Director: Joss Whedon
Runtime: 141 minutes
"This doesn't make any sense," remarks Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) to Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) during the climax of Avengers: Age of Ultron. But whether or not it makes sense shouldn't matter. What matters is whether or not enough of this is engaging at all. When Joss Whedon assembled the Avengers for the first time in 2012, he reinvigorated Marvel's cinematic universe. Yet now, at the end of Phase II of Marvel's master plan, Whedon has let quite a bit of wind out of the sails.
Solo adventures for Captain America (Chris Evans) have been the most recent standalone films before both Avengers films. Yet after Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel was looking a bit weary post-Iron Man. Going into Avengers 2, Whedon is picking up after last year's shockingly good Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which has understandably set expectations higher. And this time, earth's mightiest heroes merely sharing the screen just isn't enough. Rather than close out Phase II with a brilliant end, Age of Ultron comes across as an extended denouement.
When Age of Ultron opens, we're witnessing the end of the insidious Hydra organization. Once the Avengers dismantle the group's last fortress in eastern Europe, they start looking forward to a world at something resembling peace. Eager to make this dream into a reality, Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) expands his Ultron program, a team of cyber soldiers designed to act as a shield for the planet, as well as an agent of peace on the ground. Things go south, however, when Stark's technological meddling creates genuine AI, which takes on the form of an android (James Spader) who claims the Ultron name for himself. With the corrupted AI on the loose, the next step is inevitable: the rise of the machines. Well, it would be inevitable if there was even an ounce of tension present on screen.
A good villain is a terrible thing to waste, but that's exactly what Age of Ultron does. Spader does a wonderful job of voicing (and providing motion capture work) Ultron, but the hulking metallic fiend registers only as powerful, but never threatening. Ultron's strength grows, but the danger he poses is stagnant. At every turn, the Avengers stop Ultron to some degree. Ultron never leaves our heroes broken. He simply runs away to plot his next move. With Ultron's seemingly limitless technological capabilities, the world's machinery should be turning on the Avengers. Instead, it most plays the neutral card, and Iron Man and co. go on their merry way chasing the demon robot across the globe.
The featherlight plotting wouldn't feel like such a weakness had Whedon been able to better sort out his cast. By now, Stark's snark is played out, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) have settled into solid supporting roles. Despite his bland, all-American boy scout attitude, Evans' Captain America has emerged as the most reliably engaging lead from the franchise. When paired with Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, it becomes all too clear who really deserves to be at the head of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
And then there's Renner's Hawkeye, who has always felt like the sixth wheel of the ensemble. Whedon tries to change that by taking us behind the character's mysterious black-ops facade, but what comes to light only makes him blander. Compare this with the frustratingly-brief peeks at Black Widow's upbringing, and Age of Ultron's priorities only seem more out of whack. As for super-powered twins Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver (Olsen and Aaron-Taylor Johnson), the former is wasted in a potentially cool role, while the latter barely holds a candle to Evan Peters' perfectly-utilized take on the same character in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
So even though the number of plates that Whedon has spinning is impressive, watching this act again is starting to grow old. Just when Marvel seemed ready to move forward, Age of Ultron falls back into old habits. Spending time with these characters still has its pleasures, but this super-sized super-hero flick is, sadly, as bland as many of the standalone films in the series that paved the way. It's a dandelion of a blockbuster; with just the tiniest breeze, it all scatters to the wind with little consequence or merit.
Grade: C+
Director: Luc Besson
Runtime: 90 minutes
Luc Besson's Lucy is dumb, but it is - in its own Besson-esque way - admirably dumb. It is better crafted than, say, the typical Michael Bay flick. It also avoids being just another action movie with nothing but violence. Lucy is a look at what happens when a person does what mankind has been trying to do for millennia: reach the absolute height of our capabilities. Does this make Lucy deep or insightful? Not even close. It is ludicrous, as is Besson's way, but ludicrous in a way that takes the idea of "mindless entertainment" to places it has not yet ventured.
The silliness begins right at the start, with Lucy (Scarlett Johannson, having quite a stellar year) being egged on by her new boyfriend to make a delivery to a prominent member of a global drug ring (Choi Min-sik, AKA the original "Oldboy"). That delivery turns out to be a special new drug that, when ingested, boosts brain activity. After lots of pleading and crying, Lucy winds up with a bag of the blue drug lodged in her intestines. And then, after an unfortunate beating, the blue stuff starts leaking out of its container, and into Lucy's bloodstream, thus enabling her to push past the normal limits (10%) of human intellectual.
As any number of articles have pointed out, the idea that we only use 10% of our brains is a myth. To those using this issue as an actual criticism of the film I offer this response: it's a Luc Besson movie, not a documentary. This is not to suggest that everyone is obligated to enjoy the film based on this single fact. Rather, the idea that its conceptual inaccuracy (which was also used in the Bradley Cooper vehicle Limitless) is hardly something that should be wielded against the film as an unpardonable sin. Lucy is not meant to be taken seriously, though everyone involved commits themselves enough to make the whole thing enjoyable.
