4/5 Avengers: Age of Ultron Disney and Marvel invest so much into making us believe that these Avengers movies - solo and as a team - are actually good movies, that it actually can be difficult to take a step back and see that, yeah, these are not good movies. They hire one of the most creative directors ever, Joss Whedon, and book a small army of the world’s most famous superstars; surely these are good movies. Maybe they are if you are defining “movies” as what we have come to think of them as in the 21st century, which is hyper-stylized, franchise-placeholding, CG orgies designed for no other reason than to absorb your income and make you wait for the inevitable sequel. In this case, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a slam-dunk, incredible movie. Unsurprisingly, Whedon has used the tried-and-true Marvel formula to craft one of the summer’s most entertaining pieces of cinematic junk food. Is it better than the first one? It certainly lacks the dazzle of something new, but I found Ultron just as mindlessly entertaining as the original. Honestly, I think it is irrelevant if it was or was not better. Both movies were created using the same instruction manual and stock material; in essence, it’s the same movie with the pieces shuffled and an interchangeable villain. Speaking of that villain, let me use this intermission to dole out some plot. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr., as witty and quick on the draw as ever) has decided that creating artificial intelligence will solve all of Earth’s alien problems. To be so worldly and smart, it seems Stark has never seen a film about A.I. before - hint: it always goes downhill real fast after the robot realizes that man is flawed. Despite this, and the fact that he hides his plan from the other Avengers because he knows they will disapprove, he goes full steam ahead with the mission. Because his plans goes as disastrous as anyone who’s ever seen a movie could have guessed it would go, we have two and a half hours of non-stop superhero fun. | Director: Joss Whedon Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Scarlet Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, James Spader Writer: Joss Whedon |
So here is where I got to justify my four-star rating. Thankfully, everything you loved about the heroes themselves have remained intact for the sequel. Stark is a no-brainer. Captain America (Chris Evans) is as blandly charming as you remember. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) riles up the females in the audience, while getting the fair share of the movie’s jokes. ScarJo’s Black Widow is still as sexy and bad-A as always, but the real surprise comes in the form of Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye.
It should come as no surprise that Ruffalo, one of the greatest working actors, continues his streak of excellence, but he somehow manages to add more layers onto his character. (Aside: Despite the fact that I don’t completely understand the Hulk. Can he control it or not? Let’s get that straight. End of Aside.) Renner's Hawkeye was a tiny blip in the first film, but Whedon smartly puts him front and center here, giving him some cute kids and a wife played by Linda Cardellini. The addition of a family ALMOST made me forget that these movies are 100% tensionless due to the fact that none of them are ever going to actually die.
The plotting of the film can be described as a constant loop. We begin the cycle in a blistering action sequence, then we head to the jovial post-battle scene where many of the killer Whedon zingers are found, after which is followed by some somber, emotional character moments. After the emotion you are again swept back to the beginning for another go-round. This cycle repeats about six times. I should not have to say that this is way too many…but they is way too many. First of all, there are too many characters to juggle, and I could have easily cut the Hulk vs. Iron-Hulk scene. And what is up with all of the celebrity cameos. Hey, Andy Serkis! Is that you Julie Delpy? Why are your talents being wasted so. Anyways, it goes without saying the quieter portions of this loop are the better moments. Every scene between Ruffalo and Johansson is killer. Point made.
p.s. Did I forget to mention the new addition of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch? Seems about right. So will you. You will never miss them (or remember their existence) when they are off-screen. And by the way, nothing in this whole movie is as cool as that one Quicksilver scene in last year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Just saying.