Math Plus Music Is A Great Thing: Dillinger Escape Plan "One Of Us Is The Killer" Review

  

Have you ever listened to a new album from a band that you love, and it was exactly what you wanted, but still managed to surprise you?  That’s exactly how I felt throughout my first playthrough of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s “One of Us is the Killer,” and it was one of the greatest listening experiences I have ever had.  All bands change with time, sometimes for the better (yes, I prefer newer, more progressive Iron Maiden than their classic 80’s sound, deal with it), and sometimes, unfortunately, for the worst (Finger Eleven.  “Paralyzer” sucks, and if that is the only song you have heard from them, I legitimately feel sorry for you).  Dillinger manages to progress enough in the right direction, yet still retaining their sound that makes them one of the most unique bands on the planet.

For those of you that may be unfamiliar with the New Jersey math/metal/punk/jazz/all around kick-ass band, let me state that they are certainly not for everyone.  The constant changing of time signatures and tempo, dissonant chords, jazz-infused breakdowns, and screeching vocals are more than enough to turn the average listener off, just as it did for me back when I first heard them.  However, even if you can’t enjoy the music, you have to appreciate the musicianship and thought that went into crafting this release.

The album opens up with the single “Prancer,” which contains classic elements from Dillinger’s entire discography, but is a bit more “structured” than previous releases; and before I go any further, I want to point out that the sequencing on this album is PERFECT.  Each song melds flawlessly into the next, while still retaining their own identity.  I’m not sure if Weinman had this in mind when he wrote them, but the album flows better than anything I have ever heard.

The next track is “When I Lost My Bet,” featuring frenetic guitars, jazzy drums, and chaotic vocals, but implements them in a way I haven’t really heard the band do before (it also has a filthy music video).  The title track is more of a “traditional” sounding song, but with a Dillinger twist.  Sure, it uses clean vocals and power chords, but Billy Rymer peppers in blast beats seemingly at random, and the track takes a heavy twist towards the end.

(Try watching this and eating spaghetti.  I dare you.)

The rest of the album continues to follow these trends, with being either insane-yet-refined ("Hero of the Soviet Union" and "Paranoia Shields"), or catchy with math elements peppered in ("Crossburner"), all melding seamlessly together.  "Ch 375 268 277 ARS" is the band's first instrumental track I have enjoyed since "Calculating Infinity," and is, in my opinion, even better.  The closer, "The Threat Posed by Nuclear Weapons" is a perfect way to end the album, throwing in every element previously discussed, but without seeming convoluted or aimless.  This track also features some of the best lyrical work on the album.

"One of Us is the Killer" grabs you brutally by the face proceeds to rape your ears for its entire forty-minute duration.  Long-time listeners will have nothing but praise for this release, and it could possibly convert a few new fans out of anyone who is open-minded enough to give it a serious chance.  This is though-provoking music, not because of the lyrics (which are great, don't get me wrong.  Greg Puciato is one of my favorite lyricists of all time), but because every song sucks you in and makes you ask yourself how anybody could construct this kind of chaos and make it sound so good.  I wouldn't say that there are many perfect albums out there, but this one is certainly among them.

10/10

"Man of Steel" Trailer 3

“What does the ‘S’ stand for?”

Okay, it’s that time of year where a steady stream of movies that I actually give a shit about are going to be released in theaters, and not a single one has me more excited than “Man of Steel”.  When I heard that Christopher Nolan was going to be producing this, based on David S. Goyer’s script (both of “The Dark Knight” trilogy fame), the fanboy in me went crazy.  When Nolan announced he wanted Zack Snyder (one of my favorite film-makers, so suck it, haters) to direct it, the fanboy in me LOST HIS FUCKING MIND.  In my opinion, Superman has never been done justice on the big screen, and this is the perfect team to get the job done.

