Marvel's The Avengers: Critic Reviews

'The Avengers" is neither overwhelming nor underwhelming. What it expertly is, is whelming.

A saga guaranteed to pass muster with the Comic-Con cognoscenti, without forsaking regular popcorn munchers who just hope to see the planet get saved with maximum firepower and a few laughs.

A spectacle in the grandest sense of the word ...

A movie that yells at you and geeks out in equal measures.

To watch another comic book transformed into another blockbuster is to "marvel" at much and to feel nothing - that's a safer bet than the converse, perhaps, which may explain the genre's popularity.

If you're not much of a Marvel Comics person but just want to get an early start on your mindless summer moviegoing, well, I guess this picture is no stupider than anything else.

Its primary purpose is not to explore or subvert the superhero movie, but to lay the groundwork for more of them.

The Avengers kicks ass.

Whedon pulls off a stunning feat in bringing balance to this superhuman circus, engineered to charm the geek core and non-fans alike.

The dialogue sparkles as brightly as the special effects; these people may be wearing ridiculous costumes but they're well fleshed-out underneath. And so in every regard, this movie truly fulfills its hype.

The movie guarantees fast-paced fun without forcing anyone to think about what it all means, which is nothing.

All hail Joss Whedon, the warrior king of this dizzying, dazzling 3D action epic. The Avengers is Transformers with a brain, a heart and a working sense of humor.

One of the great joys of Marvel's The Avengers is its sense of humor about itself.

Whedon is the key reason why this $220-million behemoth of a movie is smartly thought out and executed with verve and precision. It may be overly long at two hours, 23 minutes, but so much is going on you might not even notice.

One of the ten best films of 2012.

But one of the most fascinating moments in the picture occurs when Captain America, referring to Thor, notes: "There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Ah, monotheism versus paganism. Can they exist side by side?

Whedon has delivered that rare action-packed, special-effects spectacle that is relentless in its eagerness to please and successful beyond its goal.

It's Summer's Mightiest Movie. Nuff said.

When all is said and done, Avengers is all sound and Nick Fury, signifying nothing.

Was Marvel's ambitious dream for a shared cinematic universe truly worth it? In my opinion: Most definitely.

The Avengers is one of the best superheroes movies in a long time and is likely to become a classic of the genre. You would need to really hate comic book movies not to get a kick out of this.

The Star Wars of a new generation.

Whilst Avengers Assemble will unquestionably provide two and a half hours of geek nerdvana for Marvel fanboys, it will likely prove too 'big' and comic-y for those who prefer their comic adaptations more grounded.

"Marvel's The Avengers" is a visual comic book and it doesn't aspire to be anything more than that. As a film version it succeeds-one is tempted to say-MIGHTILY.

It really is quite something that [Whedon] was able to take so many characters and put them into a movie where nobody gets left behind.