The Avengers are back! This time the Earth’s mightiest heroes have something big to deal with and that’s the relationship between parents and kids.

The 43-minute Lego Marvel Avengers: Code Red is filled with action and humour, marvellously tackling the delicate father-daughter relations. It tells us that children may get older and wiser, but the love of the older ones will only be missed when they are no longer around.

Though it begins with the usual fight, where saving New York is at the top of the list, the villain they encounter is The Collector. Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Black Widow are about to capture the Collector, when Red Guardian, the father of Black Widow, crashes the party. ‘Natasha’ is shown to be in the middle of a complex relationship with her father. Like all fathers, Red Guardian wants his daughter happy and still treats her as a kid, despite being an Avenger.

Like most kids, Black Widow wants to be left alone and even gets rude to her ‘papa’. Things get difficult when the Avengers get to know about the abduction of her dad. Upon further investigation, they discover that Red Guardian isn’t the only one missing, and the list goes on and on. After the disappearance of her dad, Black Widow accepts the fact that parents should always be respected, whether they are around or away. Her friends encourage her to mend ways with her dad, as they set out to search for him.

The movie has special appearances from Black Panther, Wolverine, She-Hulk and Santa Claus, who is the centre of some jokes in the middle. The most interesting thing is that all of them join hands to defeat the baddies, in a comical yet healthy way. The most intense scene includes a showdown between the Hulk and a large beast, while the climax where Natasha, aka Black Widow, saves her father from dangling over a pit of fire, and is bound to make you emotional.

Not known to help others, Wolverine leads in saving everyone, even the bad guys, from the clutches of The Collector. Directed by Ken Cunningham (LEGO Star Wars & LEGO Jurassic World), the light-hearted animated flick has worthy messages regarding relations, with ‘A father can never stop loving his children’ on the top. It can be watched with the entire family since it educates the audience of the greatness of communication.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 16th, 2023