I’ve just returned from seeing the Avengers movie. I’ll post a proper review with spoilers when trans-Atlantic cousins have had an opportunity to view the film, but here are some all-but-very-generic-spoiler-free impressions.

1. The movie was too short. It was densely packed, well paced, and included many good scenes, but this is one story that deserved an extra twenty minutes to decompress. How ironic that I should be complaining about the lack of decompression in an Avengers story! It was very watchable. Roll on the extended DVD edition.

2. Characterisation and interaction gave the movie heart and substance. Everyone, even some minor characters, got a story arc and a moment. I’d have preferred a snarkier wise-assier Hawkeye, but given the storyline there’s reasons for him not to be.

3. The visuals are almost universally excellent. A few slightly ropy CGI moments are masked by the sheer sweep of the whole, and some sequences are remarkable. Costume-wise, only Cap’s outfit was a slight let-down. Why bother changing from the original if you can’t make it look better on screen? What’s wrong with proper chain mail anyway?

4. The rank-and-file villains were generic and forgettable but offered the level of menace they were supposed to. Their battle machines were ideal for showcasing a variety of hero smackdowns. Loki managed to be a creditable threat and a great foil for each of the heroes – he even got a one-on-one dialogue moment with each of them. The post-credits behind the scenes major adversary will be a game-changer.

5. The Hulk stole the show at the end.

6. The movie is very quotable.

7. There were a couple of things I’d have liked to see in there that would have made my enjoyment complete, but given how much good stuff there was in there, including some only-for-the-comics-fans bits, it seems churlish to carp.

8. In terms of pacing and content, this movie has relatively few slow-wow “widescreen” moments of the type comics tried to deliver with two-page panels that were popular in the early post-Busiek era, and hardly any of the talking-heads Bendis era material. In its frenetic, packed, detailed, multi-scene, heart-stirring, roller-coaster style this film was Perez all the way. Except for the big impacts, which were Kirby.

In conclusion: A very enjoyable film, well constructed and well delivered, that will have plenty of repeat viewing value. This is the movie Avengers fans always felt their heroes deserved and it has raised the bar on superhero films – and yet there’s still the room for an even better sequel.