It's been a long road for Marvel Studios. Iron Man. The Incredible Hulk. Iron Man 2. Thor. Captain America: The First Avenger. And it's all been leading up to this. This... is Avengers Assemble.

Avengers Assemble represents the culmination of one of the most ambitious cross-title film franchises ever to hit the silver screen. With such a massive weight of expectations built up by the success of its predecessors, Marvel Studios had set themselves a daunting task indeed. But they came through, and the result is glorious. Watching these heroes we've all come to know and love come together is simply spellbinding and a genuine triumph for director Joss Whedon. Everyone gets their turn in the spotlight and no-one ever feels superfluous or unnecessary. Dialogue between characters flows organically and easily, bringing a much needed touch of genuine humanity to these larger-than-life heroes and ensuring that even the down-time between bouts of heroics are interesting and fun to watch. Visually, the movie is jaw-dropping, with Marvel Studios once again setting the bar for quickfire action and spectacular set-piece battles at an all time high, with stunning special effects aplenty.

If anything lets Avengers Assemble down, however, it is this: this film is not kind to the uninitiated. Don't get me wrong, you can go into this film with absolutely no prior knowledge and still enjoy every second of it, but the nature of the film's premise does demand a certain degree of understanding in order to fully appreciate everything that is going on. Character analysis and growth are kept to a minimum, placing the focus much more on moving the action forwards and looking at how the Avengers develop as a team. This film throws a lot at you and you'll love every minute of it. It's all action from the word go and it uses its status as a 'team-up' movie to its full advantage, never slowing down for long.

In summary, Avengers Assemble is everything we hoped that it would be. A fantastic all-action blockbuster with a superb cast, this movie will have you watching and re-watching right up until Avengers 2 hits the big screen. It's fast, fun and funny. It's a blast. You owe it to yourself to go see this movie.