Superheroes: Age of Ultron and Daredevil (Finally!)

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 ;)