Thoughts on The Avengers

A few non-spoilery thoughts on the movie:

-I've never seen an adaptation that avoided missing opportunities the way Avengers did. If I had made a list before watching the movie of things I wanted to see I would have been able to cross nearly everything off the list. I think the only thing left out was Cap yelling "Avengers assemble!"

-While not everyone gets equal time, none of the characters gets shortchanged on screen time, not even Agent Coulson. As you might expect, Tony Stark and Loki get the most to do.

-As in Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki is fantastic.

-There are two post-credit sequences, one after the main credits and another at the very end. The first one is the traditional Marvel movie teaser, the second is a humorous reference to a line from Stark earlier in the film. If you're pressed for time, or by impatient theater workers, you could probably miss the second.

-The movie manages quite a bit of humor without forcing it. There's a scene between Hulk and Thor during the final battle that is sure to make anyone laugh.

-I've seen some reviewers compare the final battle to the last Transformers movie. While they both involve lots of action with visually complex characters in an urban landscape they feel very different when you are watching them. Transformers feels like a visual assault that's supposed to generate a reaction with brute force, Avengers gives you a fight where you can actually follow the action. There's a shot that moves from one here to another that's quite impressive.