I was torn between going to see this film and Angry Birds, I saw the IMDb + Rotten Tomatoes ratings and decided this might be an exception to the rule of terrible recent superhero films. Now I deeply regret my choice. No matter how bad Angry Birds was, it can't have been this bad...

The action seemed oriented towards (and possibly directed by) 4 year olds mashing plastic dolls together. You never really feel that any of the characters are in any danger (with one exception later on), because they're all, well, superheroes, except that one guy with a bow and arrow, who might have been a superhero in the middle ages but seems hopelessly out of place in this futuristic battlefield.

The portrayal of Africa was just stereotyped and ignorant, as expected, while the portrayal of America as selflessly struggling with the burden of protecting the rest of the world with the best possible intentions was contemptible.

There were some fairly amusing parts, usually involving Captain America's biceps, but most of the jokes fell flat. There were a few attempts at emotional depth, which, for me at least, failed miserably.

The action felt boring and repetitive, and lost its appeal within about 20 minutes of a 2 and a half hour film. The antagonist was completely underdeveloped; rather than the usual lack of backstory, this guy just suffered from having no particular skills that would allow him to stage a major plot against the omnipotent avengers.

Now, I know I'm not the intended audience for this film (i.e over 10 years old, enjoy films with a bit of depth), but I enjoyed the (Bale) Batman trilogy and was maybe hoping that this film was in that kind of vein. Sadly, it wasn't. However, younger kids with a violent temperament, CGI fans and real Marvel obsessives might enjoy it.