When you consider what he had to work with, when you realize that a similar task practically drove Mad Max‘s George Miller away from live action filmmaking for a time, you can understand the pure magic created by writer/director Joss Whedon for his take on Marvel’s The Avengers. Indeed, jerryrigging a Justice League movie for DC turned many an accomplished filmmaker into jelly. So imagine having to take six origin films of varying success rates, a group of characters already established and yet begging to be broadened, and a legion of lifelong comic book fan expectations, and somehow make them all gel, and you’ve got some idea of the undertaking. One slip up, and all was lost. If it worked, however, it could become one of the greatest superhero comic book movie of all time…and that’s just what Whedon has created.

The story centers on Loki (Tom Hiddleston) adopted brother of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and last seen banished for his role in the potential overthrow of the cosmic kingdom of Asgard. Desperate for the power source known as “The Tesseract,” he opens a portal to Earth and begins amassing an army, including scientist Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and master archer Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). This draws the attention of team leader Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who sends out his ace spy assassin Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) to find Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), aka The Hulk. In the meantime, Tony “Iron Man” Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is plotting the future of his empire with gal pal Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) while Steve “Captain America” Rogers (Chris Evans) is waiting for that elusive first mission. It all comes together when Loki achieves his goals and unleashes a full scale alien invasion on New York City.

If the thought of vague, ill-defined power sources falling into the clutches of vague, ill-defined armies, resulting in all kinds of terrible vague, ill-defined consequences sends tingles down your spine, then you’re probably part of what’s fuelling this faux-renaissance of the superhero movie. Luckily for you, The Avengers offers up all kinds of wooden, simplistic heroes to face up to this vague threat.

It’s surely no spoiler that the Avengers win a fight against a bunch of flying CGI things (as in every other recent superhero movie), but what’s somewhat surprising is just how little trouble they have in doing it. That is, it’s surprising for those viewers who still hold on to the belief that fantasy scenarios—no matter how outlandish—are still vehicles for exploring real human tensions and conflicts. The latest round of superhero movies would seem to suggest that there’s a new principle at play. The principle that awesome people are awesome.

Like all film genres, the action movie goes through phases. Originally, it was wrapped up in the pageantry and precision of the past…and the sword. Then it went to war. Then Western. Eventually, it moved into areas of espionage and intrigue before finally becoming a high concept catch-all for anything with some stunts. Along the way, various dynamics were abandoned (the precisely choreographed car chase) while others became overused gimmicks (Hello, shaky-cam. We’re talking to you…). The result has been a redefinition of what makes for viable thrills.

Two decades ago, it was beefy men with big weapons. Then wire-fu won the day. Now, thanks to films like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and the new effort The Raid: Redemption, we’re getting a return to good old fashioned edge of your seat fun. Sure, the sleeper surprise from Indonesia is brutal and basic in its narrative, but it’s also explosive in its flashy fisticuffs.

Safe House is a lot of talent doing a whole lot of nothing. It offers a familiar premise (rogue spy wants to prove its the good guys, not him, behind all the dirty work) and one of the most bankable stars on the planet (two time Oscar winner Denzel Washington). In support, such stellar performers as Sam Shephard, Vera Farmiga, and Brendan Gleeson make up for Ryan Reynolds’ lack of gravitas. But in a clear case of one element destroying all others, director Daniel Espinosa misconstrues the slow burn for suspense. Even worse, he believes that handheld camera work and long sequences of star close-ups can cover what is basically a middling idea. With its far too desaturated color scheme (the entire movie is made up of shades of beige) and the lack of legitimate investment, what should be a nail biter becomes a mere shoulder shrug.

Washington is Tobin Frost, a wanted man who the CIA believes has spent the last decade selling off US secrets to the highest bidder. When his latest deal goes pear-shaped, he ends up being captured and carted off to the title location, a South African apartment building run by low level pencil pusher Matt Weston (Reynolds). Before you can say “lack of chemistry,” some assassins show up and shoot the Bejesus out of the place. Frost and Weston escape, and then get chased by the same group of goons. Hoping for some help from the inside, they contact their connections in the government (Shepard, Farmiga, and Gleeson) and are instructed to proceed to another safe house. Along the way, Frost tries to tell Weston that he is being used by his superiors, but the novice agent just doesn’t want to believe it. When the attacks continue, it is clear that someone higher up is pulling the strings.

There is no yarn older than that of man vs. nature. It’s part of our ancestral make-up and homo sapien heritage. Aside from someone like Werner Herzog, who always turns these artistic explorations into something akin to man vs. his own nature, the story of survival is instinctual. It’s as much a part of our humanity as love…or hate. In his newest film, writer/director Joe Carnahan (collaborating with author Ian MacKenzie Jeffers) turns an existential eye on the whole one against the elements ideal…and for the most part, he succeeds. While audiences might be expecting a rollicking rollercoaster of action and thrills, The Grey actually builds from the inside out, focusing on the individual struggles of a group of plane crash survivors before bringing them face to face with a pack of ferocious wolves.

Our main hero is Liam Nesson, playing the plaintive John Ottway, a sullen man who is hired by an Alaskan oil refinery to maintain the safety of the staff. He does so with a high powered rifle, a gift for marksmanship, and a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude. There are hints of a great tragedy in his past, and like the rest of his coworkers, he considers himself an outcast in the regular world. A plane crash strands Ottway and about half dozen or so of his companions in the middle of the wintery tundra. Needing to move quickly to survive, they soon learn that they have landed in the middle of grey wolf hunting territory - and a particularly nasty pack consider them their new prey. Avoiding attack, frostbite, and hypothermia, the ragtag group try to distance themselves from the hungry animals. Sadly, they may not make it out of the situation alive.