The Avengers

"It’s also the first Marvel film to capture the epic scale, excitement and humour of its source material, best captured in the Rampage-style carnage of the film’s huge final conflagration in which the audience is dazzled rather than bewildered by the way Whedon stages his action and uses CGI and alternately teased into bouts of laughter and applause. Superhero fan or not, The Avengers dares you to not leave delighted."

"Like a superior, state-of-the-art model built from reconstituted parts, Joss Whedon's buoyant, witty and robustly entertaining superhero smash-up is escapism of a sophisticated order."

"Big, brash and very funny, Joss Whedon’s Avengers Assemble is equal to the sum of its parts – and for once, that’s no faint praise. Suit up."

"It's fun to watch Whedon pitch his heroes against each other. Child's play, maybe, but entertaining all the same."

"Whedon and his cohorts have managed to stir all the personalities and ingredients together so that the resulting dish, however familiar, is irresistibly tasty again."

"A joyous blend of heroism and humour that raises the stakes even as it maintains a firm grip on what makes the individual heroes tick."

"Finally seeing the damned thing is a bit like standing around a cuckoo clock waiting for noon: you know what to expect, yet you're thrilled into smiling."