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The Avengers | 2012 | PG-13 | - 2.7.3

When a blue cube opens a door to other worlds and the evil deity Loki (Tom Hiddleston) comes through and starts turning humans into his minions, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans) and other superheroes come together to protect humanity. Also with Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Paul Bettany. Directed by Joss Whedon. [2:22]

SEX/NUDITY 2 - A man wakes up in a pile of rubble, fully nude, and another man tosses him some clothing (we see the man's bare chest, abdomen, back and legs and we see a portion of his bare hip as he slips on pants). A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage and bare shoulders. A woman wears a low-cut blouse and short, shorts that reveal cleavage and bare legs. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage in a few scenes. Women are shown wearing low-cut and off-the-shoulder evening gowns that reveal cleavage, bare shoulders and backs at a party. A woman wears a skin-tight suit that accentuates her figure and reveals cleavage. A man transforms into a huge green man and we see him bursting out of his shirt and his flesh becomes green (he is shown bare-chested and wearing short/torn pants).
 A man and a woman kiss and hug a couple of times.
 A man tells a woman, "Enjoy the moment" and she replies, "Get in here and I will." A man wakes up after being unconscious and says, "Please tell me no one kissed me." A man and a woman flirt in a few scenes.

VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - An alien deity with a glowing staff strikes a man in the face with it (he falls to the ground), grabs another man, pushes him down on a table and uses a spinning, cutting device to cut out his eye (we see the man writhing as the device cuts his eye; no blood is shown).
 A man is stabbed through the back with a curved blade; we see the point stick out through his chest and there is blood on the blade and the victim's shirt and we see him with blood in his mouth (later he dies). An alien deity with a glowing staff fires it toward people in a room, several are struck and thrown, he is shot at by armed guards (he is not harmed), he stabs a guard (we hear a crunch and see blood) and he fires the staff at several others in the room.
 Two guards are struck by arrows and fall dead; one falls off a roof and onto the ground below. A man shoots another man (we see the man pull the bullet out of his clothing later and there appears to be a bit of blood, but he seems OK). A woman is shown lying dead on the floor with a burn mark on her face.
 During an extended confrontation that causes mass destruction, we see alien monstrous vessels (they look like sea creatures with huge sharp teeth, fin-like protrusions from the sides and skeletal body and tail and seem alive) fly out of a portal and toward Earth, they slam into buildings and many alien soldiers off-load and attack civilians. Many alien soldiers descend on Earth, people are shot, and things are blown up; we see cars exploding and flipping, buildings crumbling and people scattering in fear. A man shoots arrows at alien soldiers and a woman shoots them with a handgun (we see them being struck and we see some black goo spray from a couple of wounds). A superhero fights with alien soldiers and cuts off the arm of one (we se black goo spurt). A flying alien monstrous vessel is shot in its underbelly and it crashes to the ground, dead. A huge green superhero smashes many alien soldiers. Several alien monstrous vessels are caught in a portal as it begins to close and they are crushed. A huge green superhero hangs from an alien monstrous vessel's mouth, climbs on its back and tears it to pieces. A woman jumps on a flying vessel, throws one alien soldier off, stabs another and uses it to steer. A superhero uses his shield to slice the face or head of an alien soldier off (we see a flash of red).
 A superhero knocks an alien deity off a ledge, they crash into a tree and the two fight: they fight while flying through the air, dragging one another along a rock face, slamming each other into trees in a forest, and one squeezes the metal arm of the other. An alien deity fires a glowing staff toward a man and the beam is blocked by a superhero's shield; the deity and the superhero fight with punches and kicks. An alien deity slams a hammer onto a superhero's shield and a large ring of energy is emitted causing superheroes and the deity to fall to the ground and the vegetation around them to be destroyed. A giant green superhero chases a woman, she flips through small passageways to avoid him, she shoots a pipe that sprays steam in his face, he hits her and she is thrown into a wall. An alien deity and a huge green superhero fight, the deity is thrown into equipment and it is crushed, and the deity strikes the superhero with a large hammer and he is thrown into a plane crumpling it (we see blood on the deity's nose). A huge green superhero is shot at by an airplane, he crashes through glass, jumps onto the plane, tears it apart, the pilot ejects and is thrown (he is safe), the plane explodes and the huge superhero is thrown (we hear him yell). A man is thrown out a high-rise building's window and falls toward the ground, a flying device clamps onto his wrists, covers his body with a metal suit and he flies back up just before hitting the ground. Two alien deities fight throwing each other around and striking each other repeatedly until one stabs the other in the side (we see him pull the blade out of his side and he appears OK). A huge green superhero punches an alien deity and he is thrown off-screen. A huge green superhero slams an alien deity back and forth as if he is a rag doll.
 A superhero falls to Earth, he is snatched out of the air by another superhero and placed on the ground where he lies motionless for a few moments and then awakens. An alien deity is locked in a glass containment pod and dropped out of a flying vessel, he breaks out of the pod before it crashes to the ground and he is thrown across the ground (he is shown to be OK). A superhero spins inside a huge turbine, and he is sucked against a wall and dropped into the mechanism (we see him tossed around and sparks fly but he is shown OK later). Several guards and people shoot at armed men and we see people being struck (no blood is evident).
