This Week in Marvel Comics: Guardians of the Galaxy #27, Uncanny X-Men #34, Spider-Verse #1, Secret Wars: Battleworld #1, and Planet Hulk #1

           Welcome back to This Week in Marvel Comics; a series of articles that I try and write once a week where I review the latest entries in Marvel comics that I read regularly or a new Marvel comic that I decided to give a shot.  This week we shall be looking at the latest issues of Guardians of the Galaxy, Uncanny X-Men and the new Secret Wars series Spider-Verse, Secret Wars: Battleworld, and Planet Hulk and see just how well the writers have done their jobs this week.  So without further delay, let’s take a look.

Guardians of the Galaxy #27

            Guardians of the Galaxy has been without a doubt one of the best series to come out of the Marvel Now! lineup, featuring great if not deep storylines, fantastic humor, great character interaction, fantastic artwork and a number of great temporary members, such as Iron Man, Angela, Captain Marvel and Venom who all add a significant amount of fun chemistry to the team, all helped by fantastic artwork that is always detailed, creative and fun.  Unfortunately, like the various series’ I reviewed last week, the shadow of Secret Wars looms over this comic and it suffers as a result both within the actual writing of the comic and within the reader’s mind as well as they will know the fate of several of the characters in the comic.

            Taking place after the Black Mirror crossover event, Peter Quill finds himself engaged to Kitty Pride, (if you’re ever at a con with Chris Claremont ask him about that and you’ll be sure to get a laugh), and unexpectedly the elected leader of his home planet, Spartax after he helped oust his father from rule.  With his fellow Guardians in tow, he hesitantly decided to, at the very least, see what this position may have to offer.  Unfortunately, right as he is getting settled in, Spartax is literally attacked by another planet, (aren’t comics great?!?!), and this issue finds the Guardians fighting off said attack and that’s about it.  The whole issue is one prolonged action sequence where all the characters fight off alien invaders in the usual badass ways that we’ve come to expect from them with great artwork that perfectly depicts what is going on with depth and consistent quality.  While this is satisfying in its own right it doesn’t really do much plot wise outside of wrapping up a cliff hanger that was brought up last issue.

            Character wise, the issue fares a lot better.  One of the series’ biggest strengths has always been its character interactions and how well they work off one another and in this issue it’s on in full force with the characters trading witty banter as they fight off hordes of invaders.  However, the real meat of the issue comes from Gamora, Star Lord and Kitty who all have to come to terms with what Quill’s becoming the leader of Spartax will mean.  Gamora, for example has to deal with very real issue that she once served Thanos and that baggage will inevitably go with her no matter where she goes as Quill and Kitty have to decide if his being in charge of Spartax is the best thing and what it will mean for their relationship.  Unfortunately, the actual impact of this is a bit lost as we all know the Marvel Universe ended two weeks ago and it makes much of this feel pointless as a result.

            In the end, this issue is decent but doesn’t really seem to go anywhere outside of wrapping up a cliffhanger from the last issue and setting up the stage for Star Lord and Kitty’s future relationship but it’s all undercut by Secret Wars that renders much of this feeling superfluous.  Perhaps it will pay off a bit more in the long term and will raise my opinion of this issue, but for now it’s just kind of an okay issue in an otherwise great series.

Verdict

Browse

Uncanny X-Men #34

            Uncanny X-Men #34 is probably the first issue I’ve read in a while that manages to escape the cloud of Secret Wars hanging over its head as the fates of many of its characters have yet to be determined.  Like many issues released lately, it’s a comic that features a main story that is mostly self-contained but still draws on events that happened in previous issues as its foundation.  Earlier in the series it was revealed that Mystique had been harvesting mutant growth hormones from Dazzler and selling it on the black marker by keeping her in a chemically induced coma while pretending to be her, taking up her position as a mutant liaison for S.H.I.E.L.D.  Ultimately, she was rescued by Magneto in the events that sparked his solo series, but hasn’t really be heard from up until now.  The issue in of itself focuses on her convincing Maria Hill to allow her to go after Mystique and the inevitable confrontation between the two as she tries to set an example for the mutants who had been introduced throughout the Uncanny X-Men series. 

