The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) ****/5: I was impressed by this film but i was let down in some areas because i am still not clear about some things.

I was impressed by The Avengers: Age of Ultron although I was not overwhelmed and I was let down in parts. Overall, however, the integrity of the franchise remains intact. It would be difficult for much novelty to come from this film particularly as that was the point of the first Avengers film. What we have here in the sequel is a more mature exercise and life experience shows us that the wonder of novelty wears away with maturity. The team of superheroes have already been assembled but there are forces at work that seek to tear them apart. I hoped that this film could live up to the hype and while it is not a mind blowing film it does raise certain issues while not fully elaborating on others. I have come to expect that these marvel films do not have much of a dramatic core and so I just try and live with it. What these marvel films do have is a comic book core that they adhere to strictly and The Age of Ultron is no exception. If you’re looking for a comic book core as opposed to a dramatic one then you should not be too disappointed by this film. What marvel fans should do however is give credit to Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy that  also dealt with a lot of the significant thematic issues present in this film. What the marvel films have over Nolan is the grand CGI element that would be preposterous without the influence of the comic book element.

This film is about the age of Ultron. Ultron (James Spader) is a form of artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr. ) with the hope that it will maintain some semblance of peace on earth. When Ultron is ‘freed’ he believes there can be no peace on earth unless human beings become extinct. He then sets into motion a series of tumultuous events that will, supposedly,  forever define his age.  There are three new superhero additions to the roster, Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor Johnson) known as the Maximoff twins from a fictional eastern European republic called Sokovia. There is also the Vision (Paul Bettany) that is the source of some interesting moments in the film. The usual Avengers roster has assembled for this film with the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Positives

The main positive is that I was not let down by the film. The main reason I was not let down however was the element of continuity in this film from the previous films. It really took advantage of several elements from the first avengers film to give the movie some heft. Director Joss Whedon, is still sticking to the premise about the wider universe and a lot of it has to do with Loki’s scepter and we know who gave him that scepter. The important thing about that scepter won’t be spoiled here  but suffice to say it makes a lot of comic book sense and it sets up the events that will follow In The Avengers: Infinity Wars.

 I thought that Ultron would  be some flash in the pan villain but, thankfully,  his design and evolution was actually quite interesting. James Spader does well in terms of his delivery in this film but what really grabbed me was how Ultron addressed the issue of evolution with none of the high handed moral quandaries that lead people to become idealistic and stagnant in their approach to certain things. He likes to emphasize that there is room for improvement and that can only come about when the old makes way for the new. His approach might seem dastardly and villainous but it is only just speeding along the natural progression of the human race which will be fortunate to be on earth 500, 000 -1 million years from now without naturally imploding as a species. People like to compare this film to Man of Steel (2013) but only because that film reeked of destruction that claimed thousands  of lives while this film does its best to preserve human life with little or no causalities. How pristine and fitting for the PG-13 era. They should also be comparing the notion of evolution that was also present in Man of Steel and this point was driven home in that film when General Zod’s second in command, Faora, was pummeling superman and reminding him about why evolution always wins. The strong survive in the long run regardless of what morality says. Ultron basically says the same thing here and uses it to justify his actions just like Zod and his crew did in Man of Steel. All people seem to be interested in are the noble efforts by the Avengers to save lives. There is nothing wrong in saving lives but what is the point of the comparison with Man of Steel if not to say that Marvel got it right and DC got it wrong.  I will have to address this in another blogpost. Anyways Ultron does do a lot to demonstrate his belief in evolution particularly as he changes forms and how we see new forms like the vision emerge. It also challenges many of the beliefs and established elements of some of the characters. Change is necessary and Whedon does make some concessions to Ultron.

The action is what you come to expect from these films although it is not mind blowing because of the overwhelming CGI element. A lot of the great action moments come when the characters bring their personality to the table. I was not too impressed with the Hulk’s portrayal however because he just reeked of CGI. Anyways the action was not mind blowing and there were, notably, not many cheers in the audience when it came to the action. More cheers came from the comedic elements.

Hawkeye’s character does add some heft to the story particularly as he questions his own role. It is clear by the end what his role is in the film and it is not non-existent. If the right decisions are taken then Hawkeye’s role will become more evident in the next marvel film where he will be featured and it’s not because he is great with a bow and arrows. He just does his job.

It’s time to accept that marvel is driven by the comic book element and not necessarily by the dramatic element. Those critics looking for something weighty like what was present in The Dark Knight Trilogy are in for a disappointment. The Dark Knight Trilogy had the element of urban crime or warfare as a significant external element that influenced the approach of the main characters. It’s  not clear what motivates the avengers as a team apart from their superficial conception as superheroes.  

Whedon is going for a strictly comic book approach here which benefits from years of history. It is the presentation of the characters that matter more than any dramatic core or a significant external element that will challenge how the characters act. In this film it‘s all about the presentation of the avengers on screen. The avengers are so prominent in the society that they have replaced SHIELD as an institutional body.

