Obstruction 1: Imagine A World Where Avengers Assemble Sucked!

Over at www.myfilmviews.com, a new event has begun, titled the 5 Obstructions Blogathon. The theme of the first month is to write either a positive review of a movie you don't like or a negative review of a movie you love. After much deliberation, I've decided to write a negative review for my favourite film of 2012, 'Avengers Assemble'. It's going to be tough but then that's the whole point! To read more about the blogathon, click here. 

In 2012, fanboys and casual cinema-goers alike flocked in their droves to see the biggest film released by Marvel yet. 'Avengers Assemble' was a huge smash and in box-office terms, the film currently stands as the third biggest release of all time. Pretty impressive right? I can't help but feel though that the hype of finally getting to see all of Marvel's biggest heroes on screen at once clouded peoples judgement. Sure the movie is fun but is it as good as everyone says?

A problem with Marvel comics these days is that there's just so much back story going on that it's almost impossible to pick up a new issue today without being guided by a ginormous encyclopedia just to understand what the hell is going on. 'Avengers Assemble' suffers from a similar problem; if you didn't watch the average solo films beforehand, then there's going to be plot points that just won't make much sense in the new movie. But why should you have to sit through the travesties that were 'Thor' or 'Captain America' just to enjoy another average film?

The build up created by Marvel Studios was literally years in the making but while that may be genius from a marketing perspective, the reality is that 'Avengers Assemble' could never live up to the hype. What's even more frustrating is that after waiting so long, fans were then forced to sit through a painfully slow build-up before any of their favourite heroes even met on screen. 

Despite the prolonged set up, I felt that when all of the key characters finally did join together, everything became far too busy. Most of the heroes only had a short time in the spotlight and their character's development suffered because of it. Iron Man was the only one who survived with a personality intact and I think that has more to do with Robert Downey Jr's excellent performance than anything actually written in the script. Hawkeye and the Black Widow were particularly bland and while this may have been due to their lack of exposure in previous Marvel films, better script writing could have prevented this.

It's only fitting then that our boring heroes face off against a bland, faceless menace and although Loki is certainly a highlight of the film, his presence becomes pointless by the final third act. In his place, we have the Chitauri; an alien race almost entirely unknown to most comic book fans. The final battle against the aliens is incredibly drawn out and the entire thing just reminded me of Michael Bay's horrendous 'Transformer' movies. What is going on Joss Whedon? 

Ultimately, I was extremely disappointed by 'Avengers Assemble'. Fans were expected to play dumb to a host of plot contrivances that a five year old could have picked up on, all for the sake of some big dumb fight scenes. Why didn't Loki just pick off each hero one by one, rather than strive to bring them together? How the hell did the Hulk control his anger at the end so easily? And why did Hawkeye even bother turning up? Sure the special effects were great and I'll admit that it was exciting to see each of the Marvel heroes united on screen at last but the fans deserved more. 

Remember that this review is part of The Five Obstructions Blogathon and that in reality, I bloody loved this film. Don't forget to check out other entries for this event by clicking right here and let me know what you think by commenting, liking and sharing below. Thanks!