blackdoug

A lot of talk had been thrown about that the first Avengers was the best adventure film ever made, knocking out classics like LOTR, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Spider-Man 2. Well, Age of Ultron actually did what many thought of as impossible. It tops the first Avengers film. How do you top a masterpiece? By delivering the same fun, action and humor but adding more complexity and more depth. Whedon and company should be commended for taking it to the next level even if most people thought those heights weren't even possible given the love for the first film.

I guess it shouldn't be such a surprise because Marvel has set this up from the start and have done so delivering some instant classics along the way. Most every solo hero film has been rewarding in some way or another. In this instant classic, they combined the greatness of what we've already seen but added even more epic elements. No other franchise gets individual solo films to develop a film's characters. They had the budget and the right guy in place and he made it all work. Most everyone is calling AoU the best sequel ever made but it may just be the greatest adventure film of all-time.

The marketing for this film failed big-time. The movie itself is far better then expected and as advertised. The trailer and TV spots chose to focus on what turned out to be exaggerated tales within the story itself. I like the grounded take on the character and how Hercules allowed the legend to exceed reality for a purpose. The Rock delivers the goods if not the actual gods.

The story is basic but with an interesting twist halfway through. His band of warriors all worked well and served to advance some sort of a plot and add emotion where there otherwise would have been none. While certainly not a great or even memorable film, it deserved better than to bomb at the cinema.

I hate to bad mouth this movie because somewhere underneath the stupidity and paranoia lies a meaningful cautionary tale and an interesting premise. Still, this thing is so bad and so nonsensical that it defeats its own purpose.

It's just all levels of terrible no matter what the intent or how earnestly they try to present the perils of a big soulless government. The title and a few lines of the film imply Christian prosecution but that subject matter is basically ignored in favor of a crazed anti-government storyline. I can't even call it a plot line because there is no coherent plot or character development.

On a side note, all I could think of watching Bruce Davison was that "Senator Kelly" has taken his mutant hating propaganda to the next level.