Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Director: Joss Whedon

IMDB Page

Score:

So, What I’m Basically Saying Is Joss Whedon Is Michael Bay If He Had Grown Up

It must be nice to be Joss Whedon, and yet, I can’t imagine the pressure of being the anointed Savior of the Nerds.  The original Avengers film back in 2012 helped break the mold of superhero films wide open by combining the entire Marvel universe into a frothy blended drink of humor, action, and an honest-to-God plotline.  It also netted $207 million on the opening weekend, which was nice.  So just imagine having to be the guy to follow yourself up after that kind of performance.

It was a tough act, but only made tougher by the way Joss went about constructing Age of Ultron alongside fellow writers...  oh right, there aren’t any.  There’s only two tacked on credits for the original comic stories, going to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, which really only goes to show just how much of a maniac Joss Whedon truly is.

He not only brought back the entire cast of the first film, he also had to make it run concurrently in the greater Marvel universe, and he adds more characters.  This wealth of characters is really what separates AoU from Avengers.  The first film was tightly choreographed, with every character getting equal billing, equal motivation, and equal screen time.  AoU, meanwhile, just doesn’t have the sheer space that would require.  We’re introduced to not only the new baddie, in the eponymous Ultron (James Spader, and goodness isn’t he just creepy...), but also to our two new “borrowed” allies, Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his sister, Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen)—thankfully without the questionable family ties the alternate universe comics saw fit to give them.  Add in the appearances by War Machine, The Vision (Paul Bettany, finally out of the computer), Falcon, and a few others, and you end up with an active cast of eleven named characters in the final fight scenes alone, and a solid fifteen or more showing up throughout the runtime.

Thankfully, the previous and sundry films in the Marvel universe have done their jobs, so we know most of these characters (sudden, whiplash-inducing revelations about one of the Avengers notwithstanding), but you’d better have done your homework.  This film has no patience for questions, and there will be no stopping once the train is in motion.  Don’t remember who Quicksilver is?  Tough cookies.  Didn’t get to see Guardians of the Galaxy?  Well, then you’ll probably be very lost as to what they’re fighting over at the end (also, you’re a horrible person.  watch it).  Joss Whedon will not pull the car over, so you’d better have gone before you leave.  And even if you do know your backstories and catch the sly winks to other storylines, you still may have to fight to keep your brain from switching off into a numb stupor by the ending, which has so many characters running around it’s just madness to try to keep it all straight and pay attention to any one of them.

This is the greatest weakness of the film by far.  Even at 141 minutes, Age of Ultron is bursting at the seams with plot details that don’t have time to get fleshed out.  Ultron comes from... where, exactly?  Why was he an error, and how did he succeed is being created at all?  Why is Jarvis suddenly—you know what, this is gonna get spoilery, so I’ll just say that you’ll have to trust me that nothing gets explained.  At all.

Added to that is the film’s almost absurd reliance on CGI (over 3000 scenes were computer rendered, blowing apart any other film to date), and the fact that the soundtrack is repetitive and pounds you with the theme riff like Mjolnir (it more resembles the 10-second music loop of an early-2000’s DVD menu than anything by this point), and there’s enough legitimate quibbles to keep a critic in business for a while.

All that being said, if you’re the kind of person who just appreciates a Marvel movie for the action and some actually really well-written quips (and judging by the $192 million opening weekend, you likely are), you’ll be anything but disappointed.  Nobody but Joss can write this kind of stuff, where the action goes hand in hand with one-liners that come straight from the character’s psyches, and it just never gets old or comes off as forced.  The superhero genre as a whole is often plagued by power creep: the heroes overcame the previous threat, so something must be greater, which means the heroes must grow, which means the next threat must be even greater, rinse and repeat.  Joss seems to be a master of using all of these tropes organically, to break down the team by exposing its legitimate flaws and the members’ own personality quirks, and to build them up again into something whole.  Far from the Pizza Roll-esque junk food appeal that Guardians of the Galaxy had, Age of Ultron is a film without a lot of depth, but with some great points to indicate a good storyteller at work.  To someone like me who appreciates storytelling, it’s quite gratifying to see someone use such obvious cliches and stitch them into the background so well that you don’t even notice their presence.

So, the big question then: did I enjoy it?  You bet your—(Language...)  Sorry, Cap.  Yes.  Yes, I did.  And I’m wagering you will, too.

