Entertainment to the tilt

MOVIE REVIEW: The Avengers

ON PAPER it's a brilliant profit-making movie concept and credit must go to director and screenwriter - or should I say compiler - Joss Whedon.

And with such an array of megastars fished out of four box-office runaways, frankly speaking, it's very difficult for The Avengers not to ring the tills.

There's Robert Downey jnr (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk). Ruffalo replaced prima donna Edward Norton after negotiations to have him resume his role deadlocked.

Oh, before I forget (how could I?) there's the angelic beauty Scarlett Johansson (Iron Man) and forever loud and mean, but likeable Samuel L Jackson (Nick Furyin The Avengers).

I almost left out Jeremy Renner (he plays Hawkeye) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki).

The two are just here to fill in the numbers. You know I'm kidding, right?

One-eyed Fury (Jackson) - he's so scary, if I were a kid I'd run for my life at his mention - spots danger that threatens to destroy the world. Really?

I know, I know - it's a tiring plot, but alas ... blood still oozes out of it when pricked, if you get my drift.

Let's think about it for a moment. How many times have you sat on a cinema seat to watch (and listen) to similar narratives and the only difference is a sequencing twist of scenes and visuals?

Too many to bother counting, I'd say.

So one day in 2005 Marvel Studio chief executive Avi Arad had a brainwave moment and thought: "Hey, how about we throw in and pay a couple of big names to star in a couple of movies and when they make a lot of cheese (money) we group these movies together into one major film and see what happens ..."

And his answer was Iron Man, Captain America,Thor and The Hulk, whose common denominator is all being based on Marvel Studio's Marvel Comics (ignore the tautology).

Needless to say, his idea won the day - it had to; he's the chief executive - and $220-million (R1.7-billion) later (yes, that's the budget).

Whedon came on board and the rest is history. Now go see what he put together. But before going that far, it would help to know what you're getting yourself into, wouldn't it?

Movies are big business, and in all honesty, there's no reason why they shouldn't be. And you, flick fan, are the client. Luckily for you, The Avengers - a franchise within franchises - is acceptable entertainment.

The plot, as alluded above, is worth your while and moolah because the formula - the formidable script, predictable yet bearable cinematography and well-known names and brands in the four blockbusters - can only please you.

Fury's (Jackson) able S.H.I.E.L.D team has a mammoth task at hand, and that is to prevent Thor's (Hemsworth) wayward brother Loki (Hiddleston) from pulling off a stunt that will mark the end of the world as we see, love and hate it.

For a movie that combines different and leading crime fighters from comic books, The Avengers is a great project. And it's bloody clever, with a lot of surprises. It will keep your pulse racing.