            Ultimately this issue is serviceable.  Like many other issues that have come out lately, it really isn’t doing anything all that new or innovative and seems to be around mostly to wrap up a story arc that should have been done months ago.  I’ve never really been a big fan of Dazzler and really didn’t care all that much when she fell off the radar so this wasn’t really a story I was dying to read and there really wasn’t any kind of build up to it throughout the series or any real indication that she needed to confront Mystique in order to move on with her life.  The only thing that it really seems to contribute to the series in the long term is what she will do now that this is over and what the younger X-Men will do now that Scott Summers has disbanded their team.

            The art department is nothing to write home about.  The art direction in this series has never been the best but here it seems to really stick out more than ever with the characters and backgrounds lacking any kind of depth or details, as if the artist was short on time.  This is not helped at all by the fact that the color pallet is noticeably dark and just seems to suck the energy out of the entire issue.

            In the end, Uncanny X-Men #34 is just a serviceable issue.  It’s not bad by any means but it doesn’t do anything to make it stand out.  Dazzler’s ark with Mystique is serviceable but not all that emotionally driven or original in the way they go about it and on the whole the issue only seems to be doing anything interesting on the last two pages when the newer X-Men are trying to decide where their fates lay.  All around, like many other comics to come out lately, it’s just okay.

Verdict

Browse

Spider-Verse #1

            Very much like Secret Wars #2, Spider-Verse #1 is clearly a world building issue; one that is meant to set up the world and its apparent rules and setting up the foundation for future stories as opposed to telling a complete story in of itself.  Unfortunately, like Secret Wars #2, it’s not really clear why this place exists and the comic itself does very little to explain, but I’ll try and explain as best I can with what information I have.  As mentioned in my review of Secret Wars #2, this world, known as Battleworld is ruled over by Doctor Doom who allows various barons to rule over various “kingdoms” that stretch all across the world but all seem to be made up of dead characters or various universes that were apparently destroyed during the Incursions.  However the issue didn’t go on to explain just how it was all of these characters were back or the rules of Battleworld itself were as far as technology, time, or the characters memories of the previous lives went and this issue is the first to address this.

            The issue opens with Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen attacking a set of grave robbers but having no clear memory as to who she is outside of scattered memories about being in an Indi-rock band, dying on a bridge and that Norman Osborn, the apparent ruler of this “kingdom” had something to do with it while two other Spider-Men introduced in the Spider-Verse Crossover Event and Spider-Girl try and deal with the same amnesia issues.  Ultimately, that’s all the issue really amounts to; establishing just how lost all of these Spiders are mentally and who the apparent ruler of this Battleworld kingdom is.  In this regard it works but there really isn’t a whole lot to say about the issue otherwise.  This is, after all, a first issue so no major plot or character developments happen outside of the standard end of issue #1 cliffhanger ending that’s meant to get the reader to come back for more.  I assume that this will be explored in future issues and the fact that I’ve actually read the Spider-Verse crossover helps me stay invested but it’s otherwise a hard sell for someone not already familiar with the characters.

            The art department is something of a mixed bag as well.  Each individual panel is well done and knows how to depict action well and keeps the comic going at a brisk pace but faces don’t look right.  It’s hard to explain without an image, but it seemed as if the artist wasn’t sure if he was drawing humans or aliens, often with inconsistent facial shapes, sometimes making it seem as if you’re looking at a completely different character from panel to panel.

            The issue also includes a bonus story featuring Spider-Ham but it’s not really worth noting.  It doesn’t really do much to establish him has a character, (the Spider-Verse crossover event did a much better job of this), and just seems to be in it for the sake of giving him a quick backstory for the sake of future stories.

In the end, Spider-Verse #1 is just an okay setup issue.  It doesn’t do anything wrong per say but it’s very clear that the more interesting stuff is being saved for later issues.  Being a longtime fan of Spider-Man and a big fan of the Spider-Verse crossover event I have every intention of continuing this series but if you weren’t a fan of the crossover or of Spider-Gwen I would suggest skipping this issue.

Verdict

Browse

Secret Wars: Battleworld #1

            Secret Wars: Battleworld is probably the series that will click with readers the least in the whole Secret Wars line up.  The problem with it is obvious; it’s an anthology series and because of this it’s going to be difficult to have any investment in the various characters that all seem to be from parallel universes and somehow made their way to Battleworld.  This particular issue follows some version of the Punisher who was possessed by Doctor Strange at some point, (I have no idea what that was about), and his final stand against The Infernal Four; demonically corrupted versions of Spider-Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider and Wolverine.  The set-up itself doesn’t really have all that much going for it in terms of story.  It’s just a cool battle between the Punisher with magical powers and these four characters and is good for what it, complemented by great artwork that depicts the action fantastically, keeps the story moving at a brisk pace and contains an incredible amount of depth and detail in each panel.  Definitely worth a look at if you have some free time.

