Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
disliked it.
Universally hated upon its release, The Avengers, Jeremiah Chechick's big-screen adaptation of the cult-classic British television series, is not as much of a disaster as audiences have been led to believe. Many of the points for which the very expensive and very low-grossing film was originally criticized are true. The film's plot, which finds our spy heroes trying to stop evildoers who wish to control the world's weather, is too downright silly to be as complicated and be taken as seriously as the film treats it.
Uma Thurman, while having the perfect lean, mean body to fill Emma Peel's famous cat suit, has a shaky British accent that tends to come and go from scene to scene.
Sean Connery, as the brilliantly named villain Sir August de Wynter, seems to be having the time of his life running around wearing a kilt and shouting out every line of dialogue he has. The film, however, moves along during its brisk 89 minutes at such a haywire, roller-coaster pace that it often fails to give the viewer time to register the madness that is happening onscreen. Beautifully shot by acclaimed cinematographer Roger Pratt and featuring gorgeous mod Swinging-'60s-style costumes by Anthony Powell, The Avengers is a film that is wonderful to simply sit back with, letting yourself be sucked into its ludicrous world. Besides, where else will you see an action-packed chase scene featuring a group of guys dressed in Technicolor teddy bear suits? ~ Jason Gibner, All Movie Guide