The Avengers (2012)

Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki and his army.

Director:

Joss Whedon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (screenplay), Zak Penn (story),

Stars:

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson

Top 250 #152 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 15 wins & 57 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Tony Stark / Iron Man
Chris Evans	...	Steve Rogers / Captain America
Mark Ruffalo	...	Bruce Banner / The Hulk
Chris Hemsworth	...	Thor
Scarlett Johansson	...	Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Jeremy Renner	...	Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Tom Hiddleston	...	Loki
Clark Gregg	...	Agent Phil Coulson
Cobie Smulders	...	Agent Maria Hill
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Selvig
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Nick Fury
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Pepper Potts
Paul Bettany	...	Jarvis (voice)
Alexis Denisof	...	The Other
Tina Benko	...	NASA Scientist

Storyline

Nick Fury is director of S.H.I.E.L.D, an international peace keeping agency. The agency is a who's who of Marvel Super Heroes, with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When global security is threatened by Loki and his cohorts, Nick Fury and his team will need all their powers to save the world from disaster.

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Plot Keywords:

shield | captain | captain america | thor | tesseract | 

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Genres:

Action

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Facebook [gb]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

4 May 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Marvel's The Avengers

Filming Locations:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$220,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$207,438,708 (USA) (4 May 2012)

Gross:

$623,279,547 (USA) (28 September 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Marvel Studios, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital (Dolby Surround 7.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The classical music being played for the Stuttgart Museum where they steal the iridium is Schubert's String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor, D. 804, Op. 29 ('Rosamunde').

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Goofs

During the attack of New York when the cars are initially being blown up, you can see the ratchet cable attached to one of the cars when it spins over.

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Other: The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world. A human world. They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will. He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow. The world will be his. The universe yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?

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Crazy Credits

SPOILER: There is a scene part way through credits: Marvel Character Thanos appears with The Other by his side. They are both looking down on Planet Earth with Thanos smiling, stating that they underestimated Earth.

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Connections

Referenced in The Nostalgia Critic: Son of the Mask (2013)

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Soundtracks

"String Quartet No. 13 in a Minor 'Rosamunde' D804"
Written by Franz Schubert
Performed by The Takács Quartet
Courtesy of Hyperion Records Ltd.

User Reviews

Nothing Short of Amazing

I just saw the early screening for San Diego through the top 10 cities on facebook who got them. And suffice to say I am glad I was privileged enough to.

First off, this hands down is the best Marvel movie ever. I don't say that lightly. And in terms of superhero movie with maybe the Nolan Batman series being tied with this, I thought Whedon did an amazing job to bring out all these characters in this one movie. I especially like what was done with Hawkeye and Black Widow just because those two didn't really have their individual movie with their back story.

You can tell when a comic book fan writes and directs a comic movie because it clearly showed in all areas of production for this film. Going into the film I honestly thought that a lot of the cool mutant action scenes would be strictly Iron Man and Captain America. But Whedon does such a great job giving each mutant their 15 mins of fame and by the end of it you seriously feel like "Wow this guy/chick is a badass" for every mutant. I will admit i am not a Hulk fan. I like the inner story for it but was never a fan of the films, show or comic. But Hulk's role in the movie is so awesome I became a fan just from it.

If any of you are Whedon fans then you guys/girls will love this movie. It has his M.O. written all over the humor and story presentation. And there were definitely parts in the movie where I thought "Wow this seems like Firefly and Serenity". And story aside, if you read, watched, or idolized Marvel superheros as a kid, the action alone will make you cheer just out of sheer nostalgia of imagining The Avengers or X-Men all together on the screen kicking ass.

In summation, I don't need to say you NEED to watch this movie because I think anybody who is anybody already knows they want to see this. All this review has done was just reaffirm the hype behind this movie. I don't say this much but job well done Marvel and Disney for hiring a writer/director who has the audaciousness to keep it honest and true for those most dedicated comic fans who are the backbone of Marvel comics being a success. And in this day and age of superhero movies and movies in general that is very hard to do. Cheers Joss Whedon!