The first trailer for “Man of Steel” was a brief teaser, that really only established the tone, and that this would be a much “darker” and “grittier” Superman than we’ve seen before.  The second trailer released with “The Hobbit” and showed a bunch of new footage.  Again, this kept with the vibe of the teaser, and established that Kal-El, A.K.A. Clark Kent, would be feeling very much like an outcast on this planet he learns he is not from.  And now here we are, a mere two months away from the film’s release, and the third trailer has dropped, and I can only think of two words to accurately describe it:

HOLY SHIT.

Is this Earth, or the ill-fated planet of Krypton?

Zack Snyder’s visual flare is apparent right off the bat, as the opening shot is Jor-El watching some sort of battle on Krypton set to a somber piano tune.  After this, we see him and his wife, Lara, sending their son to Earth to avoid some sort of cataclysmic doom.  This raises a serious question about the fate of Krypton: will it be destroyed by its dying sun?  Or will some other disaster (like a civil war, as the opening shot suggests) ravage the planet?  Goyer and Nolan have both stated that they found a way to make Superman more “relatable”, and Snyder has recently told Entertainment Weekly that there will be no kryptonite “Man of Steel” (Yay!  Seriously, his allergic reaction to a rock was getting sort of tired), so will this key moment be another departure from classic Superman lore?

I'd be pissed if Superman got a cooler outfit than me, too.

Another piece of evidence that leads me to believe this is a brief shot of Michael Shannon as the villainous General Zod, who vows that he will find Jor-El’s son, right before (I assume) being banished to the Phantom Zone.  Maybe he blames the El family for whatever calamity destroys Krypton?  As a side note, I must add that Shannon acts perfectly psychotic as the deranged general.  He probably won't utter Terence Stamp’s classic line “Kneel before Zod”, but I don’t think this iteration is going for campy, cheesy fun.  This guy seems all business, and hopefully, we have another great villain on our hands.

Another possible divergence is whether or not Clark will work for the Daily Planet, and what his relationship with Lois Lane will be.  We get a voice-over from Amy Adams about her search for Clark (or Superman, it is not clear which), where she asks how you find someone who “has spent a lifetime covering his tracks.”  Perhaps this is only about Clark’s god-like alter ego, but that remains to be seen.  We know that Perry White is in the movie, and that Lois is a journalist of some sort, but who knows what his affiliation with the fictional publication will be.

Shirtless dudes and fire... for the ladies.

The rest of the trailer shows of some snippets of excellent set pieces, including explosions, alien warships, and Superman beating the piss out of Zod while flying over Metropolis.   It ends with Lois interrogating Superman in some sort of military facility (perhaps they are preparing to turn him over to Zod?), and she asks what the “S” on his chest stands for, to which he replies, “it’s not an ‘S’.  On my world, it means ‘hope.’”  Not only does he deliver that line like a badass, but it may prove that he will not be referred to as “Superman” at all in the film, sort of like how Selina Kyle was not referred to as “Catwoman” in “The Dark Knight Rises.”  Again, this would not be that surprising, seeing as the film-makers are going for a more "grounded" story, and nobody under the age of 45 uses the word "super" as an adjective anymore.

Some closing comments I would like to make is that Henry Cavill looks perfect as the Man of Steel.  So what if they ditched the signature hair-curl and the red tighty-whiteys, I think the suit looks great.  The score sounded perfect and, if used this effectively in the actual movie, will really help hit some of the emotional notes that I’m sure “Man of Steel” is striving towards.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go watch this on repeat for two months, er, uh, I mean, go study some thermodynamics.

“Man of Steel” opens on June 14.  You can watch the trailer over and over in glorious HD here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6DJcgm3wNY

Bullet For My Valentine Returns

It’s been almost three years, but the Welsh rockers are back with their brand new album, Temper Temper.  The band’s last release was 2010’s Fever, and although reception was generally positive, some critics were disappointed that the band was straying away from their more metalcore roots and progressing towards more of a hard rock sound.  So, with this new release, does Bullet continue to move in a hard rock direction, or do they take a few steps back to please some of the longtime fans?

