This has been said elsewhere, but the impressive thing about
Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron is how writer/director Joss
Whedon takes a story that is absolutely packed with superheroes and stories and
action, and never lets it get weighed down. This could have easily devolved
into a rambling, incoherent, 141-minute long mess, but Whedon is able give each
of these notable characters their moment to shine and imbue them with
legitimate emotional weight. It’s a delicate juggling act in the midst of
nearly nonstop action, and is a huge reason why Age of
Ultron is another in a long line of massive, exciting, fun movies
from the comic book studio.
In the wake of everything he and the Avengers have seen and
encountered—threats from other worlds, gods showing up on Earth, that sort of
madness—Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) attempts to create an artificially
intelligent “suit of armor around the world.” His goal is to keep humanity safe
from threats we can’t even imagine yet. Because we all know how this sort of
endeavor goes in movies, that doesn’t end well, and the result is Ultron, a
sinister AI robot voiced to creepy perfection by James Spader. This new villain
decides that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are the greatest threat to peace, and he
has also happens to be the greatest enemy the superhero team has ever faced. Along
with his cohorts, Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett
Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Hulk (Mark
Ruffalo), Iron Man and friends track Ultron across the world, trying to
neutralize the threat.
Unlike many big blockbuster action movies, where huge
battles and rampant destruction are par for the course, Age of
Ultron attempts to dig into the moral grey area and ambiguities inherent
in this kind of vigilante justice. This isn’t just evoking 9/11 style imagery
to play on your emotions, Whedon tries to make it mean more. After an early
squabble wrecks up the fictional city of Sokovia, you can see how the chaos and
ruin they cause weighs on the heroes. At the heart of these questions lies the
idea that, while Ultron has singled out the Avengers as the problem, maybe he’s
not wrong. They’re doing what they think is right, but with little to no
agreement on what is or isn’t the correct approach, this is a perilous path,
and, as Tony Stark discovers multiple times, the answer is not always clear, and
not always the same for everyone.
Age of Ultron gives damn near every
member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe an appearance, like Don Cheadle’s War
Machine and Anthony Mackie’s Falcon, but it also introduces some new players
that may be around for a while. Twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (Aaron
Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen), also known as Quicksilver and Scarlet
Witch (though they’re never referred to by these monikers due to rights issues),
show up on the scene and figure prominently in the story. As Maria Hill (Cobie
Smulders) describes them, he’s fast and she’s weird. Paul Bettany also evolves
from Stark’s digital butler JARVIS to become The Vision.
One of Scarlet Witch’s powers is that she can get into your
head, read your mind, and manipulate your thoughts. She uses these skills show
the respective Avengers their greatest fears, and, among other things, is a big
reason why each and every one of them is pushed to the brink. They’re changing,
moving on, and internalizing all of these external ethical debates and more.
Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanov have a burgeoning romantic thing going on that
they don’t know how to deal with, Steve Rodgers tries to figure out where he
fits in the world, and Thor is, basically, homesick, while others have their
own issues with which to contend. Perhaps strangest of all, Hawkeye is actually
interesting this time around. I know, I’m as surprised as you, but it’s true.
He has the most going on, and is, in many ways, the glue keeping this tenuous
partnership together. The line of the movie also belongs to him, though I’m not
going to give it away here, it’s too good.
Age of Ultron may be almost two and a
half hours long, but, like the last installment, the pace is smooth and fluid,
transitioning seamlessly from scenes of high, sweeping action to quiet moments
of introspection, reflection, and conversation. Everything is measured and
natural, propelled by Whedon’s trademark snappy dialogue, which allows the
individual personalities to shine through, and this continues to be a big
reason why you connect with these characters and these movies. The film is full
of all of the things you’ve come to love about Marvel movies.
One of the biggest complaints about Age of
Ultron is that there is too much going on, and
while I’m not 100% on that team, it’s an understandable point of view. I would
have loved more Ultron just to hear Spader’s delightfully sinister delivery, he’s
in the title but gets the short end of the stick, screen time wise. This movie
is definitely less accessible than its predecessor, and while general audiences
will still enjoy it, this has a decidedly more comic book vibe. While there may
not be a ton of Easter Eggs, there are a lot of elements specifically aimed at
comic fans, which I love, but may put some people off.
There are also numerous moments that primarily exist to
further the future expansion of the MCU. A side trip to the fictional African
nation of Wakanda serves to set up the impending Black
Panther movie, there are scenes obviously designed to establish the
discord within the group that will boil over into Captain America:
Civil War next year, and you even see glimpses of turning, divided
public opinion, like we saw at the end of Avengers. Again,
I’m fine with all of this, it’s become par for the course, and none of them are
super intrusive, but it’s easy to see how they can be a distraction.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is big and brash
and a total blast. Nothing super surprising happens, the movie may be a bit
crowded for some, and we could spend days dissecting the intricacies of the
plot. But considering the scope and scale, it still has a flow and pace that
keeps you moving and never hangs you up. Not perfect, but a lot of fun,
Age of Ultron sets the stage for the impending Phase 3 of
the MCU and certainly provides a number of interesting, exciting avenues for
the future. [Grade: A-]
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