“The Avengers” came fully assembled. But “Avengers: Age of Ultron” – both were written and directed by Joss Whedon – has so many moving parts that some assembly is required.
The less I thought about this sequel, the more I liked it.
But the more I pondered it, all I remembered was the big picture and the spectacle. A bunch of super-pals hang out at a high-tech playhouse where they josh around waiting for a new super villain to strike.
This one is an artificial intelligence created in the arrogant image of industrialist Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, whose dream is to create a guardian angel to protect the earth so the Avengers wouldn’t have to.
Instead the creation Ultron sees mankind’s violence and decides the best way to achieve world peace is to wipe the slate clean and create an extinction event.
All that stands in the way of Ultron, wryly voiced by James Spader (I spent the film wondering who it was) are those pesky Avengers: Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, Black Widow played by Scarlett Johanssen, Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans’s Captain America and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, the human side of the green monster Hulk.
Hulk and Ultron are digitally animated creations as are; the endless battles; Downey’s monologues from inside his Iron Man face mask; not to mention the exotic flying and fighting equipment. It gets to the point that its green screen moments make “Ultron” look and feel as artificial as a diet soft drink.
The opening sequence sets a pedal to the metal standard for the film’s action scenes that is as authentic as a video game. And while the effects are well, um, assembled, the result is like drone warfare, floating above events from above without engaging them directly.
Cities are destroyed, but which ones? Nameless hordes are left homeless but who are they? And Ultron is just another generic world destroyer in the tradition of “Transformers’ or “Pacific Rim.”
Efforts are made to ground the action through the self-referential and eye-winking bon mots that are a Marvel trademark dating back to the original comics, and by humanizing the main characters, including a love story between Black Widow and Bruce Banner and a homey backstory for Hawkeye.
And several new characters are introduced. Among them are twin war refugees with a grudge against Stark. They are a brother and sister, with enhanced powers; his is speed, hers is clouding minds.
When she does this to the Avengers it sets off hallucinatory subplots that put the characters on the couch, to no purpose, though it leads to a mammoth brawl between Hulk and Iron Man. Paul Bettany, the disembodied voice of the AI Jarvis, also becomes part of the Avengers in a more physical way.
Maybe I’ve got Marvel fatigue but “Ultron” just felt like another spoke in a wheel of loosely related franchises with dubious continuity. And yet despite itself and myself I liked it well enough.
Though I was probably just assembled that way.
Two and one half stars **1/2
With Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johanssen, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, James Spader, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Produced by Kevin Feige. Written and directed by Joss Whedon. Rated PG-13, fantasy violence. Approximate running time: 141 minutes.
Tags: Avengers, Joss Whedon, Ultron Posted by