Avenging the Age of Ultron

I am a huge Avengers fan, some folks consider me an expert, mostly people who read my reviews of the comics for over a decade at the much-missed Avengers Forever website, a couple delusional individuals have called me the highest authority on Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I don't buy it for a moment. However, I am a hardcore fan and longtime reader, and I have a confession to make...

I haven't been thrilled with the first few peeks at the new movie Avengers: Age of Ultron. They haven't done much at all for me, and this is coming from a guy who geekgasmed his way, astonished from start to finish, through the first movie.

Maybe it's the design of Ultron, a perfect design in the comics, jettisoned for the film. Or maybe it's that Ultron was built by Tony Stark rather than Hank Pym, removing the creepy Oedipal origins that made the character so frightening and unique. Maybe it's the Pinocchio theming of "I've Got No Strings," diminishing the danger of Ultron. Or it could be the rehashing of the Hulkbuster armor, seen a zillion times in comics and cartoons - which don't get me wrong, will look great on the big screen - but is still kinda old hat. For whatever reason, nothing about this flick so far has charmed me.

Then the third trailer came out, which you can see over at Biff Bam Pop! right here.

Now I'm excited. We get to see Ultron's plan, motives for his creation, and we see a little bit of background behind the Red Room flashbacks and the Hulkbuster scenes - it's the Scarlet Witch controlling and invading minds. We get group scenes, both interacting and being dynamic in costume, and we get rousing dramatic music instead of music box Pinocchio songs. We get great action scenes, clever dialogue, Stark with Loki's scepter, and best of all, our first real look at the Vision. I am down. I want Avengers: Age of Ultron now!

And for those of you who still remember Avengers Forever, the discussion continues today over on Facebook, and you can read my current reviews of the "Avengers Assemble" animated series at Biff Bam Pop! here.

Transcendence

Transcendence ~ The idea of uploading a human consciousness into a computer is an old idea. It's a retro idea, a cyberpunk idea, and therefore like rayguns and rocketships, a science fiction future that's just not going to happen. It's a potential future that's become outdated. If you're going to make a movie about that, you'd better have a new spin, you'd better do something different, something that's never been done before.

I must say I was impressed with the brief opening on an internet-less future, where keyboards are used as doorstops and even phones are back to the drawing board. We flashback five years to Johnny Depp pioneering artificial intelligence. I don't need to tell you the predictable outcome - man to AI to god - and Depp goes all Lawnmower Man until he's stopped. Now I said it had to be different, and it is, Johnny Depp's indecipherable accent of unknown origin that changes constantly for almost two hours is certainly different.

Despite excellent performances by Cillian Murphy, future Avenger Vision Paul Bettany, and as always Morgan Freeman (pretty much everyone except Depp), I really disliked this flick, and I'm a cyberpunk fan. It had very little new take to offer, a good but old idea done badly - avoid this one.

The Avengers on Biff Bam Pop!

For more than a decade I wrote monthly reviews of the current Avengers title from Marvel Comics at the Avengers Forever website. When that site closed up a few years ago, it left a void in my life as well as in the lives in many of the folks who hung out there. A version of Avengers Forever does exist on the Facebook here, but it's just not the same.

This month at the Biff Bam Pop! pop culture website, it's Mighty Marvel Month, and to celebrate, I have jumped back onto the Avengers bandwagon with a vengeance.

Here's just a sampling of what you'll find:

Avengers NOW!, an overview of the Avengers franchise in the Marvel NOW! era.

Age of Ultron: Book One and Age of Ultron: Book Two, writer Brian Michael Bendis' final storyline for Earth's Mightiest Heroes as their greatest enemy finally wins and takes the Earth.

Avengers Assemble Annual #1, a special spotlight on classic Avenger, the Vision, and his return to greatness.

Avengers #7, and how the New Universe fits into writer Jonathan Hickman's plans for his eighteen member roster of Avengers.

And finally, there's the new trailer for Iron Man 3 right here.

It has felt very good getting back into the driver's seat. If you're not into the Avengers, or comics, you could also check out my reviews of the latest albums from Adam Ant and David Bowie, and of course, you can find all of my Biff Bam Pop! work here!