Before I get into the details of this release, I should state that the first two songs I heard off of Temper Temper were “Riot” and “Temper Temper”.  While the title track was catchy enough, and had that Bullet sound I was looking for, “Riot” was a huge letdown.  The monotonous guitar playing, the uninteresting lyrics, everything about this song screamed “filler”.  I began to fear that Temper Temper would be full of dull tracks, a problem that almost plagued the band’s second release, Scream Aim Fire.  Fortunately, that was NOT the case, and despite a few gripes, the band delivers on a huge scale.

Temper Temper opens with the song “Breaking Point”, starting the album off with a band.  Matt Tuck’s guttural screams are peppered throughout, and the driving, heavy beat Bullet is known for is put on full display here.  The only downside to this track is the lyrics.  In fact, before I go any further, I should probably address this, as it is the one negative constant throughout the album.

Bullet For My Valentine has never been known for their lyrical prowess.  Their lyrics have ranged from adequate to awful over their four album career, using the same rhymes and clichés just a tad too much.  Some of their themes are a little ridiculous, too (targeting “smack-talkers”?  Really?!  Is this a rap album?), but the lyrics are not what draws me to this band.  For a more “mainstream” metal act than most of the other artists I listen to, Bullet has always displayed insane musical talent, creating catchy and sometimes intricate riffs and solos.  As long as that remains, present (which for the most part, it does), I will not harp on the lyrics too much.  Now, back to the album.

“Truth Hurts” is the second song, and features some of the aforementioned shoddy lyrics.  However, the guitar riffs are as solid as ever, and the overall feel of the song harkens back to their sound from The Poison, with elements from their newer work peppered in.  “P.O.W.” is one of the album standouts, and one of my favorite Bullet songs, period.  It is very reminiscent of Fever’s “The Last Fight” (The standout on that album, in my opinion), albeit at a slower pace.  Fans, old and new alike, should not be disappointed with this track.

Next up is “Dirty Little Secret”, featuring a softer verse, building into a heavy, frantic chorus.  Padget’s guitar playing is excellent here, featuring some great solo-esque segments.  “Leech” sounds like it is straight out of The Poison, which is great for long-time fans.  It’s nice to see a track that recalls the band’s roots amidst all of their newer-sounding material.

Bullet has always excelled on their slower, softer songs, and “Dead to The World” is no exception.  Again, don’t expect some Dylan-worthy lyrical content here, but you’ll definitely be ready to break out the lighters if they ever play this live, and seamlessly shift into punching your friends in the face for the songs heavy climax.

“Saints and Sinners” is the only real forgettable track on Temper Temper, and at times almost sounds like an Avenged Sevenfold song.  If the band decided to drop this one completely and keep it at a 10 track album, I would be perfectly fine with that.  The guitar solo is the only real redeeming quality of this track.

The last two tracks round out Temper Temper with possibly the strongest finish on a Bullet album to date.  “Tears Don’t Fall (Part 2)” sounds exactly like you would expect it to, which is fucking awesome.  “Leech” may sound like it is out of The Poison era, but this one is.  The slow builds, screeching vocals, thrashy interlude, crazy guitar solo, it’s all here.  Every time I put this track on, I can’t help but smile (and bang my head, of course).

Lastly, we have “Livin’ Life (On The Edge of a Knife)”, one of my personal favorites.  The hooks are insanely catchy, the guitar riffs are damn near perfect, everything about this song makes sense as to why Bullet chose to close Temper Temper with this song.

With all things considered, Temper Temper does suffer from some of the same issues that have plagued every Bullet For My Valentine release, but for the most part, gets way more things right then it does wrong.  Longtime fans who were disappointed with Fever will be happy to see a resurgence of the older sound, and newer fans will have nothing to complain about, either.  If you are into metal or hard rock, you owe it to yourself to check this album out.

8.5/10

Medal of Honor: Warfighter Review

This game is getting shit on across the board, but does it actually deserve all the criticism?

Medal of Honor: Warfighter is the fourteenth game in the first person shooter series that has been around since 1999.  The last game, published in 2010 was a decent entry in the franchise, but it was overshadowed by two of the year’s other big shooters; Halo Reach and Call of Duty Black Ops.  This year, developer Danger Close is looking to show the world that the Medal of Honor series is still an FPS series to be reckoned with.

