And now, the long delayed, much anticipated review of Avengers:
Age of Ultron and Daredevil. Thank
you all for your patience, and I hope that I am still able to do both these
great products justice even after this delay in writing. I love comic book shows, and I am
really excited to see what is coming next, both in film and television for the
Marvel Extended Universe.
First, some thoughts on Age of Ultron. I
really enjoyed this movie. I
thought it had some really good elements that came together really well. While it did have some mediocre
moments, for the most part, I found the film to be a thoughtful and thought
provoking romp through the superhero world. There were some aspects of the performance that were
somewhat disappointing, many of which have been mentioned by a number of
critics online, particularly those familiar with the comics. I will address these briefly, but in
the main I plan to focus on what the movie did very well as opposed to what it
did poorly.
One of the difficult aspects of dealing with such a large
ensemble is time constraints which make it difficult to develop all the
characters as fully as one might like.
This was evident in the first Avengers film, in which the history of Black Widow and Hawkeye were left mostly
undeveloped, providing little to no frame of reference for their development in
the film. Similarly, in Age
of Ultron, the story is dominated by the
presence of Iron Man and Captain America.
In what seems a build-up to the upcoming Civil War, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark are continually placed
in opposition to each other through the film, dividing the rest of the Avengers
cast. While the main focus seems
to be on these two, however, the rest of the characters are still given
opportunities to develop and define themselves as individuals. This is accomplished in several
ways. The controversial romance
between Natasha Romanov and Bruce Banner (more on this later) provided some interesting
insights into the how each character sees their role in the Avengers, though humanizing
glimpses of Natasha’s past and Banner’s guilt. Hawkeye is also given brief chances to shine. As one of the less powerful members of
the Avengers team, his self reflective comments on his own capabilities provide
great opportunities for humor, but are also used to demonstrate his internal
conflict, and his depth of character in choosing to do the right thing, even
when he feels overwhelmed. For the
most part, Age of Ultron was able
to balance a very large cast of characters well, focusing in detail on a few
specific personages, while allowing each of the members of the team to have
brief moments of development.
Where the film fell short in this development is with the
character of Thor. One of the more
powerful characters on the team, Thor is left largely undeveloped in Age of
Ultron. He is not shown to be dealing with any of the events of Thos:
The Dark World, particularly the “death” of
Loki, which should be having some sort of emotional effect upon his
character. And the moment where he
could have been given some sort of development, when he leaves alone to look
for answers about how to deal with Ultron, dealt with in a very hasty, and not
well put together manner. The
scene at the “dream pool,” which is supposed to be a huge moment of transition
for Thor’s character, both defining his actions in the rest of the film and
setting up Ragnarok, is more
confusing than interesting, and fails to provide the viewer with either
entertainment or critical plot information.
Thor aside, Age of Ultron was a highly entertaining movie that was able to balance a large number
of characters and themes with skill.
The way in which the story addressed concerns about the balance between
liberty and security was particularly interesting. This is a theme that has come to the forefront in the stage
2 Marvel movies, particularly in Captain America: Winter Soldier.
Perfect safety cannot be achieved unless freedom is sacrificed. The two arguments are embodied in Iron
Man, who wants “to put the whole earth in a suit of armor,” and Captain
America, who privileges personal freedom over safety. Neither side of the argument is presented as being entirely
correct, and the ambiguity of the morality of the issue causes the once stable
Avengers team to fracture. Because
the issue is also left unresolved, it provides a perfect segue into the
upcoming Civil War, where the
heroes will once again be divided, and placed in conflict with each other.
Another issue that many fans of the comics had with the film
was that Ultron was not a compelling villain. People complain that the film has reduced him to a shadow of
his comic book self, removing much of the power that made him such a fearful
adversary. As a
non-comic-book-reader, I can still see their point. Ultron is not a hugely memorable villain; the Avengers team
is more threatened by their internal bickering than by any scheme he ultimately
devises. However, this is a common
feature and issue in the MCU. With
the exception of Loki, the villains of Marvel movies tend to be dull
caricatures motivated by base goals, who serve only to propel the plot for the
protagonists. This is not
necessarily a bad thing. Shallow
villains give a film time to emphasize the development of the hero; in Age
of Ultron, it is not the robot who is the
threat, but what confronting him reveals about the status of the Avenger’s
team. While it is possible to
focus on both a complex villain and the internal struggle of the hero, in a
film balancing such a large cast, it is understandable that there just was not
time to do both.
Finally, a brief comment on the whole Black Widow/Hulk and
Scarlet Witch/ Quicksilver controversy.
I understand, given Joss Whedon’s track record with powerful female
characters, why some critics would be upset by the choice to pigeon-hole two
such powerful female characters into relationships. Again, as a non-reader of the comics, here is my view of the
situation. Black-Widow, as indicated
by her very name, defines herself by the men around her. She uses her sexuality as a shield to
protect herself, and as a weapon to disarm “more powerful” masculine
opponents. Her relationship with
the Bruce Banner serves a double purpose.
