Uneven mix of tricks and thrills
“AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.” Every fanboy’s fantasy.
“I don’t trust a guy without a dark side,” Iron-Man (Robert Downey Jr.) tells Captain America (Chris Evans) in “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Apparently, neither does Marvel.
So, director Joss Whedon has his work cut out for him when he lets Tony Stark and Steve Rogers reunite with Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), each of whom must come to grips with the demons of their past before they can collectively focus on their latest death-defying mission.
Along with War Machine (Don Cheadle), Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the Avengers must work together as a team to diffuse the cleverly coordinated powers of vengeful twins, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff aka Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), who are helping Ultron (James Spader), Stark’s heretofore peacekeeping artificial-intelligence program gone rogue, drive the world to extinction!
With the Witch (a formidable mutant who can manipulate “probabilities” using her “hexes”) in the Avengers’ midst, can The Vision (Paul Bettany) be far behind? Ultron thinks he’s doing the world a great favor—but, when Wanda discovers the robot’s inability to tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it, she finds herself and Pietro torn between their self-righteous mentor and Iron-Man’s dysfunctional team!
The film cleverly utilizes Wanda’s hallucinatory mind games to sidestep the heroes’ obligatory back stories and whisk viewers through revelatory snippets of their lives. Then, it lets them demonstrate their respective powers as they fight tooth and nail for mankind’s survival.
What transpires onscreen is every fanboy’s fantasy: You see many of your favorite comic-book characters fighting evil and injustice side by side, jumping off buildings and planes, throwing debilitating beams and lethal fireballs of all colors, shapes and sizes at Ultron and his nasty cohorts, and proselytizing about the sacrifices superheroes must make to accomplish their mission—even if it means dying for it!
No metaphor
Unfortunately, that last line is no metaphor. To prove that not every superhero’s story ends with the good guys trouncing the baddies, there’s real casualty this time (no spoilers here). But, the film is by no means just about crowd-pleasing, action-packed sequences and the consequent “Shakespearean” tragedy that ensues.
There’s also budding romance, albeit awkwardly handled, between the mysterious Black Widow and her testy green colleague, whose anger-management issues aren’t as unmanageable as they used to be. Natasha Romanoff’s gentle caresses can tame Bruce Banner’s angry beast!
If you have a problem suspending disbelief that sparks can genuinely fly between Green and Black, so do we—but, that doesn’t make Ruffalo and Johansson any less likable.
We’re not saying that the sequel isn’t entertaining, because it most certainly is. Compromised by the weight of its familiar, oft-told tale, however, it just isn’t as seamless and cohesive as the original.
Thankfully, Whedon’s production also has rip-roaring moments, courtesy of Downey—especially when he launches into his witty quips and whip-smart one-liners, often at the expense of the two Chrises! Moreover, the heroes’ moral ambiguity makes the movie less predictable.
As for Hulk, his turbulent scenes are fodder for feisty, irreverent fun. But, we find it discomfiting to watch his temper tantrums and unmanageable moments of rage turn more destructive (and dangerous) for the people he’s supposed to protect.
His imperfections make him “relatable,” but the potentially lethal repercussions that result from Banner’s volatile temper make his inclusion in a peacekeeping superhero group like the Avengers contentious, at the very least.
After all, isn’t it irresponsible to entrust the lives of civilians to a super “policeman” with a multiple-personality disorder, who can “go berserk” anytime?
