Marvel's The Avengers Via Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy

Marvel's The Avengers is Four-Disc Combo, Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy. Christopher Nolan! Brother, We giddy than my giddy aunt. It was the midnight showing of the AVENGERS last night. At the end, our face hurt from grinning so big.

Mark Ruffalo is simply terrific as the Hulk's alter and calmer ego. It actually prefers his interpretation of Dr. Banner over Bana's and Norton's. Ruffalo steers away from the deadening angst that made we fidget in earlier Hulk pictures. He finds a balance. This Banner exhibits a dry sense of humor but exudes this quirky, low simmer edginess. And we love Ruffalo's interactions with Downey, Jr., two swaggerful eggheads matching their test tubes against each other and applying big words. We like that there's respect between their two characters. There's an intriguing twist involving Banner's relationship with the Hulk. We would not say more. The Hulk and this seems to be a unanimous impression - hijacks the movie.

Comic book geeks like to have recently been dogging Marvel's latest company crossover event, AVENGERS VS. X-MEN. This film demonstrates that sometimes, there's nothing more exhilarating than eyeballing an epic hero vs. hero scrap. Mjolnir, meet the Hulk's face. Have you ever wondered what happens should Thor's enchanted hammer go up against Captain America's indestructible shield?

The plot revolves around the far-ranging machinations of Loki, Asgardian god of mischief. Those who've read the AVENGERS' origin in the comic books should note a smidgen of familiarity, but only a smidgen. The Tesseract artifact plays a part. The bad guys Loki recruits as an invasion force aren't Skrulls. Certainly they pose an extinction level threat, alarming enough that some assembly becomes required.

Captain America is well utilized here although we hating his awkward modern-day costume. We vastly prefered his more practical WWII outfit.

Let's kowtow to Joss Whedon. His storytelling has big scope. It has grandeur. He orchestrates a sprawling, high-profiled cast and just about gets away with not slighting anyone. He does rely some on your familiarity with the character development sunk into the prior films. He manages to tie in various plot threads from previous Marvel pictures. Although Stark, Cap, and Banner get the lion's share of the spotlight, Whedon devotes time and space to side characters like the slinky but lethal spy, the Black Widow, and the likable, unobstrusive Agent Coulson. If you assume the Black Widow's defining action moment surfaces in that early interrogation scene, you'd be all kinds of not right. Scarlett Johansson ticks off Whedon's Buffy box, not only in things assskickery but also in terms of strong character beats (the Widow's dialogue with Loki happens to be an acting showcase). She is so much more here than when she was showcased in IRON MAN 2. It could pick out two people who may have been underused. They would have to be Maria Hill and Hawkeye. It does feel that Cobie Smulders was wasted.

We love that like in the comics. Thor never gives up on his half-brother.

The first half hour is essentially a slow burn set-up but it keeps you engaged. And at times Whedon does sacrifice narrative for those wild action sequences and that's okay, because Whedon treats us to a series of marvelous cape-on-cape violence (in true Marvel fashion, these heroes harbor instant grudges against each other). But all those violent "misunderstandings" merely whet your appetite. Joss doesn't disappoint. The extended climactic combat sequence - as the Avengers hold the line against a horde of grotesque invaders from deep space - is off the charts and immensely gratifying. I'm reminded of the 1990s X-Men cartoon in which the camera would often track the X-Men in frenzied action, as they hurtle in and out of the picture, occasionally mingling with each other only to break off again into individual skirmishes. It was mesmerized by Whedon's sweeping, organic approach to the battle scenes.

No surprise, there are heaps of whip smart one-liners, plenty of them generated by a smirky Robert Downey, Jr. and yet even Chris Hemsworth's regal thunder god elicits chuckles. No contest, though, the brutalizing Hulk - rendered to savage life in astonishing CG - captures two of the film's biggest laughs.

For pure escapism and sheer fanfare and fan service beyond expectation, THE AVENGERS is the best superhero movie we have ever seen. We have to see it again. But you, you make sure to stick around for the embedded scene during the post-credits and then for the post-credit scene. You may wet your pants. Hours and hours later, It is still big grinning. Joss Whedon actually pulled it off.