Besson, to his credit, actually does a fair job of bouncing between Lucy's wildly opposed narrative threads. On one hand, it's a revenge thriller, while on the other side it's a story of scientific enlightenment and the quest for knowledge. The latter part is, surprisingly, more fun to watch. From quite early on, it's clear that Lucy's ever increasing powers remove the idea of an actual threat. There is little suspense or tension. Instead, there are relentless visual flourishes and propulsive narrative energy. Besson has taken some ideas about life and the universe from The Tree of Life and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and applied them to the emptiest sort of sci-fi adventure. I don't know if that makes the film good, but it sure as hell makes it entertaining.
It's also a fun showcase for Johansson as a action star, which is always a plus. Lucy is, in some ways, the halfway point between two other releases from this year featuring Johansson: Captain America 2 and Under the Skin. Johansson gets to show off her star power, yet does it in a role that mostly requires her to be as emotionally rigid as a statue. Thankfully, Besson gives the actress a little time at the start to do some actual emoting before her inner demi-god emerges. Lucy is a reminder that Johansson can be a star, but simply not in the ways that Hollywood initially wanted her to be.
Of course, even the allure of watching Scarlett Johansson strut around and play with time and space won't be enough for some, and that's understandable. As I said before, Lucy is one hell of a dumb movie. When it comes to movies that require switching off the brain, there's a limit to how far some are willing to go. Lucy is one of those movies that will push many way past their tolerance for this sort of flashy trifle. With a film like Lucy, it's not about whether or not you get something substantial out of it. No sane person will. All that matters is whether or not you happen to like how it tastes.
Grade: C+
Director(s): Joe Russo & Anthony Russo
Runtime: 136 minutes
Compared to the attention that Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Thor all received as part of Marvel's cinematic universe, the first Captain America film felt like an afterthought. Though not a disaster, Joe Johnston's take on the patriotically monikered hero felt like a less significant development in the run up to 2012's The Avengers, despite the major jump in time it had to go through to catch up with the rest. The good Captain has no superpowers or super armor, and his entire concept feels outdated in the current superhero revival that's dominated Hollywood for about a decade.
Yet where Marvel's other Phase II films, Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, have stumbled, Captain America has thoroughly redeemed himself with his second outing. The sequel, subtitled The Winter Soldier, explores new ground for its title character, and does so while working in genre elements unlike anything encountered in the Marvel universe to date. With a smooth script, engaging performers, and efficiently doled out commentary, The Winter Soldier is the best standalone Avengers film since the first Iron Man.
When we first run into Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) this time, he's more adjusted to the modern world, albeit still with questions (he keeps a list of things to try or research). Yet he remains an insanely buff fish out of water. One of the best things about Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely's screenplay is how it weaves Rogers' clashes with the modern world into the conspiracy-flavored story. S.H.I.E.L.D., the military intelligence agency tasked with filling in the gaps of the Avengers, finds its leaders under attack. Rogers is already on iffy terms with S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). The pair have rather different views on honesty and freedom, and Rogers feels increasingly uncomfortable with the level of surveillance that S.H.I.E.L.D. is tapping into.
Things don't get much better when a series of calamities befall the agency, putting the Captain on the run from his former comrades and co-workers. Only the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) seem trustworthy. Meanwhile, a dangerous assassin named The Winter Soldier is running amok, complicating things even further.
However, even with all of this plates spinning, new directors Joe and Anthony Russo keep the film running smoothly. The different Marvel characters offer opportunities to explore different genres on their own, and The Winter Soldier does by far the best job. In its DNA are strands of spy thrillers and the conspiracy films of the 70s (Robert Redford even appears as an upper echelon S.H.I.E.L.D. member), right alongside the flashier, more expected superhero components. Though the pyrotechnics get a bit heavy in the finale, the film remains committed to its plot and characters enough to hold together.
With so many potential explanations for everything going on, it would have been easy to mess up the big reveal. Yet again, the film surprises. In a fun cameo from the first Captain adventure, The Winter Soldier is able to lay out its big moment in a way that is genuinely exciting. That it is able to do so while establishing a connection to the previous film (which took place in World War II), while still upping the dramatic tension in the present, is an even bigger accomplishment. Where other Phase II films moved inches forward with actual developments, The Winter Soldier takes massive leaps forward, introducing a complicated new world order to an otherwise overly safe cinematic universe.
The actors seem to be having quite a bit of fun with it as well. Though it would be all to easy for a character like Captain America to be dated and bland, Evans' portrayal remains charming, rather than sleep-inducing. The trickiest part of the Captain, his old fashioned, slightly idealistic worldview, comes through nicely as it clashes with modern ideas of politics and national security. Meanwhile, Johansson and Mackie make nice contributions as the Captain's would be sidekicks. Their histories (or cover stories) are, like other character development, handled efficiently, giving them enough weight to be resonant, yet never melodramatic. Each character is also given enough to do when it comes to the action, thus ensuring that no member of the main cast feels like filler. It's especially nice to see Johansson get so much more to do with her Black Widow character, and it makes the promise of an upcoming solo film for her seem like an even better idea. Charisma may ultimately win the day over raw displays of acting prowess, but that's exactly what this sort of adventure calls for, and the main actors deliver without forcing the chemistry.