The campaign of Warfighter puts you in the shoes of two Tier 1 Operators, named Stump and Preacher.  While we don’t get much insight into Stump’s character, the main protagonist is Preacher, and we get to witness him trying to balance his crumbling family life and his need to be a soldier.  Not many shooters try to put emotion into their storylines, and even fewer succeed, but Warfighter definitely tugs at your heartstrings a few times throughout its six hour campaign.  While the narrative is a bit jarring at times, and the flashbacks within flashbacks can get convoluted, the overall presentation of the story is satisfying, and is wrapped up very neatly, if not a bit abrupt.

Aside from having a good story, the campaign features some wonderful missions and exhilarating action set-pieces.  Right from the beginning, you are thrust into a situation that goes wrong, and you must fight your way out amidst explosions, helicopters, and enemy gunfire.  This is easily one of the best openings to an action game I have played in the past year, and even though the campaign unfortunately never reaches the same level of excitement after this point, it serves as a good indication of what is to come.  Besides the other action-heavy moments in the game, there are also a handful of very well done driving sequences.  These sections, although relatively brief, serve as a nice change of pace from the familiar run-and-gun gameplay, and include a noteworthy stealth mission.  

The game also looks beautiful.  The Frostbite 2 engine is put on full display here, and this is probably the best looking console game since last year’s Battlefield 3 (also on the Frostbite 2 engine).  The CGI cut scenes of Preacher and his family are scary-good, and the lighting and particle effects create a wonderful atmosphere.  The sound design is top notch as well, from the pounding rain to the gunfire and explosions.  The voice acting is filled with the usual military jargon, but the delivery is fine and believable, so it won’t take you out of the experience, even if you may not be 100% sure what is going on.

The gameplay is solid as well.  The default control scheme is in the same vein as most modern console shooters, but why fix what isn’t broken?  Movement is fluid for the most part, and although there are bugs, they will not distract you enough to take you out of the game.  Warfighter also has some more unique features, such as the ability to slide and lean in and out of cover.  While these aren’t completely original or redefining, they are nice little additions that can come in pretty handy if you use them well.

Along with the campaign, Warfighter also features incredibly detailed multiplayer.   There are five modes including standard team death match and objective-based modes.  The handful of close-quarter maps are diverse and (for the most part) well designed.  While the multiplayer splits you into two teams (there is no free-for-all mode), you are also split into “fireteams” within your team, each containing up to two people.  This game mechanic separates Warfighter’s multiplayer from other modern military shooters, and influences the gameplay in a huge way.  Your fireteam partner is referred to as your “buddy”, and players that work together will have a huge advantage.  Your buddy serves as a mobile spawn point, so if you don’t feel like spawning all the way back at your base, you can drop right into the action if you choose.  Your buddy can also replenish your ammo and health if you are close enough to him.  There are no “killstreaks” in this game, but there are “pointstreaks”, offering three levels of rewards, each with a defensive and offensive option (such as a smokescreen for defense or mortar strike for offense).  While this is a great feature in and of itself, the buddy system actually plays a big role in it as well.  Every time your buddy spawns on you or gets a kill, YOU get points towards your streak.  Healing each other and replenishing ammo gives you points, as well.  Of course, you can still play lone-wolf style and completely ignore your fireteam partner, but you will be at an extreme disadvantage.

Where the multiplayer really shines, though, is in its customization options.  There are six classes to choose from, each with their own unique weapons, pointstreaks, and special abilities (the Heavy Gunner, for example, can equip armor, giving him a little extra health that could come in handy in a firefight).  The first in customizing your soldier is choosing your nationality, and as you progress, you can designate a more specific title (i.e. United States Special Forces). 

And then there’s the guns.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter features a plethora of weaponry, all of which feature multiple customization options.  Unlike most shooters, where weapon attachments have minimal or no impact on gunplay, choosing the right attachments here is crucial to success.  If you want to be stealthy at the cost of doing less damage, you need to customize your weapon accordingly.  Unlock progression is a little slower than other shooters, but every unlock feels well deserved, and even if you don’t end up using it, testing it out is always a good idea.

