"You can be damned sure we'll Avenge it."

From the opening credits to the (immensely satisfying) finale, The Avengers is the most fun I've had in a movie theatre in a long time. It combines memorable characters, a funny script and some of the coolest action sequences ever put to film. It is, quite simply, a triumph - and it's more than worthy of my (sort of) prestigious Golden Bacon Award.

Few films have been as ambitious or intriguing as the concept for The Avengers. The idea for the film was kicked around Hollywood for years, but it wasn't until Marvel Studios started taking control of their own brand and characters that it seemed legitimately possible to pull off. The seeds were planted in the post-credits scene of 'Iron Man', where Tony Stark meets Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury. Then over the course of four more films (Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America), water, sun and a little fertilizer was added. Basically, Marvel Studios has created this one, unified world and managed to populate it with all of these characters. The fact that these individuals keep appearing in each other's films keeps awareness high and ties it all together extremely well. And now, the payoff - when we finally get to see all of these characters together in the same film, at the same time, is immensely satisfying. Plus, the fact that Joss Whedon wrote and directed it doesn't hurt either.

In all, Avengers is one of the most satisfying movie experiences I've ever had the pleasure of attending. It positively glows in just about every aspect. The dialogue is smart when it has to be, cornball when it calls for it, and there're more than a few positively brilliant one-liners (usually - but not entirely - from the mouth of Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark). Even speaking as someone who's not particularly fond of 3D, I didn't find it to be forced or distracting. There were no blatant 'money shots' - if you could ever accuse the 3D gimmick of being 'understated', this film would be the one to do it. It's there, and you notice it, but it's not distracting. It does what it's supposed to - it adds to the film without making a 2D version of the film unwatchable (which, when you're kicking in an extra three bucks for the 'option' of seeing a film in 3D, is really all you can ask for).

The plot involves Loki (Thor's half-brother/nemesis, introduced in Thor's movie just last year - which is great because there's no need to spend half an hour setting up the villain) trying to steal the Tesseract - a cube of extraterrestrial origin that was introduced (you guessed it) in Captain America's film. For what it's worth, the film is full of little things like this that do a great job of creating a sense of unity between these disparate characters. Anyway, Loki steals the Tesseract from SHIELD and Nick Fury calls on the Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Bruce Banner/Hulk) to save the day. I won't delve much further into the plot because I don't want to spoil anything, but let it be said that while the plot moves forward in a relatively linear fashion, it doesn't always do what you expect it will. Joss Whedon does a great job of handling all of these characters and keeping the action moving forward, but the direction never feels muddied or bogged down. He's essentially got six lead characters, but the pacing is so even that you never really feel like one's getting shafted at the expense of the others. He keeps the film moving quickly and efficiently.

As something of a comic book nerd in addition to film geek, there were at least three occasions where I geeked out so hard that I almost left my seat and shot into orbit. Joss, being something of a comic book geek himself - he's done several turns as lead writer in Marvel books in the past - clearly knows and has a certain amount of affection for these characters and the world they inhabit. Again, I won't go into detail because I want everyone to experience these moments for the first time, but I will say that I had a big, dumb, goofy grin on my face the entire time.

For me (and most others, I would imagine), the gold standard when it comes to comic book films is The Dark Knight. That being said, however, I find The Dark Knight to be simply a great 'film' - that just happens to be based on a comic book. Avengers is now, unquestionably the best *comic book* film I've seen. Does that make sense? It revels in its source material and, above all, is simply a joy to watch. I could sit here and heap more superlatives upon it, but really, it's 2.5 hours of glowing nerdgasm in 3D (or not) and I am absolutely going to see it again.

Your move, Dark Knight.

Geek Score: 10 Bacon Strips out of 10 - Golden Bacon Award

What I'm Playing: NHL 12 (playing as the goalie is hard), Mass Effect 3 for XBox 360

What I'm Reading: Preacher, vol. 6

- EP

Captain America: The First Avenger

Prior to attending the special advance pre-screening (through Scene! It pays to be a member! (tm)) there was a real fear on my part that I would have to dismiss Captain America as American chest-thumping, jingoistic treacle - thankfully, some smart screenwriting decisions and strong performances from the leads makes it one of the better films of the summer and one of the best comic book adaptations of recent memory.

The story revolves around Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), an undersized, underweight asthmatic who wants, more than anything, to join the US Army and help out during World War 2. Of course, he flunks his physical. So he lies on his questionnaire and tries again. And again. And again. Finally, at his fifth such attempt, a scientist sees something in Steve that leads him to believe he'd be a perfect fit for his new super-soldier experiment. Of course, Steve accepts, the experiment is a success and he becomes Captain America - super soldier extraordinaire. They touch briefly on the character's comic origin (Captain America as a character was essentially created as pseudo-propaganda during war-time) by having him perform at USO troupes and functions across the states selling war-bonds. But while the character's name itself is 'Captain America', the screenwriters wisely fleshed out his platoon by featuring, in no particular order, a Canadian sharpshooter, two Frenchmen, an attractive, female British agent (guess what happens there?) and a gruff, surly, southern Colonel (played with delicious, scenery-chewing camp by Tommy Lee Jones). The main villain in the film is Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), a Nazi version of the super-soldier phenomenon that is bent on world domination (standard comic-book villain stuff - not necessarily befitting the 14th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All-Time according to IGN, but it's a minor gripe really)

If you have any knowledge of comic books, you probably know who Captain America is. He's probably Marvel's top draw that *hadn't* been made into a feature film to this point and he's front and center in a number of major events such as Civil War, Secret Invasion and Marvel Zombies. That said, the movie version strays a bit from canon (seems like every time I review a comic book movie lately I have to say that) but not in any way that will lead the nerds to raise their pitchforks and burn Hollywood to the ground. The changes they make are more for narrative purposes and the sake of continuity in the franchise as well as creating a sense of community among the Marvel universe, so in some ways it actually works out for the best (I know, I know, blasphemy, etc. - I'll turn in my Geek badge and credentials).

One thing that Marvel Studios seems to understand that DC's fledgling film studio has yet to truly grok is how to humanize their characters. Sure, they're superheroes, but they have heart and real motivations driving them. For instance, nobody outside of comic book fandom really knew or cared about Iron Man prior to the 2008 feature film, but Tony Stark had a soul and the audience really rooted for the character and a connection was formed. $300 million later a studio was funded and a franchise model was born. Thor's coffee scene is one such example - a scene that could have easily ended up on the cutting room floor, but because it didn't, it helped to try and 'humanize' a character who by his very nature is completely inhuman. Likewise, Captain America features a couple of scenes that another director might have thrown away, but Joe Johnston (who also directed the underrated Hidalgo with Viggo Mortensen - check it out) found a way to fit in and the film is better for it. Johnston has a certain amount of fun with the source material, but still manages to take it seriously.

Somewhere along the line, Marvel Studios decided to hire people who can *act* - a novel concept in comic-book action films. Chris Evans was the best part of two very bad comic book films in Fox's disastrous Fantastic Four series as the Human Torch, but he really gets a chance to shine here with the film on his (extremely broad) shoulders. He's a likable lead that audiences can root for. The aforementioned Tommy Lee Jones looks like he's having the most fun he's had since Men in Black II came out almost a decade ago. Finally, Hugo Weaving's Red Skull is suitably menacing (his German accent is harsh and abrupt - almost like he copied his speech mannerisms from watching Hitler's speeches) providing a worthwhile foil for the heroes.

The special effects suffer at times from issues with overt CGI and the post-production 3D is a blatant cashgrab completely unnecessary but nothing is so jarring as to prevent your suspension of disbelief. The film's pacing moves along well and the two-hour runtime feels brisk (unlike Green Lantern's 1 hr 45 minutes that feels almost twice that) and when it's all over you'll be left wanting to see more. And thankfully, the wait won't be too long - next up on the docket for Marvel is the ambitious Avengers (featuring Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, et al.) next year. While they don't quite have a Pixar-esque winning streak just yet, they're punching above their weight, so I'm definitely looking forward to that one. Along with The Dark Knight Rises (have you seen the teaser? OMGasm), 2012 could be a great year for comic book movies.

Captain America combines an above-average script with great lead performances and sprinkles in good directing with brisk pacing. It's a film that pays homage to the source material, yet isn't afraid to write its own chapter in canon. It's a very worthwhile summer action film and one of the better comic book movies released of late.

Geek Score: 8 out of 10 bacon strips


What I'm Reading: Sweet Tooth vol. 3

What I'm Playing: Infamous 2 on PS3