The central roles are so nicely handled that it hardly matters that the Winter Soldier himself is a bit undercooked as a villain. Those who have seen the first film or looked at the cast list will know his true identity. But, unlike the other characters, his past experiences don't register enough. He's more of an empty villainous pawn that a compelling antagonist in his own right.
Similarly, most the tech categories don't offer much of worth, accomplishing their jobs at a plain, functional level. The compromise of this modern-day Captain America is that, in isolation, his new world is a bit of bland setting from a visual standpoint. Sound, stunt work, and editing, at least, have the appropriate punch to lend an extra oomph to the relatively grounded action sequences.
Thankfully, the film's heart is in the right place where it counts. Visually impressive it may not be, but The Winter Soldier certainly makes up for it with its sharp attention to characterization and plot. It also deserves credit for tackling modern issues like government surveillance, modern warfare, and preemptive "kill lists" such that it feels germane to both narrative and character growth. There are no heavy-handed monologues striving to transform The Winter Soldier into an overbearing philosophical diatribe. Instead, these important issues play a role in creating a better sense of the world in which the Captain still struggles to blend in with. That extra touch of thought is what allows this Marvel sequel, the last building block before next year's The Avengers: Age of Ultron, to be thematically resonant while still providing rollicking blockbuster entertainment.
Grade: B
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Runtime: 108 minutes
It's been a decade since Jonathan Glazer's last film, the unfairly maligned Birth, hit theaters. His newest effort, which he's been trying to get made since 2002, is a chilly calling card that makes one hope his next project won't take nearly as long to debut. In Under the Skin, an adaptation of Michael Faber's novel, Glazer goes even deeper down Kubrickian rabbit hole as his cinematic voice continues to bloom. Though slow in pace, this minimalist sci-fi drama boasts an eerie, hypnotic atmosphere, as well as a captivating and subtle turn from star Scarlett Johansson.
Yet while Under the Skin's style calls to mind Mr. Kubrick, its narrative shares more with Nicolas Roeg's famous The Man Who Fell to Earth. That film starred David Bowie as an alien making his way through human society, albeit in a rather passive way. Glazer and Johansson's woman who fell to earth, however, is much more predatory. Her sole mission, which we learn only through visual storytelling, is to lure men back to her lair and consume them. How she does this is never explicitly shown either, though Mr. Glazer captures one such devouring in an unsettlingly abstract sequence in the first half.
Filmed using guerrilla techniques (many of Johansson's interactions are with everyday, unaware citizens of Scotland), Glazer's main goal is to make Under the Skin a sensory experience. Even with the often glacial pacing, it's a decision that pays off in the long run. Under the Skin's early scenes are its most difficult to get through, but only because they're so in sync with Johansson's nameless predatory protagonist: cold, aloof, alluring, and existentially unnerving.
Had there been no progression from the initial seduce and attack structure, Under the Skin would certainly have become a chore to sit through. So it's with great relief that, after a significant encounter shakes the alien's faith in her mission, that the frost-bitten puzzle pieces start to add up to something greater. Though there are other, parallel interpretations worth exploring (most notably involving power and gender), Under the Skin's primary journey is one of a predator coming to sympathize with her prey. Early on, she drifts through her strange surroundings, only showing emotion when it becomes necessary. Yet after her fateful encounter, the cracks start to show, even as they're often obscured in inky black shadows.
Much of this comes down to Johansson's finely tuned performance, which is tasked with carrying the entire enterprise. Watching this blank, withdrawn observer shift from domineering seductress to curious investigator of the human race is a quiet miracle thanks to what Johansson is able to communicate with her face. In Birth, Nicole Kidman received considerable attention for a prolonged silent reaction shot during a scene at an opera. Johansson's performance in Under the Skin is that same bit of acting stretched out over 108 minutes. Under different circumstances, it could have easily fallen apart, but Glazer has once again worked wonders with his leading lady to produce a low key, yet intelligently crafted performance.
The lone drawback to Glazer's approach is that it could prove too arctic to engage with at all. In planting us so firmly in the head of the alien wanderer, Glazer makes the film difficult to truly get lost in at the start. Even when Under the Skin does start to open up, it's in tiny increments. As such, there are a few scenes here and there that could probably do with losing a few seconds here and there, if only to get to the heart of the narrative a tad faster.
Still, it's commendable how Glazer sticks to his vision and never wavers for the sake of accessibility. Under the Skin is defiantly cold, even when it finally asks us to feel some sense of sympathy for its central character. Underscoring it all is Mica Levi's brilliantly strange music, which only intensifies the feeling that we're viewing our world through the lens of another. At her core, Johansson's alien is just too fundamentally different to exist within our world, unless she sticks to her violent programming. Yet just because she, and Under the Skin, are hard to relate to, doesn't mean that they lack value. Quite the contrary. It's that very obtuseness that demands that we look so much closer.
Grade: A-