She is still defining herself by masculine presence, but in this
situation, her affection seems genuine, and not some sort of power play. While this is not a feminist
development, it is a development in the character as seen in the MCU that
works, allowing her to develop a certain amount of vulnerability. That vulnerability requires more
strength for Natasha Romanov than being a single butt-kicking-badass ever
could. As a woman, seeing a strong
female character overcome her fear of intimacy while being willing to sacrifice
her personal happiness, and kick ass at the same time was more inspiring than a
multitude of perpetually single, anti-social feminist stereo-types. Not politically correct, I know, but
there it is.
In the case of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, I again take a
slightly unusual view. For me, the
difference between that relationship, and the hundred other “man encourages
woman to be her better, more powerful self” clichés is the fact that they are
siblings. As an older sister, it
seems perfectly legitimate to me that one sibling, regardless of gender, would
play the part of protector and encourager to the other. The relationship is surprisingly
similar to that between Elsa and Anna in Frozen if you consider how the siblings relate to each other through their
traumatic history, yet the relationship between two female siblings is held as a
feminist ideal, while the introduction of a masculine sibling causes
outrage. Finally, the fact that it
is Quicksilver’s death that forces Scarlet Witch to fight to her full potential
seemed accurate to me. Again,
speaking as both a sibling, and a reserved personality, the only thing I can
think of that would spur me to any sort of overwhelming violence would be a
threat to my sisters. From
that perspective, while I understand the criticisms made about the
relationship, I personally found them compelling and an entertaining part of
the film.
While Age of Ultron
did have its issues, particularly in balancing such a large cast, the film was
both entertaining and thoughtful, and provided an excellent lead in to the
future Marvel movies. The main
issues with the film can be addressed through the lens of perspective (as with
Black Widow and Scarlet Witch), the issue of timing (in the development of
certain characters), or in the context of Marvel films generally (as in the
issues with the villain).
Daredevil
One way in which many of these issues can be fixed is
through a change in the medium of presentation. While Age of Ultron
was limited by a three hour run time, Netflix’s Daredevil was able to explore its characters in depth and
build a coherent story arc, simply because the 11 episode season gave the
series more time to examine them. Daredevil gave me everything I wanted in a superhero TV show…
excellent action scenes, good tension built between the hero and the main
villain, an interesting supporting cast, and great world building as the series
connects the story to the greater Marvel universe and takes the time to tell
the hero’s backstory. Fair
warning, there will be spoilers in here.
Straight of, I am going to admit, I was already a bit of a
Daredevil fan coming into the show.
While it was not a great film, I though the Ben Affleck movie played
with some really interesting themes, particularly in the use of religious
imagery and symbolism. I was also
intrigued by Daredevil’s ability: his superpower is both a disability and an
advantage, as the loss of his sight and subsequently heightened sense what
define Matt Murdock as a hero. I
think there is a lot of potential in the character, and I thought the Netflix
show did an excellent job in taking advantage of the material.
First, let me rave about the fight scenes. It is a terrible cliché, but as someone
who has practiced martial arts for a number of years, a lot of fight scenes in
movies get really annoying. There
is a limited amount of damage that the human body can sustain before it ceases
to function, and most of the time media pushes well beyond the boundaries of
reality. In a superhero film, this
can sometimes be explained away as a product of the hero’s superhuman
capabilities, but that excuse does not work in Daredevil, where the hero does not possess super strength or
healing capabilities. What is so
great about the action scenes in Daredevil is the show pulls no punches (quite literally), and shows the damage
that those levels of physical violence does to a human being. Bruises from a fight in one episode
carry over into the next; Matt is constantly being stitched up, and his
fighting capacity is limited by his physical condition. Not only is Matt Murdock human in his
capabilities, so are the villains he fights. The show does not draw the curtain over the damage Daredevil
does to his adversaries; when an arm is broken, one can see bone sticking out
of the skin. Patients are rushed
to the hospital in critical condition and take weeks to recover, and some are
left in comas by the vigilante’s “justice.” Because Netflix is able to target a very specific audience
with this show, they also are comfortable with showing more violence than would
necessarily be allowed either in a film or on normal TV. What is so great about the show is that
instead of reveling in gore as is the case in many R rated films, they use the
violence to accentuate the story, using it as a tool to depict the impact of a
superhero lifestyle on the characters.
The show is not only realistic in its depiction of the
result of violence, but also in the way that violence in accomplished. Again, as a martial artist, I hugely
appreciated the lengths the show went to make the fight sequences realistic and
believable. Some punches miss the
target, some blocks fail to stop a punch, and when Daredevil faces a large
number of opponents, he struggles when they all attack as a group. This is a realistic scenario, even for
a highly trained person with years of experience. While remaining realistic, the fight scenes still manage to
be elegant examples hand to hand combat, and the choreography and camera work
on the sequences in a work of art.