            The second story again has the same great artwork but doesn’t work nearly as well.  This one follows M.O.D.O.K. as he recruits fellow M.O.D.O.K.s from various times and dimensions in order to usurp Doom as ruler of Battleworld and things don’t go nearly as well as planned.  Unfortunately, the comic tries and fails to be funny.  Its’ obviously joke is that different versions of a villain wouldn’t work well together but it’s just not amusing in any way, shape or form. 

            And that’s really all there is to say here.  The first half of the comic is pretty cool and the second half just fails to do what it tries to do.  Ultimately, I would say borrow this one if you have a chance because it really isn’t worth the full retail price.

Verdict

Browse

Planet Hulk #1

            Of the Secret Wars lineup, Planet Hulk is probably the first that I’ve reviewed to actually establish a focused narrative as opposed to setting up the foundation of future stories or being a so-so one shot story and but only slightly benefits from it.  This particular storyline focuses on the Battleworld territory known as Greenland; a region populated by gamma irradiated creatures that all possess powers similar to the Incredible Hulk but its actual storyline focuses on a gladiatorial version of Captain America and his companion T-Rex, Devil, (yes companion T-Rex) as he attempts to find Bucky who was separated from him due to unknown circumstances.  After he violates a major gladiatorial rule he is given told that he must go to Greenland and kill one the territory’s leaders and in the process, will find and save Bucky as well as his own life. 

            If there is one thing that can be said in this issue’s favor, it’s that it actually focuses on the story and its central protagonist as opposed to being a world building issue.  From what we see we immediately know that this particular tribe of Hulks is in conflict with Doom and his minions and why it is he wants the issue resolved.  This version of Captain America likewise has a clear motivation in what he’s doing and given what we know about his relationship with Bucky in other series it’s very easy to get invested in his quest.  However the main problem the story suffers from is that it’s just too quick.  Far too much page space is spent on this version of Captain America in this gladiator pit where not much happens and it takes him far too long to actually get to Greenland where the book spends very little time.  It works as a good initial issue but by the time it ends you’ll be wishing that the book entitled Planet Hulk had a bit more Hulk in it.

            The art department is just fantastic with every panel looking perfect, as if the artist and colorist poured their hearts and souls into each nook and corner of it.  The attention to detail is fantastic with an incredible amount of detail put into each drawing so that even when the action itself is a bit on the uninteresting side one can admire the sheer amount of effort the artist put into it.  The coloring is admittedly a bit on the dark and dreary side but I think this appropriately sets the mood for a world that is run by a supervillain and the bleak hopelessness that that would burden a superhero in said world.  Bottom line, the artist deserves every ounce of praise that one can give and I cannot praise it enough.

            In the end Planet Hulk #1 is something of a mixed animal.  I admire the fact that it’s actually putting more of a focus on a character driven narrative then world building or having its characters aimlessly wandering about their region but the storyline never quite delivers on the promise of having Captain America wondering around a land populated by Hulks on top of a T-Rex within this issue.  It’s brought up a few notches by some fantastic artwork but like many of the Battleworld debut issues this one is decent but otherwise disappointing.

Verdict

 Browse

            And that wraps up this edition of This Week in Marvel Comics.  All around it was kind of a disappointing week with Guardians failing to really go anywhere, Uncanny X-Men not getting interesting until the last few pages, Secret Wars: Battleworld only good in the first half and two disappointing debut issues for two promising series.  In the end nothing here was objectively bad but it really felt as if the writers of these series were rushing something out the door and we can only hope that these series get better in the future. 

            So until next time please follow the site, like the new Facebook page, follow me on twitter and come back next time.  Until then, I would recommend just reading summaries of these books on the internet.  They really were disappointing

This Week in Marvel Comics: Secret Wars #2, Magneto #18, Thor #8, and Uncanny Avengers #4

            Welcome, to what I hope will be a long running series of articles, entitled This Week in Marvel Comics, where I shall review the various issues of Marvel’s books that I read on a regular basis.  Why only one article?  Well, it allows me to condense the number that I have so that any readers I have can see everything in one place, as opposed to hunting through my blog articles to find the ones they want.  This may change in time, (the article titles can be a bit of a mouthful), but for now this is the way I wish to write it.  Now I before I go any further, it needs to be established that any issue I review will spoil the previous issues, as it’s the only way to talk about the current issues with the appropriate context so consider this your spoiler warning.  So, without further ado, this is This Week in Marvel Comics: Secret Wars #2, Magneto #18, Thor #8, and Uncanny Avengers #4.

