In a forest in the fictional Eastern European country of Sokovia, the terrorists of Hydra….
Hey! Wait, I’m not finished! Who shouted “Action”?
You guessed it. The sequel doesn’t waste a nanosecond before plunging us into its particular hurly-burly of superhero-meets-foe combat.
Make that “superheroes.” The plural matters here. Perhaps even more (certainly differently) than it does in that other crowded, very fine Marvel franchise, “X-Men.”
Those dear mutants unite initially because of their minority, often misunderstood, status. The Avengers are a collection of outsize talents, often with bigger egos, bound in defense of humankind.
The gang from is all here. In the heroic hubris department, there’s Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans). A little less vain but pretty darn glorious are Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). In a tormented class all his own resides Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).
Writer-director Joss Whedon continues to explore the challenges of teamwork and heroism, without losing a beat of action or a single quip. If anything, there’s more of each, done better. Heck, Eugene O’Neill gets a shoutout.
Whedon is also attuned to the twisted roots of villainy. “Age of Ultron” provides a few versions: the ache for revenge, ye ol’ desire for world domination, and the good technological intention gone terribly awry.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen portray orphan twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Recruited and tweaked by Hydra, the lethal pair harbors a sincere hatred of Stark, now a recovering weapons manufacturer.
Even now, the billionaire industrialist has his moments of high-tech overreach. Ultron, the artificial intelligence bent on humanity’s eradication, is born out of Stark’s altruism.
James Spader gives dark, wry voice to the sentient being who grows smarter and more dangerous with each passing moment. Yes, Stark’s and the Avengers’ most daunting rival is one of their own making, with a little help from Wanda, who can manipulate thought and exploit doubts, and from the scepter from Thor’s world.
OK, it can get a bit convoluted. For those of you not conversant in all things Marvel-ous, I hear you. During the movie’s preview screening, a colleague leaned over to ask if I knew who the twins’ birth daddy was. “Er, no.”
If you’re not the sort DVRing television’s “Agent Carter,” or “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” or re-watching each solo project of the member of this band of superheroes, fear not.
Let the obsessed have their crossover pleasures, their genealogies, their flow-charts.
Whedon & Co. provide more than enough glib jokes, FX spectacles and sweet human insights to make “Age of Ultron” a popcorn must for the rest of us in need of a little comic-book wisdom right about now.
Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567, lkennedy@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/bylisakennedy