While all these facets make for an engaging multiplayer experience, when you get right down to it, the multiplayer is just pure FUN;  challenging, but fun.  Make no mistake; most people will not have a 5.55 kill death ratio or anything crazy like that which they can achieve in games like Call of Duty, but every kill feels earned, and most deaths are because you or your team made a mistake.  The challenge is part of what makes the multiplayer so engaging, and the tactical aspects help separate it from the crowd.

Despite all this praise, I do have a bit of criticism.

I’ll start with the campaign.  While I did enjoy the story, it offers nothing new to the genre and featured one-too-many clichés.  The A.I. is also a bit shoddy, and while their accuracy is good enough to pose a decent challenge, enemies will sometimes run straight into your gunfire.

As for the multiplayer, there is one main issue: spawning.  The spawn system in Warfighter needs a little bit of work, and soon.  The base spawn points are fairly easy to camp, and if one team works their way across the map fast enough and sets up, it is nearly impossible for the other team to get out of their spawn.  As mentioned above, you do have the option to buddy spawn, BUT you cannot do so if they have been spotted by the enemy.  Another issue with the spawning is that every once in a while, you will spawn with your gun “down”, meaning you have no weapon on the screen, but are vulnerable to gunfire.  This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it can result in a cheap death.  These issues could easily be fixed with a spawn protection system, but one has yet to be implemented.

The other gripes about multiplayer are very minor.  Some of the starting weapons are terrible, causing you to lose every gunfight unless you start shooting the other guy first.  Once you start to unlock other weapons and attachments, this becomes a non-issue, but is a minor annoyance that may turn newcomers off immediately.  Camping is also a bit of an issue, due to the fact that some of the favorite spots feature only one way in or out, and are therefore very easy to defend.

All in all, Medal of Honor: Warfighter is a very enjoyable shooter that is getting a lot of undeserved grief.  Is it the best modern military shooter out there?  No, but it is certainly better than most reviews make it out to be.  If you are a fan of fast-paced, tactical action, you should definitely give Warfighter a try.

7.8/10

"The Dark Knight Rises" Review

Holy Shit, Batman!

After four long years of waiting, Christopher Nolan’s third and final Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises” is finally here.  Needless to say, expectations for this film were sky high, and this was easily the most hyped up movie of the year.  My personal excitement level was through the roof, and I was convinced there was no way this movie could be a letdown, could it?  To put it plain and simple,

FUCK.  NO.

This is EASILY the best movie of 2012 so far, and the best superhero movie since 2008’s “The Dark Knight”.  Nearly every aspect of this film is perfect, from the acting, to the cinematography, to the story.

“The Dark Knight Rises” picks up eight years after the events of “The Dark Knight”, and Bruce Wayne is still coping with the effects of the Joker.  Having locked himself away in a rebuilt Wayne Manor, Bruce has not been seen in public in years, and his Batman persona has not made an appearance since he took the fall for Harvey Dent’s crimes.  I won’t say much more, so I don’t spoil anything because believe me, the storyline is one of this movie’s strongest aspects (and possibly the best storyline of the trilogy).  As a huge Batman fan, I was familiar with a lot of the story-arcs that this film drew its influence from, and I was STILL surprised by some of the plot twists.

The acting in this film was top notch, with Christian Bale and Michael Caine giving their strongest performances yet.  Every scene between their characters is extremely powerful and emotional, with one being a real tearjerker.  Gary Oldman also does a phenomenal job as Commissioner Gordon, who is still coping with the fact that he covered up the truth about Harvey Dent.  However, the real scene-stealers are newcomers Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle and Tom Hardy as the villainous Bane.  I was extremely skeptical about the insertion of Selina (AKA Catwoman, nerds) into this more realistic world of Batman that Nolan has crafted, but it worked incredibly well.  Her motives are mysterious and you aren’t sure whether or not she is an ally to Batman, and Hathaway does a great job of bringing the Catwoman persona to life.  Tom Hardy, on the other hand, is a whole different animal.  Bane is 110% pure evil, stronger, and possibly even smarter than the Caped Crusader.  Having half of his face covered with a mask, Hardy does an excellent job of showing intensity through his eyes.  When Batman and Bane throw down, it is BRUTAL, and possibly my favorite fight scenes from any superhero movie, even if they aren’t as flashy as some other 2012 superhero films…