Secret Wars #2

            The best way one can describe Secret Wars #2 is as a world building issue that quite frankly has little to do with the events of the previous issue save for the last seven pages.  Depending on your point of view, this is either the issue’s greatest strength or its greatest weakness.  As we all know from the last issue and the Time Runs Out build up, the Marvel Multiverse has ended with Earth 616, (the main Marvel Universe) and Earth 1610, (the Ultimate Universe), finally colliding and ending the last two universe because apparently the all-powerful Beyonders got bored or something, (it isn’t very well explained).  In a last ditch effort to save humanity, Doctor Doom attempted to confront the Beyonders and destroy them with the help of Doctor Strange, while Reed Richards and the Illuminati build a life raft for a small portion of humanity that can survive the Incursion.  Ultimately, Doom and Strange apparently failed and Richards succeeded, landing on a mysterious, unknown world but at a great cost. 

            Unfortunately, this issue doesn’t pick up where the last on left off and instead focuses on establishing the rules for the new Battleworld, mostly through the eyes of a new Thor, (more on that in a moment).  Through this characters eyes we learn that Doom, (or at least some version of him), is the ruler of this world, (or at least the more civilized parts of it), and has set himself up as a God with Steven Strange as his right hand and Sue Storm as his apparent wife and any who object to his rule or word are immediately put down, often by being thrown over a wall that divides the territories that Doom rules absolutely and other chaotic territories in Battleworld that are populated buy Marvel Zombies, Ultron’s robotic hordes, and another army known as the Annihilation wave, that periodically attack the wall.  The wall itself is manned by the Thors, who also serves as Dooms personal police force who serve him without question.  The world itself is divided among various barons, who rule their respective territories as kings and are only called to account when they have violated another baron’s rights in some way. 

            The confusing part of all of this, (outside of Battleworld’s existence), is that the entire population seems to be made up of characters who are dead; either killed in pervious series or during the Incursion and the book does nothing in terms of establishing as to why all of these characters are here.  However it does do a good job in establishing that these characters are virtually the same as their Earth 616 counterparts and what their goals seem to be in all of this.  Doom, for example, still wants to rule as a God, (as he always does), and Mister Sinister is, as usual, up to no good and is a promising setup for future stories to take place in this world. 

The main problem, as mentioned before, is that it really doesn’t have anything to do with the previous issue and up until the last few pages, it feels as if it’s grinding the Secret Wars storyline to a screeching halt and that’s going to make some people frustrated. 

All in all, however, this is a great issue.  It’s well written, the art work is fantastic and does an incredibly good job of setting up this world for future stories.  If you can get over the fact that the issue itself has apparently little to do with the previous issue, I say it’s worth a look.

Verdict

Read

Magneto #18

            The Magneto solo series has become one of the more surprisingly enjoyable character solo series that has spun off in my time reading Marvel’s current comics.  Taking place after the events of Avengers V.S. X-Men and after discovering villains attempting to harvest mutant growth hormones in enhance their own power, Magneto virtually cuts himself off from the X-Men and all members of his former Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to take up the mantel of Protector of Mutantkind, working as a vigilante against those who have caused great harm to his people and eventually reestablishing his mutant haven on Genoshia.  The series as a whole has been action packed and succeeds in getting the reader to root for Magneto and his cause but acknowledges that the man is still a murderer with not only questionable methods to achieve his goals but questionable degrees of success.  All in all it’s a very solid series and I highly recommend you take a look at it, especially if you’re already a fan of the character.