This film is clearly a more mature presentation of the avengers as opposed to the kiddy fare of the first film. You know it’s mature when Bruce Banner/the Hulk and Natasha/Black Widow engage each other and have a romantic vibe which reveals how broken they are.

There were some interesting back stories provided for some of the characters, particularly Black widow.

The global appeal was good and there are some references and hints about characters that are yet to be featured.

This film is blockbuster material.

Ultron provides a better challenge than Loki does and he is not afraid to take on the avengers.

Negatives

The primary negative in this film is the very comic book nature of the film which denies it a chance to say something meaningful about society. The film is dominated by the characters but there is nothing really holding them together. It’s still not clear what the avengers represent apart from being stooges of the American government. Whedon did try to bring this out in his own way but if it were not for the super powered element I just don’t see what makes them special. It even reaches a point where hawkeye feels sidelined in the presence of godlike figures. It feels like we’re dealing with the gods of Olympus and Ultron does make reference to the devastating hand of god(nature). The film seems more like a duel among the gods. The governments of the world are basically nonexistent. This is important since people are so concerned with collateral damage.  The avengers are lords of the earth it seems. They create their own problems (Ultron) and watch the lesser mortals suffer the consequences, according to Captain America. This film is heavy on star power that comes with the comic book material but star power is an individualistic concept and so unity can only come with characters like hawkeye who have no power and this is the point I hope Whedon was trying to bring out. In any case these godlike figures speak about a lot of fantastic things but there is nothing at the core to hold them togther apart from a confrontation with the almighty Thanos.   With all of these powerful figures in the film it’s no wonder so much is based on how they interact with each other. There is so much power on display that it is difficult to identify with them apart from their comic book origins. It is to Whedon’s credit that he brings out the comic book nature of the entire thing because there is not much else to hold it together.

Yes the CGI is important in delivering outlandish set pieces but this all goes back to the comic book nature of the whole thing. Most of the truly great blockbusters like Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight Trilogy had a common element that brought people together apart from just their characters. Star Wars: A New Hope , the father of blockbusters as we know it today, was significant because it dealt with a rebellion against tyranny. It was a common element but easily identifiable just as in The Dark Knight trilogy it was about taming the monster of crime and in The Lord of the Rings the challenge was against the tyranny of Sauron, the bearer of the one ring of power. I am still not clear what the avengers are fighting against. They are just fighting each other because Ultron is more or less a by product of Stark’s make up.  Everyone knows that Thanos is supposed to be the main villain but it’s still not clear what he is all about. Is he a great tyrant of the universe? Why is he so concerned with the earth? What does he embody as a character? Marvel could have resolved this by simply making Thanos into a great tyrant who seeks to control the universe but there are pockets of resistance that dare to challenge him. Wait that’s just like Star Wars. Let me think about it some more. The point is it does not have to be wildly original but the series is beginning to suffer because they have not addressed the big baddie that is Thanos. Ultron seems like another decoy like Loki but just a more powerful one.  Thanos is supposed to be behind everything but it is still not clear why he even bothers or what he represents. If you knew nothing about comic books then you would be at a loss about the direction being taken by Marvel. The creative team at Marvel assumes that most people will know who these mighty characters are. Only the geeks know why thor dipped himself in holy water.  It might seem like a film that appeals to all but it does not. It is a very closed space particularly as it is presented in this film. The first film did make an effort to integrate the wider society with the concept of the avengers but this film seemed to be going in the direction first taken by the horrible Iron Man 2 and this is made more apparent since Stark played such a significant role in the creation of Ultron.

Some of the CGI on display was not impressive. I was not impressed by the look of the hulk in this film. I liked the Vision but when a series starts to mature then you start to see beyond the façade of it all.

Whedon and Co. are definitely trying to fight off the malaise that comes with the blockbuster territory. They are trying to out do themselves in terms of looking massive but this massive element would have been more effective if it was not already clear that some elements in the film are designed to create an effect in the audience but not really to push the wider story. So you have the comedy and the action and another character reveal.  Any attempt at dramatic effect in The Age of Ultron does not make a lasting impact. It all seems like the road to nowhere but then there is the momentary effect of box office success. What is now happening to the avengers happens to most series when they reach a point of no return where the belief that more is better is the only way to go. More can be better up to a certain point. In the end what counts is the objective  of the story and right now it is still a bit hazy what the objective is.

When you do watch the film you will realize that what happens to Quicksilver is justified when you consider the business practice in the real world (Here’s looking at you X-Men: Days of Future Past) or the world we live in that does not have fantasy to save it. When you see what happens to him you will get the point that one of the main goals of this film is looking for the numbers at the box office and not about the avengers saving the world, minimizing collateral damage or saving citizens from death.

It’s also time that some of the marvel fans give more credit to Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy and Nolan and co’s take on Man of Steel. These films are very influential and this is pretty much clear in The Avengers: Age of Ultron which is not as sophisticated but clearly ramps up the blockbuster effect. It’s because of Nolan’s take on the superhero genre why I was not surprised by some of the thematic elements on display in this film. Nolan did it better.