The Avengers (the movie)

We saw The Avengers over the Memorial Day weekend.  Before I say anything more about it, I just want to make sure that everyone understands that we are a family who likes cartoonishly violent movies (with the possible exception of Jim, who, at least, tolerates cartoonishly violent movies).

That being said, we enjoyed The Avengers very much.  There were lots of explosions, lots of aliens killed in a variety of ways (smashed by Hulk, pierced by arrows from Hawkeye, shot or knifed by Black Widow, laser gunned by Ironman, etc.) and all of it done with such cartoonish verve that it was impossible to take it too seriously.  There is no doubt that Robert Downey, Jr. as Ironman carried the movie (smart alecky dialogue is his specialty, after all).  Samuel Jackson was excellent as he always is, and my new favorite hunky actor is Jeremy Renner, who plays Hawkeye.  (In a slight digression, it’s interesting that archery has found a new place out of geekdom in light of The Hunger Games, The Avengers and the upcoming Pixar movie, Brave.  A conspiracy by bow-and-arrow manufacturers perhaps?)

The film is rated PG-13, but our 10 year old son (visually resilient with an affinity for destruction on a large scale) had no issues, and neither did our 13 year old daughter (visually sensitive but with an equal affinity for destroying bad guys (or bad aliens) in creative ways).

Jim, our resident peacenik, thought the movie was an enjoyable way to spend 2 1/2 hours, but it is not his particular kind of movie.  I, on the other hand, really enjoy cartoonishly violent movies (I find them very relaxing) and thought The Avengers was an excellent example of the genre.