            Magneto #18, entitled Last Days of Magneto, takes place during the Incursion as he tries to make amends with his daughter, Lorna Dane, (the forgotten child of Magneto), as well as attempts his own last ditch effort to destroy Earth 1610 in order to save his own.  Unfortunately, this issue is probably going to be the lesser of what is clearly going to be a multiple issue storyline.  The glaring problem of the issue is that we already know how the Incursion ends.  We know Magneto fails.  We know in all likelihood he is going to die and it renders much of what he is saying and thinking moot.  It’s the prequel/inbetweenquel problem that plagues most stories like this and this issue fails to rise above it.  The vast majority of the issue focuses on Magneto talking with Lorna, regretting his failures as a parent while cutting back to his meetings with Namor who apparently told him what was going on and the whole thing feels padded, as if the writers are just wasting time until the real meat of the story comes in later issues.  There is a lot of talk between Magneto and Lorna with the typical Estranged Father/Daughter stuff we’ve heard a million times before with Magneto stressing in his mind about how what he is about to do will kill him and how the fates of all hang in his hands and cutting back to his meetings with Namor that just feel superfluous as if the writers felt that we needed to know their history with one another and it ultimately just feels like a bit of a time waster until the final page that sets up what the final story arc of the series will really be about.

            It’s not helped by the artwork that while not bad is unremarkable.  One of the series more questionable choices was without a doubt the art direction of the series, as it always felt like they were trying to emulate the style of Greg Capullo of Batman but in this series it always felt a bit out of place and this is very much at play here as well.  The panels themselves do nothing to keep your interest, consisting of people just looking at Magneto in awe or the characters just talking and does nothing in terms of getting us to feel just how epic of an event is going on in the Marvel or the stakes that are on the line.

            In the end, Magneto #18 just doesn’t do it.  It’s not emotional enough to keep you invested, not action packed enough to keep you engaged, but also not bad enough to where it’s not worth a look at, if only for the sake of discovering what will happen next and the ultimate fate of the Master of Magnetism will be.

Verdict

Browse

Thor #8

            The past year or so has seen very strange changes in Marvel Comics, (outside of the obvious reboot).  A past version of Bobby Drake, (it’s not really made clear as to when this Iceman is from), turned out to be gay, Spider-Man turned out to have not been the only one to have been bitten by the radioactive spider that gave him is powers, a character known as Spider-Gwen has gained a surprising amount of popularity, the mantle of Captain America was taken over by Sam Wilson, and a woman now carries Thor’s hammer and goes by his name.  Words have been used to describe these moves as that of some kind of “liberal agenda” or roundabout efforts of “political correctness” and have viewed this changes as a hugely negative thing but I’ve seen it more as progressive; an attempt by Marvel to realize that the world is and always will be changing and one has to change with it.  Now whether or not changing Iceman into a gay man or gender/racial swapping Thor and Captain America is the right way to go about this is another discussion all-together and one that is worth having but not today.  This part of the article’s section is whether or not the resulting series of one of these changes is any good and if it was worth ending an otherwise excellent series in order execute this status quo shaker.  The answer is yes AND no.

            You see, the proceeding series, Thor: God of Thunder, had been, without a doubt, one of the best series of the Marvel Now! lineup, with incredibly creative stories that spanned not only space but also time, breathing new life into a few old villains, characters as well as introducing several new ones that I hope will play larger roles in the future and potentially have their own spots in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  That all ended however, during the events of the Original Sin crossover event where Thor lost the use of his hammer, (read the story for more info on that) and the story of Thor began right after that, as an unknown woman is able to lift the hammer.

            On the whole the series has been good but not great.  It’s very entertaining to see the new Thor discover her powers, how they work and how she interacts with the original Thor, (who now goes by Odinson), and how he attempts to discover her identity.  Unfortunately, it’s just not as intense or creative as the previous series so it makes the shift a bit hard to justify from an improved narrative point of view and this particular issue doesn’t help matters.

            There really isn’t much to say about this issue as the vast majority of it focuses on Thor, Odinson, and their allies fighting off the Destroyer, sent after her by Odin in order to reclaim the hammer from her.  What follows is a very underwhelming fight where the various characters of the Marvel Universe trade unfunny banter and fight the Destroyer until it comes to its inevitable end where the new Thor’s identity is revealed and it doesn’t really make all that much sense.  That’s really all there is to say about it.  The action in the issue isn’t particularly well depicted, with much of the action apparently happening off panel, the banter between characters doesn’t work and outside of a few story advancements with her current position among the gods and an apparent plot by her enemies that all happen at the end of the comic nothing really happens and while it’s not one I would say you should burn, it’s one that you would be better off looking at a wiki article for what happened as opposed to buying the issue.

Verdict

Browse

Uncanny Avengers #4

            An inevitable fact of a long running franchise is that it’s going to go through high and low points, masterpieces and duds, and decent entries to mediocre ones.  But does this make the more average or non-spectacular entries in said franchise bad?  Does not living up to the high standards of a predecessor make a story told later horrible?  It’s a question that any fan of any franchise wrestles with when confronted with one of the mediocre entries of any long running franchise and I find myself asking this question a lot in with Uncanny Avengers.

