Doug & the Movies: 'The Avengers'

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

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SALT LAKE CITY — It's nothing less than a super hero greatest hits mix, and the die-hard comic book geeks were literally squealing with joy during the screening of "The Avengers."

It has taken years, a bunch of introductory movies, and intriguing teases that have lead us to a place in time where Ironman, The Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye , Nick Fury and yes, even Agent Coulson can unite in the effort to thwart Thor's wayward brother, Loki, from dominating Earth and bringing us all to our knees. I couldn't figure out what his plan is for us other than, well, kneeling. It must have something to do with his frosty heritage.

S.H.I.E.L.D. brings them all together to save the world when several "good guys" succumb to Loki's powers and help open the heavens for the invading army.

But never fear -- they are jarred out of their submissiveness and eventually join in the good fight to regain control of the Tesseract or, as comic book geeks know it, The Cosmic-Cube that opens the gates between worlds.

Most of the regulars are back and, of course, are terrific. We also get a new Hulk in Mark Ruffalo who serves up some real soul. We also get more storyline with Scarlett Johansson back as Black Widow, delivering one of the best scenes in the movie when a time-crunch forces her to get serious with the guys torturing/interrogating her. And, after an uncredited appearance in "Thor," we get more of Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, whose archery skill make Katniss look like a lightweight. It's great!

With today's technology and high expectations it's easy to take incredible special effects for granted. But in "The Avengers," the digital imaging artists have outdone themselves.

I could nitpick this film and cut a half star but why bother when it's so entertaining and so much fun? Here it goes; I'm giving "The Avengers" 4 stars and its rated PG-13.