Where to watch The Avengers
1 Star
The Avengers (1998) is one of the most infamous cinematic blunders of the 1990’s. It’s an awful film deserving of the harsh criticism and outright audience indifference that it faced when released. The story is nearly impossible to follow which makes you feel like a prisoner as the movie runs through its lackluster 89 minutes running time. Money has been lavished on this much-maligned project, but to no avail. Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik proves to have either taken on more than he could control or was overrun by studio interference all the way down the line.
Ralph Fiennes stars as classy British secret agent John Stead and Uma Thurman as beautiful scientist Emma Peel. They have been brought together by the English defense ministry headed by Mother (Jim Broadbent) to take on their greatest mission. Stead and Peel must thwart Sir August De Wynter’s (Sean Connery) diabolical plan to bring the world to its knees by controlling the global weather.
It seems that precious care was taken with the property until it reached the production stage. There is some handsome production design, a never-ending staircase is compelling, and the art direction is well handled, particularly De Wynter’s mansion, but the narrative is so dull that nothing amounts to anything substantial. Some bombs are undeserving of their less than prestigious reputations, The Avengers is not one of those films. Fans of Connery will quickly recognize this to be the venerable actor’s worst feature since the similarly dreadful Highlander 2.
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery