I had a pretty movie-filled movie this weekend, but it was mostly because I finally had the time and energy to make a trip to the closest independent movie theater that usually plays the more artsy and limited-release films, and less because I wanted to see a ton of movies in one go.

Anyway, I just thought I would start off by reviewing The Avengers; it sticks out most clearly in my mind.

While the movie didn’t exactly blow me out of the water, I was fairly impressed with how they handled such a huge cast and I also think there was a good balance of action sequences and the tying in of stories from other movies into the main plot of The Avengers.  My only real complaint was that I didn’t quite understand who those creatures were that Loki enlisted to be his army, and how exactly they had all become acquainted in the first place.  Other than that, I think the movie was pretty successful at being a subliminal marketing tool to make me want to see another Avengers movie and more sequels to other superhero movies, and at the moment I am really looking forward to Thor 2 (November 15, 2013).

There was just the right amount of everything in this film for me.  I especially appreciated that the film and cast also seemed to be able to poke a little fun at themselves here and there.  (Like that one scene with the Hulk and Loki in the Stark Tower?  I thought that was totally hilarious and definitely one of my favorite parts of the movie.)

For a movie that was about 2 hours and 23 minutes long, I personally felt like it paced itself well.  A lot of times with action movies I feel like sometimes there’s too much action and not enough story, but I didn’t really feel like that was the case here.  Of course there were certain back stories that I wish were given a little more detail, but again, given the limiting time constraints they had, I think they did a great job.

I’d love to give this movie an A+, but it doesn’t completely fit the criteria I’ve set for that particular rating.  I realize that means my overall rating for this film will probably differ a lot from what other people think.  Anyway, here’s my ratings breakdown for this movie:

Originality: ***
Picture: ****
Sound: ****
Story: ****
Casting: *****
Re-watch Factor: ***
Overall: ****

FINAL VERDICT: A-

I saw this movie in 3D because that was the only one playing at a time slot that worked best for me; however, like I feel with a lot of 3D movies, it wasn’t really anything special.  I really think theaters need to have larger and longer screens in order for the 3D to actually seem like it’s popping out at you.

By the way, *MINI-SPOILER ALERT*if you missed the second extra scene after the end credits, click THIS LINK (and thanks to 3Guys1Movie for hooking me up with that link via Twitter).  The person I went with didn’t want to stick around for the after-credits, in case the scene wasn’t worth waiting for, so I wasn’t able to see this one in theaters.  I don’t know if it was necessarily worth the end credits wait, I’ll give the person that, but I still found it pretty hilarious.

On a slightly different note, there are three other movies that I’m planning on reviewing, but I think I’ll save those for later this week instead.  It’s been a bit of a crazy weekend and I think I’d like to spend the last few hours of it recuperating and preparing for the week ahead!  So until then, see you all later!  🙂