samuel l jackson

Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Linda Cardellini, Mark Ruffalo, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hayley Atwell, Andy Serkis, Cobie Smulders, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Hiddleston, James Spader, Jeremy Renner, and Idris Elba.

Make no mistake about it. For the second time in a row, writer/director Joss Whedon had a mighty big weight on his shoulders. Leading up to the release of 2012’s The Avengers, there was a lot of talk about how many balls Whedon was going to have to juggle in order to make it a successful round-up of characters Marvel spent a lot of time and money establishing the origins of since 2008. Even given these origins, Whedon had to plausibly enter Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, and Captain America into a life or death situation involving the fate of the world. Personally, while The Avengers was an all around fun first time cinematic viewing experience, I have to say that I do not think it holds up on repeated viewings. There was no filter to be found for how many snarky lines were sprouted, and moderation was completely absent. Going into The Avengers: Age of Ultron, it was hard to not know of the pressure Whedon had to top himself from the original film’s overly positive fan and critical reaction. Despite my reservations about the first film’s faults, I found myself wondering if there was any way he could possibly make this film better than its predecessor. Let’s be honest. There were quite a few things to improve. The movie’s final enemies were boring, and the overly jokey dialogue gave it less and less replay value. But the brilliant juggling act of combining slam-bang action with the Avengers forming -or Assembling, if you will- Whedon pulled off was never in question. So the main doubt I had with Age of Ultron was, with the job of assembling The Avengers for the first time behind him, did Whedon bring a continuation story worthy of all these characters coming back while making it seem organic and not outlined with the color of money? In other words, did he make his Empire Strikes Back?

In a word, hell yes. With The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Whedon has accomplished the impossible. He has made a movie that is not only one of the most entertaining summer films to come around in quite sometime, he has also injected some surprisingly philosophical themes into what could have once again been the romp he got away with last time. This time, Whedon decided to instead play with the God complex that comes with being a superhero. The way the story and main conflicts develop revolves around Tony Stark. With S.H.I.E.L.D. gone, Stark (Downey Jr) decides to take matters into his own hands and make things easier on his fellow heroes by developing an artificial intelligence run police force, headed by Ultron (Spader). Ultimately, Ultron sees all mankind as the real betrayers of humanity and takes it upon himself to quench the world with their extinction. What follows are many doubts among the Avengers about whether they can take both the physical and mental hits Ultron has to dish out, as well as people who started off on Ultron’s side changing allegiances. In all honesty, that is all the plot you need, as the way its points are layed out and followed through in Whedon’s taut script does more than enough to let you know what is going on in each character’s head.

Speaking of which, that would lead to my favorite new character of the series. From Buffy Summers to his last incarnation of Black Widow, Whedon has a history of writing strong women. He once again does not disappoint with Avengers: Age of Ultron, as not only does he again push the Black Widow character over boundaries we have not seen her jump yet, he also introduces Scarlet Witch. Played with a glint in her eye by the lovely Olsen (Godzilla), Scarlet Witch is a character who, like all characters in this series, could come off as silly if written or played wrong. But her abilities to go into someone’s head without them knowing while going through their exact experiences are brilliantly integrated into the film’s plot. It also helps that Olsen plays up her emotions so that you feel her pain.

Another highlight for me was Hemsworth, who despite being given sub-par scripts in both Thor movies (as well as playing carnival hammer games at state fairs to promote them) has never deterred his charisma. He once again brings his welcome swagger to the proceedings, and Evans & Downey of course chew up each piece of scenery they own. Along with giving Black Widow a bigger part, Whedon saw fit to make Hawkeye a larger piece of the puzzle this time as well. A bigger role and better lines did nothing but endear me to an otherwise boring Renner. The writing of his character makes him more than eminently watchable.

In addition to Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, another surprise was this film’s villain and title character. When I am told by people how entertained they were by The Avengers, they always talk about the action and dialogue. Yet they never talk about the film’s enemies. Hiddleston’s Loki (who once again shows his face here) was written well. But the ‘troops’ Whedon stuck him with made the ending of the film feel weak to me. Yet like most of the 2012 film’s faults, Whedon has fixed the problem. Spader, who has always been one of the most magnetic supporting actors of his generation (something tells me Downey, who acted with Spader in 1987’s Less Than Zero, had a say in this bit of casting) is everything a good villain should be. He is imposing, he is monstrous, and he is emotionally conflicted. Spader -who also did the character’s mo-cap- emotionally digs deep into Ultron’s subconscious, and Whedon’s talent at displaying angst is on full display when he shows Ultron wrestling with his emotions and what he has to do.

Whedon has no doubt gone deeper this go around. Though the movie is not as dark as the trailers would have you believe. While his previous Avengers film was not nearly as clever and funny as it thought it was, Whedon has done what I was hoping for Age of Ultron, which is use moderation. The humor in Age of Ultron comes off as hard hooks as opposed to soft jabs. This time, instead of groaning at someone playing Gallaga, I found myself laughing with the rest of the gang at Hawkeye’s purpose on the Avengers team.

All roads lead to this being Whedon’s last crack as director of an Avengers film. Let me say, if this is his curtain call from the director’s chair of a Marvel film, then he picked a hell of a way to go out. Sure, his hands were tied with Quicksilver (Taylor-Johnson) and what the rights to use him meant to both parties involved. But he did what every good director does, which is do what he could using the tools he had. Yes, his plot has roots in Terminator-esque fears of messing with technology. But I didn’t care. At its core, The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a movie whose soul it does not wear on its sleeve. It is an action packed, rib cage rattling romp through many different emotions. After what he pulled off last time, I did not expect Whedon to do more of the same. But I also sure could not foresee him spinning the web of an emotionally layered action film that he did. And no, that is NOT a hint to the film’s final scene.

9.5 out of 10