Avengers: Age of Meh-tron
Joss Whedon’s swan song with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (at least in the film world — he holds on to his connection to the still struggling TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) is here, so how did it fair? Well let’s find out. Fair warning, there will be MAJOR COMPLETE SPOILERS, so if you haven’t seen it yet, stop reading now.
Seriously, the whole plot is laid out (necessary to explain some of the strengths and weaknesses) so last warning — SPOILER ALERT!
[divider]
The story
We start out with the Avengers cleaning up the last remnants of the Loki incident, as they raid a Hydra outpost led by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, who has been experimenting on humans using the trickster god’s scepter. They encounter two of Strucker’s experiments – twins Pietro, who has superhuman speed, and Wanda Maximoff, who can manipulate minds and project energy – and apprehend Strucker, while Stark retrieves the scepter.
Stark and Banner discover an artificial intelligence within the scepter’s gem, and secretly use it to complete Stark’s “Ultron” global defense program. The unexpectedly sentient Ultron, believing he must eradicate humanity to save Earth, eliminates Stark’s A.I., J.A.R.V.I.S., and attacks the Avengers at their headquarters. Escaping with the scepter, Ultron uses the resources in Strucker’s Sokovia base to upgrade his rudimentary body and build an army of robot drones. Having killed Strucker, he recruits the Maximoffs, who hold Stark responsible for their parents’ deaths by his weapons. Together, they go to the base of arms dealer Ulysses Klaw in an African shipyard to obtain vibranium. The Avengers pursue them, but Wanda subdues the heroes with haunting visions, causing the Hulk to rampage until Stark stops him with his Hulk-Buster armor.
A worldwide backlash over the resulting destruction, and the fears Wanda’s hallucinations incited, send the team into hiding at Barton’s safehouse. Thor departs to consult with Dr. Erik Selvig on the meaning of the apocalyptic future he saw in his hallucination, while Romanoff and Banner plan to flee together after realizing a mutual attraction. However, Nick Fury arrives and encourages the team to form a plan to stop Ultron. In Seoul, Ultron forces the team’s friend Dr. Helen Cho to use her synthetic tissue technology, vibranium, and the scepter’s gem to perfect a new body for him. As Ultron uploads himself into the body, Wanda is able to read his mind; discovering his plan for human extinction, the Maximoffs turn on Ultron. Rogers, Romanoff, and Barton find Ultron and retrieve the synthetic body, but Ultron captures Romanoff.
The Avengers fight amongst themselves when Stark secretly uploads J.A.R.V.I.S. – who is still operational after hiding from Ultron inside the Internet – into the synthetic body. Thor returns to help activate the body, explaining that the gem on its brow – one of the six Infinity Stones, the most powerful objects in existence – was part of his vision. This “Vision” and the Maximoffs accompany the Avengers to Sokovia, where Ultron has used the remaining vibranium to build a machine to lift a large part of the capital city skyward, intending to crash it into the ground to cause global extinction. Banner rescues Romanoff, who awakens the Hulk for the battle. The Avengers fight Ultron’s army while Fury arrives in a Helicarrier with Maria Hill, James Rhodes and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to evacuate civilians. Pietro dies when he shields Barton from gunfire, and a vengeful Wanda abandons her post to destroy Ultron’s primary body, which allows one of his drones to activate the machine. The city plummets, but Stark and Thor overload the machine and shatter the landmass. In the aftermath, the Hulk, unwilling to endanger Romanoff by being with her, departs in a Quinjet, while the Vision confronts Ultron’s last remaining body.
Later, with the Avengers having established a new base run by Fury, Hill, Cho, and Selvig, Thor returns to Asgard to learn more about the forces he suspects have manipulated recent events. As Stark and Barton also leave, Rogers and Romanoff prepare to train new Avengers: Rhodes, Vision, Sam Wilson, and Wanda.
The impression
Now that we have the synopsis out of the way, let’s go over my thoughts about the movie.
First, my impression of the story: I personally will be glad when we move past the Infinity Stones in the MCU, it just feels like we have seen way too many films touching upon it in a none too subtle way. The Marvel mythos is rich with story arcs from singular characters, and we should still be able to focus on them, and the Infinity Stones. Also, I really think we could have done without the whole Black Widow “I can’t have babies, so I’m a monster!” arc.
Don’t get me wrong I loved the romance, it felt natural, but “that” subject is just way too touchy in a medium that has such a strong female fan following. I’ve got to say Joss; you could have done so much better. I did love the Hawkeye storyline; this really helped to flesh his add depth to his character, since we got nothing about him in the first movie at all. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch’s back-story was okay, but I feel like it was simply glossed over, because new characters! But I think that mainly it was because, of Pietro’s eventual death, sadly that was yet another thing that felt forced. I can only hope that Infinity Wars brings a much more solid story.
Next, the characters, and boy oh boy do I have a lot to say about them, both good and bad. Let’s start with the Big 3; RDJ as Tony Stark/Iron Man was consistently awesome, I have said it multiple times but they basically typecast for this role. He didn’t overstay his welcome, and made even the most groan-inducing scenes bearable, like his little heart to heart with Fury.
Cap’s role in the film was probably the most paramount of the returning cast; he’s much more jaded after his misadventure in Winter Soldier, after coming face to face with 21st century treachery he’s no longer sure who he can trust. But in the midst of the Ultron incident he’s able to find kindred spirits with the Maximoff twins, because their origins in the MCU aren’t all that different. Most importantly, we see him doing what he does best he leads his troops efficiently.
Thor, he was there. Mark Ruffalo’s sardonic Bruce Banner was as on point as ever — in fact I would say he embodied his character the best in the film. I touched on Widow and Hawkeye’s characters already, so I don’t want to get too repetitive, but I was glad to find out more about them. Wanda and Pietro’s chemistry was very strong, but this mainly because Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen have perfected it from starring together in Godzilla (although the fact that they were a couple in that movie, eerily reminds me of Ultimate Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Enjoy that mental image, kids.). However those accents were two big tall glasses of nope — they’re not Romanian and they did not fool me into thinking otherwise.
And last but not least, the titular antagonist, Ultron. Now first I loved James Spader’s delivery, it was magical to hear him assuming this role, but his dialogue had me ready to cough up blood. Ultron was not written as the imposing nightmare fuel I grew up with, he was written as a second rate Buffy villain, and that was a disservice to Spader’s casting and the very essence of Ultron. Whedon wrote him as a sassy robot, and it was charming at first, but got old really quick, I wasn’t asking for Robot Satan or anything, but I came into Age of Ultron expecting a game changing villain, and while we got that from Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, Ultron couldn’t cut the mustard for me.
The visuals were amazing as per the norm for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I loved how badass the HulkBuster vs. Hulk fight looked and I could watch that part over and over again. Great use of the animation for the various abilities, especially Quicksilver. And Ultron’s aesthetic was near perfect except for those damned robot lips! No, they did not look imposing, advanced or believable; they just looked stupid, Bad Whedon, Bad!
Walk into Avengers: Age of Ultron with moderate expectations. If you are a purist, please don’t bother watching this movie, you will nerd rage for hours at a time, and not just because of the dramatic liberties of the MCU. The weaknesses in this flick are definitely not a deal breaker, but they are definitely as noticeable as a zit on your nose. It’s not the absolute worst thing Marvel has put out (is it really hard to surpass The Incredible Hulk?), but I highly suggest waiting until this comes out on Blu-ray. I give Avengers: Age of Ultron a 7 out of 10.
