The latest film in the Marvel Universe series feels like
nothing so much as a season finale. And since Joss Whedon was once the master
of creating season finales that were both emotionally satisfying and
thematically resonant, it’s good to have him in charge for the second Avengers
movie, Age of Ultron.
I’d like to compare it to the epic scope of Buffy’s “The
Gift” but it feels more like Angel, if anything. Things change, the world moves
on – and the best you can do is keep fighting. And embrace change.
Tony Stark has always been flawed, but by the third film in
his own trilogy, he seemed to have found an emotional peace. But with that
peace comes the idea that he can use his technology – his faith in machines
being his tragic flaw – to create a replacement for the Avengers. He births an
army of robots to calm the populace and fight alien foes.
Robert Downey Jnr’s Stark is such a towering figure in the
Marvel Universe films – and to make him partly the villain of this new film is
a strong dramatic choice. He creates the seeds of his own destruction, as
Ultron later explains to the twins – the newly introduced to this series, Wanda
and Pietro Maximoff.
But his egocentric schtick is getting slightly old. He is
the only character we believe could make these choices, but when he keeps
making them, as the narrative decides that he must, it makes little sense. Yes,
I’m applying logic to a superhero film that contains a super soldier, a giant
green man and a Norse God.
Luckily, though, in an ensemble film like this, other
characters are allowed to shine – and Whedon smartly chooses to put a character
or two at the centre that don’t have their own series yet. Much like Black
Widow was the central figure of the first film, Hawkeye is the emotional centre
of Age of Ultron. Natasha’s relationship with Bruce/the Hulk is a fine showcase
for Scarlett Johannson and Mark Ruffalo, even though their subplot seems
tangential to the main narrative.
And it’s the moments that don’t quite fit in this film that
makes Ultron somewhat tricky to love. It is like a season finale, because you
can’t appreciate this film without seeing where all the characters have been –
and have some investment in where they are going. The main story is clear but
the character motivations make sense only in the context of other films. Some
plot machinations rely on Marvel Universe knowledge – and even then, I was
confused about Thor’s visit to the plot resolution cave.
I described the first Avengers film as a character-drivenblockbuster. Ultron is definitely plot-driven, but it allows the characters to
shine. And the contrivance of getting the gang to a farm to rest and recuperate
allows Whedon the explore the characters in their down-time, while the villain
formulates his next plan. And let it be said that James Spader is excellent as
Ultron.
Age of Ultron is the longest Marvel Universe film and it has
to be. It’s resolving plots that have built over 11 previous films and setting
up stories for at least three future films (Civil War & Infinity War, Parts
I & II). It has a cast of thousands – and makes that work most of the time.
It’s amazing what multi-film contracts can look like on the big screen. Marvel
Studios has figured out a way to bring back the classic Hollywood studio
system, but in a way that the actors – and fans – win.
By the end of the film, change has come. The Marvel Universe
will no longer be the same. The Avengers you once knew will be different the
next time you see them, in the aforementioned future films. No one film can be
everything to everyone – that’s an aphorism usually directed at the audience.
In this case, this one film can’t be everything to every character – but it
gives it a damn good go of it.
And now, because the Marvel Universe is everywhere, I guess
it’s back to Netflix to keep watching Daredevil.
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