 | |
|
Most of the complaints floating around about 'Age of Ultron' seem to concern pacing. Thrusting the audience straight into the action, while being quite converse to the usual MCU film openings, seemed really in-key with the cataclysmic ending to 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'. Though the finale is undeniably extremely climactic, even more so than the opening, a huge swathe of the middle section has a lot of down-time. However, this middle section's pace hardly deserves criticism. For one thing, the 'down-time' is littered with lots of short bursts of intense action, like the strafe in the African shipyard or the high-stakes chase through Seoul, giving the film a rather episodic feel. As well as making this 'Avengers' the most globetrotting of the MCU, the episodic nature of the film also succeeded in raising the stakes tremendously, forcing the audience to emotionally invest in the heroes' quest, thereby making the climactic final battle with Ultron all the more satisfying.
There's no use dismissing those aforementioned moments of downtime, either. They aren't as pacey as the action sequences, but that doesn't mean the aren't interesting. Also, a good proportion of the audience will undoubtedly have been watching MCU films since its conception 7 years, 11 films and 4 TV series ago. Including time for our favourite heroes, who we've seen so much of individually (or occasionally in pairs), to interact outside of the context of battle, to see how their personalities compliment and conflict with each other. Although the extra character development is certainly a welcome addition to the otherwise-purely-action-film, there was still a feeling that more could have been done with it, especially to develop Black Widow and the twins (though hopefully that will come in subsequent MCU entries).
Even for someone, like myself, who hasn't followed the actual Marvel comics, the introduction of the twins, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, actually served the film in a meaningful way. Presumably quite minor characters introduced as fan service for readers of the comics, having them initially poised against the Avengers created some fantastic conflict besides those already existing within the main group and between the Avengers and Ultron. The twins' incognito introduction, and how their powers were almost a match for our heroes when they were working from the shadow, created a much larger threat than one would expect from the pair. Aaron Tyler-Johnson was hilarious as the cocky and quick-witted (well, quick-everything) Quicksilver, and Elizabeth Olson's initially serpentine portrayal of Scarlet Witch as a secondary antagonist was exceptionally creepy, though she still managed to play up the character's fragile humanity at crucial moments. Her eventual emergence as a strong female hero, following the tender encouragement of the previously underplayed Hawkeye, was a very welcome, if unexpected, turn of events for representation of female characters - in fact, the portrayal of Scarlet Witch as a whole is really supports Joss Whedon's stance as a feminist and stands as testament to a gentle understanding of humanity.
Further to the welcome character development in the film needing to be more developed, there certainly wasn't enough done with Scarlet Witch's manipulation, something which was otherwise a fantastic concept and could have told us an awful lot more about our heroes. Though more developed than Loki's mind games (more mind control) in 'Avengers: Assemble', Scarlet Witch's mind games with the Avengers definitely didn't go as far or as deep as it could have done. Seeing Steve (Captain America) wandering around a 40s disco and hallucinating Peggy, for example, was a great way to show his guilt, but what that needed was a greater indication on how this reminiscence, of what is very clearly history, affects Cap's actions in the presence. Thor's dream of Asgard was similarly bizarre in not relating to the current action. Though it undoubtedly will lead on to the later entries in the MCU (I'm thinking 'Avengers: Infinity War' is the link), having it make Thor leave the action and go elsewhere on a subplot was less useful than seeing how this changes Thor's priorities. The only hallucination which really made sense was Tony Stark's, which obviously gave the impetus for the creation of Ultron, and RDJ made it very clear in his conversations with Bruce Banner that he was very much under the influence of that paranoia and guilt when working on the AI. However, Stark getting his hallucination first, and a long time before the others, somewhat confused Scarlet Witch's motives. She couldn't have been acting on orders from Ultron as he hadn't been created at that point, and yet the fear very clearly lead directly to Ultron's creation, who would later go on to lead Scarlet Witch to further manipulate the Avengers. This made it somewhat ambiguous whether it ended up that way on accident, if she could read his mind and knew that's what it would make him to, or if it was just seemed necessary to create the main antagonist and advance the plot.
