Monsters

It proved to be quite fitting that upon the night I was to see Avengers: Age of Ultron, that my viewing would be postponed to discuss a book. A book! You know what a book is, right? They're usually rectangular, and have a bunch of letters formed into words, and then printed onto tangible paper stuff; its those things you never pick up anymore and instead use as coasters for your Red Bull or to level your HDTV on the shelf. My mistake, you don't use coasters.

I was the host for the family book club, and I told my brother to make sure he got there on time cuz I had other stuff to do; namely go see Avengers on opening night. 'That shit? What a fucking waste.' Apparently my brother doesn't like fun. Any who, I was a bit taken aback by this; I mean, Avengers. Hellooooooooo?!? Sweet Marvel characters, Joss Whedon at the helm once again; it was a not so proven formula that destroyed the box office a few years ago and was looking for another piece. I was pretty excited to say the least, but I didn't let his comment rob me of the enjoyment I was about to procure from blazing images and flashy pretty colors, or the hope I may actually go deaf from one of the explosions. I mean, when you're a baller like me then you gots to go big, and IMAX 3D was the only way to go. If anything it encouraged me to finish our book, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and bring some good conversation to the table for my first activity of the night before Ultron's reveal. I hadn't read Frank before, and I was pretty surprised to find out that any Hollywood rendition I have seen is nothing like the book. It was good. Really good. Beautiful language , if not sometimes just a bit over the top; prose that just pulled you in, and a story about devastation and misery for all characters. We bounced around discussing a few topics, but a common theme throughout is whether the creature (or demon) was a monster, or if his creator, Victor Frankenstein, was the monster. Or are they both monsters? Was the creature a monster because Victor was? Was it nature? And also the link between created and creator. Truly a fun book (nice and short too) that anyone can read, yet you can really have a deep conversation about it if you so desire. I said earlier that this was quite fitting because the main premise of Avengers 2 is that creation turns on creator; a theme not necessarily unique to Frankenstein or Avengers, but it was fun sitting in the theater and watching the same ideas that man has been struggling with since 1818, and centuries before it, is now being played out again in the newest media form. Pretty cool. The heroes blatantly use the word 'monster' several times, either in reference to themselves or Ultron, and this is the same struggle that brought Marvel to the forefront with the first Iron Man movie. Are the weapons and technology Tony Stark developed the monsters? Is it the people that use it? Or is it Tony himself? And can you create something else to prove yourself? Tony thought he could; he tried to prove he was not a monster by creating again: the Iron Man suit. A suit for defense. A suit for good.

Captain America was created. Black Widow. The Hulk. The Twins. It is apparently in human nature to repeat our mistakes over and over again, and to proliferate these ideas into stories of horror, into stories of fantasy. We drew pictures inside caves, brought masked men into theaters, printed words with pen and paper, and now digital 3 dimensional explosions and deafening sound is our medium. Oooooooooooooooh, yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I don't even want to tell you about Avengers anymore; its a story you already know anyway. I will tell you this though; its sweet. Really f'in sweet.
 It opens up with the Avengers fully assembled and battling through masses of Hydra soldiers. Compared to the first film they are a now a developed team, which is articulated through the many hero combo attacks riddled throughout and the seamless execution of such attacks. Captain flips his shield to Black Widow, Thor tossed people into Hawkeyes path for assassination; its really too cool, like a video game come to life. But its also clear that they have not been challenged for quite some time; they get careless with their own defense and rely on their personal superior strength and skill in many cases. There I go again; you got me all riled up and I just want to talk more and more now! I'll leave you with a few key things that stood out for me and made this movie as great as it really is, and not just another CGI heavy movie with cool fight scenes.

1) Quicksilver: This character is played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson; I know him as Kick Ass, and he was also in the latest Godzilla. By the way, he got big; this ain't no scrawny high school kid that he played in Kick Ass anymore. So the character is cool, but I really like this actor; he doesn't talk much as Quicksilver and the character comes to life with his little mannerisms and smirks.

2) Ultron: Really I should say James Spader, as he's the one who voices Ultron and breathes him to life. This makes me want to watch the Blacklist now, as this guy delivers lines perfectly. Ultron is a program created by Tony Stark and this character has some of his language, class, wit, knowledge, and,of course, sarcasm; all perfectly done by Spader. Tony Stark is no simple character, and Robert Downey Junior IS that character. Spader is able to use that, and also twist it into his own ruthless and immoral villain of destruction. So sweet.

3) Hawkeye: I watched Birdman a month or so ago, and they made reference that all these great actors were getting put into capes; essentially they were all playing heroes and wasting their talent. Jeremy Renner was one of the names mentioned, and I thought they more or less hit it on the mark with him. Hawkeye was a small character in these past few films and Renner definitely could have focused elsewhere. He was all on board though and they pay him back by really fleshing Hawkeye out in this film. He's a larger role, you get to learn more about him, and you also see how he's the real soldier of the group; he is just a human and cannot rely on super strength to get him through many situations. His expertise in combat, tactics, and view of the battle field are his strengths.

The story and direction are really done quite well in this film, and they don't mind poking fun at the fact that they're running around in costumes and fighting aliens or robots or genocidal computer programs. They embrace it, and they are better for it. This movie made me want to re-watch all the Marvel movies over again (and I just may, I own most of them!) and really just got me amped and excited about the story. This movie ascends the scale and gets a well deserved 7/7 Fox Tails; it really is one destined for the big screen and something you absolutely should not miss. 3D IMAX may be unnecessary (may be), but the combination of action, humor, characters, story, drama; its all there. The story is really that good, and at just over 2 hours and with a character that messes with your mind parts, there's a good amount of character growth sprinkled in to make you care about the characters and not just when the next triple back-flip, motorcycle launching, lightning striking, missile blasting, combo punch is gonna take place. And yes all those things happen too.

And to put it not quite as eloquently as Ms Shelley, 'This isn't about beating Ultron, it's about proving we're not monsters.' Thanks Cap'n.