Bigger Isn't Always Better: A Review of Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron

written and directed by Joss Whedon

Following up the most successful superhero movie of all time was never going to be an easy endeavor. There were so many things that needed to be done right, and so many things that could have gone wrong.

Thus far, the template for Marvel Studios' so-called "Phase 2" films, specifically the sequels to the earlier "Phase 1" films has been, more or less, a combination of three things: 1) bigger action set-pieces, 2) more elaborate CGI, 3) more menacing villains, 4)the same blend of action-comedy that worked in Phase 1. In the case of two Phase 2 movies, namely Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, one additional element is a major story twist midway through the movie.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is very much in that mold.

Following the evens of The Winter Soldier, in which Captain America (Chris Evans) and friends had to take down a S.H.I.E.L.D. that had been compromised by HYDRA, the Avengers --Cap, Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo and a lot of computer-generated imagery), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)-- now find themselves having to chase down important artifacts that are in HYDRA's possession. One such artifact, the mind-controlling scepter wielded by the villainous Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in the first film, is in the hands of the villainous Baron Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann), who has used it to experiment on humans. The only survivors of these experiments are two superpowered volunteers, the Maximoff twins Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who has acquired superhuman speed and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), who has some form of telepathy and telekinesis. Strucker is captured in the Avengers' raid, but the twins escape, and not before Wanda puts a mental whammy on him, giving Tony Stark/Iron Man a glimpse of his worst nightmare: the death of the Avengers because of his inability to do enough.

This proves to be the catalyst of events to come as Tony, spurred by his apocalyptic delusion and with some help from Bruce Banner, decides to put into motion something he's been cooking up for a long time without the knowledge of their teammates: an artificial intelligence he calls Ultron programmed to protect the world with a gleaming metal robot army. He uses the energy of the scepter to try to infuse the Ultron A.I. with the little something extra it needs to be the ultimate global cop, then leaves with Bruce Banner to join the rest of the Avengers for evening cocktails, when the scepter apparently gets ideas of its own and Ultron (James Spader) "wakes up..." but with a twist. He envisions the better, safer world that his creator wants, except his particular vision involves the destruction of the Avengers and the human race in general. Ultron crashes the Avengers' evening get together, then, after a brief skirmish, flies off with several of Tony's robots and Loki's scepter.

The Avengers, naturally, have to shut Ultron down, but it won't be easy for a robot whose consciousness can jump in and out of the internet, especially after he recruits the super-powered Maximoff twins, who, it turns out, have a bit of an axe to grind against erstwhile arms-dealer Tony Stark.

It was always a given that this film would be bigger than the first one, and it is to Whedon's credit that he plunges the audience into the action right from the word "Marvel." The opening action sequence in the fictional Eastern European country of Sokovia (played by both England and Italy) is really a doozy, though oddly enough a few nanoseconds of the relentless computer-generated mayhem seem a little cartoony. Fortunately, most of the action (and there are a LOT of sequences to choose from) is quite expertly staged, and if I may be so bold, some of it will stand out as iconic over time, like the outstanding fight in Johannesburg between a rage-crazed Hulk (courtesy, again, of Wanda's mind tricks) and Iron Man decked out in an enormous suit of armor that was specifically designed for such an eventuality, known to comics fans as the Hulkbuster armor but here, simply called "Veronica."

The scope of the film is bigger, too; this is the first Marvel Studios movie that takes place in more than two main locations, with the action starting out in Europe, very briefly going Stateside before heading over to Africa, then over to Asia, and finally back again to Europe for the big climax.

Fortunately, Whedon still manages to sneak quiet moments between the action, some of which actually double as a surprise story twist for a specific character. I'd rather not spoil exactly what the twist is, but I will say that apart from giving the said character some much-needed dimension, the sequence really helped keep the film grounded, along with the brief evening cocktails scene earlier in the film in which most of the Avengers try to lift Thor's hammer, a joke that pays off hugely near the end.

There are a lot of nice character moments throughout the movie. Captain America has a running joke involving his age and swear words, Black Widow gets a back story and bit of a romantic subplot with Bruce Banner, who in turn finds himself grappling with the question of whether or not the Hulk is a hero or a menace. Hawkeye gets to do a lot more than spend two thirds of the movie being mind-controlled. James Spader is magnificent as Ultron, infusing the right amounts of menace and humor into a character that, to my mind at least, was a bit of a challenge to realize. Strangely enough, getting short shrift here were Iron Man, whose motivations for creating Ultron were articulated well enough but which still felt a little off, and Thor, who, outside of the action sequences, didn't really have much to do except make hammer jokes, take his shirt off, and sell the sequel to his own series. Tragically underutilized here was Andy Serkis (better known as Gollum from the Lord of the Rings series), who put on a really thick South African accent for less than ten minutes of screen time. Still, considering he was playing Ulysses Klaue, we may yet see him again, and with a more meaningful role. Thomas Kretschmann's Baron Von Strucker is utterly wasted here, as he barely gets more screen time than he did during his mid-credits Easter egg in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Apart from the fact that a number of characters fell by the wayside (an inevitability in a movie with a cast this big), there were other things that didn't quite sit well with me. The narrative just didn't feel as tight as the storytelling in the first film, and the sense of urgency wasn't quite there. Sure, Ultron was a menace, and James Spader plays the character to the hilt, but by the climax Ultron and his army just didn't quite feel threatening enough. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, did a better job of depicting its heroes in peril, even though their enemies there only human beings (and one particularly tough human) and not an army of murderous robots.