            Formed in the aftermath of the Avengers V.S. X-Men event, the Uncanny Avengers is a series that focuses a group of the Avengers known as the Unity Squad; a group made with the intent to show that humans and mutants could work together.  The resulting series was nothing short of amazing, with three major story arcs that knew how to bring out the best in all of their characters for all of their strengths and weaknesses with incredibly well written plots that remain among my favorite in all of Marvel, which eventually led in to the excellent AXIS story arc and remains one of the best crossover events in Marvel in recent memory.  Unfortunately, AXIS ended with many shakeups occurring in the Uncanny Avengers lineup and the focus of the book shifted from Avengers/X-Men esc battles against threats to both groups to something far inferior.

            The new renumbered Uncanny Avengers follows a new Unity Squad made up of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Rogue, Sam Wilson/Captain America, Doctor Voodoo, The Vision, and Sabretooth as they travel to a doppelganger planet earth called Counter-Earth and get caught up in a battle against its ruler who periodically wipes out the planets population in hopes of creating the perfect race, free of flaws and has been a very underwhelming series thus far.  At the forefront are Scarlet Witch’s and Quicksilver’s daddy issues that don’t really seem to amount to anything interesting outside of what feels like a forced revelation so Marvel Studios can say that the two character’s aren’t mutant characters anymore for the sake of the characters’ movie rights.  The plot itself isn’t particularly interesting with a villain who comes off as a boring version of Apocalypse and his plans don’t really seem to have very high stakes outside of what is going on within this planet that we have never heard of before and does next to nothing to get us invested in.  The artwork, while not bad, does nothing to help matters, depicting a visually uninteresting world and new characters that won’t be remembered anytime soon based on their designs.  The one silver lining is Sabretooth’s story as he wrestles with the fact that he has gained humanity, (read AXIS for more info on that) and struggles to be a better person while still faced with the fact that he still has to let the animal out every now and then.

            And that’s really the review of this issue as well.  It has the same problems as the rest of the renumbered series.  Uninteresting artwork, mediocre writing, and giving the reader the general feeling of “man this series used to be so much better”.  In the end, does that make this series itself bad?  Grudgingly, I have to say yes.  While not the worst issue or series that I’ve read, it really does nothing to stand out from a huge crowd which is just flat out sinful when compared to what came before.  And in this case, for being such a failed follow up to a great series, it deserves the burn pile.

Verdict

Burn

            And that about wraps up this edition of This Week in Marvel Comics.  We got a really strong second entry into Secret Wars, two mediocre entries into two otherwise good series, and another mediocre entry into what has sadly become a mediocre series.  Hopefully next time I will be able to have the next article out in a more timely manner but for now I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on it and hope that Marvel will keep going strong in some areas and get better in other.  So until next time, please follow the blog, follow me on twitter and come back next time.  Until then, this is Griff the Ghost signing off.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

            It's kind of hard to imagine that it was just three years ago that The Avengers film came out and essentially redefined the way summer blockbusters and franchises are made.  With the success of both Phase One and Phase Two of the MCU, just about every major franchise out there is following its example, be it Fox planning on having half a dozen X-Men films released over the next few years, Star Wars releasing two standalone film alongside a new trilogy, Warner Brothers rushing together their own D.C. Cinematic Universe, or the Transformers films putting together their own expanded universe.  In fact the success of these things will probably have changed the way summer blockbusters are made for all time.  I, for one, have never been entirely onboard with the whole thing.  I love the idea of a film franchise having its own expanded universe the way comics or books do, but I find that the serialization of said films can lead to the individual films being slightly unsatisfying experiences in of themselves, often feeling like the "real" action or the "real" big event will be in the next installment.  This, thankfully, isn’t always the case, with films like X-Men: Days of Future Past, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy feeling like satisfying experiences in of themselves, where seeing all other installments of their universes enhances the experience as opposed to being required viewing.  Unfortunately today’s subject is not one of these cases.

