The Avengers movie was Marvelous

We saw the Marvel movie the Avengers tonight and it was awesome. There won't be any plot-spoilers in this post; this isn't really a "movie review" either.   I am encouraging you to see it though.  Why? Without the use of sensuality, substance abuse, or gratuitous profanity, the Avengers delivered a great plot and an entertaining movie; a rare quality in movies these days.

Before I get too far, I want to share one of my favorite lines from the movie.  Captain America is responding to a comment about the antagonist, Loki, and Captain America says, "There's only one God, and I'm sure He doesn't dress like that."  People in the theater clapped in response, so I guess I'm not the only one who liked his line.  

The movie's plot was straightforward, Loki was the bad guy, and the Avengers needed to work together if they want to take him down.  The deeper level of the plot though is in the battle between good and evil, the good guys need to be in sync.  The greatest value of the movie's plot was how it revealed how in the battle between good and evil, if the good guys are divided, then evil prevails effortlessly.

What I liked even more though, is how the movie's plot brought out that the "good" guys have many failings. For example, the leader over the Avengers, Nick Fury relies more on subterfuge than transparency. Each Avenger had a major shortcoming, liabilities and imperfections the others were able to see clearly and the antagonist uses these faults to drive wedges between them whenever possible.  I.e., Iron Man had pride and vanity, Captain America was out of touch, Thor had ego & identity problems, and the Hulk was uncontrollable because he was controlled by rage...  And the greater lesson was within these different personalities of the good guys, their personal strengths complemented the team in such a way that the team would be incomplete without each member.  

This might sound bizarre, but I see the Avengers as a great movie that a leadership team at a church could utilize and develop a weekend retreat around.  The church of today needs to see the teamwork that developed among the Avengers, despite their differences and their weaknesses.  And, without spoiling the plot: when people we are close to betray us, we need to receive them back into the fold when they come to their senses.