Sparkling comic book romp

Rating: ****
Despite having a title that suggests 90 minutes of John Steed and Emma Peel putting up a flat-pack wardrobe, Avengers Assemble is a hugely enjoyable comic-book romp with strong performances and a sparkling script.
Taking the directorial helm for a second time, Joss Whedon (best known as the creator of superlative TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer) brings his usual mix of tight plotting and witty dialogue to what could have been a rather cumbersome premise.
Cumbersome, because while many directors struggle to convey the intricacies of one hero’s character convincingly, Whedon’s story features no fewer than six preternaturally gifted individuals simultaneously saving the world and vying for screen time.
He manages this feat, I think, through the astute realisation that a superhero’s strongest dramatic appeal is derived, not from their lycra-costumed public image, but through their shirt-and-tie ‘regular’ identities.
Robert Downey Jnr’s ‘Iron Man’ is less entertaining than the snippy, back-chatting Tony Stark, the ‘Hulk’ less terrifying than the ice-cold Bruce Banner, and the courageous ‘Captain America’ less sympathetic than the isolated Steve Rogers.
By casting his narrative focus onto the alter-ego as much as the super-hero, Whedon is able to make Avengers Assemble work as an ensemble piece, rather than a mere compilation of cameos.
Still, a superhero movie is only as fun as its over-the-top villain, and Avengers Assemble features a cracker in the form of Tom Hiddleston’s waspish ‘Loki’.
Breathy, petulant, and disreputably long-haired, Hiddleston’s character is fantastically entertaining in the time-honoured tradition of Brit-thesp baddies and is blessed with many wonderful lines. One of my favourite Hiddleston moments came during a tense interview between Loki and Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Black Widow’. Locked inside a Perspex cage, Hiddleston unleashes his inner Hannibal Lecter with an archaic, baroque insult that perfectly sums up the camp pomposity of Hiddleston’s character.
Avengers Assemble is not without its flaws – it’s a little too long, and Samuel L. Jackson is rather sadly relegated to an unrewarding ‘gravitas’ role – but its many strengths more than outweigh the weaknesses. Funny, frolicsome, and full of life and energy, Whedon’s venture into comic-book adaptation is a great success, and highly recommended viewing for the family this week.