The Avengers is Actually Good, Shocked Reviews Say

• Tough act to follow, but they might have pulled it off.

So, we’re going to suck in our gut and admit it: we didn’t have high expectations for The Avengers, the Marvel comic book action flick that was filmed in our fair land not long ago. Sure, we reasoned, it would have some good booms and bangs, and a rotating cast of Hollywood regulars, and Scarlett Johansson’s teflon pout – but would it actually pull off the primary color epic sweep of the original comic books? Probably not, we guessed.

Call us shamed haters, potentially. The initial reviewers are coming in, and they’re surprisingly positive. So positive, in fact, that industry observers are taking the time to comment on the generally astonished tone most reviews are oozing over the sure-thing blockbuster. We might actually be looking at the Godfather of superhero movies, the new standard.

From Thompson on Hollywood:

In fact, some enthusiastic reviewers were baffled at having too little to complain about, while others questioned whether “Marvel’s The Avengers” might be the best super hero movie of all time, or the purest comic book adaptation ever.  No consensus yet, but as of writing, Rotten Tomatoes shows a 100% Fresh rating.

This article appears in Apr 18-24, 2012.