Joss Whedon
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But Thunderbolts* isn’t really an action movie – it’s a character drama with a focus on healing what’s broken inside these individuals by making them part of something bigger than themselves, which calls to mind other Marvel teams like the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers.
It also feels like a mirror image of “The Avengers” (2012).
It’s a far cry from how mass audiences went into The Avengers (2012), coming off a run of successful solo movies that setup each of the characters assembling for a big pay-off.
…delivering a couple of moments that are clever echoes of the first Avengers movie…
Some of the best movies in the history of the MCU have thrived off bouncing interesting characters and performances off each other in projects like “The Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
It’s a welcome return to the boots-on-the-ground feel of The Avengers…
Star Wars (1977)
Directed by George Lucas
influenced Serenity (2005), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Themes
Its story embraces undue pretensions, its dialogue thinks it's far more clever than it is, and its Star Wars envy is positively unseemly.
This movie was everything I had hoped the last few installments of Star Wars had been.
In the end, while the well-intentioned “Serenity” might not achieve the revered status of “Star Wars”, at least it’s no “Episode 1”.
Serenity isn't exactly what you'd call sci-fi based on ideas, but it is a delightful, infectious blend of pulp Westerns, Star Trek, Star Wars and even samurai films (the bad guy carries a sword).
Picture “Star Wars” mixed with, I don’t know, something really intelligent and witty and you’ve got “Serenity.”
It’s what made Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy click and it’s what George Lucas’ new “Star Wars” trilogy lacked.*…
Director-screenwriter Joss Whedon makes excellent use of 3-D, and, despite the overload of special effects and kabooms, he doesn’t turn the movie into a head-rattling endurance test à la Michael Bay ’s “ Transformers ” series.
It is inevitable that comparison between the final attack on Manhattan and the destruction of Chicago in the third "Transformers" movie will be made because there are too many similarities, right down to the mechanical flying 'creatures' from Chitauri vs. "Fallen's" giant drill bit.
Outstanding special effects and stuntwork contribute to an exhilaration so constant it risks the kind of exhaustion, if not monotony, inspired by the Transformers pictures.
There's a-like intensity of lines filled with portent, and just as "Here's lookin' at you, kid" could have been corny in lesser hands than Humphrey Bogart's, the same dynamic holds here: When the evil, complicated Loki talks of his "terrible privilege" or when Rogers, echoing Tommy Lee Jones in Captain America: The First Avenger , speaks of war being "won by soldiers," they make it work on a visceral, emotional level.To criticize the conventions of superpowers or costumes, or to pigeonhole this into a "popcorn movie" ghetto misses the point: This isn't Transformers .
That said, those action scenes are staged in a manner that puts the sights offered up by their blockbuster brethren to shame--the difference between the graceless pummelings on display in the "Transformers" films and the stylish and cohesive set-pieces on display here is so startling that uber-hacks like Michael Bay and McG should hang their heads in shame at the sight of what Whedon has accomplished here.
They brawl, they bond and then, boy, do they kick some alien butt in a city-wrecking slugfest that puts Michael Bay's bombastic Transformers franchise in the shade.
Batman (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton
influenced The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Themes
There’s no moment in The Avengers to compare with the slaughter of Bruce Wayne’s parents in Batman (1989) or Jonathan Kent’s collapse in Superman (1978).
But even the most striking, like Richard Donner’s Superman and Tim Burton’s Batman films, either winked at or took outrageous liberties with the source material, or both.
Not only that, but The Avengers is the comic book movie I’ve been waiting for because it fully, successfully explodes the ‘street level’ stuff we’ve been dealing with since Tim Burton’s Batman .
Up until now, the movie industry has been content to seize on a single superhero and spin out a series, usually lasting three or four films over a 10-year period before running out of gas or becoming bloated and decadent and going into hibernation until it is rebooted (see, for example, Warners’ Superman series from 1978 to 1987 and Batman series from 1989 to 1997, as well as Sony’s Spider-Man series from 2002 to 2007).
When Hollywood began to rediscover the pioneering DC and Marvel superheroes of the 20th century, it was refreshing and delightful at first, and for a while: the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, Tim Burton’s “Batman,” Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, the X-Men series.
Then there is a second level that includes "Superman II," the Tim Burton "Batman" films, the last "X-Men" epic and the first "Iron Man"--all solid films that nevertheless lack that final spark that separates the good from the great.
Superman (1978)
Directed by Richard Donner
influenced The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
There’s no moment in The Avengers to compare with the slaughter of Bruce Wayne’s parents in Batman (1989) or Jonathan Kent’s collapse in Superman (1978).
But even the most striking, like Richard Donner’s Superman and Tim Burton’s Batman films, either winked at or took outrageous liberties with the source material, or both.
What we’ve seen since Richard Donner’s original “Superman” from 1978 is the steady closing of that gap.
