You can tell it's a good movie when you remember having seen it. Not all of them have that going for them.

I'm trying to work out how the Avengers movie won me over.  I'd read very few comics with them or even with the characters and I'd been pretty burned out on superhero movies by that point.

Trying to look it up.  There was one issue of Avengers in my youth, it's #235, cover-dated September 1983.  At some point I'd read the first issue in [blanking on Marvel's book-sized collection of reprints even though I read it many many times] and they did appear in things I read like Secret Wars or crossover with "Inferno" or the [not really a] crossover in the annuals for a couple years, "Evolutionary War" and something that involved Atlantis.  It was just a get-together of characters whom I had very little interest in.

There were a very few issues of the characters, Thor #324, cover-dated October 1982, Captain America #271, July 1982, Hulk #279, January 1983.  They'd obviously appeared in Contest of Champions around that time which is probably how I knew who they were.  I liked the comics back then but I have an excuse, I was a little kid.  It didn't take too much longer before I realized they were really horrible.

Then there were the superhero movies.  I liked Superman of course, because duh.  I won a free ticket to an advance viewing of the first Batman movie and saw it several more times in theaters and many more on video or HBO.  I saw the sequel on opening night, the next sequel after a week or so and the final sequel at some point.  I had been watching what I could of other movies, horrible Hulk tv-movies, some of the cartoons and things like that.

In the 90s and 2000s, I started out trying to see new movies based on comics - including one of Scarlett Johansson's first movies, Ghost World - but it wasn't working.  The first Daredevil sucked, the first Hulk sucked, I didn't even bother to see the second.  At some point I had an episode of the Nick Fury/Shield tv-movie on and didn't turn it off, that's about as much as I was interested in that.

I had noticed when Marvel finally started making popular movies.  They purchased Malibu to get access to their up-to-date printing system and in the process, acquired characters like Men in Black, and suddenly had something Hollywood executives weren't already tired of turning down.  They had a hit movie which led to Blade, then X-Men, then Spider-Man and a few others that were bombs.  DC had failed to redo Superman but did have another Batman trilogy (which I did like although I've never seen the third movie to this day.)  Around that point I was in the Army.

My understanding is that the first Iron Man movie was succeed-or-die.  If it hadn't worked, that probably would have been it for Marvel.  They were still in major financial problems that had built up for decades and hadn't been able to do much with the characters they'd based everything on.  The superheroes had to save them or else.

My commander at the time told me Iron Man was an awesome movie, he'd said he used to read comics and I have no reason to think he was lying about either, but yeah, sure sir, whatever.  Then the other movies started coming out.  How the hell can anybody do Thor?  There was that second Hulk movie but I was already burned out on it and had no interest in seeing Captain America.  After Avengers, I realized it was actually quite clever.  The movie was a monster hit and people other-than-me would want to see more.  I wouldn't be surprised if the non-Iron Man movies made far more money after Avengers was released than they had before.  I definitely think that was planned, as long as the first movies broke even, Marvel could keep going and build Avengers.

Obviously it worked.  I may not be a movie fan but I will definitely give them credit for finally figuring out how to put characters and continuity that comics fanboys take for granted into many big-budget movies.  I don't even see these movies and I can tell it's there.  I do have a very-minor desire to see some of them just to see how it works.  Not to mention that, at least as members of the team go, I'm more interested in them than I'd ever been before.

The Hulk is the Hulk, no matter how old you are, there's always some part of a little boy inside you who likes the giant green monster smashing stuff.  Peter David had done a very intelligent run which, beyond an X-Men crossover here or there, I only read years after David had quit, but I did like it.  Black Widow had been in several issues of Daredevil I had read, written by Denny O'Neil in-between Frank Miller's two legendary runs.  I definitely give O'Neil credit for finding different things to do with her.  Sometimes she was a helpless victim Daredevil had to rescue, sometimes he was not physically capable of doing stuff so she handled the heavy lifting for him, sometimes she was on her own mission and the two just ran into each other.  They might turn out to be sharing the same enemy or just handle each bad guy together.  Off the top of my had, I can't recall any other comics she appeared in that I'd read, at least not in any major role, but my understanding is that Natasha was always a vague character whose origins or purpose were changed for the purpose of whatever comic was done by whoever the creators that month.  Other than being Russian, there wasn't much consistency.

I have never understood why they used Natasha instead of the One True Wasp, Janet Van Dyne.  At least not using the Scarlet Witch makes sense, there were probably issues over whether she was sold as a mutant to the X-Men franchise.  One reason Marvel used these characters is because they'd sold the rights to their big names to other studios.

[Wait, there was one of Jim Lee's first issues of X-Men where she and Captain America appeared.  I assume Chris Claremont was consciously trying to include the rest of the Marvel Universe at that point which he hadn't done for quite a while and also trying to keep control of Wolverine despite having quit his solo series @ a year earlier.]

Iron Man had been in two hit movies that I had no interest in and just hadn't been an interesting character before that.  I preferred Rhodey who wasn't much better but at least it was something.  Thor didn't even have that much, I've never been interest in Nordic mythology and my understanding is that this Thor was very different from the myths.  The "real" Thor isn't an intelligent hero but at least he's the heir to the throne.  Hawkeye was never interesting either but I have always credited this movie for handling him in a clever way.  Since we've never heard of these characters anyway, they need to cut down on time spent on each so they just make him a brainwashed servant of the villain.  He gets to show off how awesome he is while causing the heroes major problems and then will join them after he's saved.  Neat trick.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Captain America has just never worked.  His best appearance was the cover of his first issue in 1940, punching Hitler.  Chris Evans' performance in these movies comes in second and I have always liked how Kurt Busiek and George Perez handled him in JLA/Avengers which was less about the two teams and more about the two universes.  Cap could stand on a level with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in a way that none of his teammates had a chance of doing, make of that what you will.  It was also a clever plot point that he and Superman really didn't like each other.

