The Avengers . Memphis Flyer . 08-24-98

The Avengers

DIRECTED BY: Jeremiah S. Chechik

REVIEWED: 08-24-98

It’s bad enough when Hollywood execs waste time, energy, and money in the interest of inferior products, but it’s worse when they also squander good talent in their hellish bargains. Watching the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Sean Connery, Eileen Atkins, and Fiona Shaw pinned and wriggling on the stone cold wall of The Avengers is enough to make one’s flesh crawl. (Even Uma Thurman, on whom the “acting jury” is still out, garners some sympathy.)

The important thing to remember in such dire cases, of course, is that while these fine actors at least got big paychecks for wasting their time with such an embarrassment and will emerge from the experience unscathed, the same may not be true for filmgoers. I, for one, am having trouble living with myself for having sat through the entire 95 minutes of this sorry excuse for a movie.

This big-screen reincarnation of the late-’60s television series is lacking the style and wit fundamental to its raison d’etre; the script by Don McPherson is utterly without form; the action sequences are amateurishly choreographed; and the special effects are likely to insult the intelligence of any 10-year-old.

Is there anything at all good to say about The Avengers? Perhaps. Seeing what the brilliant Fiennes – best known for his dramatic work – can do with comedy in which there is no comedy (nor much of anything else) to play, may encourage some casting directors to give him a juicy comic opportunity that will really make us smile.

--Hadley Hury

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