Up until now, the movie industry has been content to seize on a single superhero and spin out a series, usually lasting three or four films over a 10-year period before running out of gas or becoming bloated and decadent and going into hibernation until it is rebooted (see, for example, Warners’ Superman series from 1978 to 1987 and Batman series from 1989 to 1997, as well as Sony’s Spider-Man series from 2002 to 2007).
Superman (1978) and The Dark Knight (2008) remain the high water marks for Oscar taking superhero movies seriously with 3 nominations and a special Oscar, and 8 nominations with two statues respectively.
As you likely recall, Skynet was a self-aware synthetic intelligence that forced Earth into a nuclear winter starting with 1984’s “The Terminator”.
BRUCE: …“The Matrix,” “The Terminator” and all of it’s sequels.
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Directed by Irvin Kershner
influenced Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Serenity (2005), The Avengers (2012)
Plot Visuals Themes
It doesn’t reveal new layers to the characters or deepen our understanding of them in the way of sequels like The Empire Strikes Back , Superman II , and The Dark Knight .
At the same time, if you haven’t seen any of “Firefly” it’s a lot like watching Empire Strikes Back without having seen A New Hope.
Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner is apparently now hooking up with Scarlett Johansson’s reliably badass Black Widow, yielding some retro-style banter — but even that thread is given a non-resolution that seems to half-assedly echo “Empire Strikes Back” but ultimately exists to simply set up fodder for some later installment.
As I was preparing to see "Avengers: Age of Ultron," I came across a curious fact: Every movie in Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from "Iron Man 3" to now, includes a scene in which someone's arm gets hacked off — an homage to Luke Skywalker losing his lightsaber-holding arm in "The Empire Strikes Back."
Marvel majordomo Kevin Feige recently revealed that every Marvel movie has a specific homage to “The Empire Strikes Back”: a minimum of one character or random victim will have their arm lopped off.
The sequel searches for a darker tonal shift, a sort of “Empire Strikes Back” for the Avengers.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Directed by Robert Wise
influenced Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Themes
On a thematic level, Ultron is quite fascinating, especially in his assessment of the human race and how its biggest problem is nothing less than itself (a theme that has been interwoven into numerous sci-fi films in the past, ranging from Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, to James Cameron’s The Abyss).
But the conversation happened all the way back in 1927 with “Metropolis,” again in 1951 with “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and then again and again with “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), “Star Wars” (1977), “Tron” (1982), “Blade Runner” (1982), “Short Circuit” (1986), “RoboCop” (1987), “Star Trek: Generations” (1994), “The Matrix” (1999), “A.I.
You might think The Avengers , renamed Avengers Assemble for Britons, in a slight to their intellect, is a new staging post in a cycle than began a thousand years ago with Bryan Singer’s X-Men (2000).
Compare this to Bryan Singer’s slickly ponderous first X-Men movie, in which there’s a whole lot of scene setting and not much else.
Most will agree that both the “X-Men” and “Spider-Man” series were for the most part good, but there were bizarre diversions, like “Daredevil,” “Ghost Rider” and the odious and nonsensical “Hulk” by Ang Lee.
Then there is a second level that includes "Superman II," the Tim Burton "Batman" films, the last "X-Men" epic and the first "Iron Man"--all solid films that nevertheless lack that final spark that separates the good from the great.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Directed by Nicholas Meyer
influenced Serenity (2005), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Given that "Firefly" is often referred to as the anti-"Star Trek," it's worth noting that Whedon rationalizes a deep-space cloud formation by pointing to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and boasts that Mal and Inara are standing on the same rocky slope that served as the Genesis Planet in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .
Joss Whedon, who created the show and wrote/directed the film, seems to want to bypass Star Trek: The Motion Picture and go directly to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Having apparently resolved that one failed Earthly invasion is enough for one millennium, Loki is nowhere to be found in “Age of Ultron,” but even minus his caustic wit, the new movie is a sleeker, faster, funnier piece of work — the sort of sequel (like “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” “Superman II” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” before it) that shrugs off the self-seriousness of its predecessor and fully embraces its inner Saturday-morning serial.
In the annals of moviedom, it's oft been noted that a first sequel — "The Godfather Part II," "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" — can actually surpass the original.
Metropolis (1927)
Directed by Fritz Lang
influenced Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Characters Themes
As designed and played, Bettany’s character is visually beautiful, eerily contained, the latest in a line of otherworldly cinematic wunderkind that stretches all the way back to “Metropolis” in 1927.
But the conversation happened all the way back in 1927 with “Metropolis,” again in 1951 with “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and then again and again with “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), “Star Wars” (1977), “Tron” (1982), “Blade Runner” (1982), “Short Circuit” (1986), “RoboCop” (1987), “Star Trek: Generations” (1994), “The Matrix” (1999), “A.I.
