How many superheroes
does it take to change a light bulb?
Whilst I’m sure
there’s an answer to that somewhere out there, Avengers: Age of Ultron does at
least answer the related question, how many superheroes does it take to crash a
movie?
When Marvel announced
the first “Avengers” movie, everyone was sceptical about cramming so many
disparate characters into the one film. We were, of course, spectacularly
wrong. Writer/Director Joss Whedon has a talent for ensemble pieces, and he
managed to make a film that gave everyone room to breathe and still provided
outstanding entertainment.
Perhaps buoyed by
this success – or the fact that the first film made a profit comparable to the
national debt of a small African nation – Marvel has decided to add more characters
for the sequel and, in the process, come something of a cropper.
It’s not that “Age of
Ultron” isn’t fun – it is. It’s not even that it’s not a good film – it’s far
from a bad one. But in trying to introduce three new Avengers and a major bad guy,
as well as setting up two sequels and a spin-off, and tying up the events of
two separate previous movies, whilst all the while trying to add depth to
existing characters, the franchise is beginning to groan under its own weight
in a worrying manner.
Who’s to blame? It’s
tempting to think that Whedon’s ego is on a Hulk-like rampage – with the
biggest superhero movie in history under his belt, he could have insisted on a
scene where he personally urinates on a crowd of studio executives’ mothers and
probably got it – but in truth, a lot of the problems stem from the complicated
storylines that have begun to tie up the Marvel universe.
First and foremost is
the fact that every Marvel film of the last few years has been hinting at the
“Infinity War” storyline, in which Thanos, the Mad Titan (introduced in the
first Avengers flick and seen more prominently in “Guardians of the Galaxy”)
attempts to acquire the six Inifinity Gems and thus rule the universe. In
practical terms, this means that almost every Marvel film now has to pull
increasingly hard in the direction of this grand finale. As a result, “Age of
Ultron” sees the Avengers searching for Loki’s sceptre from the previous film
which – no real surprise – contains one of said gem stones.
This means that new
bad guy Ultron is forced to share his screen time with the ghost of movies both
past and yet-to-come, and as such comes off as under-written. This isn’t helped
by James Spader’s performance as the titular robot overlord. Whedon’s knack for
finding humour in unlikely places fails him here, as Ultron is often too
wilfully quirky to come off as a genuine threat.
Introduced properly
for the first time (ignoring a brief post-credits scene in “Captain America: The
Winter Soldier”) are the Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver, both of whom also
suffer truncated character development. They’re superpowered twins who have an
axe to grind with America after their home nation was bombed using artillery
produced by Tony Stark/Iron Man, but once they realise that their employer,
Ultron, is in fact a crazed murder-bot, they switch sides almost without
mention, and don’t even bother to bring up the Stark Industries bomb that
killed their parents when they’re in the same room as the man who manufactured
it.
In short, every new
character feels under-done. There’s probably a joke to be made about the
superhumanly fast Quicksilver feeling rushed, but I can’t be bothered to make
it.
What, then, of the
more familiar faces?
The classic line-up
are all present and correct, and given ample time to show off their skills.
Chris Evans’ Captain America, in particular, is given more to do after fan
bitching about his underwhelming set-pieces in the first “Avengers”, or
possibly after the stellar performance of “The Winter Soldier” at the box
office. Mark Ruffalo is still tortured as Bruce Banner, a man whose
transformation into the Hulk is as useful as it is dangerous, and Scarlett
Johansson is given more room to play with the back-story of the Black Widow,
delving deeper into the guilt and regret that have always been hinted at in the
former child assassin.
Chris Hemsworth, whose
triceps could probably get their own spin-off film, is given little to do as
Thor. He spends a good portion of the film having wandered off on a spirit
quest involving a magic lake that doesn’t even come close to being explained by
any part of the script.
Most interesting (and
possibly ill advised) as a story choice is Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, who is explored
in some depth as an ordinary man struggling to hold his own on a team of
superhumans and demi-gods. Renner is a fine actor, and his scenes do have
resonance, but they ignore the fundamental appeal of Marvel heroes – that even
the gods themselves are flawed. Having Renner fret about his issues ignores the
basic point that every one of the Avengers has relatable insecurities, from
Cap’s time-lost, baffled loneliness to Banner’s mortal fear of his own
emotions. Giving the human member of the team the most obviously human neuroses
is a major mis-step.
