British Ministry agent John Steed, under direction from "Mother", investigates a diabolical plot by arch-villain Sir August de Wynter to rule the world with his weather control machine. Steed investigates the beautiful Doctor Mrs. Emma Peel, the only suspect, but simultaneously falls for her and joins forces with her to combat Sir August.
Neither elegant nor macho nor elegant-and-macho, Fiennes is terribly cast; Thurman at least provides the equivalent of a dressmaker's dummy on which to hang neo-mod fashions.
– Lisa Alspector,
Chicago Reader,
8 Jul 2014
rotten:
This Avengers film is so horrendously, painfully and thoroughly awful, it gives other cinematic clunkers like Ishtar and Howard the Duck a good name.
– David Bianculli,
New York Daily News,
8 Jul 2014
rotten:
Some bad movies are bold outrages; many others become hits. This one hasn't the juice to be either.
– Richard Corliss,
TIME Magazine,
8 Jul 2014
rotten:
The new Avengers is dismal in dispiriting, dreary ways, and Ralph Fiennes, playing Macnee's part, is a particular disaster.
– Stephen Hunter,
Washington Post,
8 Jul 2014
rotten:
The movie lets [Fiennes and Thurman] down with a patchwork climax that feels rushed and perfunctory.