Marvel's The Avengers

I was informed in a very strongly worded email from the studio that this movie is not called The Avengers. It is called MARVEL's The Avengers, so don't be making fun of me every time I type MARVEL's The Avengers. I am not shilling for The Man. It's a small price to pay to see one of the summer's biggest, most exciting, most anticipated movies. The summer movie season has begun!

This is one of those movies where the plot sounds silly and nerdy as I write it (and I feel like a kid who can't get a date to the prom as I describe it), but stick with me. Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor's brother who has gone evil, has made a deal with intergalactic raiders to open a portal to Earth, so they can invade, take over in a bloody war and leave Loki in command, but he can't do it alone.

Loki has compromised members of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team to break into their heavily fortified facility and steal the Tesseract - a cube of energy that opens the portal, and might be capable of much more. S.H.I.E.L.D. commander Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) knows the power of the Tesseract, and the danger to Earth, so he decides to bring together the men he has been recruiting for the moment when all of our military forces wouldn't be enough to protect our planet.

It's time to assemble Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

Will this motley crew of personalities find a way to overcome their differences to win the upcoming war?

Can they find Loki and the Tesseract?

What is Nick Fury's real motivation and plan for the Tesseract?

Going into MARVEL's The Avengers, I was worried about too many characters and too many subplots complicating the movie (Batman & Robin, anyone?). You've got Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury, Pepper Potts and that's just the list of good guys!

It would be hard enough for a great coach like Vince Lombardi to manage that many egos, but writer/director Joss Whedon could not have done a better job using every one of them in the most perfect way. He makes everything meld together magnificently with the audience getting a feel for each character's story, challenges, strengths and more. Because of Whedon, MARVEL's The Avengers has a great pace, great humor without becoming silly and great action, while introducing new characters who feel like they belong, instead of being added to help sell some additional toys and licensed merchandise.

Best of all, Whedon gives us a realistic story about how the great team members don't get along at first, don't trust each other, try to establish their role in the squad and, generally, have to figure it all out while the world collapses around them. Because of this, we get great speeches from Nick Fury and Tony Stark, which reveal so much about them, you can't help but realize Whedon is adding another dimension to MARVEL's The Avengers.

Iron Man is great like always, Thor doesn't disappoint and Captain America becomes a character you can better appreciate than in his own previous movie, but all eyes are on the new guy, and Ruffalo proves he belongs as Bruce Banner and The Hulk. Instead of being some sad sack, sullen drifter, Ruffalo brings a dignity and prickly personality displaying the unease he feels with his affliction, but he also shows Banner's confident and assertive side (just don't make him angry, unless you need him angry).

MARVEL's The Avengers gets the summer movie season off to the kind of start that will make The Amazing Spider-Man and Battleship quake with insecurity.

Marvel's The Avengers is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference.