avengers assemble and mash-up

The kid and I went to see the latest Avengers movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron, last weekend. It was ... O.K. I am starting to wonder if Joss Whedon can't help but pastiche his own work, no matter what he does.

I was a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and an even bigger fan of Angel, so when I hear the name Joss Whedon I tend to have positive associations. But I am not a super fan girl. There are also plenty of things he has done that leave me cold (Dollhouse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), or that I just could never connect with (Firefly). I found the first Avengers movie a little on the ho-hum side. I love the casting and the banter of the main super heroes, but when you've seen one CGI robot blow up and a major city explode, you've seen them all, right?

The Avengers — and lots and lots of robots ...

Apparently not. Because the second time around with Ultron the Avengers were up against tons and tons of CGI robots and tried to save more than one city on the brink of destruction. Iron Man and his pals plowed through city streets and buildings, leaving broken glass and devastation in their wake, all in the name of saving the world. Again. And sadly, there was no witty, bratty villain like Tom Hiddleston's Loki, but another CGI super robot, Ultron, who wanted to destroy the world because ... I really don't know. It was in the script?

As I watched all of this computer-generated mayhem, which seemed to go on forever at its two and a half hour-plus running time, I couldn't help think of another Whedon project, Cabin in the Woods. The movie references in The Avengers may not have been as blatant or funny as the horror tropes that Cabin in the Woods served up, but movie buffs may still have had a déjà vu feeling in certain scenes:

A bunch of robots streaming up the side of a building — hey, that is reminiscent of I, Robot.  

Black Widow and the Hulk have a Beauty and the Beast thing going.  

Naughty Ultron isn't your friendly neighborhood artificial intelligence — from 2001 to A.I. and beyond.  

All that morphing metal was also very Terminator-y.  

Robert Downey Jr.'s sassy Tony Stark/Iron Man is suddenly a bit of a Victor Frankenstein in his desire to use Ultron to save the world.

The best scene in the movie is a moment of relative quiet near the start of the film. The Avengers have all been hanging out at a party, celebrating their latest victory. They start teasing Thor about his hammer, and he declares that only he is worthy to wield such a weapon. Each Avenger, except the wise Black Widow, takes a turn trying to lift it, unsuccessfully, a la The Sword in the Stone.

Hawkeye [after quite a few drinks], "'Whosoever, be he worthy, shall have the power'" — Whatever man! It's a trick!"

Thor, "It is more than that, my friend!" 

Captain America, "But if you put the hammer in an elevator?" 

Iron Man, "It'll still go up." 

Captain America, "Elevator's not worthy."

It's fun, and silly, and showcases each character's and actor's strengths. There are other fun moments of clever dialog, which can be attributed to the Whedon touch, but unfortunately they are few and far between too many long, long battle scenes with robots. Sorry, Joss, but as far as these Marvel movies go, Guardians of the Galaxy is still the most entertaining, and knows how to perfectly balance fun and adventure.

p.s. And one more not-so-minor beef: With all the mega-merchandising that goes on with a film of this kind, why is it only the male characters that get action figures? Where is Black Widow?

superhero fatigue

I have been known to geek out and watch superhero movies, although I tend to be more interested in sci-fi and fantasy than famous comic book characters. But I have to admit that as cute as Chris Hemsworth is as Thor (and even cuter Tom Hiddleston as Loki) I am experiencing some serious superhero fatigue. I can't tell the difference between Iron Man 1, 2, or 3 and I simply don't care. I'm willing to bet that Robert Downey Jr. would find himself similarly challenged. I'm still not sure what brought us into the theater to see the first Captain America, but I have no intention of seeing #2. The only thing that I took away from seeing The Green Lantern was that Ryan Reynolds looked a little cross-eyed. Did CGI bring that unfortunate detail to light? I'm no fan of the Christian Bale as Batman movies, either.

What might have been ... Nicolas Cage in a costume test as Superman for Tim Burton's Superman Lives

But as much as I am starting to dislike the genre, I sat down and tried to watch Man of Steel the other day. It turned out to be just impossible. It is loud, ugly, incomprehensible, and the worst sin of all, completely boring. No matter how buff Henry Cavill may be, his Superman was just a big "No." Neither a plucky Amy Adams as Lois Lane, nor an earnest Russell Crowe as Superman's dad could save it. I didn't even get far enough into it to check out Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. All Man of Steel did was make me wonder what a Nicolas Cage Superman movie might have been like.

I suppose the Superman/Batman movie (with Ben Affleck as Batman, yikes) coming up will get an audience, but I am starting to wonder why. Lots of dark, murky action and way too-long and too noisy CGI explosion scenes seem to be the blueprint for all of these movies. Are comic books really Hollywood's only source material? Yawn.

avengers ... hmmm

Like a whole lot of other people, we saw The Avengers when it opened last Friday. As a big fan of Joss Whedon, I am happy for the director's success and hope that it helps him in his future projects. The cast was terrific. I liked Scarlett Johansson in this film more than any other movie I've ever seen her in. I didn't even mind the 2 1/2+ hours length. But I have to admit that the enemy — some horde of CGI insect/crustacean monsters were just damn ugly and uninvolving.

