Avengers Assemble 3D

Hollywood, so it is said, is obsessed with sequels. Run as the industry is by marketing departments, the opportunity to place whole series of films within a recognisable brand - therefore reducing the cost of promoting every film individually - is rarely turned down. Hence the juggernaut known as the “Marvel Cinematic Universe”.

Avengers Assemble – a title one might think suggests a new beginning – is in fact film number six in the series, following on from Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008) (itself a sort-of-sequel to Ang Lee’s Hulk (2003)), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Deep breath.

In the works are Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2 and Avengers 2, (Accrington Stanley… Nil.) along with many, many more should the marketing departments get their way.

So, in light of this film’s origins, one might conclude it to be creatively bankrupt. In actual fact, it isn’t all that bad.

This particular instalment of the franchise has been directed and written by Joss Whedon, and he has clearly done his best to give the characters as much free reign as possible, given the strictures of Producer Kevin Feige’s overarching plans for the story. The director, clearly a proud comic book geek, gives all of the characters moments to shine, treating them as familiar and much loved friends, playing to their strengths while still allowing them to grow.

In fact, for newcomers to the genre the first hour of the film suffers slightly because of this. The parade of characters and the various permutations of interactions that they go through can seem somewhat tedious for those not sufficiently familiar with the characters. As a stand-alone entity, the film fails right here as much of the character development occurs in the prior films.

The character development that does occur is played well, with even minor characters having moments to display their talents. In Iron Man 2 Scarlet Johansson was not given much more to do than look spectacular in a figure hugging catsuit, here the Black Widow is a vital member of the team.

There is romance and tragedy, and these are given the respect they deserve, inciting the heroes to fight harder in their quest to defeat the villainous Loki, the antagonist and brother of the eponymous Thor. It is debatable whether or not his characterisation in this film hit the right tone. Throughout Kenneth Branagh’s Thor Loki’s misguided actions could be interpreted as entirely in earnest, while this is expressly not the case here. Now embracing his role as the villain, he attempts to sow discord among the heroes to facilitate his scheme for world domination.

It does seem that many events do happen in ways that are “cool” rather than contributing to the story. As the Avengers are assembled, the headstrong and free spirited superheroes tend to fight each other upon first meeting. At one point, Thor attacks Iron Man - billionaire playboy Tony Stark in his suit of high tech armour - with a lightning bolt. “Energy levels at 400%” reports the suit’s operating system. This peculiarity is never mentioned again. Not even at the point that the team believe Stark has died saving them all and could do with a jump start to his artificial heart. Hmm.

There are other quibbles. Much of Nick Fury’s dialogue is a bit redundant, but you don’t notice because it’s Samuel L Jackson delivering it, something which covers a multitude of ills. For some reason it appears to have been thought necessary to inject some topicality into the script, with vague mentions of “the energy crisis” which the film’s blue glowy MacGuffin may solve. It isn’t mentioned how exactly SHIELD operates their hovering stealth aircraft carrier, but it can’t be cheap.

Whedon does let the audience join some of the dots, which is refreshing in this genre. In one scene, Dr Bruce Banner regains consciousness after the Hulk has fallen to earth. We are told no more than he; that a bystander saw the Hulk falling and intentionally avoided crashing into people. Banner’s conclusion is not made explicit, but from this he clearly realises he and the Hulk are not separate entities, demonstrated later in the film when he displays the newfound ability to transform at will.

For the most part the 3D presentation does not contribute a great deal to the experience. Many establishing shots feature tracking motions where an object in the foreground will sweep past the camera in slow motion, and one wonders what exactly the 2D audience is getting out of these shots. The bridge of SHIELD’s helicarrier features an array of translucent screens, and here it is almost too easy to get distracted by the depth and miss what the characters are discussing.

In conclusion, while this film is clearly a labour of love and a great deal more intelligent than the vast majority of Summer blockbuster superhero action movies, it never quite transcends the genre to become what could be considered a cinematic classic. Which, to be honest, is fair enough. It’s a great superhero movie, and sometimes that’s all it needs to be.