What seemed quite interesting was the shuffled importance of characters within the film. It's clearly an ensemble cast, but actually more so than 'Avengers: Assemble', and those who didn't get some of the most coverage in the former film where elevated slightly in this film. Of course this is referring to Hawkeye and Bruce Banner, while Captain America and Thor where demoted in importance somewhat, acting mostly as moral interrogators of Banner and Stark, the latter of whom retained his perennially central role that always comes with his appearance in MCU films. Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye doesn't get many more lines than previous appearances (though proportionally it's a lot more, especially when compared to his almost cameo appearance in Kenneth Branagh's 'Thor'), but Hawkeye has always been portrayed as a man of few words, and inviting the audience into his home really helped to establish a humanity to him which couldn't've been guessed at otherwise, meaning his speech which so inspires Scarlet Witch was all the more believably from Barton's heart. RDJ continues to astound in 'Age of Ultron' as the flawed hero Tony Stark, managing to deftly show being wrong whilst sounding right, which complicated the ethical question about A.I. and the limits of human advancement far beyond the realms of right and wrong.
It takes 'Age of Ultron', and the recent 'Iron Man 3', to notice just how well linked the MCU is thematically, and why it succeeds so much better than other superhero films in the long history of superhero films. Usually, taking the first 'Fantastic 4' films made by Marvel studios as an example, such super hero films are used to show how our heroes, the 4, fight off against our villains, Victor von Doom or the Silver Surfer and Galactus: simply protagonist versus antagonist. The same parallel can be drawn almost anywhere - Daredevil vs. Fisk ('Daredevil', 2005), Superman vs. General Zod ('Man of Steel', 2013), Green Lantern vs. Hector Hammon ('Green Lantern', 2011) - except in the MCU. In the MCU, a series which relies on the ability of super humans, the theme of limits is prevalent throughout. In 'The Incredible Hulk', the limits of the human will, in 'Iron Man 2', the limits of greed and corporate accountability, in 'Iron Man 3', the limits of technological advancement, in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier', the limits of power and security. This is constantly blurring the lines between what is simply right (Superman) and what is simply wrong (General Zod), and between protagonist and antagonist - which creates works which are, while still entertaining for children, emotionally and ethically challenging for adult viewers and, while lacking any actual downfall in order to subscribe truly to the genre, presents recognisable tragic flaws in almost all of the main heroes.
Joss Whedon has done a fantastic job of integrating 'Age of Ultron' into the thematic universe of the MCU, more so his first Avengers film, 'Avengers: Assemble'. Here we have Stark, presenting the limits and dangers of technological from 'Iron Man 3', while Captain America challenges him by presenting the limits of security that he's brought through from 'The Winter Soldier', in a case in which both believe they are right, one side is more right than the other, and both turn out to be wrong. Besides Tony Stark carrying his anxiety and guilt from 'Iron Man 3' into 'Age of Ultron' and Whedon using that to kick-start the next instalment of the series, Whedon has, on the whole, done a good job of continuing each Avenger's arch from where they last were in each franchise, with the most glaring exception being Thor. The thing about Thor is that in his own franchise he hops between the 9 realms, whereas the other Avengers concern themselves entirely with Midgard, so Thor having a slightly less character-based role here makes sense, as in his own franchise he is certainly separate from the other Avengers.
Romanoff was certainly a character who deserved more attention in terms of fair character development. Her romance with Banner, if that's what it can be called, was certainly justified in her role of controlling the Hulk. What it did do was expand on a more human side of her nature which had started to emerge in 'The Winter Soldier' after the one-dimensional boss-ass-bitch which first appeared in 'Iron Man 2'. Romanoff is still a strong character, as can be seen just by following her character arc, but by choosing to seek to exact atonement for her perceived failings by taking care of the monster Whedon made her a human character, an important distinction. Her comparing herself to a monster is not, as some critics have claimed, Joss Whedon calling infertile women monsters - rather it's Whedon saying that this is what Black Widow thinks of herself sometimes, which is a fantastic piece of character development and certainly a realistic and relatable thought process for a victim of abuse. If only we could have seen more of it, then it would've been more justified in her plea to Bruce Banner. This goes back to the under-development of the Scarlet Witch's cerebral skullduggery. Black Widow's hallucination went some way to describe a strict and inhumane upbringing in a spy academy, but it was much too vague. Tony Stark, Captain America, Thor, they've already had their backstories explained in their own feature-lenght movies. If Marvel refuse to make female-lead movie before 'Captain Marvel', and they refuse to give Black Widow her own film despite so many calls for it from Marvel fans, then they can't afford to make her backstory vague and mysterious if she's going to make such a big claim as comparing herself to the Hulk in being a monster. There needed to be more substance to Black Widow's backstory, otherwise her character is weak.
