Movie Review: The Avengers

     The summer movie season has officially begun even though summer isn't officially upon us yet.  The Avengers is the first of the "summer blockbusters" to find its way to the theaters and is a wonderful start to what should be a great year for big budget movies.  It isn't the greatest superhero movie to ever grace the big screen and probably won't even be the best of the summer (I can't wait for The Dark Knight Rises!!), but it is a perfect warm up for what is looking like one of the best summers of movies in present years.  Like most multiple hero movies, at times there feels like there is too much going on, but in the end big explosions, huge effects, snarky remarks and the Hulk shine through.
     The Avengers has everything you want from a superhero team, the upright moral one, the wise cracking sarcastic one, the strong muscle bound one, and the one who has no reason to trust the others.  In lesser hands the characters and themes might have felt cliche, but Joss Whedon was able to keep the story fresh and interesting none the less.  One warning though, although the movie was obviously constructed so first time Marvel viewers could jump right in, the movie is much easier to follow and probably more enjoyable if you've seen all the previous movies (Iron Man, Iron Man II, Thor, Captain America).  The relationships are easier to understand and the subtleties of the plot are easier to pick up on.  There is plenty of exposition and clues if you haven't seen the other movies, but you'll have to pay closer attention to every line of dialogue.
     The one problem I had with the movie, a problem I have with most superhero movies, is they try to cram to many characters into two hours of film.  At least they had the smarts to only include one villain.  Black Widow and Hawkeye didn't need to be in this movie.  Both characters were extremely flat and under developed.  Hawkeye especially served no purpose to the plot.  The time we spent with these two could have easily been spent with the other more important and more interesting characters or kicking more alien butt.  I'm not sure what the compelling reason movie makers have to cram these types of movie with needless characters is but they need to get over it.  Story is always the most important part of any movie, big blockbuster or small independent, and anything that gets in the way of this should be thrown out.  Hawkeye got in the way of the story of The Avengers.
     Nobody is going to claim that The Avengers is the greatest movie ever made.  In the grand scheme of things, it will probably even be forgotten with time.  But for the moment, it's a highly entertaining movie that is a great kick off to what we can only hope is going to be a wonderful summer movie season.