Jen Reviews AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON!

Expectations were running high for the sequel to 2012’s smash-hit Avengers. Age of Ultron picks up where the last few installments of the MCU left off, and raises the stakes miles into the air.

I have to admit, however, the movie was slow to start. I wasn’t sure which superhero Blake Lively was supposed to be playing or where she managed to get enough Infinity Formula to stop aging, but it was nice to see Marvel doing more period films.

That was when I realized that my mother and I got our tickets switched around and I was in Age of Adaline by mistake.

So with Age of Ultron out in theatres now and the blockbuster season officially kicked off, let’s talk about this summer’s Marvel flagship.

THE GOOD:

The film’s titular character and antagonist easily stole the show. James Spader’s take on Ultron is powerful, scary, and creepily amusing. There’s yet to be an example of bad casting or when it comes to MCU villains, and with Spader the winning streak continues.

Although he has weirdly articulated lips for a robot. Anyone else getting a Handsome Squidward sort of vibe here?

Introducing the Maximoff twins into the MCU was a choice that worried many fans. I was afraid that we would end up with Simon and River Tam with superpowers, but they ended up better than expected. Wanda in particular got a surprisingly better treatment in the film than her comics counterpart: rather than being a self-absorbed, amoral “no more mutants” raving madwoman, she was self-reliant, had a clear pathos and sense of justice, and pulled off mind games that would make Loki look like a punk. (Well, even more of one than he already is.)

The overall tone of the film is a thrill and keeps the audience guessing. Rather than being a straightforward superheroes-punching-stuff affair, the film takes turns that make the Avengers their own worst enemies. More praise for Wanda here, when she gets inside the heroes’ heads, it feels like Joss Whedon’s love letter to Stanley Kubrick. And that is the Joss we need. Not the egotist or the self-proclaimed feminist;  just a guy with a lot of creativity and passion for what he does.

And it goes without saying, but the movie had a buttload of easter eggs. More than you could ever hope to count. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie with a bunch of huge dorky nerds and God speed as you try to keep track of them all. It’s a treat, which is what all these superheroes movies should be.

But first, let’s take a selfie.

THE BAD:

With the explosion of comic book and superhero media over the last few years, it’s getting difficult to watch the films that come out of the trend without a critical eye. Sure, the movie was genuinely exciting but it didn’t quite re-manufacture the magic of seeing the first film debut.

Characterization in the film is hit or miss. And while Wanda was a hit, virtually every other female character in the film was the opposite. Maria Hill was there for exposition and to remind us that spies are morally dubious. We have the “Brilliant Scientist” lady and one Avenger’s secret barefoot pregnant housewife, whom both disappear once they become too burdensome on the plot.

And then there’s Black Widow. My God, Natasha, what have they done to you?

Who knows, maybe Natasha was so OOC because this brainwashing didn’t quite wear off.

One of the most popular and dangerous women in the MCU spends the entire film preoccupied with a ham-fisted crush she has on a fellow Avenger. She complains about being deprived a normal life as if Joss forgot this isn’t Buffy. Well-written superheroes do have this struggle between personal baggage and their greater responsibilities. But for her there is no struggle. She is reduced to a pining would-be love interest, moping about not being able to have a boyfriend or children. Occasionally she goes out and kills things, but it always came back to this random romance that degraded everyone involved. Seeing this come after the complex individual she was in The Winter Soldier is jarring, to say the least.

Let’s not forget that this baffling approach to women comes from a creator whom insists he’s a feminist champion. From a guy who accused two people flirting in a dinosaur park of being “70’s era sexist”. Despite the fact that his own film has 30’s era sexism, by way of an awesome lady spy getting derailed from her responsibilities by a cute guy. If I had to pick one, Joss, I’ll take the 70’s. Cooler shoes, and the economy was in better shape.

Two words of dialogue before getting torn to pieces, and yet they still had better chemistry than Age of Ultron’s entire romantic B-plot. Ouch.

OVERALL:

With Whedon departing from involvement with the MCU, there are things about him that will be missed. Nobody can work an ensemble cast like he can; were it any other director in charge of all those characters the narrative would become a mess. But there are also thing about him that won’t be missed, such as the aforementioned issues with women characters.

Even if all the creative risks taken in the script didn’t work, the story was anything but predictable. This was the first time I’ve seen a Marvel movie where the outcome and hero’s victory felt uncertain. Whatever happy ending the characters do get, it is very much earned. Even still we’re not given too much closure – there’s generous setup for future films so that we’re left with an appetite for Black Panther and the inevitable Infinity War.