It’s a sad, sad day when the most memorable part of a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie is the Star Wars trailer preceding it.
Avengers: Age of Ultron opened last weekend to what I’m sure were many pleased fans who had been awaiting the release of Joss Whedon’s most recent (and probably last) entry into the MCU with their Iron Man t-shirts on and their Captain America shields in hand.
Although I did not come dressed as Thor (I saw at least one at my showing), I was excited for the film. I purchased my tickets the day they became available months ago. I’ve been a fan of the MCU since the beginning.
I know it’s a big money making machine made to appeal to my wallet with tie-ins like video games, t-shirts, toys, and “collect all seven special Avengers designs” Dr. Pepper cans.
I know conglomerate film making when I see it, and I understand the evil that it is, but at the very same time I don’t really care. As long as I feel like these big, not always but quite often dumb, action movies are being produced with the enjoyment of the fans at the theoretical center, I’m fine with turning a blind eye to the obvious marketing scheme as I swipe my debit card to buy that Black Widow themed Snickers bar.
Let’s face it, merchandising is a lot of what adds to the culture surrounding big film series, practically none so guilty as the behemoth Star Wars. We like the X-Wing toys, we like the C-3PO cereal, we like paying for t-shirts we don’t need just because they are tie-ins and we are vain, silly people who blissfully throw our wallets at the master of merchandising seduction Walt Disney Pictures.
But when I walk out of an extremely hyped film like Age of Ultron and feel as though I have just paid good money to feed something that is more machine than man, twisted and evil, there is a problem. A big one.
Age of Ultron is a completely mixed bag of a film that perfectly showcases what is going on behind the scenes of the MCU. Throughout the film’s nearly 2 1/2 hour run time, you can clearly see where Joss Whedon got his way and where the black tentacles of Disney forced his hand.
Ultron does a lot right. It has a lot of the typical Marvel movie humor, particularly of the Whedon variety. There are a lot of great, heartfelt moments between Avengers members, including Hawkeye. If you didn’t care about Hawkeye before this film, you will. The film builds his character up in a way that the previous film simply didn’t have or take the time to, and his scenes are some of the best in the film.
The same goes for our villain, Ultron, who is a dynamic personality with a lot of great potential that goes largely wasted. He is in only a small number of scenes, but James Spader always manages to steal the show with his morally confused robot.
Age of Ultron lacks a consistent tone and a clear purpose. We have a compelling, amazingly acted villain by Spader whose performance is wasted on a script that never gives him a full and precise purpose. Ultron is home to some of the best character moments we’ve ever witnessed in a super hero film while also containing some of the most pointlessly drawn out action sequences we’ve ever witnessed, including the most overly-long, stakes-less ending battle I have seen in a film since Man of Steel. Not to mention a near laughably bad “we work together” moment compliments of Captain America that Disney should have reserved for Frozen 2.
And with less studio and more filmmaker control, Ultron could have been one of the great Marvel movies. Instead, it is, to me, a sad sign that the MCU is in for a lot of trouble in the future. The film is plagued by plot holes, deus ex machinas (I’m looking at you, Nick Fury), and a general lack of storytelling balls that I suspect were due to a lot of studio mandated rewrites.
For a film that isn’t afraid to discuss (and nearly show) child sterilization, it is unwilling to let any civilians die during action sequences and goes on a long, unnecessary and unrewarding detour to reinforce that. And all of this despite a long buildup of constant conversations between heroes realizing they “can’t save everyone.” Well, according to the end of the film, they can. At least as far as Disney is concerned. Particularly when the buildup to a character’s untimely death comes into obvious conflict with the actor’s contract.
Instead of the dark story of sacrifice and death we were pretty much promised by the trailer, we get a flat, noisy, uninteresting movie that really changes no games in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by its close. However, like all true Disney movies, we are taught an important, wholesome lesson: the story always loses to the money.
6.5/10
Pixl Eggs 