The portrayal of Ultron might have been a bit iffy. That is, the writing for the character itself and its portrayal as a character by James Spader was humorous enough and sardonic in a way which made it difficult to the villain in that dichotomy of good vs. evil, but the portrayal of Ultron as an entity could have a lot more complex than it was. AIs in science fiction are nothing new, think 'Terminator', but they certainly have become very fashionable in recent years as an ethical inquest on the nature of sentience, the limits of individuality and the morals of creation. While the 70s were the era of the machines which are going to kill (terminate) us, recently we're seeing more depth in our creative discussion on what an artificial intelligence really is - 'I, Robot', though based on very old stories, is a perfect recent example of this, and then recently there's been a huge burst of them, think 'Chappie' and 'Transcendence' and David in 'Prometheus'. Artificial intelligence seems the perfect direction to take the MCU at this ensemble juncture, as it bridges the gaps between Iron Man's limits of technology and Captain America's limits of security. However, much like the Scarlet Witch's manipulation of the Avengers the film didn't go into enough depth or detail. There was a reference to Ultron being present in every part of the internet and able to rebuild a body for himself whenever he needed one (a new 'prime' as it were, because even an artificial intelligence comprised only of itself needs a hierarchy apparently. Why weren't all of the Ultrons primes?), which means there was definitely scope to give Ultron transcendence like Dr. Will Caster's consciousness in the film 'Transcendence'. There was a reference to Ultron being plugged into every part of the internet, meaning he was entirely global, much like Dr. Will Caster, therefore Ultron was much to benign - especially considering Ultron's primary objective is destruction of the human race and not just power like Caster. Ultron could've been explored more as entity than as a villain and wasn't, which is a shame considering the platform that AI has been give on the sci-fi stage.
That being said, the climax of 'Age of Ultron' was among the best of the series. It possibly wasn't as emotionally climactic as the 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier', but in sheer scale it was definitely superior. 'The Winter Soldier' has become my litmus test for other superhero movies, as undoubtedly the best superhero movie ever made, and the fact that 'Age of Ultron' even compares is really a testament to the scope of the work that Whedon has created here. Whether or not one works out what's going to happen before it happens the ending is exceptionally satisfying, and for once the scale of destruction is entirely realistic for what is about to happen. A good example of unrealistic destruction is the Chitauri in 'Avengers: Assemble' using only one rift above NYC to attack Earth, but as an once-avid fan of 'Planetary Annihilation' I saw the planet-smash coming when the rockets first powered up. Though the action is incredible on its own, Whedon leaving the trail of breadcrumbs to working out what Ultron's master plan is (without him telling us his 'evil plan' which he so sarcastically refers to in the African shipyard) led to a really exciting realisation, which triggered me to turn to my friend and excitedly pummel his arm. I'm not an overly emotional person, but that ending was exciting.
Quicksilver's fate was certainly shocking, but there wasn't really time for it to be upsetting, and it certainly wasn't grieved about afterwards, what with all the exciting action going on. The climax was the real time for the Avenger's heroic nature to shine, and set the most perfect example of humanity and selflessness which was genuinely moving. It could be said that the slightly slower pace of the middle made this ending all the more satisfying, and the last-minute cameos of some of our favourite side-characters was downright joyous at that time of need. Between the rescuing of civilians, the battling off hoards of Ultron drones and the race against the clock to somehow stop the falling rock the ending was definitely the most exciting of the series, and it was lovely to see Iron Man redeem himself by saving the day again - having watched his entire arc from the selfish beginning in 'Iron Man', to his defeat in 'Avengers: Assemble', to his slow recovery in 'Iron Man 3', to his mistakes throughout 'Age of Ultron', his selfless heroism felt like the redemption he's deserved after all this time.
I'm giving this film an 8.5/10 - a fantastically exciting superhero movie with a cleverly organised episodic structure, an unexpected strong female character and plenty of opportunities for character development which could've failed Natasha Romanoff a little bit and wasted some of Ultrons potential, whilst still making both of those characters well-rounded and believable and ending with the mother of all boss battles.
Commenting is open and can be anonymous or registered, so please comment - I'd love to discuss as this'll be my last post until after exams!
My Facebook page
You should review Mad Max: Fury Road.
ReplyDeleteThe film looks great from the trailers I've seen, and what friends have told me, but I'm afraid I'm in over my head with revising for my A-levels and Mad Max is only in cinemas here till Thursday. After the 18th of July I'll be free as a bird for reviewing, and I'd love to review it - unfortunately we'll just have to wait till its DVD release, presumably in September. Thank you for reading though!
Delete