So remember all that buzz about how awesome the “Avengers” movie is?

It’s all true.

NO SPOILERS BELOW (as far as I know), but we might end up with some the comments …

We (Margie, Katherine, Jackie, Stan, Mary) went to The Avengers last night.  A great time was had by all, geeks and semi-geeks alike.

Okay, it’s not Citizen Kane.  It’s not driving any new cinematic or storytelling techniques. The FX were very well done, but nothing revolutionary (unless it’s for the very realistic devastation of Manhattan by a big comic book battle, which is performed flawlessly).  The acting was quite competent, but nothing that will garner an Oscar nod.

But The Avengers represents a new high bar in traditional comic book-based movies, especially a very high bar for the even more rare sub-sub-genre of super-hero group movies.  Part of that is just good luck and good planning by Marvel in building (intentionally in most cases) on previous movie successes with the cast of this one — Captain America, Iron Man, Thor (all of whom have had recent movies with the same actors and interlocking story lines); Hulk (who’s had enough movies that everyone knows who he is); Hawkeye and Black Widow (who had supporting roles in the the Thor and Iron Man movies).  Throw in Nick Fury and SHIELD Agent Coulson (from the Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor flicks), and you get over the biggest problem with super-hero movies: the need to actually incorporate an origin story and bring the audience and storyline up to speed.

Writing:  Joss Whedon rocks, which almost goes without saying.  But he brings four things to this film (with co-writer Zak Penn) that add immeasurably to its success:

1. Witty, memorable, effective, eminently quotable dialog.  There was just one bit of banter that felt off (though we were still quoting it afterward); the rest fits the characters, the situations, and appropriately plays with drama and the leavening humor.
2. A strong, coherent story.  There’s the setup.  There’s getting the good guys together, and the menace of the bad guy(s).  There’s growing tension, temporary successes, temporary defeats, multiple climaxes, the huge battle, the appropriate and multi-faceted denouement … all good stuff that flows together with only a minimum of confusion, dead ends, distractions, and dross.  (Which said, I am dying to see the Director’s Cut, or at least cut scenes, for this). [UPDATE: There are about 30 minutes that were cut, mostly centering around Capt. America adjusting to the world.]
3. An ensemble story.  This is not a Captian America movie.  Or a Cap/Thor/Iron Man movie.  Each of the Avengers gets something to so, stuff to say, their own motivations and participation.  I don’t think anyone will feel that their favorite character was seriously slighted.  That’s a huge balancing act, and always a danger in this sort of thing and Whedon does it well.  The arcs for the different characters vary in “X is a different person at the end than when the movie started,” and none of them are very deep arcs (welcome to the world of comic books).  But everyone gets their good lines, their dark moments, their moments in the sun, their chance to strut their stuff in a satisfying fashion.
4. A Marvel super-hero story.  This movie has deep roots in the Marvel Universe, but (as far as I can tell, stepping back) it doesn’t lose everyone who isn’t a comic nerd, nor compromise the comic book trivia elements.  Sure, it’s referred to as “The Tesseract” rather than “The Cosmic Cube,” but it still has a lot of Cosmic Cubic elements to it (including a reveal at the very end).  These are all alternate universe non-canon versions of the heroes and SHIELD personnel and villains involved, but there’s nothing here that’s going to make the purist stomp their foot in outrage.

The danger of a genre geekfesty film of this sort is that nerding out over it will mask the weaknesses.  I really don’t think this is happening with me here, though I’m still squeeful over the whole idea of an Avengers movie.  This was a good movie, not just because the Avengers were in it, but because it was a solidly entertaining film that starred the Avengers.

Even with some standard Whedon’s scripting tricks (witty banter, strong women, sudden deaths), it doesn’t come across as a “Joss Whedon” movie so much as a good movie.  He doesn’t overload the flick with pop culture references (save one that’s very appropriate and non-time-sensitive regarding archers), which means it age better than most Dreamworks movies.

There’s one particular scene I won’t go into detail on, but it’s the “Council of Elrond” scene where all of the Avengers and Nick Fury are together and arguing over a wide array of topic, most of them accusatory, back and forth and around and around and each at each other … and it works (a phrase I keep using, but it applies ach time).  The barbs are appropriate, the reactions and replies equally so, none of it seems forced or out of character, and Whedon portrays the chaos of that sort of escalation of emotions in all directions excellently, while still making it all serve directly and indirectly a variety of plot lines. It’s a masterful scene, in my opinion, that won’t get nearly the critical attention it deserves, but if you ever need to write something like that, it’s worth viewing multiple times.

Acting:  There’s nothing here that will garner Oscars, as I said, but the cast all rises to the occasion. That’s helped by most of them having done these characters before, but they all do solid, workman jobs in making their characters believable, entertaining, and engaging.

Mark Ruffalo gets special credit for making the role of Bruce Banner his.  The one major hero newcomer (in the role), he fits right in, and pulls together the right combo of bitterness, wry humor, and fear. Plus he goes toe-to-toe with Downey’s Tony Stark as a genius, in his own way, which is a nice feat.

If there’s a slightly weak point in the cast, it’s Cobie Smulder’s Maria Hill — but that’s largely because her character is the third banana SHIELD presence, after Nick Fury and everyone’s beloved Agent Coulson, she doesn’t get a lot to do aside from ask various narrative-driven questions and obey orders.  She does these things well, but doesn’t get much opportunity to shine.

Production: Plenty of fun, flash, and action. The climactic battle in New York City is noteworthy, again, for the effortless way it manages a huge battle, spanning much of Manhattan, full of destruction and fighting and folks working together and folks on their own, and battles in the streets and the skies and inside and atop and on the sides of buildings, not to mention up in the air … and make it all feel suitably chaotic in tone, but part of an organized story. The other slugfest scenes are also both well-done and varied enough that it doesn’t feel like every battle’s just another battle.

Within that are quieter scenes, lots of discussion and debate, which is where Whedon’s dialog shines.

Everyone’s going to see this as an FX movie, and it is indeed that.  What’s remarkable is how natural everything looks. Yes, there are big, fantastic, eye-popping things going on, but it’s never just about huge explosions and mind-bending CG (like, say, a Michael By film), but a natural extension of what’s happening.  People fly, fall, fight, throw shields, throw hammers, tumble, punch, etc., and it all just plain old works — which is just what you want in somthing like this.

We saw the 3D version of the film, and for the most part that turned out well, too. The movie was made using the process, but it doesn’t necessarily use it in exploitive fashion.  There were a few places where it seemed to have problems (small CG figures acting against a larger backdrop — one of Cap’s leaps, and a couple of Iron Man’s stunts), but those stood out against a backdrop of generally effective but non-flashy 3D work.  I think the movie would be fine to see in 2D (and I will, once it’s on Blu-Ray).

[UPDATE: I now see that the 3D was added in post-production. It still works pretty well.]

Conclusion:  Is this the Best Comic Book Movie Ever?  Hard to say. The first Iron Man is probably a purer, better story, focusing on a single character (and Captain America‘s also a strong contender there).  X-Men: First Class does at least as well until about the last 30 minutes.  Folks who are current Dark Knight fans will have their own opinions, too.

But it’s definitely in the top five right now, and quite arguably the best team film. And, as I tweeted upon leaving the theater, I am very well-satisfied.

Final note:  As with so may movies these days, but especially the Marvel ones, be warned that you should not leave the theater as soon as the credits roll.  There are not one, but two, mid- and post-credit scenes, both of them very different (one the sequel setup, the other pure Joss), but both of them worth the extra five minutes of your life.