Avengers: Age of Ultron review - A demolition déjà vu
Here we go again… again
Picture from Marvel Studios
Calling superhero films 'cultural genocide' is already going out of fashion. And what a shame that is. When Birdman Director, Alejandro González Iñárritu used the phrase, it seemed like he'd given birth to a bandwagon that would roll on indefinitely amongst critics - but no. Surprisingly, things have gone completely the other way, and it's now cool again to applaud green screen dwelling spandex. That supposedly comes from accepting a film as a product of its genre, which, if we're honest, is the main defence for a total lack of originality and story. Avengers: Age of Ultron is no exception, serving up a sedated display of empty action sequences that, without Joss Whedon's injection of humour, would very much be a case of déjà vu.
Age of Ultron marks the start of an epidemic, with all these superhero films set for release in the coming years: Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Infinity War Part 2, Batman vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice... and many more. Probably. That's like, the same film, eleven times.
So, to get the repetitive ball rolling, the opening scene of Age of Ultron sees the 'assembled' heroes smash their way through a H.Y.D.R.A base to discover yet another Infinity Stone. Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark then goes all mad scientist and uses the stone to create a world protecting, artificial intelligence called Ultron. It backfires. Carnage ensues.
Speaking of carnage, with the possible exception of a marquee battle between The Hulk and a heavily augmented Iron Man - most of which we saw in the trailer - there's probably been more exhilarating scenes in daycare centre playrooms, created by infants who frenziedly mash their favourite action figures together until one of their arms pop off.
The only saving grace here is the humour. Captain America (Chris Evans) doesn't like swear words, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) loves to tease him about it, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is phallically precious about his hammer and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) has become the Hulk whisperer. All of which is almost amusing enough to mask the fact this is EXACTLY the same as the first one.
Most of the jokes are meant to distract us from the familiar plot formula and the frustrating complexity of Ultron's existence. It works in the same way a fart might lighten the mood at a funeral. That being said, it’s a smelly fart. The characters crack nauseating one-liners – the sort you’d expect easily impressed fanboys/girls to lap up with open mouths and consume like a balloon on the nozzle of a helium tank, until they reach their quota of chortle desperate dialogue and blow up, just like one of Ultron’s robot servants/gimps.
There’s plenty ‘this is a sequel’ nods to scoff at too – improved camaraderie amongst the heroes and a developing love story between Mark Ruffalow’s Bruce Banner and Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff show they’ve all had time to bond. But this is all about the desktop wallpaper friendly shot of The Avengers lunging forward in slow motion, to punch an assortment of unaccredited goons. It screams “YEAH! WE’RE BACK!”
And they’ll be back again, as the end credits boldly remind us that Avengers: Infinity War is imminent. And then again! For part two! It’s the most meaningless Groundhog Day ever.
The morose reality is, even the critics are in love with this franchise: critics who have previously delivered heroic hatchet jobs for films possessing exactly the same components as Age of Ultron. Yet this gets a free pass, because ‘you know what you’re getting when you pay for a ticket’ and it’s got superheroes. Well, I refuse to be fed by the moron fodder cannon that is Marvel. They want to build a world of mediocrity, using us as the bricks, but I’m a stubborn brick. I’m a massive, raging brick.
By Chris Edwards
