The Avengers (1998 Film) - Reception - Critical Response

Critical Response

The film was panned by critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 16% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 44 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 12 out of 100, based on 19 reviews. The purists disliked it for its disrespect to the original series (particularly the introduction of a romance between Steed and Peel--a carefully ambiguous subject in the series), and the newcomers were lost by all of the misfired attempts to capture the mood of the original. Rod Dreher in the New York Post called the film "a big fat gob of maximum crapulosity, the kind of shallow, stupid, big-budget cowpile that smells of Joel Schumacher", referencing the previous summer's likewise poorly-received Batman & Robin, which also starred Uma Thurman.

The Avengers was nominated for that year's Razzie Award for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (Sean Connery), Worst Actress (Uma Thurman), Worst Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Worst Screen Couple (Fiennes and Thurman), and Worst Original Song ("Storm"), winning only one trophy for Worst Remake or Sequel. Several critics, especially in the UK, noted that the American production team fatally misunderstood the symbols of 'Britishness' central to The Avengers series, such as the inclusion of an inexplicable gadget on the dashboard of Steed's Bentley which appeared to dispense tea, with milk already added.

Further adding to the confusion, after test screenings, the 115-minute film was cut to 87 minutes, sacrificing much coherence and continuity in the process. The New York Times's Janet Maslin noted "At a pared-down, barely rational 100 minutes, "The Avengers" is short but not short enough."