‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ fight AI with an attitude

BY

Ron and Leigh Martel
Movie Reviewers, The Friday Flyer

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” is the perfect blockbuster for fanboys who live for this genre. It features almost every Marvel action hero, who toss witty one-liners, inside jokes, as well as referencing small factoids only true fans understand. First timers can appreciate the endless stream of Hollywood superstars, fantasy action and mind-boggling VFX mayhem.

However, if you have seen most of these films and are not huge Marvel fans, this is simply “same-old same-old.” Sure, it’s a spectacle, but every brawl reeks of déjà vu. How many times can you get excited about a hero flinging a villain against a building two blocks away, destroying several floors, then displacing 20 feet of asphalt when the bad guy retaliates. After each too-long skirmish, we can only yawn, “Been there, done that.”

Similar to “Ocean’s Eleven,” this isn’t so much a movie as a parade. The cavalcade of charismatic stars is impressive, starting with Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye and the voice of James Spader as Ultron.

The “B Team” is no less impressive with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Jarvis/Vision, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/The Falcon, plus several notable cameos.

Returning writer-director Joss Whedon’s (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) challenge was to work all the characters into the story. So exhausted, he decided to not direct the next sequels. He could have chosen a “less is more” approach, but Marvel fans only seem to understand “more is more;” which is a problem for making quality features, but a proven formula for making hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office.

This extravaganza is mind-numbingly awesome, but not necessarily in a good way. It is always mildly entertaining, especially if you don’t have anything else to do. There’s a lot going on, lots of gadgets and lots of stuff ‘sploding; mostly, because industrialist Tony Stark creates Ultron, an 8-foot 9-inch robot with artificial intelligence and a bad attitude.

As we don’t fully buy into the act, we don’t understand how these super heroes can do anything, except when they can’t. Why is it any one of these super-heroes can easily defeat dozens of foes? But when they encounter the villain du jour, all of them combined cannot even muster enough strength to give Ultron a good noogie.

Ultron is voiced by James Spader. Using his most mischievous Reddington arrogance, Spader-man calmly explains to the Avengers, “I know you’re good people, I know you mean well, but you just didn’t think it through. There is only one path to peace – your extinction.” Them’s fightin’ words, so Nick Fury declares, “Here we all are, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world!” Uh, don’t forget those super-powers.

Lindsay Lohan auditioned for the role of Wanda Maximoff (thankfully played by Elizabeth Olsen). Wanda plays mind games while twin brother, QuickSilver, runs circles around his enemies. They’re described as, “He’s fast, she’s weird.” Wanda asks Ultron, “Are you going to destroy the Avengers? He replies, “I’m going to save the world, and, well, yeah.”

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” is 141 minutes and rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence. Marvel fans seem to beg for more characters, more eye candy and more tangential stories, all while their heroes find yet another way to generate a colossal mid-city smackdown and save the planet once more. Instant gratification provides the fun, but yields a thoroughly forgettable feature for some of us.

There are many fans of this genre. The trailer was viewed a record 34 million times in the first 24 hours on YouTube. They love Tony Stark’s quips, such as, “He’s the boss, I just pay for everything and design everything, make everyone look cooler.” But, what would this rich, arrogant industrialist superhero be without a sense of humor? Batman?

Ron’s Rating: B   Leigh’s Rating: C