 A man transforms into a huge green man and we see him bursting out of his shirt and his flesh becomes green and he snarls and yells.
 A woman tied to a chair fights with three men, kicking and punching and head-butting them; one man is thrown off a level and dangles by a chain wrapped around his ankle (we hear a crunch and he moans). A man and a woman fight with punches and kicks and head-butts, they draw knives and attack each other, one holds a knife to the throat of the other, and one is slammed hard into a metal railing and then kicked in the head. A woman tied to a chair and being interrogated is punched in the face and threatened (we see blood on her knee where her stockings are torn). A man yells and slams his hands on a table causing a woman to draw a gun and point it at him and many armed people to surround the building they are in.
 An alien deity with a glowing staff presses the tip of it against a man's chest and the man's eyes become black and then turn crystal blue; he does to same to another man whose skin becomes discolored and his eyes change like the previous victim (they are both still alive).
 A huge installation explodes and we see it sinking into a hole in the ground while people inside run for safety; a woman is trapped in tunnel when it collapses (we see her OK later with a bit of blood on her nose). A man fires an explosive arrow at a flying vessel, it explodes and we see many people inside the vessel being thrown from the blast. A missile strikes a large flying installation and it explodes. A grenade explodes in a flying vessel causing many people to be thrown (we see a woman with blood on her head). An arrow strikes the controls of a huge flying vessel and all of the systems go dead causing the vessel to tip and begin to fall from the sky. A missile with a nuclear payload is fired at a city, and a superhero steers the missile away from the city and into the sky.
 A man in a helicopter fires at a vehicle on the ground, and a man in the vehicle fires at the helicopter causing it to spin out of control and crash. A car chase shows installation guards shooting at a vehicle with an alien deity armed with a glowing staff and he fires the staff several times causing chase cars to explode and flip; a man and a woman in separate cars speed through a tunnel, bumper-to-bumper, while shooting at each other. A plane shoots at alien soldiers as they drop to the ground, an alien deity shoots the plane, and it spins out of control and crashes to the ground (the occupants are unharmed).
 A storm swirls around an airplane; an alien deity lands on top of the plane, grabs another alien deity out of the plane and jumps out (the two deities crash onto a mountain, unharmed).
 While scientists experiment with an energy source, the laboratory vibrates and rumbles, a glowing cube emits flashes of light, a beam of light is shot across the room, a portal is opened and an alien deity appears on a platform. We see people in a government installation evacuating because an energy source appears to be "behaving" oddly. After an explosion we see a woman with her leg pinned under debris (she frees herself). When a flying vessel lists, a superhero falls off a small ledge and catches onto a cable before pulling himself back up.
 An alien deity slams his hand against a glass wall and yells at a woman on the other side threatening to make a man kill her. An alien deity yells and commands many people to kneel before him, which they do. An alien threatens an alien deity. Two alien deities argue. Several people argue.
 An alien says, "Humans, what can they do but burn." A man asks an alien deity, "Are you planning to step on us?" A man says, "We are at war." A young girl tells a man that she needs a doctor for her father and that he won't open his eyes. A man suggests that he was "asleep" for a very long time after an accident. An alien deity talks about "humans slaughter each other every day." A man says of his superhero self, "I broke Harlem." A man says, "I have a cluster of shrapnel trying to work its way to my heart." A man describes "Putting a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spits it out" (referring to his superhero self). An alien deity describes a huge scaly creature. A man talks about losing his eye and we see him wearing an eye patch over scarred flesh. A woman talks about a man being sent to kill her but he chose not to.
 An alien is shown with a metallic mask covering gray-tinged flesh and we see that his teeth are red, he has six fingers and he speaks with a deep and booming voice. We see a huge number of alien soldiers with large pointed teeth and metal masks and helmets. We see blood stained playing cards. We see blood smeared on a wall.
 We see a doctor in a room with two sick children that are coughing and appear feverish. A man wakes up in a pile of rubble (he is unharmed). We see a man strapped to a medical bed while he recovers from an alien possession.
 A man zaps another man in the side with a poker trying to see if he can get a rise out of him. A man with super strength punches a punching bag repeatedly while remembering an accident where he crashed in an airplane, and he punches the punching bag off its chain and across the room.

LANGUAGE 3 - 1 not fully enunciated scatological term, 1 mild scatological term, 2 anatomical terms, 7 mild obscenities, name-calling (wretches, unruly, moron, freaks, unbalanced, volatile, self-obsessed, repulsive bilge snipe, stupid, pathetic, idiot, son of a gun).

SUBSTANCE USE - A man and a woman hold glasses of champagne and the woman drinks from her glass, people are shown holding and drinking from champagne glasses at an event, and a man pours himself a drink (and drinks) and offers an alien deity one (he declines).

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Sustainable energy sources, global domination, freedom, harnessing energy from space, gods, legend, peace, subjugation, power, greed, gamma radiation, weapons of mass destruction, nuclear deterrents, jealousy, adoption, vengeance, superheroes, deities, destiny, monsters, magic, suicide.

MESSAGE - Every world needs heroes.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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