Avengers!

     This was an exciting movie, and a funny one too!  I wasn't sure what to expect as I have had mixed reviews of some of the individual character films.  I loved Captain America and the first Ironman film but Ironman 2, Thor and The Incredible Hulk (2008) were just passable flicks in my opinion.  I think that the genius of this film is the fact that no one character has more screen time than another.  We get just enough of each character to like them but not enough find them annoying.  The banter between characters is also a huge plus - Ironman and David Banner bonding over their intellect - loved it!  I had never heard of the character of Hawkeye but he was fantastic both in looks and in character (way to go Jeremy Renner).  I was so glad he didn't stay with Loki for long.  And speaking of Loki, he was a great villain in this film, much better than he was in Thor.  The Hulk was probably my favorite character in the end as his comic timing was right on target.  When he punches Thor out of the blue and then throws Loki around like a rag doll, I was laughing so hard I was in tears, brilliant!  He was the character I have known about the longest as I was a huge fan of The Incredible Hulk TV series growing up.  His two films have fallen so below the mark that I was afraid they would screw him up again in this film, but they didn't, he was great.  Also, by using Mark Ruffalo's likeness for the Hulk they fixed the egregious CGI issues of the past.  This was the first time I didn't miss Lou Ferrigno as the big green guy.
     And now for the few dislikes of the film...the aliens that Loki was working with didn't look real and their big ships looked like sea turtles in the sky.  The Hulk was able to control himself way too fast, wasn't that his main struggle at the beginning of the film? And then once the aliens attacked he was able to quickly bring it under control enough to work with his friends.  Just a little too fast guys and no explanation of how either.  Overall, this was a great flick, kudos to Joss Whedon for the direction and the script!