'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Pays Full Dues to Marvel Mythology
The question that is always on my mind is; does the world really need another comic book movie? The answer is quite frankly no. Over the past ten years we have had our fair share that’ll last us a life time. And, as we plunge ahead into a limitless future of comic-book adaptations, those evil marketeers at Marvel Studios will do their upmost to ensure that we never escape these movies.
intimate and spectacular
But having said all that, Avengers: Age of Ultron is an entertaining superhero movie. It’s smart, yet stupid enough to have its fun moments. It’s stirring yet warrants its characters to show their human side when the tempo dictates. And, it’s imitate and spectacular — the latter being a trademark of these movies. It helps that Age of Ultron involves, as all good comic-book movies must, a really premium villain.
Of course it's intoxicated with CGI, and it goes without saying it's extravagant, but it has a texture to its formula. It indulges and cares for its audiences viewing pleasure. All of its heroes have more dimensions — they’re well oiled characters now. The actors playing them almost know them inside-out, and it shows in their performances and attainment to their nuances.
Continuity is key in these kind of movies. It’s the lifeblood that keeps them ticking over. The structure Marvel have set-up with their cinematic universe treads carefully around a potential domino effect. If one movie in this universe misses a beat, or a plot line just doesn’t ring true, it could be detrimental to the whole fabric of the cosmos Marvel are building in front of our eyes. So, giving the intricacies of such building, the writing is key to the successes of all Marvel movies — and Age of Ultron is a well written tale (with a few minor issues in regards to sub-plots) that pays full dues to Marvel mythology.
ingenious special effects
At times, director Joss Whedon and the writers use slick one-liners to gloss over farcical plot points. I understand these moments happen in stages of the film that nobody really cares about, but it’s a common trend I see in a lot of superhero movies that grates on me. Much like the first Avengers movie, Age of Ultron features ingeniously pieced together CGI that takes us ricocheting from one Avenger to the next. It helps the ease in which Whedon juggles all their relationships, but as I've previously said, it benefits the whole movie from the stance that the actors portraying them know them like the back of their hands, and the fundamentals of these movies are built primarily on set-pieces that leave us in awe.
A movie like Avengers: Age of Ultron doesn’t need critics. It’ll never be inflicted to in-depth analytical scrutiny, because honestly, it would have to be a behemoth failure for it not to be a mega-hit with audiences. It’ll break records. It’ll find itself among the heavy hitters atop the box office standings come the end of the year. I for one, don’t get myself too carried away with these movies. Yes, I do find some enjoyment from watching (to some extent), but in my opinion, they are the movies that will have detrimental health effects on the future of the box office and the movie industry as a whole. The primary purpose of these movies is to sell merchandise, increase financiers bottom lines and, in truth, attempt to be flat-out awesome. Today, it’s cool to like these movies. So, where’s the need for criticism if that’s all it sets out to achieve? It’s irrelevant what any critic says. Avengers: Age of Ultron will be a huge success, and without a shadow of a doubt, achieve levels of awesomeness in the eyes of its fan base.