I understand that is the Hollywood deal. No matter how clever the repartee that Whedon and Co. have created for the bevy of superheroes, modern blockbusters demand ridiculously loud, city-destroying special effects. New York gets trashed once again on film, with Grand Central taking the brunt of the assault. Yawn.

Oh no, New York City is under attack! Again.

But mind-numbing ending battle aside, there were some definite highlights and Whedonesque flourishes that would bring me back for the inevitable sequel(s).

The opening sequence features Johansson as Black Widow. She kick-asses her way out of what at first appears to be an impossible situation. The scene was definite nod to Buffy and all the other cool gals that Whedon has loved to write and celebrate. It also set the tone for introducing the rest of the reluctant and unpredictable band of superheroes. Black Widow didn't need a big iron suit or any superpowers to work her magic, either. Cool.

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man was in fine form as always, bantering a mile-a-minute with anyone and everyone, "Dr. Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Chris Evans as Captain America managed to hold his own with RDJ and the rest of the crew. Many of his lines played off his man-out-of-time situation and good-guy professional hero ethic.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor was a hoot, spouting pompous Asgardian dialogue, but somehow knowing it sounded out of place, which kept him from becoming pompous.

Mark Ruffalo was a perfect Dr. Bruce Banner, AKA The Hulk.

Captain America, "Doc ... I think now is the perfect time for you to get angry." 

Bruce Banner, "That's my secret Cap, I'm always angry."

Samuel L. Jackson was his usual Samuel L. Jackson super-cool self as Nick Fury, who takes no crap from anyone, including the ominous and bossy World Security Council, "I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it!"

Jeremy Renner was also good as Hawkeye, his never-ending supply of special arrows proving remarkably effective against gigantic aliens.

And did I mention how absolutely fine they all looked?

All of the Avengers had their moment to shine, but the scales seemed definitely tipped in the direction of The Hulk. Ruffalo got the most character development, and his alter ego got the funniest moments, taking out his frustrations in wonderful ways on Thor and Loki. Tom Hiddleston, another one of the film's highlights, may have been given a thin motive for his badassery as main villain Loki, but he managed to be intriguing and have some bad guy individual screen time with each Avenger.

Captain America to Loki, "What's the matter? You scared of lightning?" 

Loki, "I'm not overly fond of what follows ... " (Thor arrives)

The best part of the film was all of the bickering between the reluctant team members — i.e. Whedon dialogue.

Iron Man, "Falling in line's not really my style." 

Captain America, "You're all about style, aren't you?" 

Thor, "You people are so petty. And tiny." 

Did you see that, Thor? It looks like a gigantic shrimp!

Bruce Banner, "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him." 

Thor, "Take care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother." 

Black Widow, "He killed eighty people in two days." 

Thor, "He's adopted."

Hulk disoriented. Which way downtown?

The Avengers, as individuals, dislike each other on sight and are far from being team players. But when the chips are down, they manage to pull it together to fight the CGI. The Avengers the film, even with the too-much CGI at its climax, is still a lot of fun. Joss Whedon may direct the sequel, which would be fine. But maybe he should consider doing a smaller, but still action-packed movie centered on Black Widow. With no alien lobster-monsters. That would be really interesting.

the game's afoot ... and on

Sherlock debuted on Masterpiece Mystery last night and it was up to all the hype (it debuted in Britain earlier this summer). The updating of the famous sleuth worked quite seamlessly. The gadgetry that is an essential part of our modern lives seemed like old hat for Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock, who just needs to close his eyes and he can visualize a Google-map of London streets in order to chase down a perpetrator. Cumberbatch is pale and kinetic—a wax sculpture come to life—in a good way. Martin Freeman's Dr. Watson, a vet from the Afghanistan War was doubtful, for just a moment, before being swept into the adventure and Sherlock's strange world.



Like Watson, I am already signed on for the ride. I also liked Rupert Graves's Inspector Lestrade, who was less of a pain in the ass here, than in the Conan Doyle tradition (they left that role to his underlings), and more of a resigned collaborator. The first episode, A Study in Pink, was a nice combination of the Brit-procedural we have come to recognize and love, a la Prime Suspect—a tad grittier and more depressing than American detective shows, which only seem able to try, ad nauseum,  to get the camera inside a wound—and the long line of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, from the wonderful Basil Rathbone to the inimitable Jeremy Brett, and especially, Robert Downey Jr.'s recent portrayal.



In fact, the camera-work and pace seemed to echo a tad the Downey Jr. film, as we and the cameras raced to keep up with Sherlock's brilliant deductions. The film was a little more playful with Sherlock, introducing Irene Adler and giving her a kick-ass attitude as she flirts and subverts the hero at every turn. This television Sherlock is "married to his work" in the tradition of the books, but the pilot couldn't help but flirt itself a bit with the Holmes/Watson relationship. A scene in a diner played with the characters—two grown men that have chosen to be flatmates—a situation that might mean something quite different to a modern 2010 audience than one at the turn of the century—and then moved on. It was a skillful sidelining of something that could have been distractingly commented on in an updated version. Their partnership is sealed not with a kiss, but a gunshot, and to paraphrase from Casablanca, "Watson, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Related articles

• Sherlock Holmes Finds New Life With Young British Actor (huffingtonpost.com)
• "New Sherlock Holmes Benedict Cumberbatch on Playing a ‘Sociopath’" and related posts (blogs.wsj.com)