Hans Zimmer returns again for the score, and once again, it fits perfectly.  When those drums kick in, you know something is about to go down.  I also thought the choice of using quieter music, if any, during the fight scenes was extremely interesting, and added to the whole “grounded in reality” theme that this trilogy has going on.

This brings us to the special effects, which are stunning.  Nolan is a huge fan of using practical effects when possible, and his films only use CGI when absolutely necessary.  I have to be honest, I couldn’t tell what was real and what was fake because everything looked so damn good.  There are some scenes that are obviously CGI, but look so convincing that it is kind of mind blowing.  This film also has the best action sequences of the trilogy, especially the hand-to-hand combat.

As most of you probably know, one of the factors that created so much anticipation for this film is that it is the last one in the series, and nobody knew how it would end.  I won’t give it away, but I will say that as a huge Batman fan, the ending to this movie is BRILLIANT.  The last five minutes are absolute filmmaking perfection.

To sum things up, if you are still reading this and haven’t seen the movie yet, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL DOING ON THE INTERNET?!  SEE THIS NOW!

A+

"Prometheus" Movie Review

An "Alien" prequel… I mean, semi-prequel… I mean…

“Prometheus” is the latest film from director Sir Ridley Scott, and, as geeks everywhere know, it takes place in the same universe as a little movie called “Alien”, one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time.  Needless to say, there were a lot of expectations for this film (especially since the third and fourth films in the franchise were pretty bad), and I had my doubts about whether or not it would live up to the hype.

Before I go into details, I want to make it clear that this film follows closely in the footsteps of “Alien”, and not its action packed sequel.  You aren’t going to find any marines going at it with extraterrestrial monsters here, so if that is what you are looking forward to, this is not the movie for you.  However, if you are looking for one of the best science fiction movies in the last few years, then you certainly don’t want to miss this.

“Prometheus” opens up with a group of archeologists discovering a star map in multiple, unconnected ancient cultures.  They believe these to be an “invitation” to meet the makers of humanity, which they name “engineers”.  Peter Weyland, founder of the Weyland Corporation (wink, wink “Alien” fans) funds an exploration journey for two of the archeologists (Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green) and fifteen other crew members aboard the vessel Prometheus to find these engineers.  Of course, not everything goes as planned, and then we have our movie.

The cinematography in “Prometheus” is absolutely gorgeous.  The opening credits contain a montage of landscapes that look absolutely breathtaking.  The special effects are flawless as well.  This is easily one of the best looking films of 2012 so far.  As far as acting goes, the entire cast does a great job, but Michael Fassbender as the ship’s android David knocks it out of the park. 

The movie is not without its flaws, however.  My biggest problem with “Prometheus” is its plot.  The overall story is fantastic: scientists searching for life’s beginnings.  However, as the film moves along, it becomes much more than that, and becomes a little too much for it to handle.  It is only two hours long, which may seem like an adequate amount of time, but there is far too much going on in the movie to cram into 120 minutes.  It isn’t as cluttered as, say, “Spiderman 3”, but it definitely felt like some plot points were introduced and never really concluded.

My second problem with the film has to do with its relation to the “Alien” movie.  One of the major reasons I was looking forward to “Prometheus” so much was because I thought it was going to answer a lot of questions about the “Alien” universe.  Instead, it answered about two, and raised twenty more.  The film sets itself up for a sequel, but I don’ know exactly where they would go with it.  My final gripe is just a nitpick, and contains a spoiler, so I’ll just say there is a pretty big continuity error towards the end of the film (can you guess what it it?).