            Taking place after The Winter Solider, the film opens with The Avengers taking on one of Hydra’s last remaining major strongholds in Eastern Europe.  Upon completion of said task, Stark finds Loki’s scepter from the previous Avengers film and, upon examining it further, discovers within the secret to the creation of artificial intelligence.  With the help of Bruce Banner, he creates the artificial intelligence, Ultron, with the intent of using him as a peace keeping method to protect the world from future alien threats.  Unfortunately, Ultron immediately goes insane and comes to the conclusion that the only path to peace is humanity’s extinction, leading The Avengers on a worldwide chase as the robot can literally transfer himself anyplace where there is internet access.

            This unfortunately is the film’s main downside.  If you were to watch any of the trailers or clips that have been all over the internet, it’s not hard to know exactly where this whole thing is going.  You know off the bat what Ultron is going to do, that there is going to be a midway point where The Avengers have to take a break from fighting in order to mentally recuperate from a failed battle, that there will be a few big heel turns towards the end of the second act, followed by a big, world stakes climax that has The Avengers once again fighting an army of faceless minions and a few teases for the upcoming Infinity War thrown in, and there is ultimately the problem.  Like its predecessor, it feels as if treading water; just here for the sake passing time and building more universe lore so Infinity War will make sense when everything comes into play and keeping us occupied while reserving the more serious character developments for Captain America and Iron Man in the upcoming Civil War film.  Unfortunately, while these universe building bits are interesting, it doesn’t provide enough substance to get us through the by the numbers plot.  It isn’t what I would call poorly written but it does lack the same universe redefining twists that were thrown at us in The Winter Soldier or the sheer quirkiness that made Guardians of the Galaxy so fun to watch.

             Luckily where the film lack in the plot department, it makes up for in the character department, for the most part.  Even though his ultimate goal is the same as every other killer AI in movie history and his design reminds me a bit too much of Megaton’s from the Transformers films, Ultron himself is a menacing foe played fantastically by James Spader.  If there is one major problem with the MCU, it’s the district lack of complex villains, with most simply ending up being evil for the sake of power, greed, or a need to destroy the universe/world for some unclear reason and while Ultron doesn’t entirely escape this trapping he does manage to elevate above most of his fellow MCU villains by having clear reasoning behind his motivations and genuinely believing that his path is the right one.  The same can also be said for Scarlet Witch and Quick Silver, played memorably by Elizabeth Olson and blandly by Arron Taylor-Johnson.  Comparisons will inevitably come up between the MCU’s version of these characters and X-Men’s but this film gives very clear motivations for both of the characters and their reasoning for initially working with Ultron, having a very understandable beef with Iron Man.

            Many other supporting cast members also have a fair amount of development, unseen in previous films.  This is the first time we really get to know Hawkeye outside of “the guy who shoots arrows” and come to understand a lot more about his relationship with Black Widow.  Black Widow likewise has more time devoted to her, explaining a bit more of her backstory, as well as developing a romantic relationship with Bruce Banner that has a satisfying if heartbreaking payoff.  Mark Ruffalo is once again perfect in the role of Banner, playing a man who is genuinely afraid of the monster that is within him and worries what it may do to others. 

            The main downside, however, are the three big characters.  Outside of a few verbal arguments between Iron Man and Captain America that were clearly meant as set up for Civil War, Tony, Steve, and Thor don’t get nearly as much development as the other characters, clearly saving this for future installments.  As a result, it almost feels as if the three of them are their just for the sake of building up for future installments of their own respective films.

            I would be lying, however, if I didn’t say that the film was fun, and this is due once again, to its fantastic sense of humor, outstanding action scenes and special effects.  Even though it is a little hard to get past the fact that once again the Avengers are once again facing off against an army of faceless villains, it is a sheer joy to watch them destroy all of these mechanical monsters in such creative ways, with cleaver one-liners carefully inserted throughout, with a climax that feels like an obvious giant middle finger to Man of Steel’s city destroying, high collateral damage climax and I’m always up for any kind of ripping on that film.  There are also a few scenes where the heroes are forced to fight one another, most notably when Iron Man has to fight the Hulk in the Hulkbuster armor, in an action sequence that’s all at once fun, funny, dramatic and suspenseful, and, unlike its predecessor, actually justifies its own existence.

            In the end Avengers: Age of Ultron does some things right and something’s wrong.  It’s not any kind of masterpiece or universe redefining installment but it is a decent entry to the MCU, a must see for Marvel fans and at the very least a pretty good way to spend a weekend afternoon/evening.  Even if it is obviously just treading water until Civil War and Infinity War come out, I say it’s worth a shot.

All Around

7/10

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