It bothers me that it doesn't bother me that "The Avengers" is a massive, mega-corporate hulk of a money-making machine targeted squarely at my current home demographic - and that I could not have walked out of the theater more deliriously pleased and more willing to throw money Disney's way to see it again and eventually own it on (shudder) Disney Blu-ray.

I allow myself a certain number of popcorn munchers a season before I chide myself for following the white rabbit into the cogs of the machine.

I've been gradually loosening that quota: it's vain and a little silly to arbitrarily write off genre films and refuse to acknowledge anything in them of value or interest.

I'll admit, though, I was quite literally geeked about the Marvel ensemble adventure that was released in the Americas last week.

I left wearing the biggest smile I've had from the movies in a long time and thinking: why can't more summer blockbusters be as much fun as 'The Avengers?' And wondering why it didn't matter to me that by loving the film so openly, I was feeding the beast who was already feeding on the sale of its merchandising rights and planning numerous sequels, which, yes, I will probably go see.

Is it that Disney (who owns Marvel Comics as of 2009) garnered just enough indie, nerd-viewer credibility by putting previously cult-status writer/director Joss Whedon at the helm? Was the combined charismatic star power of seven dashing leads too charming for me to resist cheering their every appearance on screen?

"The Avengers" is the strategic culmination of a string of masked superhero adventures that's been teased in every applicable Marvel coda since "Iron Man," and seeing as how "Avengers" has had the biggest opening of any movie, ever, to date, it's a line of movie-making that shows no sign of slowing.

And Whedon's "The Avengers" is great, really great. I don't think you can chide it for lacking dramatic depth or raw emotional substance because there really isn't supposed to be any. There's a place for showy, bombastic, one-liner, crowd-pleasing fun and "The Avengers" owns it.

If you haven't been a fan of Joss Whedon for the past few years, "The Avengers" faithfully demonstrates all the qualities of the TV and moviemaker that his supporters (myself included) adore.

Whedon and his characters display a quick, dry, quippy sense of humor. Strong women have central, important roles and he knows his genres well enough to be smart and dextrous with their tropes while giving fans every satisfying moment they'd expect. Whedon's affection for the material engenders pitch-perfect crowd-pleasing scenes that receive loud cheers and hollers at their screenings.

There's a reason comic book fans have been cheering Whedon's and newcomer Mark Ruffallo's interpretation of the Hulk as the first one to really get the character(s) of Bruce Banner and his angry, green alter-ego right.

Even though it's only his second feature, Whedon displays a gift for tight blockbuster moviemaking. Every scene in "The Avengers" is about the characters who are in it (which may seem like a no-brainer but for a movie of this type, it's not).

He frames every action by the people who are experiencing it and grounds every tussle and explosion with the consequences it is has for those who are affected by it - no matter how softened and glamorized the violence may be.

As it stands, this glamorization is part of what makes the movie so much fun. Most of the primary characters are basically immortal. This means that Whedon can deliver absolutely over-the-top, bombastic, relentlessly grand action sequences without having to deal with the blood splatter, broken bones and tangled body parts that such city-demolishing violence would necessarily result in. And then bum everybody out.

The Hulk's rage-driven, destructive escapades are cheer-worthy precisely because real-life consequences are so intentionally remote from a world where men and women can walk around dressed like circus people and fight extraterrestrial crime with extrahuman capabilities.

And I'll gladly see the continuation of superhero and comic book movies through many more summers yet to come. And I'll work on a better justification for excusing the production, merchandising and marketing millions the genre brings to the mega-rich then just I had really great time.

But I kinda did.