Scores (out of 10)

Acting: 7

Story: 6

Visuals: 9

Sound: 6

Enjoyment: 9

Overall Score: 8/10

The Karate Kid (2010)

Director: Harald Zwart

IMDB Page

Score: 7/10

A Great Remake Of A Classic

The Karate Kid (1984) is a classic, and for anyone like me who grew up in the 80s, it's more than just that; it's a landmark film that is part of our childhood. However, a truly honest person can admit that, yes, the original (and the sequels... *shudder*) does have its share of flaws. So how does the remake stack up? Actually, fairly well it turns out.

The '84 Kid is played by Ralph Macchio, and while he does an okay job portraying the character, he's not a great actor. In his debut star role, Jaden Smith shows considerably more acting savvy. More than that, however, the '10 character is just better written and casted. In the original, Daniel-san (Macchio) is a teenager, but played by a 21 year-old. Granted, he looks young, but at 17, you feel like he has at least some of the tools he needs to avoid being tormented, and with his antisocial behavior, it feels like two teens feuding instead of pure bullying. Dre Parker (Smith), however, is 12, played by an 11 year-old, and he is so much smaller physically than everyone else that you truly feel that he has no chance. He is totally outclassed and can't avoid the confrontation, so he fights back the only way such kids can: from a distance.

Once he learns martial arts, though, the difference really comes through. While more kids look like Daniel when they sport fight, Dre actually looks like a martial artist. His movements are more fluid and true to the respective art form. Supporting cast is hit-or-miss, though. The Kid's mother goes from a seldom-seen plot-prop to a brash, one-dimensional ham. Dre's mother (Taraji P. Henson) chews every bit of scenery she can find, and looks even more out of place than Dre does. Ali (Elisabeth Shue), the love interest in the original film gets swapped out for Meiying (Wenwen Han), a character who is much better for having her own passions and goals, and significantly less 80's hair.

In the original, the nemesis doesn't like Daniel fraternizing with his ex, but in the remake you get Dre running up against the cultural wall of her family and class, and it seems to make more sense. Trading out 84's Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) for Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) is an upgrade, but no disrespect to Morita. While Chan has had many serious roles, he has trouble showing believable emotions (to Western audiences, at least), but he makes up for it by driving the hero with calm, Zen approaches and real, fighting skill. Mr. Han just seems cooler, somehow. Maybe it's the flaming mothballs. And while both have past tragedies, Mr. Han's reaction is more visceral and profound. Mr. Miyagi's almost feels like a footnote.

The titular Kid's displacement is given an upgrade in the remake. Instead of moving to the Valley, the small family skips an ocean and moves to China. Granted, this is a little silly (Karate isn't Kung Fu, etc., etc, blah, blah), because, you know, she's a single parent from urban Detroit and all, but it's glossed over quickly enough that you don't really pay attention. The added cultural vantage brings a LOT of additional weight to Dre's misery. The language is different, the clothing is different, and the customs are different. You can actually believe that our hero not only feels trapped by his new town, but by entire oceans as well. Most of the movie revolves around training, which most Western audiences think is boring, and most Eastern audiences think is vital. The original film feels more like a Rocky movie, which isn't a coincidence since they had the same director. The music, the actions, and the off-beat training methods are all similar. In the remake, the iconic (and very unrealistic) "wax on, wax off" scene is replaced with the equally inane, but more realistic, "jacket on, jacket off". The remake brings the feel of Chinese classics such as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, where our hero not only goes through the torturous training regimen, but also learns the soul of martial arts. The original film seems like the training methods are just used to put fight actions into everyday chores (and get free labor!), while the remake seems more like Mr. Han really believes that kung-fu lives in every action we do. The training montages move from a jetty on the beach and a rowboat to an actual mountain-top monastery and Mr. Han's courtyard, and the scenery gives the remake a HUGE advantage.

Aaaaand, the big finale. In the original film, Daniel-san sees the Crane Kick performed, is told "If do right, no can block", and spends about half the film trying to learn it, meaning that of COURSE we'll see it in the finale, which brushes aside all the 80's silliness and makes you want to cheer. Dre's special skill comes out of nowhere and is never hinted at or shown beforehand. Both moves are equally stupid in a real fight, though at least Dre's is harder to see coming and can't be defeated by a stiff breeze.

In the end, I liked the remake better, though it was full of stupid music and had its share of awkward moments. The climax was given more situational weight, the acting was more believable, the scenery is jaw-dropping instead of just another shot of inner-suburb California, and the martial arts is given more weight and is beautiful to look at. I was disappointed that there were no hidden catch-phrase potentials in the remake, though. I would have given a lot to hear just one muffled "Give him a body bag, yeah!" from a bystander. It would have really brought the remake full circle, though it seems to give the original film enough dignity as it is.

Scores (out of 10)

Acting: 8

Story: 7

Visuals: 6

Sound: 5

Enjoyment: 9

Overall Score: 7/10