The Avengers (2012)

Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.

Director:

Joss Whedon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (screenplay), Zak Penn (story)

Stars:

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 38 wins & 79 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 the 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 which is formed by Loki and his team

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Plot Keywords:

superhero | marvel cinematic universe | alien invasion | s.h.i.e.l.d. | final battle | 

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Taglines:

Avengers Assemble!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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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 site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Hindi

Release Date:

4 May 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Group Hug

Filming Locations:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$220,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$207,438,708, 6 May 2012

Gross USA:

$623,357,910

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,518,812,988

Company Credits

Production Co:

Marvel Studios, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min 173 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1 SDDS Sonics-DDP Auro 11.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Reportedly, a scene was filmed where, during the final battle, Captain America saves an old man trying to protect his grandchildren. He tells him to "Get them to cover", but as he walks away, the old man asks him "Cap, is that really you?" He turns and, noting the man's World War II veteran lapel pin, trades salutes with him. As Captain America sprints away, the children ask their grandfather, "Do you know him?", and he replies "we all know him."

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Goofs

(at around 32 mins) When the Helicarrier is about to take off, Banner and Rogers are still at the edge of the landing strip, identified by the yellow SHIELD logo and the jet that Banner is checking out. But the shot hangs on Romanoff for a second, and when it cuts, Banner and Rogers are instantly at the very edge of the ship, a good 50 feet away from where they were a second ago.

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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

The Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures logos are seen within the Tesseract.

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Alternate Versions

The scene where Loki stabs Agent Coulson exists in two versions. The original version shows the weapon piercing Coulson's body, the cut version does not. In various territories (Germany, Switzerland, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland), the cut scene was used for the DVD release (why this was done i.e. for the German release is unknown, since it would not have changed the rating).

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Archers in TV and Movies (2014)

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Soundtracks

Black Dirt
Written by Emile Millar, Michael Baiardi, and Mick Flowers
Performed by Emile Millar
Produced by Michael Baiardi
Courtesy of Soundfile Productions Inc.

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!