This being my first movie review for Heave, I feel honored to have skipped the minors and moved straight to the World Series.  Namely, The Avengers, summer blockbuster #1.  The film has been heavily anticipated for the past five years, beginning with Iron Man in 2008.  The subsequent movies for Captain America, Hulk, and Thor worked together to set up a movie for The Avengers.  Of course, this was a “plan,” and we have seen plans like this fall through in the movie business.  Well, here it is in 2012.  You came through, Marvel.

The Avengers is set up as a sequel to all of the aforementioned movies. However, it will likely also act alone in a new saga.  They do a decent job at introducing all of the characters, but it is obvious if you have some common knowledge coming in, you will be better off.  The introduction of the Avengers takes the better part of the first half of the movie, but the dynamics between the characters are set up so beautifully and are so well-balanced.  Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) enjoy a brief moment of tech babble.  Stark engages in interesting dialogue with Captain America (Chris Evans), as the two opposing personalities clash and eventually working together.  It’s a wonderful balance of character personalities, set up in advance by the original comic storyline.

Do take note that this movie is not front-to-back action.  There is a bit of slow pacing throughout, so don’t come into this movie expecting The Expenadables 2.  There has to be character development.  And without time for the crew to bicker, the time when they finally unite would not be quite as glorious.  That being said, the time when they do unite is oh so glorious. One big surprise is the amount of comedy thrown into this movie.  There were several laugh-out-loud moments, mostly caused by pain inflicted by The Hulk. And sure, the cheesy one liners came and went, but what are you expecting when seeing the superhero All-Star Game?

All in all, comic book nerds will fall to their knees for this movie.  While the casual action movie fan may not enjoy The Avengers to the same degree, it is still an enthrallingly fun action movie.  Marvel set out to do something very bold, keeping the same actors in every movie until they could appear together, and it paid off.  The anticipation was so high for The Avengers and it did nothing but deliver.  Superheroes, special effects, corny one-liners, a stellar cast and a bonus during the credits – what more could you want?  The bar has been set high for the summer of big comic movies.  Your move, The Amazing Spider-Man.