happens here.

The plot is ludicrous. The outcome of the film is obvious about an hour into it's two hour and twenty minute running time. Just when you think the film couldn't possibly take another nonsensical turn, it does just that. This isn't a cool, mind-twist of a film. It's just outright awful.

It's hard to say anything more about the film as it would "spoil" the millions of twists and turns it takes. However, it's doubtful that many people will leave the theatre enthralled and enthusiastic about what they just witnessed.

It's clear that this twice delayed film had more woes than the studio could handle. By releasing it in February (where all movies go to die), the big bosses in Hollywood clearly didn't want anything more to do with it. Understandably so.

GRADE: D-