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?

loki steals the show — and thor's thunder

We got to see Thor: The Dark World this past weekend. I guess I've been somewhat invested in these Marvel comic book adaptation movies, as I've seen most of them — Captain America, Iron Man 3, The Avengers, the first Thor. Of all of them, I found Thor the most entertaining. Apart from the complete movie star quality of star Chris Hemsworth, the film had humor.

Director Kenneth Branagh is no stranger to going over-the-top with Shakespearean theatrics in even his non-Bard films, but he recognized that Thor was at its heart, larger-than-life and extremely theatrical. How could it not be. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is not just a super-hero, he is a Norse god, and his cohorts make up the Norse pantheon, from his father, the All-father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and mother Frigga (Rene Russo) to his best buddy Heimdall (Idris Elba), the guardian of their home, Asgard. And then there's Loki, the trickster, Thor's bad-boy half-brother. Branagh wisely cast Royal Academy of Dramatic Art grad Tom Hiddleston in the role, and he has not only nailed Loki's mad whims, but dug into his daddy issues while bringing both a sense of menace and vulnerability to his appearances in both Thor films and The Avengers. Will someone get this actor and this character his own movie already?

Loki and Thor team up — or do they?

Star-crossed lovers? Awkward.

Thor, look around, yes, over there ...

Hiddleston/Loki is so much fun and so magnetic every moment on screen that one almost forgets about the rest of the film. Who really cares about the Big Bad, Malekith, played by the excellent Christopher Eccleston, who is hidden under some hideous make-up and inexplicably speaks in subtitled Dark Elf language for the first part of the film. Malekith learns English pretty quickly and that annoyance is then dropped and forgotten.

I can't care much about or for Natalie Portman, either, who plays Thor's love interest Jane, who is supposed to be a brilliant scientist, but spends most of the film moping over her hunky maybe-boyfriend. She shares more chemistry in two very brief scenes with potential suitor (played by the again-excellent) Chris O'Dowd. Odin and many others kept reminding Thor that a human's lifespan is just a blip compared to theirs, and I couldn't help but feel secretly happy for Thor that once his fling with Jane has run its short course he could spend more quality time with the fierce and lovely Sif (Jaime Alexander) with whom he shared tons more chemistry in just a few brief scenes.

Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård manage to make the most of their goofy side-kick roles — they seem to inhabit the earth and world of Thor much more convincingly than Portman, who seems strangely out of touch and out-of-synch with everyone else. There are many other good actors in blink-or-miss roles: Zachary Levi, Ray Stevenson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Alice Krige.

Yes, that's Christopher Eccleston in there somewhere as Malekith

I do love the look of Malekith's crew, The Dark Elves (costumes by Wendy Partridge)

Director Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire) utilizes all of the special effects at his disposal and occasionally some of these visuals are a hit, especially a time/space anomaly that is just X Files weird enough near the front of the film, and then gets brought back for comic effect towards the end. But the high points of Thor: The Dark World rest most definitely not with the Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars-like battle sequences, but the character interactions. Yet again, a comic book movie chooses to rest heavier in the CGI department than with its heroes. I've never been a comic book junkie, but don't folks get hooked on the stories because of the characters? Anyway, the best scenes in Thor feature the two brothers, Thor and Loki, verbally and physically sparring. Or Loki standing up to his "father" Odin, or Loki having a touching exchange with his mother Frigga. Or shape-shifting in numerous amusing ways. Basically, Loki with anyone.

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.

hooray for the red, white, and blue

Captain America: The First Avenger is an old-fashioned film, calling to mind less super-hero movies, although it is clearly part of the Avengers production line, than some WW2 propaganda movies from the 1940s that starred Dana Andrews or Robert Walker. What is different about Captain America is that even at a time when the U.S. is engaged in wars across the globe, it really isn't a propaganda film, or even purely patriotic. It is too much of a pastiche, too self-aware for any of that. That is not to say that it isn't entertaining. It is. If it calls to mind a more modern film, it would be Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, which treated its comic hero with both affection and fun. Captain America has tons of action, with lots of bodies flying, although, mercifully, little gore. No matter how many bad guys or good guys bite the dust, it never loses its sense of humor. Like a Saturday morning cartoon, it was fine for kids to see along with their parents (and grandparents).

Chris Evans as Captain America

There were quite a few old-timers in the audience at the Saturday matinee that we caught — people from my mom's generation, who, like her, were probably fans of the original comic (which debuted in December of 1940), and for whom the WW2 plot would have deeper meaning. I'm not sure what they thought about Hugo Weaving's villain, Red Skull, who gave the offscreen Hitler a run for his money. Weaving was so bad he was beyond a Nazi, Hollywood's favorite villain for decades.

Was Captain America patriotic? There was a lot of red white and blue, and his star spangled shield got quite the workout, but I didn't feel "Go U.S.A.!" as I left the theater. The movie is as much a star-crossed, unrequited love story as it is an action flick, and as far as those go, it is better than most. It was interesting that in the middle of the film, after 90-pound weakling Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was turned into Captain America, he was then also immediately processed as a celebrity and sent out on the road to sell war bonds. An illustration of the power of propaganda, but not itself functioning as propaganda.

Evans, with Hayley Atwell

Probably for many that currently have a loved one serving in the military, viewing the film would have felt more patriotic. But Captain America works more as a depiction of patriotism and the power of propaganda. The hero's overwhelming desire to serve his country, the good old U.S.A., even when he is considered physically unfit to do so — would his yearning to enlist be understood by many kids in the audience? There are still plenty of brave young men and women who join the military every day, to join a current conflict, or as a career move. But the country, the world, is so different today than it was in WW2.

We are a global society now. How can we completely understand the fierce pride of country that Americans felt before and after Pearl Harbor? My father was in WW2 — he signed up at 17 and joined the Coast Guard — so I have a sense of how people might have felt, but I grew up in the post-Viet Nam era, with hovering shadows of the Cold War. While I was in college my brother was in the Navy, stationed off the cost of Beirut for over a year, unable to leave the ship he was on, but most of my classmates, not to mention the rest of the country, were pretty unaware of what he was involved in. With so much information, so many conflicts, now at our internet fingertips, it's no wonder that most people choose to flip the channel to something else, tune in to the shows featuring fighting housewives rather than try to understand global conflicts. Will Captain America bring back a nostalgia for America? A "U.S.A. is #1" feeling? I'm not so sure. It was able to bump Harry Potter from the top of the box office, at least for this weekend.

Evans, pre Captain America

The movie features some pretty nifty CGI, with the buff Evans looking convincingly slight in his earlier scenes and Weaving looking extremely creepy as the villainous Red Skull. But most impressive are the human actors. Evans has a nice rapport with British officer and love interest Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Tommy Lee Jones seems to have found his mojo and turns in a great, crusty performance as Captain America's commanding officer Colonel Phillips. Dominic Cooper has fun as Iron Man's daddy, Howard Stark. Stanley Tucci is as great as ever as Dr. Abraham Erskine, a German emigre scientist who helps create Captain America — or is it invent steroids? There are a nice assortment of sidekicks, although we never really get to catch the characters' individual names, including Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, and Kenneth Choi, who become Captain America's elite attack force.

Whether recruiting offices see a surge or not over the next few weeks, the movie is definitely worth seeing. I had minimal interest in the upcoming Avengers film, Joss Whedon regardless, but after Captain America and the non-Asgard scenes of Thor, I am actually looking forward to it. Go, Captain America.