Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Whedon disappoints with less fun, huge, ugly sequel

♥♥

+ Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

Most of the Marvel superheros are back for action on this poster for Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Avengers are back at it, when the artificial intelligence within Tony Stark's global defense system runs amuck in a spree of destruction.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is the sequel to The Avengers (2012), the second Avengers film, the franchise that gathers the characters for Marvel's individual superhero franchises, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and friends. It is written and directed by returning helmsman Joss Whedon (Much Ado About Nothing (2012)), based on The Avengers comics by Stan Lee (Epic Illustrated (1980)) and Jack Kirby (Sandman (1974-76)).
The plot here makes a virtue of trying to be all places at once, meaning that it wants to build some type of progress onto each of its many characters, but as a consequence it feels like it is no place really. The colorful, fun, pompous spark of the first Avengers film gets lost here in a sequel that attempts to exceed the first film's originality in every department.
Avengers: Age of Ultron does have a bit of fun, (Don Cheadle (Flight (2012)) makes an appreciated dent in this languished department), and impressively detailed CGI effects, which are guaranteed to have been impressive if seen in 3D, as they seem designed for. But when seen in 2D, which most will do when they revisit this film after its initial release, the magic of all that work is also very limited.
The few good things about this superhero mega-movie regretfully drowns in an ocean of uninteresting destruction coupled with ugly, grey locations and sets, the lovely Elizabeth Olsen (Ingrid Goes West (2017)) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Albert Nobbs (2011)) wasted in non-characters with Russian accents, a terrible villain (I dare you to locate any of James Spader's (The Watcher (2000)) charisma in the robotic bore that is Ultron), pointless dialog and - naturally - gross overlength. Avengers: Age of Ultron is a seriously disappointing sequel.

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2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
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The Avengers/Avengers Assemble (2012) or, Farty Latex Suits: Gather!
Alien: Resurrection (1997) or, Queen of the Goo Massacre! (writer)

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 316 mil. $ (gross)/267.4 mil. $ (net) + 180 mil. $ (marketing)
Box office: 1,405.4 mil. $
= Big hit
[Avengers: Age of Ultron premiered 13 April (Los Angeles) and runs 141 minutes. Filming took place in Bangladesh, Johannesburg, South Africa, Seoul, South Korea, Italy and in the UK, including in London, from February - August 2014. The massive 316 mil. $ cost of the film was diminished drastically by a 50.7 mil. $ UK tax cut. If the colossal marketing budget is drawn into the calculation, the film only ranks as a box office success. It opened #1 to a 191.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, the 3rd biggest ever up to that point, not beating The Avengers' 207.4 mil. $ or Jurassic World's slightly bigger 2015 opening. It enjoyed another week as #1 and a total of 5 weeks in the top 5 and grossed 459 mil. $ (32.7 % of the total gross) domestically, where it was the 3rd highest-grossing film of the year. Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 240.1 mil. $ (17.1 %) and South Korea with 78.2 mil. $ (5.6 %). It became the 7th highest-grossing film to date and the 4th highest-grossing of the year worldwide. Deadline.com has calculated the film's net profits to 382 mil. $, also figuring in marketing costs, home video, VoD and TV earnings, making it the 4th most valuable film of the year. The next Avengers movie, Avengers: Infinity War, comes out in 2018, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. Avengers: Age of Ultron is certified fresh at 75 % with a 6.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Avengers: Age of Ultron?

The Homesman (2014) - Revisit the harsh American West with Jones, Swank and a wagonload of crazy women

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Western of the Year

The rough and weary French poster for Tommy Lee Jones' The Homesman

In the middle of the 19th century in Nebraska territory, a small community is stuck with three women who far different reasons have lost their minds and need to go away, before tragedy ruins their homes forever. A strong, religious maiden sets out for the long voyage and soon partners up with an aging, cynical renegade.

The Homesman is an adaptation of a 1988 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout (The Shootist (1975)). It is the 4th film directed by great American actor/filmmaker Tommy Lee Jones (The Good Old Boys (1995), TV movie), who also stars in the film in the lead alongside Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry (1999)). It is nice to see her in a fleshy, good part becoming of her sizable talent here finally again, and together the two lead an ensemble as great as probably any director today could wish to work with:
John Lithgow (Obsession (1976)), James Spader (Secretary (2002)) and Tim Blake Nelson (Lincoln (2012)) play men with each their faults. Hailee Steinfeld (Begin Again (2013)) plays a small role that seems like a respectful hat-tip to her fine performance in the great True Grit (2010). Meryl Streep (The Hours (2002)) and fine character actors complete the cast.
The film offers a stark look at living conditions in the Midwest in the period: it has not a single frame of glamor or traditional western macho warmth. - And that is refreshing. It also refuses to be a suspense-picture; refuses to saw off some of its detours and knots to be a 'straighter' picture, and instead offers serious representations of its issues of insanity and survival in the rugged American country of yore. It moves along as an episodic yarn very much following the mind of its rugged filmmaker. Jones also injects moments of brevity that are testament to his humorous affinities.
Homesman opens with some marvelous landscape images, accompanied by Marco Beltrami's (The Hurt Locker (2008)) phenomenal score, which seems to manage to direct our very souls into the film like so many harps in very little time.
The Homesman serves food for thought and for discussion. - Why did that happen? - Is that right? And so on. It isn't neat nor readily digested. SPOILER Its ending becomes nearly mythological, as Jones is carried off in sorrow and devil-may-care attitude on a raft. I loved the ending. It was as if I had been on a journey with Jones for the film's 2 hours, and now he sailed onwards, singing and doing his jig to mark the parting. Jones is cinema's most endearing geezer in The Homesman.

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2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  
Men in Black 3 (2012) - Third MiB-chapter entertains the suits and shades off of everyone! (actor) 
Hope Springs (2012) - Making an old marriage work, peppered with Streep at her best and top-grade talent all-around (actor)

Watch the film's great trailer here

Cost: 16 mil. $
Box office: 2.6 mil. $ (and counting)
= So far a huge flop
[The Homesman's prospects look exceedingly glum at the moment, since it has already enjoyed a limited American run in November-December, unless it makes a wider release soon. It has competed in Cannes and been shown in Telluride and at The AFI Film Festival. It has already been released in most markets and probably simply got out at the densest period at the American movie year and didn't make the commercial cut. It needs all the admissions it can get right now, so don't miss it.]

What do you think of The Homesman?
Other fine westerns about women in the West and/or insanity?