The mainstay Avengers
are not the only familiar faces. Sidekicks from basically every previous movie
turn up left and right, with Don Cheadle’s War Machine given something to do
for the first time in what feels like forever, and the Falcon turning up
briefly to have a beer with Captain America and remind us all that he exists.
Stellan Skarsgard,
who presumably has a bad home life, makes the effort to turn up in yet another
Marvel film for the sole reason of… Well, it’s not exactly clear. Something to
do with Thor’s magic lake.
If the complexities
of handling so many characters and storylines at once weren’t enough, there is
also a distinct sense that the biggest threat to the Marvel universe at this
point comes from lawyers and accountants.
Robert Downey Jr.,
who kicked the whole Marvel bandwagon off as Iron Man, has been hinting at
retiring for some time. Both “Iron Man 3” and “Age of Ultron” have now given
him final scenes that could be seen as a farewell if he gets cold feet about
future sequels. Presumably, Marvel will do everything in their power to keep
him on board, but the time is fast approaching when he will become
prohibitively expensive, if he hasn’t already. Similarly, at least two other
characters are given a way out of the next Avengers shindig, perhaps again in
the hopes of keeping production costs for a sequel below a level that would
make Scrooge McDuck nervous.
Finance aside, the
legal complications between studios mean that both Fox and Marvel own the
rights to Quicksilver and the Scarlett Witch, hence the former turning up
(played by a different actor) in the recent “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” For
the record, the X-Men movie’s take on Quicksilver’s powers was far more
entertaining, although Aaron Taylor-Johnson probably gives the better
performance in “Ultron.”
The inclusion of
characters from the X-Men franchise* is, honestly, a bad idea. As Fox owns the
rights to “super powered mutants” as a concept (yes, really…) both characters are
denied their original back-story and feel unfairly shoe-horned into things,
adding another layer of confusion to a cinematic universe that is already
becoming far, far too complicated without the addition of real-world
litigation.
All of this bitching
is, once again, not to say that “Age of Ultron” is terrible. It’s enjoyable,
and at this point in time feels, for the most part, like a night spent with old
friends. Just not one of the great nights. Only a good one.
A longer run-time
might have benefitted everyone involved, although perhaps the studio thought
that audiences wouldn’t want to go past the two-and-a-half hour mark. This is
silly, of course. It’s the Avengers, and most movie goers will literally wait
in their seats to watch them eat shawarma.
It’s a good film.
It’s great to see the characters again. But things are noticeably starting to
fray, and it’s worth pointing out that there has never been a decent third
movie in any franchise, ever. Marvel has left itself the task of producing a
final act that is epic in scale and also more tightly reined in.
From here, it feels
like a superhuman task.
*Simmer down, comic nerds, I know that one is up for debate
in historical terms.
**********************SPOILER FILLED
BITCHING*********************
DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT SOME MAJOR PLOT POINTS GIVEN
AWAY.
Okay, seriously, Joss
Whedon? You allegedly lobbied to have Quicksilver included because “his powers
will look cool” and then you kill him off?! Never mind that you created a
massive legal headache and needlessly complicated the whole shooting match,
you’re going to introduce a character just to kill him off?! He might as well
have been wearing a fucking Red Shirt, for Christ’s sake!
And the Vision? I
already said, the whole reason Marvel works is that the characters are at once
larger than life and intimately relatable. To create a Superman-esque robot is
a waste of time and raises far too many issues. Or did Paul “I’m sick of just
doing voice work and want my own action figure” Bettany have someone by the balls?!
Why are most of the
sidekicks black?! Does anyone else find that a bit uncomfortable?!
Opposite point: Did
we really have to go to Wakanda just to set up a Black Panther movie?! Couldn’t
someone have just wondered aloud where the Vibranium was coming from and then
have that as a link?! If we’re smart enough to untangle the Quicksilver debacle
as an audience, we can probably take that big a hint.
Did anyone really
want to see Hawkeye’s secret wife/kids/farm?! Hawkeye is supposed to be a
cynical loner, not one of the fucking Waltons!
I get that Nick Fury
always has something up his sleeve, but how exactly did he manage to hide a
helicarrier?! Did he smuggle it out under his coat one afternoon before he
faked his own death?