That's actually my problem in a nutshell; I didn't find this film quite as engaging as I did the Captain America sequel. Sure, AAOU definitely has CATWS beaten in terms of pure pyrotechnics and visual flair, but in terms of the tautness of the narrative, character exploration and even the impact of the story, it falls surprisingly short. CATWS, with its revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. was being run by HYDRA, basically shook the Marvel Cinematic Universe to its very core. In comparison, this film feels...inconsequential, and the fact that the really earth-shattering stuff seems reserved for the next chapter, the already announced two-part epic the "Infinity War" is distinctly disappointing. I mean, CATWS was just supposed to whet my appetite for AAOU; as it was, AAOU just felt like the dessert to the rib eye steak dinner that was the Cap solo movie, and as a dessert it felt loaded with a bit too many calories.

Plus, I have to say that the constant banter, one-liners and physical comedy that worked so well in the first movie sometimes feel a bit strained here. CATWS had its share of laughs, too, but the Russo brothers, whose bread and butter, ironically enough, used to be directing sitcoms, showed considerably more restraint. I'm glad to know the Russos will be taking over the two-part sequel to this, The Infinity War.

Finally, the product placement just got a bit out of hand here; I was used to seeing a fleet of Audis on screen, but when Quicksilver, in preparing for the climactic battle, grabbed a pair of shoes with a clear focus on the Adidas brand, I just groaned. I'm normally quite forgiving of product placement, especially when it's of brands that I like, but this movie just took it a bit too far for me.

Don't get me wrong; I genuinely enjoyed Avengers: Age of Ultron and will probably watch it again in theaters at least once. I'm just a tad disappointed considering that this franchise is supposed to be the crown jewel of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, and yet it seems to have lost a bit of its luster.


8.2/10

No Place Like It: A Review of Home

directed by Tim Johnson
written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember

I could be mistaken, but I think that the brand new Dreamworks' Animated film Home has the distinction of being the most benign alien-invasion movie ever made.

Here, an alien race known as the Boov, led by the idiotic Captain Smek (Steve Martin), travel across space, constantly fleeing from a terrifying alien race known as the Gorg, and settling on new worlds and then fleeing once the Gorg has caught up with them. The chase has left several destroyed worlds in its wake.

Finally, the Boov arrive at earth, and take over in fairly short order. There are no death rays here; they simply whisk people out of their homes using bubbles and giant vacuum cleaners and summarily displace the human population to a gigantic settlement in Australia, filled with all of the things that Captain Smek thinks will pacify them, like amusement parks and candy.

The Boov then begin the process of resettling yet again, and one of them, a particularly unloved Boov named Oh (Jim Parsons), who also happens to be completely clueless as to his unpopularity, tries to throw his neighbors a party. Unfortunately, he ends up sending the message all the way across the galaxy to everyone within "earshot," including the Gorg. Oh ends up on the run from the rest of the Boov, and runs into Tip (Rihanna) a girl who happens to be the sole human to escape "relocation." Tip has a car, and Oh has knowledge of Boov tech, which basically means the ability to make things fly. They strike up a deal to find Tip's mom (Jennifer Lopez), though unbeknownst to Top, Oh secretly plans to flee to Antarctica. The friendship that inevitably blossoms between them, however, might prove to change everything, even the fate of the world.

While this movie hardly the most cleverly written film in Dreamworks' library, which stretches back nearly two decades, it is reasonably entertaining, and quite notably makes the best use of the studio's considerable technical prowess in a long time by providing the viewer with some of the most colorful visuals seen in a Dreamworks' movie since 2013's The Croods.

As far as offering compelling characters goes, though, the movie falls sadly short of the better DWA movies like Kung Fu Panda or How to Train Your Dragon. The film tries to establish Boov as lonely but only succeeds in making him as unlikable to me as he was to his fellow Boov. The filmmakers do well enough to establish how and why Tip is, like Oh, lonely and in need of a friend, but apart from giving her adorable curls and Rihanna's voice there is not much else to her. Also, it was hard for me to separate Rihanna from her onscreen avatar considering that her songs came blaring over the movie's soundtrack every five minutes. It was quite annoying.

All that said, though, I still find myself recommending this film because it is just...so...pretty. Animated films in general are very colorful affairs, but this movie, I daresay, really stands out, even in a market that's been saturated with computer-generated cartoons, many of them from this very studio. It is guaranteed entertainment for kids under twelve (my two daughters, both below ten, had a good time, while thirteen-year-old son groaned at every Rihanna song, just as I did), so it has that, but even as a cynical adult, I was able to enjoy this feast for the eyes.

6/10