So that was all in the back of my mind when this movie came out.  I'd been having my own problems - completely burned out after running a Special Forces arms room by myself for a year - and needed a break.  The movie was out, let's find out if it's worth anything and I wasn't optimistic.

Obviously I was wrong, it built very well.  I'm not crediting the plot or acting so much as the movie as a whole that finally managed to use the genre well after all these decades.  There's the set-up with SHIELD, the Cosmic Cube [We don't say "tesseract" in these-here parts!] and Loki, the latter having formed the Avengers in their first adventure.  The opening credits and then we're seeing Natasha handle some Russian criminals by being tied and beating.  Then she gets a call and has to cut this short.  There's no sense of realism in her beating up the group but who cares?  Colson will take care of Stark - people who've seen the previous movies know why it's better to not send her - she has to handle the big guy.

Cut to India, Bruce Banner is tricked into a house where Natasha is waiting for him.  They don't get along well but it's also clever that the movie is about thirds of the way through before we ever see the Hulk.  Great build-up, it's smart to give Banner the attention and totally worth it when it finally happens.  Nick Fury has to defend these actions to mysterious governing officials, then he goes to get Cap in.  Cap has no idea what to do with his life and there's a reference to Stark's father and Hydra's weapon which is how the Cosmic Cube arrived.  Finally we see Stark and Pepper deal with Phil.

Phil brings Cap to the SHIELD aircraft carrier, explaining "people might just need a little old-fashioned."  A bit with Loki, surrounded by henchmen and mentally contacting one of Thanos' minions.  Back on the aircraft carrier, Phil introduces Cap to Natasha and Banner and we learn it's the Helicarrier.  That was one of the first signs I had that this was working.  The Helicarrier is just awesome.  Their little group is looking for the Cosmic Cube, as is Loki with Barton.  Phil's still sucking up to Cap and they've found Loki, time to move in.

Loki shows off that he's actually a good villain, something I don't think I'd ever seen before.  Cap and Natasha take him down, then Stark arrives, shocking Cap with the loud AC-DC music.  They're taking Loki back, Stark and Cap are already not getting along, then Thor arrives for his [adopted] brother.  The three main members are now together in physical confrontation.  Ok, it's definitely feeling like a Marvel movie.

One thing I did like about Thor in these movies is that he always seemed to be living on a completely separate level from the rest, essentially going on his own storyline through the epic.  He's just there to get his brother and return the Cosmic Cube.  Now they have Loki but can't figure out what he's up to.  There's conversation that deepens the plot, the "big guy" gets mentioned as Banner is someone who definitely needs help and even Stark opens up to him, Cap is suspicous of what Fury's up to.  Natasha uses her skill to find out what Loki's up to.

That scene is well done, showing Loki as an even better villain while hinting at the discoveries Cap and Stark are individually making.  It's all about the Cosmic Cube and the Hulk.  They all get together and argue.  SHIELD is building weapons and blame it on Thor.  They all start bickering on each other, making good points or throwing in bitchy one-liners.  Cap and Stark are ready to get into a fight, then Hawkeye leads the attack.

I was definitely enjoying it at this point, the whole buildup of everybody arguing worked on story and character.  Then Natasha and Banner are dropped away and Banner can only do one thing.  This was where I had to wonder if this was really going to work.  There's a moment or two of dark movement between the two of them.  The reason the first Hulk movie bombed so badly was because they gave almost no attention to big green.  Hulk is chasing her in the dark, there's little direct camera sight of him, he's chasing her and chasing her, then smacking her into a wall, a much-higher version of what was going in her first scene.

One thing that made the movie work was the different levels the characters were operating.  Phil and Agent Hill could have handled an action movie themselves but they weren't on Nick Fury's level, or if they were it was only because he was really old.  And Fury wasn't on the same level as Natasha and Barton who were at least capable of working with the others.  Natasha is able to take down Barton - how realistic - which is the only win the heroes get in this scene.  Thor fights the Hulk which is glorious but far too short.  The Hulk gets punched off the Helicarrier, Phil is dead for real, he's never coming back, the villains escape with everything.

Then it all starts building together for the conclusion.  Stark is realizing that there are others who matter.  Cap comes in to see how he's doing and they figure out what's going on.  Harry Dean Stanton makes a cameo, I am wondering what he's been up to in his life and not in a positive way.  Why bring him in?  Anyway, Stark takes off, Cap gets Natasha and Barton and they're moving in.

Stark even gives a little speech to Loki about the team that'll take him down and doesn't even mention himself.  He's grown up slightly.  Loki tosses him out of the building, the Avengers arrive, Thor confronts his brother, even Banner shows up.  This is where I knew what I thought.  It's not the greatest movie I've ever seen - maybe I'll figure out what is someday - but it's one of the most enjoyable.  The team is together, it was totally worth the wait.  Then Loki orders to "send the rest."

The rest is a fight scene, very entertaining, sometimes humorous.  The Avengers win, they're better off than they were at the beginning and there's a hint of future movies which have all come to pass.  Still never a sense of why they use that name though, what are they trying to "avenge"?

So that was the movie.  There are many like it but this one cost a lot of money.