The primary critique I heard of Age of Ultron prior to seeing it was that there was a lot going on in it, which isn't exactly a shock if one were to take a look at the amount of characters on the endlessly photoshopped poster that Marvel somehow saw fit to release to the American populace. But I was shocked to find that the various elements at play in this feature played perfectly to me; no one seemed shoehorned in to set up future movies (howdy Black Widow in Iron Man 2!) or just there to provide mindless violence.
Instead, the new entities help reinforce the primary theme of the movie, which centers around the idea that The Avengers are leaving consequences, good and bad, in their path. As the titular baddie intones at one point, these heroes want to protect the world, but they don't want it to change. Everyone from Thor to Hawkeye must grapple with the idea that being who they are might just be damaging the world more than its helping.
Iron Man is most susceptible to this line of thinking, smartly continuing his character arc from Iron Man 3, his paranoia of protecting the ones he cares about driving him throughout the story. Even in his moments of glorious jackassery, Robert Downey Jr. makes sure there's a trace of sorrow in Tonys actions, as well as legitimate affection for his teammates (particularly Bruce Banner, with one of the movies best lines being Tony declaring him and Bruce to be "mad scientists").
But even the best intentions can result in mistakes, and from the ashes of Tony's attempt to create an Artificial Intelligence alternative to The Avengers (that way, he and his fellow teammates don't have to put themselves at risk when saving the world anymore) comes Ultron, played by James Spader. We've had a lot of robots grace the silver screen, all the way back to Maria in Metropolis. And yet, I doubt few of them could be quite as entertaining as Ultron, whose played like a mixture of a cocky philosopher and a deranged Bond villain.
Juxtaposing this intimidating robotic exterior with the dual sides of Ultrons personality (those sides primarily being him going from a intellectual theorist to a dude who chuckles over him can't remember specific words in the blink of an eye) providing endless amounts of amusement during the movie, and thankfully, that level of humor doesn't distract from him being a menacing threat to The Avengers. In fact, he can be quite creepy at numerous points during the plot, and its to James Spaders credit that his excellent performance that these various sections of the antagonists can co-exist in some form of harmony.
His presence impacts the individual members of the Avengers in unique ways, and thankfully, Joss Whedons script carries over one of the best parts of the first Avengers, which was how the story managed to give every member of the team something to do. No one got to sit on the sidelines there, and thankfully, the various new characters being introduced in this film don't jeopardize the opportunity to help add more layers to our main characters. Surprisingly, one of the most effective ways of doing that is through a Hulk/Black Widow (the latter character played once again by the incredible talented Scarlett Johansson) romance that had me skeptical at best before seeing the movie.
Actually, skeptical is too light of a word; I was pissed to be frank. I was convinced this movie would reduce Black Widow, a character who was just such a delight in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, to being some "romantic" object for Bruce. The duo are handled pretty well though in earlier portions of the film, but it wasn't until a sequence in the middle of the motion picture that I finally got why these two were being paired together. Here, it finally dawned on me that both characters have pasts they're trying to escape from, demons that haunt them, and to see them find some kind of solace with each other feels less like a contrivance and more like a "DUH! Of Course!" moment.
Here, a conversation between the two discussing their deepest insecurities just makes their connection feel all the more realistic, particularly since Black Widows sole purpose in the scene isn't to comfort Bruce; she also gets to speak about her vulnerabilities as well, lending a sense of balance to their relationship that I was so concerned wouldn't even be considered to have a presence in the film. It helps that Black Widow gets to have other things to do in the movie besides interact with Bruce, including numerous memorable action beats and dealing with her traumatic, Julie Delpy filled past.
It's awesome that The Avengers: Age of Ultron manages to find time to develop its immense cast in this kind of manner that simultaneously strengthens the threat of the antagonist as well as the heroes who must face that nefarious foe. Just look at Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), a character whose return from a three year absence from the MCU turns out to be full of laughs and pathos, especially in his interactions with The Twins, Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Those two are quite an endearing bunch, with Johnson selling his characters cockiness well, while Olsen has a relentless spirit of reprisal in her personality that's executed in a majorly satisfying manner.
Good Lord, how did I get 11 paragraphs into this review without talking about the action found in the film? Well, that's a testament to the level of depth found within the film, but don't take it as a subtle way for me to say the sequences of combat here are lackluster. Oh no, just as Joss Whedon brought over his ability to give each character in his ensemble something of worth to do from the first Avengers, he also carries over that sense of stupefying spectacle that the previous movie had. Just when you think the movies gone as big as it can go, here comes something else to make your jaw drop.
Best of all, the characters we've come to know and love never get lost within the CGI enhanced chaos; in fact, the way Whedon develops the likes of Captain America (Chris Evans, whose such a pleasure in this role) and Hawkeye in this film that makes it all the more compelling. Similar to Paul Thomas Andersons work in the underrated 2014 film Inherent Vice, Joss Whedon balances countless amounts of storytelling elements, yet executes them in a profound and entertaining manner that doesn't make the presence of so many entities feel overwhelming. On the contrary, the whole endeavor feels like an exhilarating journey that left me elated as both a Marvel and film nerd. Ernest Hemingway was right; some of the strongest elements can be found in our broken moments, and The Avengers: Age of Ultron utilizes that thought process to incredible success.
No comments:
Post a Comment