The Avengers is already well on its way to being a commercial smash, but it's also being given the reward of a fine critical showing too, with reviewers lining up to throw the plaudits at the Marvel and Disney studios film. The film is being predicted to have taken a whopping $350-400 million at the box office worldwide come Monday morning (May 7, 2012), with it yet to be released in the U.S, and it'll be doing so on the back of some fine praise indeed.
The Chicago Sun Times leads the way with the praise, stating "The Avengers" is done well by Joss Whedon, with style and energy. It provides its fans with exactly what they desire," whilst the Los Angeles Times also chips in with a nod to the director, stating "Whedon is the key reason why this $220-million behemoth of a movie is smartly thought out and executed with verve and precision. It may be overly long at two hours, 23 minutes, but so much is going on you might not even notice." The Rolling Stone comments on him too, saying "All hail Joss Whedon, the warrior king of this dizzying, dazzling 3D action epic. The Avengers is Transformers with a brain, a heart and a working sense of humor."
Indeed only Salon is really scathing of the movie, grumpily writing "If you're not much of a Marvel Comics person but just want to get an early start on your mindless summer moviegoing, well, I guess this picture is no stupider than anything else."