Marvel's Avengers Assemble (2012)

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPoHPNeU9fc

Dir: Joss Whedon

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans

                After many months of anticipation and at six films leading up to it Marvel’s Avengers Assemble finally arrives in cinemas courtesy of Joss Whedon.

                Loki (Tom Hiddleston) arrives on earth and steals The Tesseract, a source of great power. He plans to use it to open a gateway for an alien species to come through and together they will take over the planet. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), assembles the earth’s most extraordinary heroes, Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Ironman (Robert Downey Jr), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to defend the earth.

                Firstly, we have to get this out of the way. This is not the greatest Superhero film of all time. The film has sat upon so much expectation, at least six individual films setting up each individual character up until this point, containing various hints and cross over characters which have all been leading up to this one film. It is a wealth of expectation which is simply impossible to live up to. However, the film is certainly entertaining and it should please fans and the uninitiated in the audience. There is plenty of action and even more humour, as to be expected in a Joss Whedon script, to keep anyone entertained for its running time. After a slightly slow beginning, the fun starts when all of the heroes are thrown together and the one liner’s start to fly. All of the characters are juggled well and they each get their chance to shine. Unfortunately Captain America is a bit dull and Hawkeye and Black Widow suffer in comparison to their more super powered colleagues but they do get to have a good part in the action. Thor is fun and Tony Stark is back to being the funny arrogant guy we fell for in the first Ironman (2008) film, an improvement on the more grating Tony Stark of Ironman 2 (2012). However, the real revelation is Bruce Banner/The Hulk, played greatly by Mark Ruffalo, who, once he lets the green man out, is the most fun and has two of the funniest parts in the film. Tom Hiddleston is a great enemy in the guise of Loki, even if his army of aliens are a bit too faceless and are basically just there as cannon fodder. You need not worry if you have not seen all the other films before this, each character is introduced and drawn well so you can quickly get a hold on who they are.

                The film does have a few problems. It takes a while to get going as all the various pieces of the Avengers have to be introduced and brought together. It is also too long, but the longer running time does have to be expected considering the amount of varying characters and character arcs it has to bring together. There is never any real threat as you know none of the main characters are going to die and of course they will win in the end but this doesn’t mean that the journey is any less fun. As is typical with many American Superhero films, you are shown the might of America rising up to take down foreign invaders and you don’t really feel the world is in danger since they aliens only attack from in part over Manhattan. The action is entertaining and a good spectacle but it ultimately isn’t overwhelming and is fairly rapidly fading from you reviewers memory.

                It’s not the best Superhero movie of all time and it’s not the best Joss Whedon film out at the moment. It is a good, entertaining, funny and fun Saturday night film. Go and enjoy yourself for a couple of hours, just don’t expect it to change anything.

4 out of 5 Buttons

Chronicle (2012)

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-M5Qx57_UU

Dir: Josh Trank

Starring: Dane Dehaan, Alex Russel, Michael B. Jordan

 
The superhero and handheld found footage genres collide in a surprisingly original new film.
            Andrew (Dane Dehaan) is a teenager living in at home with a drunk abusive father and a dying mother. He is the typical teen outsider, bullied at school with few friends. He decides to start filming his life. While at a party with his only friend, his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), Andrew, Matt and their soon to be new friend Steve (Michael B. Jordan), the popular kid at school looking to be class president, stumble upon a mysterious hole which houses an unknown object which gives them super powers. They record the progress of their new growing powers but things take a turn for the worse as Andrew uses his powers against the people who bully him.
            The superhero and found footage genres are nothing new and there are plenty of films of these genres coming out each year. Though it came with a slightly dodgy trailer, Chronicle has gained good reviews. Its strength lies in putting the superhero powers in a realistic context. The characters are easily relatable and identifiable as real teenagers, the casting of unknown actors helping to solidify this. The film is not just a straight forward superhero film; it is also a teen drama. Andrew’s home life is set up straight away as we see a confrontation with his dad at the beginning of the film. It is Andrew’s struggles and problems in life which hold up the film and which ultimately lead to his change.

All three of the main characters are well rounded and ably played by the cast so we actually care about them. We get to see the three characters become good friends as they play around with their powers. These sequences are put side by side with Andrews problems at home and we see the problems caused by the powers which start to strain their relationship. Realistic problems of trust and jealousy are set effectively to a background of superpowers. We all know the feeling of friends being better than us at things or losing them to girlfriends or other new things. These are real human situations but they also just happen to have super powers.

            The film gets to play around with the handheld format. Andrew uses his powers to manipulate the camera, floating it around him so the film is able to gives us more cinematic and normal filmic shots than can usually be found in a hand held film. It also allows us to stay firmly with the characters as one of them is always going to be manipulating the camera. The film isn’t concerned with what it was that changed them, and it won’t bother you either, it’s just the characters that matter and we get to be right there in the fun when they discover each facet to their powers, a sequence in which they learn to fly is exhilarating and fun and leads to a dramatic conclusion.
            Chronicle comes unstuck slightly when it gets to its big ending set piece where its lower budget starts to cause strain. Attempts are made to keep the hand held format to the camera but credibility of this is lost as they contrive different ways to keep the conceit up. The final battle is entertaining but not as good as earlier parts, such as when Andrew takes on a group of older men in the street, and it is a shame we didn’t get to see more of this sort of action before the big ending. However, this is only a small criticism of a good film and shouldn’t discourage you from watching it.
            Not perfect but definitely doing something interesting and different with the found footage and superhero genres, Chronicle is a pleasurable surprise which deserves to get the audience of worse films such as Paranormal Activity. With fun action sequences, proper drama and likable characters you can actually care about it is a breath of fresh air.

4 out of 5 Buttons