In dreamlike opening scenes of writer-director Steven Knight’s fishy tale “Serenity” — not to be confused with the 2005 Joss Whedon cult film of the same name — a boy opens his eyes, and we are underwater.
Serenity is not to be confused with the Firefly spinoff movie of the same name, released in 2005.
It comes tantalizingly close to reaching the level of the very best comic book films of the current generation: Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies, Sam Raimi’s first two “Spider-Man” films, and the debuts of Iron Man and Captain America.
In fact, I even preferred the biological web slingers in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” series because it just made sense to me, instead of knowing that Peter Parker’s own version of Kryptonite was him running out of web fluid.
Up until now, the movie industry has been content to seize on a single superhero and spin out a series, usually lasting three or four films over a 10-year period before running out of gas or becoming bloated and decadent and going into hibernation until it is rebooted (see, for example, Warners’ Superman series from 1978 to 1987 and Batman series from 1989 to 1997, as well as Sony’s Spider-Man series from 2002 to 2007).
He has a crush on Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and he suspects all is not right with his father's former partner, Dr. Curt Connors - who is also known to "Spider-Man" readers as the Lizard.
Rio Bravo (1959)
Directed by Howard Hawks
influenced Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), The Avengers (2012), Serenity (2005)
Themes Plot
At times — when various members of a game and nimble cast amble in and out of the glassy, metallic chambers of a massive flying aircraft carrier, cracking wise, rolling eyes and occasionally throwing a punch — the movie has some of the easygoing charm of “Rio Bravo,” Howard Hawks’s great, late western in which John Wayne, Angie Dickinson, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson did a lot of talking on their way to a big and not-all-that-interesting shootout.
The story seems unwieldy in scale, broken as it is into two parts: an entertaining Rio Bravo variation aboard an airborne aircraft carrier (!), and an epic “good few versus evil horde” showdown set in and above midtown Manhattan.
There’s even a beautiful homage to “Rio Bravo” in the climax.
Returning as the director, Whedon (most famous for Firefly , Serenity and Buffy ) has compared this Avengers sequel to Westerns like Rio Bravo (1959) where groups of people defend their town from outsiders.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
influenced Serenity (2005), The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
And such female-centric touches are a recurring theme in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"-creator Whedon's work.
For the ultimate union-reunion, the Lee team called on writer-director Joss Whedon, whose inspired toying with genre tropes gave birth or at least new life to TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Dollhouse, plus the recent smarty-pants horror comedy The Cabin in the Woods and the Internet miniseries Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, a musical comedy whose self-reflexive ingenuity was topped only by its all-sung DVD commentary.
Perhaps the biggest problem facing director-screenwriter Joss Whedon (TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), who co-wrote the story with Zak Penn (“X-Men: The Last Stand”), is that the genre is in danger of being beaten into the ground.
In many ways, “The Avengers” — written and directed by Joss Whedon, best known for the beloved cult TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly”— out-blockbusters its predecessors.
Who better to be behind that camera than “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, “Serenity” and “Firefly” creator Joss Whedon?
It is no exaggeration to say that writer-director Joss Whedon has become an icon among those of us who continue to obsess over his erstwhile television shows "Firefly" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Directed by Steve Barron
influenced Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Plot
Each character gets to do their thing, American exceptionalism is invoked and, in a completely unexpected turn of events, the plot ends up borrowing elements from 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles .
For those new to the fold, these characters include Mal (Nathan Fillion), who is very much cut from the same cloth as the more nihilistic western heroes James Stewart portrayed (think The Man from Laramie and you're pretty damn dead on) as well as a bit of roguish Han Solo tossed in for good measure, the leader of a band of merry renegades that includes Zoe (Gina Torres), Wash (Alan Tudyk), Inara (Morena Baccarin), Jayne (Adam Baldwin), Kaylee (Jewel Staite), Simon (Sean Maher), River (Summer Glau), and Shepherd Book (Ron Glass).
The concept of assembling the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and more in a big screen canon used to be an extreme pipe dream, but that idea seems exceptionally simple and obvious now that we are nearly a decade past the release of 2012’s The Avengers and have experienced everything that the MCU has accomplished, from Captain America: Civil War to Avengers: Endgame .
Jeremy Renner’s work as Hawkeye pales compared to his “Mission Impossible” turn a few months back, mostly because Renner spends much of the film in a literal trance so there’s no time to give him any real development.
Although we shouldn’t feel too bad for Jeremy Renner, who plays him — the man was Oscar nominated for The Hurt Locker and The Town; starred alongside Tom Cruise in the latest Mission: Impossible; and replaces leading man Matt Damon in the next Bourne movie.
On a thematic level, Ultron is quite fascinating, especially in his assessment of the human race and how its biggest problem is nothing less than itself (a theme that has been interwoven into numerous sci-fi films in the past, ranging from Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, to James Cameron’s The Abyss).