Marvel’s The Avengers has been a comic book movie in the making for many years. So many in fact that some felt the movie just barely delivered while others proclaimed it an instant classic. In the aftermath of the movie, the majority of viewers gave it rave reviews but were there concepts that could have been better? Certainly. It came down to the details and unfortunately, no movie is perfect in that regard, not even The Avengers.

1- Stronger Loki

Loki, as many fans of Thors brother will know, got the short end of the stick in terms of displaying power during the movies he’s been featured in already. The Avengers carried on the tradition of making him a mystical power that used indirect attacks to great effect.  He carried Dr. Selvig and Hawkeye into the night as his henchmen but apart from that he displayed little power or leadership skills.

If fans are indeed to be believed that he can fight on equal par with any of the Avengers in a one on one fight then perhaps including more apt displays of physical prowess would have been advantageous. Instead The Avengers leave big and bad Loki limping off into the abyss again, bound for Asgardian Justice with nothing to show for his efforts except a partially ruined city.

2-Stronger invading army, less mindless drones

In the original Avengers Lore, the Chitauri were being commanded by Loki as they were invading earth but apparently marvel decided they weren’t going to need a key power that make the Chitauri so devastating. In the Marvel universe Chitauri have had super strength, stamina, exceptional regeneration abilities and shapeshifting skills as well.

In The Avengers movie however, the Chitauri are reduced to mindless clone trooper type drones, with barely any variety between the combat types and nearly zero intelligence. Led in a hive mind style of leadership, these enemies are a pale imitation of what they should have been. Loki’s power already needed work but on top of his lack of command skills it makes the opponents for The Avengers seem more like an army of plastic men than a cohesive invasion force.

3-Missing logic trains.

Loki makes the move to separate and divide The avengers by using Hulk’s semi-controllable anger. If this is true, then why is it so easy for the Avengers to reunite just in the nick of time to save the planet for a hostile alien invasion. Loki does very little to actually separate The Avengers except having two of them fall out of the sky while he escapes prison.

The ease or difficulty with which Bruce Banner rejoins the Avengers even in the midst of a hostile takeover of New York City isn’t shown to fans. Worse is that the motorbike he rides into Manhattan had better be able to teleport or else there is no way that the Hulk who fell out of the Sky would be able to make it to New York City minutes after he landed.

Not to mention the part where Tony Stark redirects a nuclear missile into an alien space vacuum that has no atmosphere in which to power a rocket or the resulting explosion. An atmosphere of some kind is necessary in order for combustion to take place to the destructive degree of destroying a space armada.  A nuclear missile that was probably designed to flatten a civilian city at sea level would have a much reduced affect when detonated in zero gravity space.

4- Where was the U.S Military?

Unlike the multitude of movies that have come out in the last few years, the U.S military had a less than primary presence in this film. Past Marvel movies have featured the use of aircraft as well as other military vehicles to supplement the lack of existing man power. Iron Man 1 and 2 the U.S was still featured within the film as a strong forceful entity and yet in The Avengers, this is a less than stellar performance for Uncle Sam and his troops.

Certianly, S.H.I.E.L.D is a military organization, the best of the best and so forth. Yet for all the neat toys that Nick Fury controls, where were the immediate response teams to an alien invasion fans may ask. All of these tools at their displosal and the shadowed elite controlling S.H.I.E.L.D sat back and waited. Apart from one big nuclear missile that Iron Man was able to redirect since it apparently lacked a proximity charge of any kind, there wasn’t much that the actual military itself did.

5- Are all superheroes created equal?

There is a fight scene between Iron Man and Thor the alludes to future collaborative powers that comes to fruition near the end of the movie. That said, why did it feel like every punch from Thor, Iron Man or Captain America seem to look the same? Despite the angle of the shots, as well done as they were, each punch was the same. Each superhero has their own powers naturally so Thor swinging his hammer does indeed look different than Captain America swinging his shield but the results are annoyingly similar. There was an action and a reaction, but no real affect to the invading enemies at all.

As many fans discovered, Captain America had a lot of spirit but not a lot of spotlight. Not really. Yes Steve Rogers was a hero and yes he is an iconic character but in the aftermath of the Avengers craze Cap got left behind. His ability to lead was put to the test, highlighted by his gaining command of a team of NYPD officers. However he got blown out of the water by Iron Man. Towards the end of the movie, Iron Man was not only the decisive cause of victory but also led the enemies around in circles so that the other Avengers could attack them. It was Iron Man rather than Captain America who rallied the Avengers and it was Iron Man who spoke for The Avengers against Loki.

Image Courtesy of   Avengers

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About the author

Calvin Li
Calvin is currently a Politics and Entertainment writer, as well as the Assistant Gaming Editor for Toonari Post. He holds a Master's Degree in History and a Bachelor's degree in Marketing. A Native New Yorker, he enjoys speed reading and eating, as well as exploring, snowboarding and bowling.

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1 Comment for Five Ways Marvel’s The Avengers Could Have Been Better

linc

Hmm, an interesting look at the film, but I need to point out a few things:
1. Loki isn’t a strong character, and he uses trickery and nifty trinkets, supplemented by his intellect, to defeat folks, not any actual power. He’s probably a more appropriate adversary to Iron Man than Thor, given their similarities.
2. The drones are because they were reduced to that. It’s in the dialogue. That’s a detail Whedon wouldn’t leave out.
3. The holes can be balanced by “convenience” with a little suspension of disbelief.
4. Yes, Iron Man includes the military, but when has the military ever been able to assemble in time? That’s kind of the point of “Avengers: Assemble”. They’re powerful, but their size makes them nimbler to the broader, quick attacks perpetrated such as this.
5. No, not all are equal, but their skills and brawn mix should make each complimentarily similar.

As to your non-numerated complaint of Capt America’s apparent exclusion, well, the Captain America movie didn’t do as well as either of the Iron Man films, and that’s a bit of a political thing, but it does still harken on what I mentioned in #1: Iron Man and Loki are opposite sides of the same coin and apt adversaries, so it makes sense, and really, I felt he had quite an appropriate amount of screen time, RDJ just had more because,well, when you’re paying the guy that much, you want bang for your buck too, right? He’s made something like $50m for his part in the movie. Make him earn it.

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