The Avengers is a movie that you will either love or hate. Smart dialog that ends up being more of a nuisance than comical and strange characters that could be funny but weren't are just the tip of the iceberg. The Avengers is sort of like a bad Far Side cartoon only stranger. If that's what you expected then you may like it... Otherwise, you'll just be lost. There really is no story, except for Sir August controlling the weather, and you have no idea what time period you're in. Part of it looks like the 1960's (when the show aired) and other sections look modern. Giant, robotic bugs with machineguns and little globes that control the weather just was beyond the realm of realism, which was quite disappointing. Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, and Sean Connery were not up to par with their typical standards (especially Connery, unfortunately).

Still, The Avengers managed to pop out some comedy, especially the teddy bear scene, and superb graphics, but those tiny aspects didn't support this movie in the least. I was laughing the whole way through but it was more of a "What the hell?" kind of laugh. The Avengers, no matter how comical in a stupid kind of way, cannot compete with bad acting, bad story, strange writing, and lack of realism. Oh, and why was there an invisible man?

Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.