"Avengers: Age of Ultron" may have hit theaters weeks ago, but it continues to rack up ticket sales well into the summer. For gamers and avid comic book aficionados, this movie will be an epic joy ride. If you seek realism, you need to suspend belief. In true comic book style, the collateral carnage and destruction wrought to the earth's innocent bystanders with each battle between good and evil is devastating. Yet some live to see another day. No matter which point of view brings you to this film, it is a giant of a movie. The story starts with a full-on battle scene — a visual and tonal cacophony of swift movements in all directions. The momentum never slows.
Director Joss Whedon has successfully helmed everything from comedy to horror to Shakespeare to blockbusters. He has worked extensively in both film and TV. Here he pulled together a team of artists all very familiar with the grand scale of the comic book blockbuster. Cinematographer Ben Davis is also a veteran of many genres and worked on "Guardians of the Galaxy." Editor Jeffrey Ford has done previous Marvel films and Editor Lisa Lassek worked on the first "Avengers." Production designer Charles Wood designed "Thor" and "Guardians of the Galaxy." Composers Danny Elfman and Brian Taylor have impressive film scoring resumes, and Elfman of course formed his groundbreaking group Oingo Boingo in the early '70s.
If you have seen any of the movies that star the characters ("The Avengers," "Iron Man," "The Hulk," "Thor," "Captain America"), you don't need to become acquainted with them — they're already "family." If you have somehow avoided these films, the character intros may seem abrupt or too short. However, you will become invested in them within the first few minutes. Fascinating new characters are brought into play, especially twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, played superbly by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen.
It's interesting to note that the battle scenes and war planning take place in cold metallic sets. Peaceful moments are set in vast, green natural landscapes. The two environments collide in a crashing explosion at the end of the movie. This genre of the comic book became popular in the 1930s and grew out of our awe and fear of the industrial age overtaking nature. This film takes that fear and adds our contemporary angst about the impending creation of artificial intelligence.
One scene truly disturbed me — a skyscraper in a crowded city is blown apart and collapses like a top heavy stack of dominos as citizens run frantically to escape billowing clouds of dust ferociously overtaking them ... way too close to reality for anyone who watched the news in unfathomable horror on Sept.11, 2001.
A troubling thought seems to permeate the film: mankind will not exist on Earth forever. Earth will not last forever. So perhaps we should appreciate our Earth, our natural landscapes, moment by moment, and take care of them. This film embraces the themes of the Industrial Revolution, the World Wars of the last century, and the technological revolution, with the "BAM!/POW!" speed of comic books.
Rated PG-13.141 minutes.
Kathryn Whitney Boole was drawn into the entertainment industry as a kid and never left. It has been the backdrop for many awesome adventures with crazy creative people. She now works as a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. Reach her atkwboole@gmail.com.