"The Avengers" (2012): I took my son to see this the other weekend, and we had a great time with it--classic entertainment, good Joss Whedon script, super special effects, plenty of action and humorous banter between the characters. Okay, maybe the character development was somewhat lacking, but the movie more than made up for that in everything else it offered.
   This movie even had a plausible story: Thor's brother Loki is on another power trip, and has found a way to open a door into our world so that alien invaders known as the Chitauri can come through and take over Earth. Loki's prize is the powerful energy source called the Tesseract, but he first takes over the minds of several key characters (including Dr. Selvig) and puts them to work on his plans. Samuel L. Jackson's character Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. escapes Loki and his henchmen, and begins gathering the heroes together to fight the invasion as a team. Unfortunately, the Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, the Black Widow, and Thor have to figure out how to work together first. Once that is accomplished, the fun begins, as they battle the invading aliens and their warships over Manhattan. Effects were superbly done, and the actors were really into their parts. Chris Evans and Robert Downey, Jr. did well set against each other and I enjoyed their banter, and Scarlett Johansson was interesting as Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. Chris Hemsworth makes a great Thor, and Mark Ruffalo did very well as Bruce Banner, "who's always angry." There were great scenes between Iron Man and Thor fighting each other in the woods, with Loki looking on; Black Widow defeating her captors after she's called to work early in the picture; the Hulk annihilating Loki--"puny god," he mutters to himself; the battle over Manhattan with the mechanical lizard like warships slithering around and through the skyscrapers. Lots of action, explosions, chases, fighting--a wonderful feast for the eyes. Excellent entertainment on a Friday afternoon. My son and I both enjoyed it. Joss Whedon did a wonderful job with this movie, and my hope is that he will continue to do more of them.