Like any long-time comic book fan worth his salt, I was as excited
for Marvel's The Avengers as anybody. And boy, did it
deliver, packing everything we wanted to see of Earth's Mightiest Heroes with
Joss Whedon's trademark wit, a ton of action, and...wow. But the thing that
surprised the most about it was how much better the film got when the action
slowed down, and this array of colorful, conflicted, and contentious characters
battled verbally rather than with magic hammers. Whedon must have realized it
too, because Avengers: Age of
Ultron has more of such
moments. Actually, it has more of everything. More connections to the broader
Marvel Universe, more fights, more team squabbles, more romance, more more
more! But is it necessarily better?
Given that The Avengers is the third highest-grossing film
ever with $1.5B, the goal probably wasn't to be better, but to at least be just
as good. And in that, Whedon has definitely scored a direct hit. 'Age of
Ultron' is definitely bigger and more of a big wet kiss to comic book fanboys
than ever, which I certainly won't complain about. It also continues along a
similar trajectory as Captain America:
The Winter Soldier, exploring the impact of extreme measures in pursuit
of global security. In this case it's Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) rather
than Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who is the overzealous one, using his
billionaire genius to design a peace-keeping system that will protect the
entire world. Unfortunately, the artificial intelligence does what all of them
do, which is turn evil and seek to destroy its creators. You'd think someone as
smart as Stark would know that by now.
This comes after an awesome pre-credits
sequence designed purely in James Bond-style, dropping us right into the thick
of the action. This blistering splash page on steroids has the team ransacking
a HYDRA base, taking on the likes of monacled villain Baron von Strucker
(Thomas Kretschman), and encountering his powered sibling sidekicks, Pietro
"Quicksilver" Maximoff and Wanda "Scarlet Witch"Maximoff
(played by Godzilla's Aaron Taylor-Johnson and
Elizabeth Olsen). What are their powers? To quote the returning Maria Hill
(Cobie Smulders), "He's fast, she's weird". Her "weirdness"
triggers something within Stark, a terrible vision of the future in which he's
utterly failed and the world paid the price. 
With the keys to artificial intelligence
in his grasp, Stark sets out to make sure that future can never happen. He
wants to build a "suit of armor" around the world, to create an
impenetrable defense system that will allow the Avengers to go their separate
ways and retire in peace. That's the goal in the end, right? To not need the
Avengers, anymore? With the help of fellow nerd Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo),
who occasionally moonlights as the enraged Hulk, they set out on their plan
only to have their arrogance create the robotic Ultron (voiced by James
Spader), who figures the best way to save the planet is to get rid of the
pesky humans. 
So basically Ultron's plot is to destroy
everything. Nothing new there, so the bad guy is probably the least interesting
thing going on in this film. From a visual standpoint, Ultron looks
tremendously cool with his shimmering metallic body and towering presence. It
doesn't hurt that his dismissive attitude is a total fit for Spader, who has
long relished playing such characters. There's a lot of mumbo jumbo about the
motivations of man and machine, but there's nothing too complex to contend
with. Certainly it's nothing on the level of Ex
Machina, and who would expect it to be? Stuff needs to get blown up! There
are cameos to be had!
Whedon's film gives fans everything they
want and then some, plus stuff they didn't know they wanted but will come to
love. For instance, the steely and secretive Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is given
an expanded role here, and we even learn a thing or two about his home life.
Perhaps the most interesting development is the budding relationship between
Banner and the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), who spend the bulk of the film
trading awkward sexual double entendres. For Ruffalo, he's basically playing
the same sexually repressed man he was in Thanks for Sharing. He's all jittery
at the very idea of cutting loose emotionally. Some of their banter is pretty
forced, and Whedon's characterization of Black Widow isn't up his usual
standard for female characters, but there's real fun to be had in that
dangerous romance. Cameos by War Machine (Don Cheadle), Falcon (Anthony
Mackie), plus a trip to the African nation of Wakanda where the Black Panther
reigns are not only fun but show that Marvel cohesiveness that keeps audiences
coming back for more. We even meet a brand new hero in the android Vision (Paul
Bettany), who is basically the antithesis of everything Ultron stands for.
Vision's appearance is probably one thing too many. He deserves far more screen
time than there is possibly room for here.
The bloom is a little off the rose in
other ways, too. Much of the novelty is gone, the sheer energy of seeing these
Avengers assembled for the first time isn't there anymore, and that's something
Whedon simply can't recreate. He tries to put a fresh spin on the complicated
team dynamics and their inner struggles, but it never comes across as fresh.
Much of it seems like a means of teasing the upcoming 'Civil War' rather than
having an impact on the current film. While it adds a touch of psychological
depth to glimpse into the Avengers' worst fears, it doesn't inform their
actions here and now. What's more, Whedon's trademark humor is often misplaced
in what is a fairly dark story. Well, dark for a Marvel movie anyway. As the
second chapter of a four-part story, 'Age of Ultron' is in a weird place. It
needs to establish the framework for future movies while establishing itself as
a standalone effort, and it doesn't completely gel. 
On the other hand, Whedon does a better
job handling the mega sized battles than a guy like Zack Snyder could ever hope
to. The sheer insanity of the opening fight is nothing compared to the finale,
with a half dozen Avengers squaring off against hundreds of Ultrons in the
middle of a war-torn country. The brazenness of Whedon's direction is palpable,
and it's amazing to see how far he's progressed as a blockbuster director.
What's more, he manages to ramp up the scope of the action without losing sense
of the stakes, which is something that plagued Snyder's Man of Steel. The destruction
in 'Age of Ultron' has real consequences, and we're never allowed to forget
that fact. 
Avengers: Age of Ultron has its problems, but on a visceral, pure
enjoyment level audiences are going to walk away more than pleased. It's
biggest success is setting the stage for the future, and that's what these
Marvel movies have come to be about: what's next?
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