For those individuals who love a really good action sequence, Daredevil
has some of the best I have ever seen.
Moving beyond the action, the show also does a very good job
of creating interesting and relatable characters. Matt Murdock is joined by his partner in law, Foggy Nelson,
and their receptionist, Karen Page, in an effort to help the struggling
underclass of Hell’s Kitchen. The
chemistry between the three main characters is great, and many of the scenes in
which they are working together on the legal aspects of a case are among the
most enjoyable in the series. But
just as the show demonstrates the impact that physical violence has on the
body, it also shows the repercussions the character’s choices have on their
relationships with each other.
Matt and Foggy’s relationship is shattered when Foggy learns that Matt
has been hiding his vigilante activities from him. When Karen is forced to kill one of the villains, even
though it was a clear case of self-defense, she is tormented by the guilt of
having taken a human life, and that guilt creates a further strain on the
relationship between the three comrades.
Overall, one of the major themes of the show is that actions have
consequences, and that a persons choices have repercussions, not just for
themselves, but for the people around them.
This theme finds its most eloquent expression in the
treatment of religion in the film.
This was one of the aspects I loved about the 2003 Daredevil; religious imagery and symbolism were hugely
important in that film, almost to the level of cliché. The great thing about the Marvel show
is that, while religion is handled with a similar intensity, it does not
desintegrate into stereotype.
Given the show’s wider context in the Marvel Extended Universe,
including references to the events of Avengers, Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America, the show takes
time to consider what sort of impact this superhero world would have upon a man
of faith. The conversations
between Matt Murdock and his priest become an exploration of faith, and the
more the Matt breaks down physically and emotionally, the more he begins to
turn to his faith for strength, transitioning from the beginning of the series
where he states that his mother “was the real Catholic” to the end, where he
owns both priest and church as his own.
Religious themes, including theological musings about the role of the
devil are woven into the texture of Daredevil, another bold move from a television provider aware
of their audience. There is not
ideological uniformity in the Marvel universe because people are too
complicated for that; even when Norse gods walk the earth, an Irish-American
Catholic can still find guidance and wisdom in the teachings of the church, and
it is really neat that Netflix decided to show this aspect of the Daredevil
character and mythos.
It is the relationship between the show and the MCU that
ultimately made this my favorite superhero experience of the year so far. While other shows (Arrow and The Flash) have the longer format that allows greater character development over
the course of an entire season, the interconnectedness of the world is not as
great as that presented in the Marvel universe. Each Marvel product is an individual experience, but it is
also part of a greater whole, a stepping stone toward the next experience. Thus, Daredevil contains many references to events of The
Avengers, Thor, Iron Man, and the rest of the MCU. The interaction between these franchises creates a world
that is greater than the sum of its parts, and allows the nerd with mildly
obsessive tendencies (read “me”) to learn the vast history of this new world, a
history that both reflects and diverges from our own. I certainly hope that future seasons of Daredevil include further references, and hopefully cameo
appearances by other characters in order to continue to weave this vast
tapestry of characters and events into a beautiful tapestry of superhero
nerdiness.
Finally, a quick word about the villain. While villains in the MCU tend to be a
bit flat, Daredevil takes its time with
Wilson Fisk, providing glimpses of his background, examining his emotional and
mental volatility, and probing his motivations in a characterization that is
more reminiscent of a DC (read Batman) villain. The similarities and differences between Fisk and Murdock
are carefully explored, with each proving to be a foil for the other in their
motivations, character flaws, and personalities. Just as this first season develops the Daredevil persona,
culminating in the donning of the full costume at the end of the series, it is
also the development of Wilson Fisk from the amorphous “man behind the curtain”
into the notorious “Kingpin.” The
show allows both characters to come into their own, and hopefully in future
seasons, we will see these two antagonists again meet in their more fully
developed capacities.
Ultimately Daredevil
did everything I wanted in a piece of superhero media. The longer format of a TV show allowed
for extra time in the development of both hero and villain. The specialized audience expectations
from Netflix enabled the show to take chances in the presentation of both
violence and religion, risks that I felt paid off in the long run. Finally, the connection with the MCU
and speculation about future crossovers allowed this series to feel like a part
of a vast world building phenomena, the kind of worldbuilding that is exciting
for nerds like myself. There are
some very valid criticisms of Daredevil. In some ways, it does
rip off a lot of the tropes (and potentially some dialog) from various Batman products, and this is annoying to many DC fans. Some viewers were also disappointed by Elden
Henson’s portrayal of Foggy Nelson, and thought that the character was a bit
annoying. Personally, I did not
find this to be a problem and I liked the characterization, but that is more a
matter of opinion that analysis.
Ultimately, I thought that Daredevil was an excellent superhero show, that was very
satisfying in the risks it took and the way that it treated its subject matter.
Well, back to reality...and my thesis, which I really should be working on ;)