Despite these shortcomings, I really enjoyed “Prometheus”.  While it didn’t exactly live up to the hype, it was far from a disappointment, and definitely one of the best science fiction movies I have seen in the past few years.  Fans of sci-fi should definitely check this movie out, as you will not be disappointed (the final shot is a nerdgasm waiting to happen).

A- 

"The Avengers" Movie Review

NERDS!  ASSEMBLE!

Ever since 2008’s “Iron Man”, comic book fans have been promised a team up of a group of Marvel’s most well-known superheroes in “The Avengers”.  Now, four years later, the film is here, and it is one of the most hyped-up movies of the year.  The question is, does it live up to that hype?

Going into this film, I knew it had a huge potential to fail miserably.  I loved all of the movies leading up to it, but I wasn't exactly sure how the more grounded-in-reality Iron Man would work well with the demi-god Thor.  This was also the first time a crossover like this was going to be attempted in the film medium, and although it works well in the comic book universe, I was unsure of how well it would translate onto the silver screen.

All of my fears were put at ease from the opening scene.  “The Avengers” is up there with the best that comic book movies have to offer, and is probably Marvel’s best film to date.  The writing, character development, and action are all top notch.  Minus a few gripes, this film is damn near perfect, and everything I was hoping for.

For those of you that don’t know (and have been living under a rock these past four years), “The Avengers” stars Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man/Tony Stark), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chris Evans (Captain America/Steve Rogers), and Chris Hemsworth (Thor).  Jeremy Renner plays Hawkeye, a minor character from “Thor”, and Scarlett Johansson returns as Black Widow, who made her first appearance in “Iron Man 2”.  Tom Hiddleston plays the villainous Loki, and is much more menacing than his first appearance in “Thor”, where he was more of a sympathetic villain.  Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Clark Gregg is back as Agent Coulson.

The movie begins with Loki talking to a mysterious Alien, and leading an attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, prompting Nick Fury to initiate the “Avengers Initiative”.  The film really shines here, in the beginning, when all of our heroes are coming together and meeting for the first time.  Joss Whedon, the writer and director, does a superb job of crafting the character interactions and dialogue.  At first, our heroes don’t get along (and have some spectacular fight scenes), and definitely do not have a “team” dynamic down.  It is endlessly entertaining to see the initial rivalry between Stark and Rogers, as it feels very believable.  These are two men that are very different in their personalities and beliefs.

The dialogue also features some of the wittiest writing I have witnessed in years.  The film is extremely comedic, but never to the point where it feels too cheesy or campy.  The humor works extremely well, and never feels out of place.  No character delivers a dull line, and some of the earlier conversations are absolutely hilarious.

Each character also gets their time to shine.  From the trailers, I was afraid this was going to be more of an “Iron Man and Friends” type of movie, as he got the most face time in many of the previews.  Fortunately, this is not the case, and all the characters are balanced extremely well; even Hawkeye and Black Widow get an ample amount of screen time.    And Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, the only actor not reprising his role from a previous film, is the best incarnation of the Hulk on screen I have seen to date.  Ruffalo does a phenomenal job, as does the rest of the cast.

The ending to this film is absolutely fantastic.  I won’t give it away, and it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before, but believe me when I say this is the best fight scene in any comic book movie ever.  One of the only complaints I had about the films leading up to “The Avengers” was that the final confrontations felt a little too weak.  This movie more than makes up for that.  It is straight balls-to-the-walls action for the last 30 to 40 minutes, and it is damn entertaining to watch.

There are not many problems with this film, but one major one I have is the story; it is extremely predictable, and despite one or two twists, you know exactly how things are going to play out.  It is nothing we haven’t seen before, and that is a bit disappointing, considering how good of a writer Whedon is, I was expecting something a little more ambitious. 

My only other gripe is that the middle of the film drags a bit, and this may have to do with it all taking place in one constant setting.  But this is a very minor complaint, as the dialogue and interactions between the characters remain strong.

All in all, I had a blast with “The Avengers”, and will definitely be seeing it again.  It definitely kicks off the summer blockbuster season with a bang, and is one of the most entertaining movies I have seen in a long time.

A-